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A 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Life of the Late 
 
 Captain Michael Cresap 
 
 • *•— • — « »«^a» ^ t^,« ; ■ ^ i 
 
 I appeal to Die White Man ungrntcftil, to sny, 
 * If ho e'er from my Cabin went hungry away ? 
 If n:>ko<l and i-old unto Logan he came, 
 And he gave him no blanket, and kindled no ft>ime ? ' 
 
 Bz/ JOffJV J. J(ACOB. 
 
 <!lintinnotT, (?I)l)io : 
 
 Re-printed from the Cumberland Edition of 1826, with Notes and Appendix for 
 William Dod;3e, by Jno F. Uhlhorn, Steam JDb Printer, 58 West 3d St. 
 
 1866. 
 

 •'^,1 ->''* 
 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 I think it necessary, as the name of Mr. Jefferson is intro- 
 duced into this work, to inform the reader that it was finished 
 and sent to the press as early as March last; but from circum- 
 stances not within the control of the author, has remained to 
 this late period silently on the printer's shelves. The author 
 gives this notice, lest it should be thought ungenerous, if not 
 invidious, to call in question any statement of facts made by 
 a man now dead, and incapable of making any reply. 
 
 September 25, 1826. 
 
 944423 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/biographicalsketOOjacorich 
 
TO THB 
 
 HON. JOHN E. HOWARD, Esq., 
 
 Late Governor of Marjland, 
 
 And the rest of my compatriots and grey-headed felloiv-siifferers — 
 the surviving Officers of the Bevolutionary War : 
 
 Gentlemen: From the nature of the subject of the following 
 memoir, as well as from that cordial and sincere aifection I 
 feel as a fellow-soldier, I take the liberty of dedicating to you 
 the following sheets, containing a short narrative and defense 
 of the character of not only a soldier but a hero. 
 
 Accept, gentlemen, this first and last and only pledge in my 
 power of an unceasing friendship — begotten in youth, strength- 
 ened by mutual sufferings, and matured with old age. 
 
 It is doubtless an unpleasant reflection, that now in the de- 
 cline of life we are placed in such circumstances as to preclude 
 all the endearments connected with social intercourse. We 
 can, however, collect our neighboring youth around us, and 
 fight our battles o''er and o'er again, l)y our firesides; and 
 when left alone, like Uncle Toby, build forts with brickbats 
 and lay sieges with wooden guns and hickory sticks. 
 
 And, gentlemen, although I feel no disposition to involve 
 or identify you in a controversy of this kind — a controversy 
 in which you, perhaps, feel but little interest — yet permit me 
 to observe that, in a national view, it is a controversy in 
 which we are all in some degree involved; because it is not 
 the family of Captain Cresap only, but all the officers of the 
 
6 DEDICATIOJ^. 
 
 army, the State of Maryland, and the National character that 
 are at stake ; for it will not be forgotten that Captain Cresap 
 was the first captain selected by the State of Maryland in the 
 Revolutionary war. 
 
 It is, then, I conceive, a poor compliment to the officers of 
 the army, and especially to Maryland, to say, or permit it to 
 be said, that an ^'infamous murderer''^ was selected as one of 
 her distinguished citizens by the State of Maryland, to fill the 
 most honorable military station in her gift. 
 
 If, then, gentlemen, I am so happy as to be able to remove 
 this stigma, and expunge all those black spots imputed to 
 Captain Cresap, I certainly render ray country a service. 
 
 And I sincerely pray, gentlemen, that you and each of you 
 may now, in the decline of life, enjoy all that felicity, ease, 
 prosperity and happiness that your services merit and your 
 age and infirmities require; and may none of us in a dying 
 hour have it to say, from penury and want, what was pathet- 
 ically the dying dirge of poor old Wolsey : "If," said he, "I 
 had served my God as faithfully as my King (country), he 
 would not have forsaken me in my last moments." 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
Preface. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Jefferson's celebrated Notes were published, 
 or rather soon after I became acquainted with them, I con- 
 ceived the design of refuting the unfounded and unjust 
 charges therein against my deceased friend Captain Michael 
 Cresap* — knowing most assuredly from personal acquaintance 
 with the accused that those charges were not true. But I 
 foresaw, from the celebrity of the author of the Notes on Vir- 
 ginia — not only as a man of superior talents, but as standing 
 high, yea, pre-eminent in the estimation of his fellow-citizens 
 as a politician — I foresaw, I say, to call in question the truth 
 of any statement made by such a man, especially by such a 
 pigmy as myself, however encircled with the shield of truth, 
 would in all probability be as unavailing and feeble as the 
 efforts of a mosquito to demolish an ox. 
 
 Thus perplexed, and doubtful what course to pursue, I re- 
 ceived an assurance from Luther Martin, Esq., Attorney Gen- 
 eral of Maryland, who had intermarried with a daughter of 
 Captain Cresap, that he would undertake a defense of his 
 character. This assurance of Mr. Martin relieved my mind, 
 feeling confident as to the result, knowing him not only to pos- 
 sess superior talents, but occupying a station and moving in a 
 circle co-equal in respectability with the Philosopher of Mont- 
 icello. I therefore, without delay, placed in his hands the 
 materials for the work (as they were in my possession). Mr. 
 
 ♦Mr. JeflFersoH calls him Colonel Michael Cresap — which mistake, trifling as it may appear, 
 ret goes to prove the imperfect acquaintance he had with the man and the character he han- 
 dles so freely. It is true there was a colonel of this name, but everybody knows he was not 
 the man intended. 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 Martin soon after published, in pamphlet form, the defense of 
 Captain Cresap's character, but it had not the desired effect; 
 first, because it was not, nor could in its nature be coextensive 
 with the Notes on Virginia; secondly, pamphlets, after the 
 first reading, are thrown aside, lost and forgotten. And per- 
 mit me to add, thirdly, that at the period when Mr. Martin's 
 piece issued from the press politics ran high, party spirit was 
 hot, and Mr. Jeiferson's name stood highest among his breth- 
 ren of the great and respectable Republican party. It was 
 but too evident that any blemish on the moral fame of such a 
 Irian was easily transferable to his political standing; hence it 
 was better upon the whole, some men might think, that Cre- 
 sap, however innocent, should yet remain under censure than 
 that any suspicion as to the perfection of so great a character 
 should rest on the public mind. Since which period, regard- 
 less of truth, honor and justice, a great many orators, poets 
 and scribblers have been dashing away at the name, and fame, 
 and character of a man of whom it is presumable they know 
 just about as much as of Kouli Khan or prester John, and who 
 was as much their superior as the noble lion is to the muskrat. 
 All these little folks, I knew, would soon sink into the dusky 
 shades of oblivion, and therefore regarded them as squibs of 
 smoke that the wind would carry away. 
 
 But a book has lately fallen into my hands, written by Rev. 
 Dr. Doddridge of Wellsburg, a man for whom I had hitherto 
 entertained the highest respect — yea, warmest friendship — ^in 
 which book, for what cause to me utterly problematical, the 
 old sore is irritated and laid open again. Not only the old 
 Logan speech is raised from the dead, but a new and hitherto 
 unheard-of charge leveled against the character and fame of 
 Captain Cresap. It therefore now becomes my indispensable 
 and imperative duty, however late, as the only remaining per- 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 son on earth qualified from personal knowledge to do that 
 justice to the memory of this mistaken and abused character 
 that I think no other individual can do, and which, in fact, has 
 been too long delayed. 
 
 The piece published some years since by Mr. Martin aimed 
 at nothing more than a refutation of the charges brought 
 against Captain Cresap in the celebrated Notes on Virginia, 
 to-wit: the Logan speech, and Mr. Jefferson's superaddition, 
 that he (Captain Cresap) ^^was infamaus for his many Indian 
 murdersy Now, however conclusive and satisfactory the facts 
 and arguments, as stated in Mr. Martin's piece, might appear 
 to men of candor at the time that piece appeared in public, 
 yet it is believed that at this day scarcely a vestige remains, 
 nor do I know where I should apply successfully for a copy. 
 Hence my plan is different. I mean, in order the more effect- 
 ually to put to silence forever all his calumniators and adver- 
 saries, to bring into public view all the life of the late Captain 
 Michael Cresap deemed necessary not only to refute the 
 charges against him, but to evince and demonstrate to the 
 world that they have been imposed upon, and greatly deceived 
 in the man. But my task is difficult: to prove a negative is 
 no easy matter; nor can it be done in any other way than by 
 producing positive proof that positive charges cannot be true ; 
 and in this case the various circumstances combined with the 
 weight of testimony must decide. 
 
 The name and fame of Hector and Achilles live only in the 
 poems of Homer; nor would a Phocion or Caius Gracchus 
 have been heard of in succeeding ages without a Plutarch. 
 What a pity a greater man than either should have so poor a 
 biographer ! 
 
 JOHN J. JACOB. 
 
 March 10, 1826. 
 
Intro duction. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be satisfactory to the readers to hear some- 
 thing of the competency and qualification of the author for a 
 work of this kind; indeed, in my view it is all important. 
 I therefore beg leave to state that I became an inmate of the 
 family of Captain Cresap in my fifteenth year, and soon after, 
 although very young, had the principal charge of his store ; 
 and such was his confidence in me, that about one year after 
 he branched out his goods and sent me to a stand he had se- 
 lected in the Allegheny Mountains, with a small assortment. 
 The next year, to-wit: 1774, he sent me still further west, to- 
 wit: to the place now called Brownsville, with a pretty large 
 cargo. This whole cargo, in consequence of his instructions, 
 I sold to the officers and soldiers in the Virginia service, in 
 Dunmore's war. This store being dissolved, I returned to his 
 family, at his residence in Oldtown, now Allegheny county, 
 Maryland. Early in the year 1775 Captain Cresap marched 
 to Boston with a company of riflemen, and committed all his 
 intricate and multifarious business to my care. I was then 
 eighteen years old. Dunmore's war being over, the colony of 
 Virginia (for such she then was) appointed Commissioners to 
 settle the expenses thereof, to-wit: Richard Lee, Esq., Colonel 
 Henry Lee, Colonel Clapham, Colonel Blackburn and Colonel 
 F. Payton. These gentlemen sat at Pittsburg, Redstone, Old 
 Fort and Winchester, at all of which places I attended. The 
 gentlemen composing this board were remarkably kind and 
 
12 IJSTTRODUCTIOJ^. 
 
 accommodating to me; they called me young Cresap, and 
 allowed me a table and chair near them — the consequence of 
 which was, that when any of the captains or officers appeared 
 on whom I had claims for Captain Cresap, the Commissioners 
 first deducted my claims out of their pay, and gave me a cer- 
 tificate for the amount; and if, as it sometimes happened, a 
 dispute arose between these officers and myself, the Commis- 
 sioners would laugh, and I believe invariably decided in my 
 favor. Thus, through my persevering diligence and the ac- 
 commodating spirit of the Commissioners, I obtained for 
 Captain Cresap during his absence drafts on the Treasury of 
 Virginia to a large amount, and was delighted with the pros- 
 pect of presenting him with such a handsome sum of money 
 on his return home ; but, unhappily for his family, he never 
 did return. My hopes perished, and I felt as an orphan cast 
 upon an unfriendly world without father, mother or friend. 
 I remained, however, with ihe widow and family until about 
 the first of July, 1776, when, being now nineteen years old, 
 I was selected as the ensign to a company of militia, ordered 
 to march to General Washington's camp. These militia, when 
 collected together, amounted to about 1,500 men, from the 
 State of Maryland, commanded by General Beale, and were 
 called the Flying Camp. We arrived at Fort Lee, on the 
 west side of the Hudson river, just in time to see Fort Wash- 
 ington, on the opposite shore, taken by the British. The next 
 day, I believe, or very soon after, we retraced our steps, and 
 had a tag-rag race through the Jerseys, with General Howe 
 and the English army at our heels; and we proved that, how- 
 ever much the British might be oyer our match in some 
 things, yet there was one thing in which we beat them — 
 namely, in running! We reached Philadelphia in safety early 
 in December, and were discharged; but I applied for a com- 
 
IJ^TROD UCTIOJV. 13 
 
 mission in the regular army and was appointed a lieutenant, 
 and remained in the army during five campaigns, to-wit: until 
 the Winter of 1781. I then retired, as the Maryland line had 
 suffered greatly, and was much reduced in the fatal battle of 
 Camden, in South Carolina. And I think it was in the Sum- 
 mer or Autumn of this year, 1781, that I was married to 
 Captain Cresap's widow, with whom I lived near forty years. 
 Thus it will appear, from my intimate acquaintance with 
 Captain Cresap from the year 1772 to his death — from my 
 intermarriage with his widow, with whom I lived a great 
 many years — from the circumstance of all his papers, books 
 and memorandums falling into my hands, and, permit me to 
 add, from that implicit and unbounded confidence he placed in 
 me — it must be evident to every man that no part of his pub- 
 lic life was or could have been concealed from me. Captain 
 Cresap was naturally cheerful, full of vivacity, and very com- 
 municative; and I am certain that there was no occurrence, 
 no interesting circumstance, especially in respect to the In- 
 dians, but what was detailed to his wife, and often in my pres- 
 ence. Therefore, I venture to predict that if any man shall 
 presume to contradict what I shall advance in the following 
 memoirs of the life of Captain Cresap, he must prove that 
 truth is not truth, or that facts are lies. 
 
 And with the readers' permission, I will add, that this short 
 narrative of my proceedings, as the clerk or agent of Captain 
 Cresaj), with the Virginia Commissioners, furnishes strong 
 presumptive proof that at this period, to-wit: in the Summer 
 and Autumn of the year 1775, no such idea was entertained 
 of Captain Cresap, by the gentlemen who settled the expenses 
 of Dunmore's war, as that he was the murderer of Logan's 
 family, or that he was a man of infamous character as an In- 
 dian murderer, or that he was the cause of the war. I say, if 
 
14 IJ^TROB UCTIOJSr^ 
 
 those gentlemen had entertained any such idea I should cer- 
 tainly have heard it from some of them, either at Pittsburg, 
 Redstone or Winchester; but I most solemnly declare that I 
 never did, to my knowledge or recollection, hear the least 
 whisper or the smallest intimation of the kind from them, or 
 any other individual ; so far from it, that Captain Cresap was 
 treated with the most marked and respectful attention, mani- 
 fested to me who acted as his representative, although only 
 a boy. 
 
BIOO-RAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE LIFE 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 ©AFT. HBGHlA^iL GKiSAP. 
 
 CUMBERLAND, MD, 
 Printed for the Author, by J. M. Buchanan. 
 
 1826. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 A concise View of the Customs^ Manners a)id Physical Strength 
 of the American Nation at the commencement of the Eevo- 
 lutionary War, 
 
 As nearly every circumstance connected with our late Revo- 
 lutionary War has already become history, it would be super- 
 fluous to attempt a detail of facts already recorded. I mean, 
 therefore, only to make a few remarks, merely with a view to 
 show the perilous state of the Nation when the hero whose 
 life I am endeavoring to portray in its real colors was in his 
 zenith, and actively and almost unremittingly engaged in his 
 country's service. 
 
 It is, I believe, historically a fact, that as early as the year 
 1763 the British Government began to frown and threaten, to 
 stretch out her arbitrary arms and shake them first at her 
 American children. Nor did they stop with words and vapor- 
 ing, but proceeded to pass what was called the Stamp Act, 
 designed, it is presumed, not only to feel how our pulses beat, 
 but also as an entering wedge to ulterior measures. This law 
 was, however, so unpopular, and met with such resolute and 
 determined opposition that John Bull thought it best at that 
 time to draw in his horns, and the Stamp Act was repealed in 
 March, 1766. It was not, however, as the sequel has proved, 
 an abandonment, but a mere suspension of that correction 
 they were preparing for such a refractory and disobedient set 
 of children; and consequently, in the years 1773 and 1774, 
 they came to the determination to give us such a sound drub- 
 
", , . ? ,i i V 
 
 
 >%U^^\'>.^-^g '^"'^ * iZF^ OiT CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 bing as to make us mend our manners, or whip us until we 
 did. They now threw away the feelings of a parent and com- 
 menced tyrant, and passed several laws subversive of our 
 liberties, and past endurance ; and to cap the climax, declared 
 explicitly that they had the right to bind us in all cases what- 
 ever. These proceedings and this language were indigestible 
 food to our Yankee stomachs; we would not swallow it, and 
 the Revolutionary War ensued. 
 
 I suppose it is with Nations as with individuals, that is to 
 say, while young men continue in their minority they think it 
 no degradation strictly to conform to the laws and rules of 
 parental authority ; but when they arrive at maturity of phys- 
 ical and mental powers they become restive, impatient and 
 anxious for freedom and emancipation from the dominion and 
 control of others. And so it is, and so I presume it should 
 be, with Nations who have understanding and energy sufficient 
 to assert and maintain their rights. Some Nations have been 
 handcuffed and fettered until their wrists and ancles have be- 
 come callous, and they no longer feel their chains ; others are 
 so effeminate that, so long as they can eat, and drink, and 
 sleep, they care not who suffers, who governs, and how the 
 world goes; others, again, are so ignorant that they neither 
 know nor care for their rights. But, to the honor of the 
 American name, we have set an example to the world sublime 
 in its nature and imperishable in its effects. The intensity of 
 that sacred flame of patriotism that burnt in the breasts of 
 our old Congresses, revolutionary armies, and Nation at large^ 
 has not been nor will be extinguished so long as materials re- 
 main in our little world to feed the flame. The southern hem- 
 isphere of this vast continent, so long enveloped in a dark 
 cloud of ignorance and superstition, has at length emerged 
 from her long night of abject degradation, and now begins to 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 19 
 
 shine a star in the phalanx of rational liberty. Living coals 
 and sparks of fire occasionally shed a ray of light in the thick 
 fog of enslaved Europe. But the sun will rise in due time, 
 and the fog will be dispersed. Enough of this. 
 
 There was one peculiar circumstance in our Revolutionary 
 War, that I believe has not been noticed by any historian: I 
 mean that remarkable Providence that restrained and sus- 
 pended the uplifted arm of vengeance from falling upon us 
 until we were prepared to meet the stroke and repel its force ; 
 and if we advert to the state of our po23ulation, numerical 
 strength, and to our habits, customs and manners at that 
 period, it would seem that there never could have happened 
 a time more propitious, either in respect to the state of our 
 own country or in reference to the European Governments, 
 Our numerical strength — perhaps about 500,000 fighting men, 
 ^r men able to bear arms — was now equal to the power of our 
 enemies, fettered and cramped as they were at such a distance 
 from the scene of action, or theater of war. We were, more- 
 over, from habits and manners, prepared and fitted for the 
 tented field. Our young men were vigorous, athletic and act- 
 ive; inured to fatigue, privations and plain living from their 
 infancy, they were prepared to suffer more and complain less 
 than the dandies of the nineteenth century, if placed in similar 
 circumstances. Those days of bacon and cabbage, of hominy 
 and pone, milk and mush, of hunting-shirts, leggings and moc- 
 casins, have passed away; we are now, please your honors, a 
 refined, polished, polite people. 
 
 But still, may we not ask the all-important question : First, 
 if the British Nation had struck us somewhat sooner, should 
 we have had strength to repel the blow? And if some thirty 
 or forty years later, are we sure that the Nation at such a 
 period, under the influence of the British Government, and so 
 
20 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 much older in vice and effeminacy, would have possessed pub- 
 lic virtue, patriotism and energy sufficient not only harmoni- 
 ously and cordially to unite, but energy sufficient to make 
 effectual resistance? 
 
 These questions, I know, contain problems not now to be 
 solved ; but they point us to a kind Providence for our deliver- 
 ance. Our Revolutionary War was the womb that gave birth 
 to the Nation. And although many historians have recorded 
 the most prominent and important scenes and circumstances 
 connected therewith, yet I do not remember having seen any 
 history written by a soldier — none written by a man who saw 
 and tasted and felt all the fatigues, privations and sufferings 
 of several campaigns, or even of one campaign, during this 
 period that tried men's souls.* 
 
 To enter minutely into a detail of the sufferings of an 
 American soldier of the Revolution would, perhaps, in some 
 cases, appear almost fabulous to the sweet-scented bucks of 
 1826. We will therefore touch the subject slightly. It is a 
 fact well known, that the prisoners taken at Fort Washington 
 and York Island, in 1776, were crowded in jails and prison- 
 ships, where all suffered severely and many died; that after 
 General Washington commenced his retreat through the 
 States of ]N'ew York and the Jerseys, at the close of this cam- 
 paign, to-wit: about the last of November, many of the sol- 
 diers were barefoot and nearly naked, and it was said that the 
 army might be traced by their blood. 
 
 The campaign of 1777 was emphatically the campaign of 
 suffering, fighting and blood. In it was fought the battles of 
 Brandywine, Germantown and Saratoga, exclusive of smaller 
 affairs. Two of these battles I was personally engaged in, to- 
 wit: Brandywine and Germantown. As to the first, we laid 
 
 * I believe Colonel Lee has given us some account of the Southern army. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 21 
 
 on our arms all night, and slept little, if any. We fought, or 
 were in our ranks and stations, all day, and the battle ended 
 at night. We then marched in a disorderly manner nearly 
 all night — slept but little, if any, and ate nothing from the 
 night of the 10th of September until some time in the day of 
 the 12th. The army then marched to a place called Red-clay, 
 where we attempted again to give the British army battle, but 
 such a severe storm of cold rain came upon us that each army 
 parted by mutual consent ; and so severe was the storm, which 
 continued with unabated fury all night, and the night was so 
 dark, that our baggage wagons could not come up to us; and 
 we laid in this storm without tent, or covering, or food, or fire. 
 I saw, I believe, but one in camp. 
 
 On the 3d of October following, we left our camp early in 
 the night and marched to attack the British in Germantown. 
 We arrived and commenced firing at dawn of day. The bat- 
 tle continued with alternate success until 9 or 10 o'clock A. M. 
 We then left the field, at first in tolerable good order; but 
 loss of sleep and want of food had so completely unhinged all 
 our bodily and mental powers, that in spite of all the efforts 
 of the officers the men were continuciUy falling behind, turning 
 into the woods and getting to sleep. Here again we had no 
 opportunity of getting food until in the night of the 4th — 
 about twenty-four hours. At the close of this campaign Gen- 
 eral Washington built huts or cabins, and went into Winter 
 quarters at a place called Valley Forge, but sent the Mary- 
 land line, to which I was attached, to take up their Winter 
 quarters in Wilmington, on the Delaware river. At this 
 period the Maryland line, and I suppose the army in general, 
 were nearly naked; and the main army, who took up their 
 quarters at Valley Forge, were, I believe, without a supply 
 of food for several days. Fortunately, however, the Maryland 
 
22 LIFE OF CAPTAIJf CRESAR 
 
 line fared better, for it so happened that a kind Providence 
 sent us a supply from our enemies. And so remarkable was 
 this circumstance, that it deserves a page in history. 
 
 The Maryland line had but just taken possession of the 
 post assigned them for their Winter quarters, which lay upon 
 a hill in view of the river Delaware, on which river the Brit- 
 ish ships were continually passing up and down, and it so 
 happened that a pretty large brig loaded with the baggage of 
 the British army got aground near the Pennsylvania shore. 
 This was soon discovered, and a party of men with a six- 
 pound field-piece or two were sent to take her. This was 
 easily effected, for she could make no resistance. We found 
 in this brig a great quantity of clothing for officers and sol- 
 diers, rum, wine, tea, coffee, sugar, etc., all of which articles 
 were exactly what we needed. This rendered our situation 
 truly comfortable; and the Winter of 1 777-' 78 was the most 
 pleasant we spent during the whole war. 
 
 The campaign of 1778 was more agreeable. We were 
 better fed and clothed, and had only one battle- — that of Mon- 
 mouth, in the month of June, and at this time had the pleasure 
 of beating and driving Sir Harry Clinton and his red-coats off 
 the field. Of the campaign of 1779 I have little to say, because 
 very little was done; but one remark may go to show what 
 must have been the poverty and sufferings of the officers 
 especially. Sometime toward the conclusion of this campaign 
 I took a journey from the Jerseys to Baltimore, at the request 
 of the officers of the regiment, to purchase for them as much 
 cloth as would make each of them a regimental coat of fine 
 blue ; this I effected, after a pretty long search in Baltimore 
 before I could find any, and for which I paid the merchant 
 £1,5(X) for fifteen yards. And this fifteen yards was designed 
 to make ten coats, and ten coats it did make. 
 
LIFE OF CdPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 23 
 
 The campaign of 1780 fell with peculiar severity on the 
 Maryland line and Delaware regiment always attached to 
 and almost identified with the Maryland troops. Early in 
 the Spring of this year these troops were detached from the 
 grand army and ordered to the Southern Department, under 
 the command of General Baron DeKalb. They marched 
 leisurely and in high glee through Maryland and Virginia, 
 and reached the Carolinas, I believe, toward the last of 
 July. The intense heat of the weather at this season to a 
 Northern people in a Southern climate was extremely un- 
 pleasant; yet we had very little sickness and no complaining. 
 We had advanced far into the Southern Carolina when Gren- 
 eral Gates arrived — perhaps about the 8th or 10th day of 
 August — and took the command in chief. He had no sooner 
 assumed command than he moved the army with great 
 rapidity, presuming, I suppose, that he would surprise Bur- 
 goyne, the Earl of Cornwallis. I believe it was in the 
 evening of the 13th or 14th of August we arrived at Rugely's 
 mill, encamped, and were joined, perhaps the next day, by 
 the Virginia militia, said to be 2,000. Our own numbers of 
 regular effective men did not, I think, exceed 1,000. Early 
 in the night of the 15th of August we struck our tents, and 
 marched directly for Camden, to catch Cornwallis napping. 
 But, whether he had any intimation of Gates's design, or 
 whether he had the same design upon him, I know not; 
 but certain it is we met about half way between the two 
 camps at near midnight. The moon shone brightly, and the 
 surprise was mutual. We exchanged a few shots, formed in 
 line of battle, and sat down in our places until day appeared, 
 which no sooner began to dawn than our morning guns on 
 each side, being well charged, were directed at our enemies, 
 which were immediately followed by an incessant roar from 
 
24 LIFE OF CdPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 the center to each wing of cannon and musketry. It was an 
 open, fine woods, with little undergrowth, and we had no 
 cavalry; and this single circumstance gave the enemy much 
 the advantage. The militia soon fled, but our regular troops, 
 under every possible disadvantage — flanked on the left, which 
 was now deserted by the militia, the Commander-in-Chief 
 gone — maintained their ground until 8 or 9 o'clock A. M. 
 
 The Maryland line at this time were generally old veteran 
 soldiers. They could and did defend themselves until so 
 cut up, flanked and surrounded that it was impossible to 
 sustain the shock any longer without the loss of the whole 
 army. Indeed, few were left — not more, I think, than 250 
 men; and, although we lost the day and most of our army, 
 no blame or censure can, without the greatest injustice, attach 
 to the name of any individual officer or soldier of the Mary- 
 land line. Never were a braver set of men — no, never was 
 a better fought battle ; and I am under the impression that a 
 better disposition of the army and better generalship, with a 
 few hundred horsemen, would have given us a very different 
 result, the superiority of Cornwallis's army, and the desertion 
 of the militia to the contrary notwithstanding. I saw, in par- 
 ticular, such coolness and personal bravery in Greneral Gist, 
 Colonel Howard and some others — ^yea, many others — that I 
 am confident upon equal ground we could have fought, and I 
 think subdued an equal number of the best of the British 
 troops. But oh, woful day for Maryland and Delaware! 
 How many weeping wives and mothers who can tell ? We 
 must have lost, in killed, wounded and prisoners, out of our 
 small army, between seven and eight hundred men. General 
 Baron DeKalb and many valuable officers being among the 
 slain. 
 
 As every splendid act of heroism deserves a reward, I 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP, 25 
 
 think it proper to mention one that deserves notice. After 
 the battle was over, of what troops were left General Small- 
 wood — ^who commanded the rear line, and who had the brunt 
 and most dreadful part of the battle — collected, with the aid 
 of General Gist and others, about 150 men, and moved west- 
 ward. Colonel Howard, who was among the last that left the 
 field, collected also at first about 50 or 60 men, but which in- 
 creased, I believe, to 80 or 90. With this little company he 
 marched toward the south about five or six miles and then 
 turned westward. I was in this party. About 1 o'clock we 
 halted in the woods to rest — not to eat, for we had nothing of 
 this kind. While lying at this place a soldier who had 
 escaped from the field of battle joined us, and said Captain 
 Somerville, of the Sixth Regiment, was badly wounded and 
 left upon the field. On hearing this Captain Truman said, if 
 Colonel Howard would remain where he then was, and any 
 one individual would go with him, he would go down to the 
 battle field and bring off Somerville. To this proposal Colonel 
 Howard acceded; and one of our party volunteering to go 
 with him, he took a horse, went to the field of battle, found 
 Somerville, and brought him to us in a short time, badly 
 wounded in one arm, which he finally lost by amputation. 
 Many more such interesting anecdotes might be mentioned, 
 but my limits, and the object I have primarily in view, 
 forbid it. 
 
 After this battle no poor fellows were in a more destitute 
 and suffering condition. The baggage wagons that were with 
 the army were all taken, all our clothes were lost, very few of 
 the ofiicers having a second shirt. Neither had we food of 
 any kind; we lived on watermelons, peaches, etc., from the 
 night of the 15th of August to the night of the 17th or 18th, 
 I do not recollect which; and then the party I was with 
 
26 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 supped upon a cow they killed, without bread, and a very 
 little salt. As well as I remember — for I was sick and could 
 eat no supper — they proceeded in the following manner: 
 They skinned the cow far enough to empty out the intestines, 
 and then cut off ribs and pieces until they reached the skin, 
 and then proceeded to skin farther as they wanted. Nor was 
 our situation much bettered until we reached Hillsborough, in 
 North Carolina, a distance, I believe, to follow the route we 
 pursued, of more than two hundred miles. Here we halted, 
 collected our scattered forces and made a stand. From 
 this place I was sent to Maryland, as a supernumerary 
 officer. And here I close my few remarks as to the sufferings 
 of the army in the war of our Revolution. The narrative is 
 simply a mere recital of a few facts and incidents, without 
 any effort to embellish or portray in dark and dismal colors 
 the sufferings of a meritorious set of men, most of whom 
 have now sunk into their graves. 
 
 Having made these few remarks upon the subject of our 
 Revolutionary War, we will, with the reader's permission, 
 bring into view some other circumstances illustrative of the 
 ground we have taken — namely, that it was a peculiar and 
 kind Providence that brought upon us the war of the Revolu- 
 tion precisely at the period when we were in circumstances 
 better, perhaps, than any other to meet and breast the storm. 
 
 Among other things of this nature, it was not a small one 
 that the yeomanry, or men in the middle and lower walks of 
 life, especially on or near our frontiers, were the best marks- 
 men in the world. An anecdote or two will demonstrate this 
 fact: I remember when the company commanded by Captain 
 Cresap lay at Redstone Old Fort, in the time of Dunmore's 
 war, a buzzard came sailing over us at some considerable 
 hight, when three men — Daniel Cresap, Joseph Cresap and 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJy- CRESAP. 27 
 
 William Ogle — all raising their rifles, fired at the same 
 instant. The buzzard fell, and they all declared they had 
 killed it; we examined the buzzard, and found all three of 
 their balls had pierced it. But a more important fact, and 
 one which will not soon be forgotten, was the dreadful havoc 
 made among the Hessians by Colonel Rawlings's Rifle Regi- 
 ment, at the time Fort Washington and York Island were 
 taken by the British. Captain Cresap also had in his com- 
 pany two brothers of the name of Shain, such unerring 
 marksmen with their rifles that they seldom missed a mark 
 the size of a cent at the distance of twenty or twenty-five 
 yards, off-hand shooting. As I was among these people I 
 heard many tales of this close shooting, but I waive them 
 and proceed. 
 
 Let it be remembered that this hardy race of young men 
 and this state of things were not only the result of our pe- 
 culiar habits and simplicity of manners, but naturally grew 
 out of our wars with the Indians. Our frontier* inhabitants 
 were always exposed to a predatory war with the Indians — 
 not embodied as an army publicly invading our country, but 
 a straggling banditti, attacking individuals and families re- 
 mote from a dense population. These attacks were often in 
 the night, or just at break of day — sometimes killing all the 
 family, at other times only a part, to-wit: the men and small 
 children, leading the women and elder children captives, but 
 I believe always burning the houses and stealing all the 
 horses. They were, however, sometimes deceived and dis- 
 appointed — a remarkable instance of which occurred in Ken- 
 tucky about the time of its first settlement. Five Indians 
 about daybreak attacked the house of a man (if I recollect 
 
 * What was called " the frontier " was continually changing and diverging westward, so 
 that the habits and feelings of the people remained the same many miles eastward after 
 the frontier was changed. 
 
 3 
 
28 LIFE OF CAPTALY CRJ^MP. 
 
 right of the name of Chenoweth). Mr. Chenoweth, hearing 
 a suspicious noise about his door, sprang from his bed and 
 seized his rifle, but as he was advancing toward his door 
 was shot down by an Indian. His wife immediately took up 
 her husband's gun and shot the Indian dead; and then pick- 
 ing up an ax, flew to the door, and as the Indians attempted 
 to force their way in she killed two more with the ax; a 
 fourth jumped on her cabin and was making his way down 
 the chimney, but she threw an old bed, or something of the 
 kind, on the fire, smoked him down, and killed him also. 
 The fifth Indian now ran away, and she had leisure to attend 
 to her husband, who was not mortally wounded. She dressed 
 his wounds, and he finally recovered. I had this story from 
 the man himself, who appeared to be a man of plain manners, 
 and I had no reason to doubt his veracity. But it was many 
 years ago, and I may be mistaken in some particulars in the 
 detail; it is, however, I believe, substantially correct; and if 
 so, which of you, my fair countrywomen, at this day could 
 do likewise ? The story of the two little fellows of the name 
 of Johnson, who killed two Indian men who had taken them 
 prisoners, is of more recent date, and I believe is so gener- 
 ally known that it need not be repeated here. 
 
 The reader, may, perhaps, be of opinion this chapter has no 
 immediate connection with the subject matter before us. That 
 it has not that immediate connection, we allow ; but as Cap- 
 tain Cresap was now in his zenith, and a conspicuous character 
 at this period, and among the first and most valuable officers 
 in the Revolutionary War, it was thought a general view of 
 the state of the Nation might tend to illustrate and shed light 
 upon our history, and therefore serve as a proper introduction 
 before we present him personally to public view — more espe- 
 cially as this war cost him his life. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Cresap Family, 
 
 The author is aware that a mere catalogue of names, how- 
 ever respectable, must be an insipid and tasteless treat to the 
 reader ; but in the present case it seems so indispensable that 
 if omitted it would leave a chasm in his book, so all-important 
 as to supersede in a good degree the necessity of this work ; 
 because it is evident that, inasmuch as Captain Cresap is now 
 dead, and so long dead, if his accusers and enemies had suf- 
 fered his ashes to rest in peace, time itself, at this late day, 
 would have nearly obliterated the memory of his name.* 
 But, I say, as Captain Cresap is now dead and beyond the 
 reach of malevolence and calumny, so of course nothing that 
 has been or can be said can aifect him personally. But the 
 Cresap family is large, extensive and respectable ; it will not 
 yield the homage of superiority to any family in Virginia or 
 Maryland. If, then, those black spots — this stigma upon the 
 name and character of Captain Cresap — were permitted to 
 remain, it would affect the whole family through all its vari- 
 ous branches to the remotest degree of affinity. Hence the 
 necessity of presenting to public view all or most of the 
 names and grades of a family thus attempted to be exposed 
 to public infamy. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Cresap, the father of the subject of this 
 memoir, and the head and founder of the Cresap family, 
 
 *Dr. D. tells us in his preface that a pious regard for the ashes of ancestors is not 
 without its influence on the morals and piety of their descendants. If this be true, what 
 shall we say of those who labor to consign those ashes to infamy and abhorrence? 
 
30 LIFE OF CAPTAIJf CRESAP. 
 
 emigrated from Yorkshire, England, when about fifteen 
 years of age ; but the dark shades of oblivion rest upon all 
 the intermediate part of his life from this period until he 
 arrived at the age of about thirty, when he married a Miss 
 Johnson, and settled at or near the place now called Havre- 
 de-Grace, on the Susquehanna. He was at this time poor, 
 and in providing the necessary articles for housekeeping got 
 involved in debt to the enormous sum of nine pounds, cur- 
 rency, when, with a view it is believed to extricate himself 
 from the pressure of this debt, he took a trip to Virginia, 
 got acquainted with and rented a farm from the Washington 
 family, with the intention of removing to that colony. But 
 during his absence his wife was delivered of her first-born 
 son, Daniel, and on his return refused to go with him to 
 Virginia. Now, however he might be displeased at this, he 
 acquiesced; and after having paid his nine pound debt he 
 removed higher up the Susquehanna, to or near the place 
 called Wright's Ferry, opposite where the town of Columbia 
 now stands, and obtained a Maryland title for five hundred 
 acres of good land. But this, unfortunately, at that time was 
 disputed territory; and as others set up a claim to this 
 land under a Pennsylvania title, a war — called the Cono- 
 jacular war — ^took place. Cresap espoused the cause of Lord 
 Baltimore with as much zeal and ardor as the Pennites did 
 that of Mr. Penn; and a battle ensued at a place called 
 Peach Bottom. Cresap' s party proved victorious, kept the 
 field, and wounded some of the Pennites. But they soon 
 recruited their army and besieged the old fellow in his own 
 house — which happened, I think, to be built of stone. The 
 attack was made in the night; but as the besiegers had 
 neither cannon nor battering rams, it was found that the 
 fort was impregnable. Finding that it would in all proba- 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 31 
 
 bility be a work of time, the besiegers built a fire some 
 distance from the house, that they might warm themselves, 
 counsel and deliberate. Cresap, aware of his perilous situ- 
 ation, put out his son Daniel, now nine or ten years old, to 
 warn his neighbors and friends to his assistance; but the 
 assailants discovered and took him prisoner. The little 
 fellow, however, well nigh played them a trick, for, seeing 
 their powder in a handkerchief, he seized and attempted to 
 throw it into the fire, which he certainly would have done, 
 but they saw and prevented it. 
 
 The besiegers, finding all their efforts unavailing, at length 
 adopted the same plan that Colonel Lee devised to take the 
 British in Mrs. Mott's new house in Carolina, during our 
 Revolutionary War — namely, setting fire to the roof of his 
 house. This had the desired effect, and the fort was no 
 longer tenable. As no terms of capitulation were offered, the 
 Colonel flew to the door, wounding the sentinel who stood 
 there, and made good his retreat to his boat, which happened 
 to be so fast as not to be loosened in time, and he was sur- 
 rounded and taken. They tied his hands behind him, and 
 were pushing across the river with their herculean prisoner 
 watched and guarded by a man on each side; but our old 
 Yorkshire hero, seizing a favorable opportunity, elbowed one 
 of his guard overboard into the river. The night being 
 dark, the Pennites thought it was Cresap in the water, and 
 fell upon him randum tandum with their poles ; but poor 
 Paddy — ^he was an Irishman — not pleased at all at all with 
 this sport, made such lamentable cries that, discovering their 
 mistake, they hoisted him out of his cold bath. 
 
 When the guard arrived at Lancaster with the prisoner 
 they had him handcuffed with iron, which was no sooner 
 done than, raising both hands together, he gave the smith 
 
32 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 such a tremendous blow upon his black pate that it brought 
 him to the ground. [TsTow, having their prisoner secure, they 
 marched him in triumj)h to the city of Philadelphia, where 
 the streets, windows and doors were crowded with spectators 
 to view such a monster of a man. He, the more to irritate 
 them, exclaimed, "Why, this is the finest city in the State of 
 Maryland!" And indeed it appears that he really thought 
 so. I have myself more than once heard him say that if 
 Lord Baltimore had attended to his own interests, or re- 
 garded his own rights, his title to the city of Philadelphia 
 was certainly good ; for inasmuch as the charter of the State 
 of Maryland extended to the 40th degree of north latitude, 
 it included the whole of that degree, and was not to be 
 limited by the beginning. 
 
 But to resume our history. After the party reached Phila- 
 delphia with their prisoner he was committed to jail; but 
 for some reasons not recollected it seems they soon grew 
 weary of their guest and wanted him to go home, which he 
 refused to do until liberated, I believe by order of the King. 
 During all the time of the colonel's captivity Mrs. Cresap, 
 with her children, took shelter in an Indian town on Con- 
 doms, near Little York, where they were received and hos- 
 pitably supported by the Indians until he returned to his 
 family. Soon after this Colonel Cresap removed to Antietam, 
 on a valuable farm called the Long Meadows, now in posses- 
 sion of the Sprigg family. On this farm he built a house of 
 stone over a spring, designed as a fort, because he was on 
 the frontier and in advance of a white population. He now 
 commenced as an Indian trader,- and borrowed from Mr. 
 Dulany £500, to aid him in his business. Having provided 
 a large quantity of skins and furs, he shipped them for 
 England. But fortune still frowned. The ship was taken 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 33 
 
 by the French, with all his skins and furs, and once more 
 he was compelled to begin the world anew. In this dilemma 
 he sent for Mr. Dulany, stated his loss, and oifered him his 
 land — about 1,400 acres — for the debt. Mr. Dulany acceded 
 to the projDosal, and Colonel Cresap made another remove, 
 to the place now called Old Town, but by himself called Skip- 
 ton, after the place of his nativity. This place is a few miles 
 above the junction of the North and South branches of the 
 Potomac, on the North fork, and at length became the place 
 of his permanent residence; and here he acquired an im- 
 mense landed estate on both sides of the river — i. e.^ in Vir- 
 ginia and Maryland. It was, perhaps, about this time, or 
 soon after, that, having renewed his acquaintance with the 
 Washington family, he entered conjointly into an association 
 with two or three gentlemen of this name — of whom, I think 
 the General was one — Colonel George Mason, and many other 
 gentlemen in England and America, and formed what was 
 called " The Ohio Company." This Company made the first 
 English settlement at Pittsburg before Braddock's war ; and 
 it was through their means and eflforts that the first path was 
 traced through that vast chain of mountains called the Alle- 
 gheny. Colonel Cresap, as one of that Company, and active 
 agent thereof in this section of the country, employed an 
 honest and friendly Indian to lay out and mark a road from 
 Cumberland to Pittsburg. This Indian's name was Nema- 
 colin ; and he did his work so well that General Braddock 
 with his army pursued the same path, which thenceforward 
 took the name of Braddock's road, and which does not at this 
 day materially differ from the present great National Road. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the exertions and influence of 
 this Company had a strong tendency to accelerate the explor- 
 ation and settlement of the Western country. They were, in 
 
34 LIFE OF CAPTAIJy- CRESAP. 
 
 fact, and might truly be said to be the corps of Pioneers that 
 opened the way to that immense flood of population we now 
 see spreading like a mighty torrent to the Pacific Ocean; 
 and it may not, perhaps, be amiss at this place to state a 
 circumstance, perfectly in my memory, demonstrative of that 
 energetic and enterprising spirit always so conspicuous in the 
 character of Colonel Cresap. The circumstance I allude to 
 is a plan conceived and digested by the old gentleman when, 
 I believe, upward of ninety years of age ; it was to explore 
 and examine the country quite to the Western ocean, and it 
 appeared so rational and practicable, that if he had beeli 
 thirty years younger it is probable he would himself have 
 tested its practicability. 
 
 But to return. We do not pretend to say that all those 
 efforts and exertions of the Ohio Company were purely dis- 
 interested. Not so ; nor would it be reasonable to expect it. 
 On the contrary, they felt the impulse of a strong excitement 
 from a most powerful motive, viz : self-interest. They had 
 the promise from the King and court of Great Britain of a 
 grant for 500,000 acres of land on the Ohio, and this land was 
 actually surveyed in 1775, but our Revolution prevented the 
 consummation of the title. But let their motive be what it 
 might, the Nation, it must be acknowledged, is under obliga- 
 tions to this Company, and especially to the bold and enter- 
 prising spirit of *Colonel Cresap for an early knowledge and 
 acquisition of the country west of the Allegheny mountains. 
 
 But there is a very material fact not to be forgotten in the 
 annals of our history, to-wit : that soon after the settlement 
 made at Pittsburg, under the auspices and at the expense of 
 the Ohio Company, the place was taken possession of by the 
 
 *I have among my papers a bill paid by Colonel Cresap to an old fellow for digging 
 Sideling Hill, amounting to £25. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^^ C RE SAP, 35 
 
 French, who built a Fort, and which they called Duquesne. 
 This place being considered all-important as w^ell by England 
 as by France, soon became a bone of contention ; a war en- 
 sued, which cost England two hot-headed Scotch Generals, 
 Braddock and Grant — the latter I believe was only a colonel 
 — and their armies many subsequent battles and much blood 
 and treasure to regain possession of this place, and it is pos- 
 sible, I think, that the great battle between Wolf and 
 Montcalm on the plains of Abraham, near Quebec, decided 
 the fate of the whole Western country. 
 
 This war, which is known and distinguished in this country 
 by the term of Braddock's War, placed Colonel Cresap and 
 his family in a perilous situation. The settlers around him 
 were few and thinly scattered, and the settlement in fact was 
 broken up. Colonel Cresap removed his family to Conoco- 
 cheague, but he was compelled to fight his way, for he had 
 advanced but five or six miles on his journey when he was 
 attacked by some Indians. They did no injury, however, 
 and were soon dispersed — after which he proceeded without 
 further molestation. 
 
 It appears, however, that he did not remain an idle specta- 
 tor of these scenes of blood and devastation that threatened 
 ruin and desolation to the infant settlements on the head of 
 the Potomac. He raised a company of volunteers, and 
 marched to attack his Indian enemies whenever and wher- 
 ever he might find them. He pursued, it seems, Braddock's 
 road, not expecting, it is probable, to meet with the enemy un- 
 til he had crossed the mountains ; but if so, he was deceived, 
 for he met a small party of Indians just on the west foot of 
 the Savage mountain ; a battle ensued, and his son Thomas 
 was killed by an Indian ; but as both fired at the same time, 
 he also killed the Indian, or so badly wounded him that he 
 
36 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 was killed a few minutes afterward by William Lynn. 
 Nothing more, I believe, was done at this time or place, and 
 the party returned home. 
 
 Colonel Cresap, however, soon got together another com- 
 pany of volunteers, and with his two surviving sons — Daniel 
 and Michael — and a negro of gigantic stature, marched again, 
 taking the same route on Braddock's road. They advanced 
 this time as far as Negro mountain, where they met a party 
 of Indians. A running fight took place; Cresap's party 
 killed an Indian and the Indians killed the negro ; and it was 
 this circumstance — the death of the negro on the mountain — 
 that has immortalized his name by fixing it on this ridge 
 forever. This was, I believe, Colonel Cresap's last battle with 
 the Indians, for after peace was made, he returned to his farm 
 at Old Town, and what I have further to say respecting 
 Colonel Cresap will be rather in the disjunctive and desultory 
 way. 
 
 The reader has not forgotten, perhaps, that I have already 
 mentioned the name of the Indian Nemacolin, employed by 
 Colonel Cresap to lay out the road to Pittsburg. Now so 
 strong was the affection of this Indian for Colonel Cresap and 
 his family, that he not only spent much of his time with them, 
 but before he finally went away, brought his son George and 
 left him with the family to raise; and it is a fact within my 
 own knowledge that this George lived and died in the family. 
 
 Again, at the time of Colonel Cresap's Conojacular war 
 with the Pennites, they hired an Indian to go to his house and 
 kill him. The Indian accordingly went to the Colonel's house, 
 and continued lounging about several days, reluctant savage 
 as he was to commit such cold blooded murder, until at length 
 overcome with the kindness of the family, he confessed the 
 whole, and went away in peace. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAlJsr CRESAP, 37 
 
 Once more, while the Indians were carrying on the desola- 
 ting war already noticed upon the head waters of the Potomac, 
 and other frontier settlements, they one day made an attack 
 upon Colonel Cresap's fort, at his own house, near Old Town. 
 They killed a Mr. Wilder,* who happened to be some distance 
 from the fort ; but the attack was feeble, easily repelled, and 
 the Indian was killed who killed Mr. Wilder. But a certain 
 old Indian named Kill-buck contrived to get under a bridge 
 over a mill race, about one hundred and fifty yards from the 
 fort, where he lay quietly and patiently, two or three days 
 and nights, with the sole view of killing old Cresap, whom he 
 never saw during the whole time ; and to add to his mortifica- 
 tion, one day, while lying under the bridge, an old woman 
 coming on the bridge, stopped directly over him, and let her 
 water upon him. Now, whether this old fellow had ever 
 heard of the Philosopher Socrates and his wife Xantippe, I 
 know not ; but certain it is, that under similar circumstances 
 he was more passive and silent than even Socrates himself. 
 For this story we are indebted to Kill-buck himself, or it 
 would have remained a secret forever. 
 
 Although we believe every man is under the protection of 
 Providence, yet from these anecdotes it would seem to appear 
 
 * As Mr. Saml. Wilder was going to a house of his about 300 yards Distant from mine with 
 4 men and several women, the Indians rushed on them from a rising Groaned, but they per- 
 ceving them coming, Run towards my house hollowing, which being heard by those at ray 
 house, they run to their assistance and met them and tne Indians at the Entrance of my lane, 
 on which the Indians Immdiately fired on them to the amount of 18 or Twenty and Killed 
 Mr. Wilder, — the party of white men Returned their fire and killed one of them dead on the 
 Spot and wounded severall of the others as appeared by Considerable Quantity of Blood 
 strewed on the Ground as they Run off, which they Immdiately did, and by their leaving 
 behind them 3 Gunns, one pistole and Sundry other Emplements of warr &c. &c. 
 
 I have Inclosed a List of the Desolate men. Women and Children who have fled to my 
 house which is Inclosed by a small stockade for safety, by which you'll see what a number of 
 poor Souls, destitute of Every necessary of Life are here penned up and likely to be Butchered 
 without Immdiate Relief and assistance, and cad Expect none, unless from the province to 
 which they Belong. I shall submitt to your wiser Judgment the Best and most Effectual 
 method for Such Relief, and shall Conclude with hoping we shall have it in time. — Extract 
 from a Letter from Colonel Thomas Oreaap to Governor Sharpe^ of Maryland. 
 
38 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP. 
 
 that this old gentleman was most specially and peculiarly 
 preserved. 
 
 Colonel Cresap's literary attainments were small ; the inci- 
 dents and unpropitious circumstances of his early life were 
 such as to preclude and forbid every thing of this nature. 
 His mind was, however, vigorous, comprehensive and strong; 
 for notwithstanding the defect in his early education, and all 
 the disadvantage of acquiring scientific knowledge in mature 
 age, yet by industry and application he obtained a sufficient 
 knowledge of mathematics to be entrusted with the surveyor- 
 ship of Prince George's county;* and such also was his decis- 
 sion and energy of mind, that he frequently represented his 
 county in the Legislature, and for clearness of understanding, 
 soundness of judgment, and firmness of mind, he was es- 
 teemed one of the best members. 
 
 Perhaps no part of Colonel Cresap's character was more 
 estimated than his benevolence and hospitality. In early 
 times when there were but few taverns, and those few were 
 very indifferent, his house at Old Town was open and his 
 table spread for all decent travelers, and they were welcome. 
 His delight was to give and receive useful information ; nor 
 was this friendly disposition limited to white people only. 
 The Indians generally called on him in pretty large parties as 
 they passed and repassed from JN'orth to South on their war 
 expeditions, and for which special purpose he kept a very 
 large kettle for their use ; and he also generally gave them a 
 beef to kill for themselves every time they called, and his 
 liberality toward them gained for him among them the hon- 
 orable title of the Big-s])oon. 
 
 His person was not large but firmly set, and his muscu- 
 lar strength was very great; he had a sound constitution, 
 
 * This county at that time comprehended Montgomery, Frederick, Washington and Alle- 
 gheny. 
 
LIFE OF CAFTAIM CRESAP. 39 
 
 and lived to the uncommon age of one hundred and five or 
 six. About the age of three score and ten he undertook and 
 performed a voyage to England, and came back in safety, 
 bringing with him four nieces — sister's daughters* — one of 
 whom, an ancient woman, is still living. While in London, 
 Colonel Cresap was commissioned by Lord Baltimore to run 
 the western line of Maryland, with a view to ascertain which 
 of the two branches of the Potomac was the largest, and 
 which was in reality the fountain-head or first source of that 
 river.f I recollect having heard Colonel Cresap say that 
 many years ago some gentlemen who were appointed commis- 
 sioners to settle this question, came up to the junction of the 
 two branches, but considering it difficult and dangerous to 
 proceed further, measured the width and depth of the rivers, 
 and finding the north branch the widest and deepest, reported 
 accordingly. 
 
 On his return home he employed surveyors and run the 
 line, as follows : A due north line from the head spring of 
 the north branch to intersect the Pennsylvania line, and then 
 beginning at the head spring of the south branch and running 
 a parallel line north to the Pennsylvania line. It was thus 
 discovered that the line from the head of the south branch 
 was twelve miles west of that drawn from the north branch ; 
 hence it is probable that if our Revolution had not dissolved 
 the charter of Baltimore and Fairfax, that the high Court 
 
 * I am aware that public report has attached a different and unfavorable character to these 
 women, but they were really his nieces. Three of them married, and one returned to 
 England. 
 
 t The original autograph map was made by Colonel Cresap, in the neat style of a good 
 country surveyor, and sent by him to Governor Sharpe. It came to Mr. Gilmor's possession 
 with many other of the "Ridout Papers," and is attested by Horatio Ridout, whose father 
 was Sharpe's secretary. This was the first map ever made to show the course and fountains 
 of the north and south branches of the Potomac river, in regard to which there has been so 
 much controversy between Maryland and Virginia. — Gilmor MSS., Maryland Papers, vol. 1, 
 Portfolio of " Surveys, Letters^ etc., connected vnth the running of the Division line between 
 Maryland and Pennsyloania" 
 
 4 
 
40 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 of Chancery in Great Britain would have had an important 
 cause to decide; but as the case now stands, it is a ques- 
 tion between the two States of Maryland and Virginia, 
 which may, it is possible, in some future day become a 
 subject of inquiry and investigation. 
 
 A few more remarks and I am done with Colonel Cresap. 
 When he was upward of eighty years old he married a sec- 
 ond wife, and at the age of about one hundred, performed 
 a journey, partly by sea and partly by land, from his resi- 
 dence at Old Town to an island near the British Province 
 of Nova Scotia, and returned in safety. From this we seem 
 warranted in asserting, that had Providence — or chance if you 
 like the word better — placed Colonel Cresap at the head of an 
 army, or state, or kingdom, he would have been a more con- 
 spicuous character. He was not inferior to Charles XII of 
 Sweden in personal bravery ; nor to Peter the Great of Rus- 
 sia — whom in many things he much resembled — in coolness 
 and fortitude, or that peculiar talent of learning experience 
 from misfortune, and levying a tax upon damage and loss to 
 raise him to future prosperity and success. 
 
 Having now done with Colonel Cresap, I must entreat the 
 reader's patience while I enter with some minuteness upon a 
 catalogue of the Cresap family. I have already assigned — 
 and need not repeat them — weighty reasons for pursuing this 
 course. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Cresap had fiYe children; three sons — Dan- 
 iel, Thomas and Michael; and two daughters — Sarah and 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Daniel was a plain man — the patriarch of the day and 
 country in which he lived — a man of sober habits, great in- 
 dustry, economy and temperance. Like Jacob of old, agricul- 
 ture was his occupation and delight ; and in the midst of his 
 
LIFE OF CAFTAIJ^ CRESAF. 41 
 
 family, his flocks, and his herds, he spent his days and ac- 
 quired immense wealth. He was proverbially the poor man's 
 friend, and has been known, in scarce times, to refuse to sell 
 corn to those who had money, that he might have enough to 
 supply those who had none; and I suspect this original, 
 although faithful portrait, has but few copies. What a pity. 
 
 I do not purpose writing the lives of all the Cresaps, yet 
 there are a few circumstances in this man's life that deserve 
 recording, especially as they have a remote bearing on the 
 main object of this work, namely: to show that the public 
 are greatly deceived in their opinion of the Cresap family 
 respecting Indians and Indian affairs. 
 
 Old Nemacolin, the Indian already mentioned, was very in- 
 timate with and spent much of his time in the family of 
 Daniel Cresap. They agreed one day to go out on a bear 
 hunt, and after getting into what they thought proper ground, 
 they separated, having fixed upon a place known to both 
 where they would meet. Cresap pursued his way to the top of 
 the Allegheny mountain, and soon started and treed some cubs. 
 Anxious to get the cubs, and to learn his dog to fight them, 
 he ascended the tree ; but the cubs still moving higher, he 
 pursued until the limbs of the tree broke, and down came 
 Cresap and cubs to the ground — or rather to the stones — ^for 
 it happened on a rough, stony piece of ground. This fall 
 from such a height, and among stones, broke his bones, and 
 nearly took his life. He lay on the ground motionless and 
 senseless until the old Indian, who not finding him at the 
 time and place agreed upon, and supposing that something 
 had befallen him, had the good fortune to find him, after dili- 
 gent search, in the situation above described ; but his wounds 
 and bruises were such that he could not be moved. Nem- 
 acolin, moved with compassion, went to his house and in- 
 
42 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 formed his wife, and between them with the aid of a horse 
 and litter they took him to his home. 
 
 I tell the reader this story not only to show the habits of 
 intimacy between the Cresap family and the Indians, but it 
 was this circumstance— or his dwelling in the vicinity of the 
 mountain — that has immortalized his name ; for it was from- 
 him that the ridge of the Allegheny mountain called Dan's 
 Mountain took its name, and which I presume is fixed on it 
 forever. 
 
 Daniel Cresap — son of Colonel Thomas — ^had by his firs^ 
 wife one son, Michael, who commanded a company in Dun- 
 more's war, and was afterward colonel of the militia of 
 Hampshire County, Virginia, who is dead ; and by a second 
 wife he had seven sons and three daughters, to-wit : Thomas, 
 Daniel, Joseph, Yan, Robert, James, and Thomas again; 
 and Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. Thomas died young. 
 
 Daniel Cresap — son of Daniel — was a lieutenant in his uncle 
 Michael's company of Riflemen, who marched to Boston 
 in 1775 ; was afterward colonel of the militia of Allegheny 
 county, Maryland, and also commanded a regiment in Gene- 
 ral Lee's army against the whisky boys. He died on his 
 return from this expedition. 
 
 Joseph, his second son by his second wife, was also with his 
 uncle in Dunmore's war, although very young. He was in 
 both expeditions : that commanded by McDonald, and also 
 in that commanded by Dunmore in person. He also marched 
 to Boston in the company commanded by his uncle, and was 
 one of his lieutenants. He has often represented the county 
 of Allegheny, Maryland, in the Legislature, and was lastly a 
 member of the Senate. He is still living, is a man of wealth 
 and respectability, has been four times married, and has a 
 krge family of children. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CBESAP. 43 
 
 Van, his fourth son, is dead. He left two sons and two 
 daughters, three of whom are still living, have families, and 
 are respectable. 
 
 Robert, like his father, is a plain, domestic man. His 
 habits of industry and economy have produced their natural 
 results — wealth and independence — and in respect to wealth, 
 is among the first in Allegheny county. He is yet living, 
 and has a large family of children. 
 
 James is rich and very popular ; has often represented his 
 county in the State Legislature, and has a fine family of chil- 
 dren. He is still living. 
 
 Thomas, his youngest son, occupies his father's old mansion 
 house, and is highly respectable ; has also represented his 
 county in the State Legislature ; is at present one of the 
 judges of the Orphan's Court; is living, and has a large 
 family of children. 
 
 And now may I not ask : how many fathers have so many 
 sons honorable to their family and in such high estimation 
 among their fellow citizens ? 
 
 Elizabeth, his eldest daughter, was married to Thomas 
 Collins, Esq., of Hampshire county, Virginia. They are both 
 dead, but left several children, one of whom is — or was — 
 colonel of the militia of Hampshire, but he has removed to 
 Maryland. 
 
 Mary, his second daughter, was unfortunate in her mar- 
 riage, but her dissipated husband is dead, and she has several 
 fine children. 
 
 Sarah, his youngest daughter, is married to Aquilla A. 
 Brown, Esq., attorney at law ; they reside in Philadelphia, 
 are wealthy and respectable, and have several fine children. 
 
 Thomas Cresap — second son of Colonel Thomas — was, as 
 already related, killed by an Indian, but both firing at the 
 
44 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 same instant, killed each other. He was married and left a 
 widow and one female child. This daughter of Thomas Cre- 
 sap, Jr., was first married to a Mr. Brent, a lawyer, by whom 
 she had a son and daughter, both still living. Her son 
 Thomas Brent, Esq., lives in Washington county, Maryland, 
 and is wealthy and respectable. She was afterward married 
 to John Reid, Esq., of Allegheny county ; they had several 
 children, one of which, William Reid, Esq., is now a repre- 
 sentative for his county. 
 
 Michael Cresap, the subject of this memoir and youngest 
 son of Colonel Thomas, left five children — two sons and three 
 daughters. But as the daughters were the oldest we will be- 
 gin with them : 
 
 Mary, the eldest daughter, was married to Luther Martin, 
 Esq., Attorney Greneral of Maryland. She is dead, and has 
 left two daughters, one of whom is also dead. 
 
 Elizabeth, the second daughter, married Lenox Martin, 
 Esq., — brother of Luther. He was also raised to the profes- 
 sion of the law, and was for a period a practitioner, but is 
 now a justice of the peace, and resides in Allegheny county, 
 near Old Town. Himself and wife are both living, and have 
 a large family of children. 
 
 Sarah, the youngest daughter, married Osborn Sprigg, Esq. 
 They are both dead, but left four sons, one of whom (Michael) 
 is a popular character, and at present is a candidate for Con- 
 gress with a fair prospect of success. 
 
 James, the eldest son, was first married to a Miss Reid, 
 but she dying young, he afterward married Mrs. Vanbiber, 
 widow of Mr. Abraham Vanbiber, of Baltimore, by whom 
 he had one son, Luther Martin Cresap, who is still living, 
 but his father is dead. 
 
 Michael, youngest son of Captain Michael, married a Miss 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 45 
 
 Ogle, a young lady raised by his mother. They live on the 
 Ohio river, have several fine children, and are wealthy and 
 respectable. 
 
 Sarah, daughter of Colonel Thomas Cresap, was twice 
 married ; first to Colonel Enoch Innis, and afterward to a Mr. 
 John Foster. They are all dead, and she had no children. 
 
 Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Colonel Thomas Cre- 
 sap, was married to a Mr. Isaac Collier, from Pennsylvania, 
 who was rather a dissipated character. They are both dead, 
 but left several children, who reside in the States of Kentucky, 
 Ohio and Alabama, and all of them are wealthy and respect- 
 able. 
 
 Thus have I brought into public view this numerous and 
 respectable family, that it may at once be seen how many 
 persons and characters of the first estimation, who move in 
 the highest circles of society wherever they dwell, and who 
 certainly — in a comparative view — stand upon equal ground 
 with any family of the United States ; and where, permit me 
 to add, shall we find a catalogue of names, all of the same 
 stock and family, so free from blemishes and so equally and 
 generally respectable. I regret that there should be any ex- 
 ceptions, but they are few. And shall I, who know them all, 
 and know that the charges against one of the most conspicu- 
 ous characters of this family are most untrue ; knowing, I say, 
 as I do, that Captain Michael Cresap was neither a man in- 
 famous for his many Indian murders nor the cause of Dun- 
 more' s war — with this conviction upon my mind, with the 
 truth before me as clear as the resplendent beams of the sun 
 — shall I, or can I, remain silent when I have it in my 
 power most positively and completely to refute all these 
 charges? Surely I shall be pardoned if, contrary to my 
 wish or intention, any warmth or disrespectful expression to- 
 
46 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 ward Captain Cresap's accuser should unguardedly drop from 
 my pen, for I verily believe few circumstances in life can 
 have a stronger tendency to irritation and warmth of excite- 
 ment than to be contradicted, browbeaten and pertinaciously 
 opposed as to the truth of a well known fact, especially in all 
 cases where the character of a friend is calumniated, and, 
 contrary to truth and reason, is consigned, or attempted to be 
 consigned, to public execration and infamy. 
 
 If indeed Captain Cresap was the man represented by Mr. 
 Jefferson — infamous for his many Indian murders — or if as Mr. 
 Doddridge, of recent date, asserts, he was the cause of Bun- 
 more' s war^ the public would never have heard from me. I 
 should neither have stained paper nor opened my mouth. 
 But conscious as I am that there is not a word of truth in all 
 this, I stand upon terra firma ; I set my feet upon this immu- 
 table basis of truth, stretch out my hand and defy the world ! 
 I am no Cresap ; his widow, it is true, was my wife, and he 
 was my friend ; my more than friend — my foster father. The 
 world will therefore judge how far I should be excusable 
 were I to remain silent in a cause so just, in a case so clear. 
 JN'ay! like one of old, we say: ''We cannot but speak of the 
 things we have seen and heard,"*^ 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 A brief sketch of the life of Captain Cresapl's youth up to the 
 
 year 1774. 
 
 It is not my view in this work to give the public a de- 
 tailed or particular history of the life of Captain Cresap, 
 but only so much and such parts as is deemed necessary 
 to present his life as a whole portrait sufficiently united in 
 symmetry — to present in full view a character not known, 
 but little understood though much abused by those who 
 judge without knowledge and condemn without reason. 
 
 He was/' as has been already stated, the youngest son of 
 Colonel Thomas Cresap, of Frederick — but now Allegheny 
 —county, Maryland, and was born on the 29th day of June, 
 1742. The remoteness of Colonel Cresap's habitation from 
 a dense population, or any seminary of learning, induced 
 the old gentleman to send his son Michael to a school in 
 Baltimore county, kept by the Rev. Mr. Craddock; but 
 young Cresap being a backwoods boy, and -speckled bird 
 among his school fellows, had to fight his way into their 
 good graces, which, I think, he soon effected, and became 
 their champion. Not relishing, however, the restraints of a 
 school, or for some other cause, he ran away, and traveled 
 home on foot, a distance of 140 miles. But his father, far 
 from sanctioning any such conduct, gave the poor fellow a 
 terrible whipping and sent him back, where thenceforward 
 he steadily remained until he had finished his education; 
 »oon after which he married a Miss Whitehead, of Philar 
 
48 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP. 
 
 delphia — ^both very young — and settling in a little village 
 near his father's residence, commenced life as a merchant. 
 He imported his goods first from London, dealt largely, 
 and well nigh ruined himself from his benevolence and mis- 
 placed confidence in his customers. A circumstance also 
 occurred about this time that injured him most materially. 
 The gentleman who acted as agent for the London mer- 
 chant from whom he received his goods, wrote to him that 
 Cresap was a suspicious character, and that he was under 
 the apprehension he intended to remove to some place in 
 the Western country where he would be out of the reach 
 of the law. But this story came to the ears of Captain 
 Cresap; his goods were withheld and the cause discovered. 
 The consequence was that a dreadful battle ensued between 
 Cresap and this agent, whose name I forbear to mention. 
 This dreadful battle was fought in a private room in Fred- 
 ericktown, and I am under the impression that no other 
 person was present. But Captain Cresap soon discovered 
 that fighting did not fill his coffers, and however other 
 men — as Cyrus, Alexander and Napoleon — might amass 
 wealth and treasure from the science of war and man-kill- 
 ing, yet it had an inverse operation on his- funds, as will 
 appear in the sequel of his history. 
 
 But to return from this digression. Captain Cresap, 
 from the causes above recited, discovered that his affairs 
 were in a ruinous condition, and might be said to be daily 
 growing worse. From the peculiar circumstances of the 
 times, the tide of emigration began to flow with great rapid- 
 ity to the West, and his debtors, some to a large amount, 
 were daily removing to the land of milk and honey. He 
 now discovered that he had dealt upon too liberal a scale, 
 and though late, determined to be more cautious in the 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. m 
 
 future. I was in his store at this time, and was strictly 
 charged by him to trust no man unless I knew him to be 
 good; but if at any time he was caught in the store him- 
 self — which sometimes happened — a plausible story from a 
 man, or a piteous tale from a woman, would soon demolish 
 all the fortifications about his heart ; and the result was, 
 turning to me, he would say : John, let this man or this 
 woman have what they want! and soon after leave the 
 store for fear of another attack. 
 
 Captain Cresap's whole deportment, in all his various 
 relations, diversified scenes and circumstances, exhibited the 
 character of a benevolent, noble and generous spirit. He 
 was a man of uncommon energy, enterprise and decision — 
 plan and execution with him followed in rapid succession, 
 and as already remarked, the deranged and unpropitious 
 aspect of his affairs determined him to adopt some judi- 
 cious and feasible plan to rescue his sinking fortune from 
 ruin. The case admitted of no parley or delay; nor was 
 his character of a complexion to hesitate. He saw a way 
 open, and that way he boldly pursued, conscious that he 
 must emerge from the ocean of difficulty in which he was 
 involved or sink. Thus urged by necessity — prompted by 
 a laudable ambition and allured by the rational and exhil- 
 arating prospect before him — he thought he saw in the rich 
 bottoms of the Ohio an ample fund if he succeeded in se- 
 curing a title to those lands, not only to redeem his credit 
 and extricate himself from his difficulty, but also to afford 
 a respectable competency for a rising family. 
 
 Under the impression of this idea, and with every rational 
 prospect of success, early in the Spring of the year 1774, 
 he engaged six or seven active young men, under the wages 
 of £2 IO5 0(Z, each per month, and repairing to the then 
 
50 LIFE OF CAPTdlJV CRESAP. 
 
 wilderness of the Ohio, commenced the business of building 
 houses and clearing lands; and being one of the first adven- 
 turers into this exposed and dangerous region, he had it in 
 his power to select some of the best and richest of the Ohio 
 bottoms. But, while thus peaceably and diligently engaged 
 in the prosecution of his object, he was suddenly arrested 
 by a circular letter from Major Connoly, the Earl of Dun- 
 more's Vice-Governor of Western Virginia, and command- 
 ant at Pittsburg. This letter was sent by express in every 
 direction through the country, warning the inhabitants to be 
 on their guard ; that the Indians were very angry and man- 
 ifested such a hostile disposition that it was evident they 
 would fall on the inhabitants somewhere. As soon as the 
 season would permit, this letter was sent to Captain Cre- 
 sap, accompanied with a confirmatory message from Colonel 
 Croghan and Alexander M'Gee, Esq., Indian agents and 
 interpreters. The result was, that Captain Cresap immedi- 
 ately abandoned his object, and ascended the Ohio to Fort 
 Wheeling, the nearest place of safety. 
 
 As I shall give the reader a more ample detail of the 
 whole affair in my next chapter, I shall waive any further 
 remarks at this time, save only that from the foregoing 
 statement, which I am confident is substantially correct, 
 it is most apparent that Captain Cresap 's primary, yea, 
 only object in leaving his family and stationing himself on 
 the banks of the Ohio, in the Spring of the year 1774, was 
 to secure and improve some lands on; that river ; and con- 
 sequently, that an Indian war would be to him, above all 
 men, most disastrous, and therefore to be deprecated and 
 dreaded as opposed to all his golden dreams of ease and 
 affluence in declining life — and this single circumstance will 
 serve as a key to all subsequent facts, and tend to open 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 61 
 
 and elucidate the natural results, causes and effects, as it 
 should seem inevitably growing out of this state of things 
 at this period. 
 
 Captain Cresap's loss and sacrifice on this occasion, 
 affords an auxiliary and powerful argument in support of 
 what is remarked above; for in addition to the paralyzing 
 and blasted views now presented to his mind respecting his 
 own lands, his expenses must have amounted to nearly £30 
 per month — adding subsistence, at such a distance from any 
 place where provisions could be obtained — to the monthly 
 wages of his men. He had also with him the necessary 
 furniture and camp equipage, which he foresaw must be, 
 and I believe was, finally lost. 
 
 May I not then be permitted to repeat, that it must be 
 evident that no man of sane mind — that none but a mad- 
 man—could under these circumstances, at this time, have 
 wished for an Indian war. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Ihmmore^s war — preliminary remarks — inquiry into the cause — 
 Connoly's circular letter — state of the Western country in 
 the year 1774 — Captain Cresajp imfromng lands — ascent 
 to Fori Wheeling — two Indians killed in a canoe — subse- 
 quent affair with the Indians — skirmish on the Ohio — 
 quarrel with Connoly^ and return to his family — Commis- 
 sion from and implied approbation of the Earl of Bunmore 
 — Major McDonald'' s expedition to Wappatomica — Dun- 
 morels campaign — Treaty at Chillicothe — conclusion of the 
 war. 
 
 It will appear from the bill of fare, or short analysis of 
 the various subjects embraced in the chapter before us, 
 that we are now entering into an extensive field; a field 
 so fraught with important matter, that it will require the 
 closest attention, and utmost accuracy to delineate in their 
 true colors the various and multifarious scenes -through which 
 we are destined to travel ; and inasmuch as what I am now 
 about to detail may become matter of record to succeeding 
 ages, I cannot but feel an uncommon solicitude to keep close 
 in the straight path of truth, and therefore, it is my design, 
 while I speak positively as to known facts, to be cautious and 
 guarded in my expressions as to doubtful subjects. 
 
 And permit me to add that I am now old, and as all the 
 facts and circumstances I am now about to record, are also old 
 — obsolete, and to most men of this generation unknown, and 
 I believe nearly obliterated from the memory of my co-equals 
 
LIFE OF GAFTAIK CRESAF. 63 
 
 in age — neither is my memory very tenacious ; it is therefore 
 possible I may be mistaken in the detail of some trivial cir- 
 cumstances, and I now promise, that if a reader should dis- 
 cover any such mistake of sufficient importance to merit cor- 
 rection, I will then freely do it — provided he is right and I 
 am wrong. 
 
 The question of justice, or injustice, as to the means used 
 by the American nation in the acquisition of the Indians' 
 lands, and their gradual expulsion from their native seats, 
 farther and still farther West, I leave to be settled among 
 statesmen and philosophers, who have more leisure and better 
 talents for the discussion ; but it is certain that our quarrel 
 with the Indians, or their quarrel with us, is nearly coeval 
 with our earliest settlement on this continent. It is true 
 that we have had many treaties, and often made peace, with 
 our aboriginal neighbors, but this state of things was never 
 permanent. The restless, roving disposition of the Indians, 
 whose only business is hunting and war, together with the 
 frequent encroachments of the white people on their lands 
 and hunting grounds, soon kindled again the fire-brands of 
 war, which was generally protracted and destructive in its 
 effects in proportion to the number of Indian nations engaged, 
 and their aggregate numerical strength. 
 
 At this period, to-wit : in the commencement of the year 
 1774, there existed between our people and the Indians, a 
 kind of doubtful, precarious and suspicious peace. In the 
 year 1773, they killed a certain John Martin and Gruy Meeks, 
 (Indian traders), on the Hockhocking, and robbed them of 
 about £200 worth of goods. They were much irritated with 
 our people, who were about this time settling Kentucky, and 
 with them they waged an unceasing and destructive predatory 
 war ; and whoever saw an Indian in Kentucky saw an enemy 
 
54 LIFE OF CAPTAIJSr CRESAP, 
 
 — no questions were asked on either side but from the muz- 
 zles of their rifles. Many other circumstances at this period 
 combined to show that our peace with the Indians rested upon 
 such dubious and uncertain ground, that it must soon be dis- 
 persed by a whirlwind of war and carnage, and as I consider 
 this an all-important point in the thread of our history, and 
 an interesting link in the chain of causes combining to pro- 
 duce Dunmore's war, I will present the reader with another 
 fact directly in point; it is extracted from the journal of 
 Esquire M'Connel, in my possession. Esquire M'Connel says, 
 that about the 3d day of March, 1774, while himself and six 
 other men, who were in company with him, were asleep in 
 their camp in the night, they were awakened by the fierce 
 barking of their dogs, and thought they saw something like 
 men creeping toward them. Alarmed at this, they sprang 
 up, seized their rifles and flew to trees. By this time one 
 Indian had reached their fire, but hearing them cock their 
 guns, drew back, stumbled and fell. The whole party now 
 came up, and appearing friendly, he ordered his men not to 
 fire, and shook hands with his new guests. They tarried all 
 night, and appeared so friendly, prevailed with him and 
 one of his men to go with them to their town, at no great 
 distance from their camp; but when they arrived, he was 
 taken with his companion to their council — or war house — a 
 war dance was performed around them, and the war club 
 shook at, or over, them, and they were detained close prisoners 
 and narrowly guarded for two or three days. A council was 
 held over them, and it was decreed that they should be threat- 
 ened severely and discharged, provided they would give their 
 women some flour and salt. Being dismissed, they set out 
 on their journey to their camp, but met on their way abdut 
 twenty-five warriors and some boys ; a second council was 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 55 
 
 held over them, and it was decreed that they should not be 
 killed, but robbed, which was accordingly done, and all their 
 flour, salt, powder and lead, and all their rifles that were good, 
 were taken from them ; .and being further threatened, the In- 
 dians left them. As already noticed, this party consisted of 
 seven men, to-wit: Esquire M'Connel, Andrew M'Connel, 
 Lawrence Darnal, William Ganet, Matthew Riddle, John 
 Laferty, and Thomas Canady. 
 
 But I must advertise the reader here, that I have con- 
 densed, and not copied verbatim. Esquire M'Connel's journal 
 — it was too long to transcribe.* 
 
 We have also in reserve some material facts, that go to 
 show the aspect of affairs at this period, and that may be con- 
 sidered as evident precursors to an impending war. And it is 
 certainly not a trifling item in the catalogue of these events, 
 that early in the Spring of 1774 — whether precedent or sub- 
 sequent to Connoly's famous circular letter I am not prepared 
 to say, having no positive data ; but it was, however, about 
 this period — that the Indians killed two men in a canoe, be- 
 longing to a Mr. Butler,f of Pittsburg, and robbed the canoe 
 of the property therein. This was about the first of May, 
 1774, and took place near the mouth of Little Beaver, a small 
 creek that empties into the Ohio between Pittsburg and 
 Wheeling — and this fact is so certain and well established, 
 
 » Since writing this chapter, Mr. Joseph Cresap stated to me this fact, evincing the general 
 impression on the minds of the western people of an immediate attack from the Indians, He 
 says that in the month of April, in the year 1774, he was with some surveyors running lands 
 on Cheat river, about four miles above the Horse-shoe bottom ; that they were indistinctly dis- 
 covered by some hunters who reported that they were a party of Indians; that a company was 
 immediately raised in Tyger's Valley, who marched down about thirty miles to attack them, 
 but fortunately discovered their mistake before any mischief was done. 
 
 t Mr. William Butler, who seems not to have heeded the earlier warnings, had sent oflf a 
 canoe, loaded with goods for the Shawanese towns, and on the 16th of April it was attacked, 
 forty miles below Pittsburg, by three Chcrokees, who waylaid it on the river. They killed 
 one white man, wounded another, while a third made his escape, and the savages plundered 
 the canoe of the most valuable part of the cargo. — Discourse hy Brantz Mayer, delivered before 
 the Maryland Historical Society, p. 48. 
 
56 LIFE OF CAFTAIK CRESAP, 
 
 that Benjamin Tomlinson, Esq., — who is now living, and as- 
 sisted in burying the dead — can, and will, bear testimony to 
 its truth. 
 
 And, it is presumed, it was this circumstance that produced 
 that prompt and terrible vengeance, taken on the Indians at 
 Yellow Creek immediately after, to-wit : on the 3d of May, 
 which gave rise to, and furnished matter for, the pretended 
 lying speech of Logan, which I shall hereafter prove a counter- 
 feit ; and if it was genuine, yet a genuine fabrication of lies. 
 
 Thus we find from an examination into the state of affairs 
 in the West, that there was a pre-disposition to war at least 
 on the part of the Indians. But may we not suspect that 
 other latent causes, working behind the scenes, and in the 
 dark, were silently marching to the same result? 
 
 Be it remembered then, that this Indian war was but as 
 the portico to our Revolutionary war, the fuel for which was 
 then preparing, and which burst into a flame the ensuing 
 year. 
 
 Neither let us forget that the Earl of Dunmore was at this 
 time Governor of Virginia, and that he was acquainted with 
 the views and designs of the British Cabinet; can scarcely be 
 doubted. What then, suppose ye, would be the conduct of a 
 man, possessing his means, filling a high official station, at- 
 tached to the British Government, and master of consum- 
 mate diplomatic skill ? 
 
 Dunmore's penetrating eye could not but see — and he no 
 doubt did see — two all-important objects, that if accom- 
 plished, would go to subserve and promote the grand object 
 of the British Cabinet, viz : to establish an unbounded and 
 unrestrained authority over our JN'orth American continent. 
 
 These two objects were, first : setting the new settlers on 
 the west side of the Allegheny by the ears, and secondly, em- 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP, 
 
 Jbroiling the Western people in a war with the Indians. These 
 two objects accomj)lished, woukl place it in his power to 
 direct the storm to any and every point conducive to the 
 grand object he had in view. But as in the nature of the 
 thing he could not; and policy forbidding that he should 
 always appear personally in promoting and eifectuating these 
 bjects, it was necessary that he should obtain a confidential 
 agent attached to his person and to the British government, 
 and one that would promote his views — either publicly or 
 covertly — as circumstances required. 
 
 The materials for his first object were abundant, and 
 already prepared. The emigrants to the Western country 
 were almost all from the three States of Virginia, Mary- 
 land and Pennsylvania ; the line between the two States of 
 Virginia and Pennsylvania was unsettled, and both these 
 States claimed the whole of the Western country. This 
 motley mixture of men from different States did not har- 
 monize. The Virginians and Marylanders disliked the Penn- 
 sylvania laws — nor did the Pennsylvanians relish those of 
 Virginia — ^thus many disputes arose, and were sometimes 
 followed by battles, or broils, or fisticuffs. 
 
 The Earl of Dunmore, with becoming zeal for the honor 
 of the Ancient Dominion, seized this state of things as pro- 
 pitious to his views, and having found Dr. John Conoly, of 
 Pennsylvania, with whom, I think, he could not have had 
 much previous acquaintance, by the art of hocus-pocus — or 
 some other art — converted him into a staunch Virginian, 
 and appointed him Vice-Governor and commandant at Pitts- 
 burg and dependencies; that is to say, of all the Western 
 country. Affairs on that side of the mountain now began 
 to wear a serious aspect. Attempts were made by both 
 Stat ft to enforce thair laws, and the strong- arm of power 
 
58 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 and coercion was let loose by Virginia. Some magistrates 
 acting under the authority of Pennsylvania, were arrested, 
 sent to Virginia, and imprisoned. 
 
 But that the reader may be well assured that the hand 
 of Dunmore was in all this, I present him with a copy of 
 his Proclamation. It is, however, deficient as to date. 
 
 " Whereas, I have reason to apprehend that the govern- 
 "ment of Pennsylvania, in prosecution of their claims to Pitts- 
 ^'burg and its dependencies, will endeavor to obstruct His 
 "Majesty's government thereof, under my administration, by 
 "illegal and unwarrantable commitment of the officers I have 
 "appointed for that purpose, and that settlement is in some 
 "danger of annoyance from the Indians also, and it being 
 "necessary to support the dignity of His Majesty's govern- 
 "ment, and protect his subjects in the quiet and peaceable 
 "enjoyment of their rights. I have therefore thought proper, 
 "by and with the consent and advice of His Majesty's coun- 
 "cil, by this Proclamation in His Majesty's name, to order 
 "and require the officers of the militia in that district to 
 "embody a sufficient number of men, to repel any insult 
 "whatsoever, and all His Majesty's liege subjects within this 
 "colony, are hereby strictly required to be aiding and assist- 
 "ing therein, or they shall answer the contrary at their peril ; 
 "and I further enjoin and require the several inhabitants of 
 "the territories aforesaid, to pay His Majesty's quit-rents 
 "and public dues to such officers as are or shall be appointed 
 "to collect the same within this dominion, until His Majesty's 
 "pleasure therein shall be known." 
 
 It is much to be regretted that my copy of this Procla- 
 mation is without date ; there can, however, be no doubt it 
 was issued either in 1774, or early in 1775; and I am in- 
 clined to think it was issued in ^1774, but it would be satis- 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ\r CRESAP. 59 
 
 factory to know precisely the day, because chronology is the 
 soul of history. 
 
 But this state of things in the West, it seems from sub- 
 sequent events, was not the mere effervescence of a tran- 
 sient or momentary excitement, but continued a long season; 
 the seeds of discord had fallen unhappily on ground too 
 naturally productive, and were also too well cultivated by 
 the Earl of Dunmore, Connoly, and the Pennsylvania officers, 
 to evaporate in an^ instant. 
 
 We find by recurring to the history of our Revolutionary 
 war, that that awful tornado, if it had not the effect to sweep 
 away all disputes about State Rights and local interests, 
 yet it had the effect to silence and suspend every thing of 
 that nature pending our dubious and arduous struggle for 
 national existence; but yet we find, in fact, that whatever 
 conciliatory effect this state of things had upon other sec- 
 tions of the country, and upon the nation at large, yet it 
 was not sufficient to extinguish this fire in the West, for 
 in the latter end of the year 1776, or in the year 1777, we 
 find these people petitioning Congress to interpose their 
 authority, and redress their grievances. I have this peti- 
 tion before me, but it is too long to copy — I therefore only 
 give a short abstract. 
 
 It begins with stating that whereas, Virginia and Penn- 
 sylvania both set up claims to the Western country, it was 
 productive of the most serious and destructive consequences; 
 that as each State pertinaciously supported their respective 
 pretensions, the result was, as described by themselves, '[frauds j 
 impositions^ violences^ depredations^ animosities^''^ etc. 
 
 These evils they ascribe — as indeed the fact was — to the 
 conflicting claim of the two States ; and so warm were the 
 partisans on each side, as in some cases to produce battles 
 
60 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 and shedding of blood ; but they superadd another reason 
 for this ill humor, viz : the proceedings of Dunmore's warrant 
 officers in laying land warrants on lands claimed by others, 
 and many other claims for land granted by the crown of Eng- 
 land to individuals and companies, covering a vast extent of 
 country, and including most of the lands already settled and 
 occupied by the greater part of the inhabitants of the western 
 country ; and they finally pray Congress to erect them into a 
 separate State, and admit them into the Union as a fourteenth 
 State. 
 
 As this petition recites the treaty of Pittsburg, in October, 
 1775, it is probable we may fix its date (for it has none) to 
 the latter part of 1776, or 1777. I rather think the latter, not 
 only from my own recollection of the circumstances of that 
 period, but especially from the request in the petition to be 
 erected into a new State, which certainly would not be thought 
 of before the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 But the unhappy state of the western country will appear 
 still more evident when we advert to another important docu- 
 ment which I have also before me. It is a proclamation 
 issued by the delegates in Congress from the States of Penn- 
 sylvania and Virginia, and bears date, '^ Philadelphia, July 
 25, 1775." 
 
 But the heat of fire, and the inflexible obstinacy of the par- 
 ties engaged in this controversy, will appear in colors still 
 stronger when we see the unavailing efibrts made by the dele- 
 gates in Congress from the two States of Virginia and Penn- 
 sylvania, in the year 1775. These gentlemen— it was obvious 
 under the influence of the best of motives, and certainly with 
 a view to the best interests, peace and happiness of the west- 
 ern people — sent them a proclamation, couched in terms 
 directly calculated to restore tranquillity and harmony among 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ ORE SAP, 61 
 
 them ; but the little effect produced by this proclamation their 
 subsequent petition, just recited, and sent the next year or 
 year after to Congress, fully demonstrates. As I consider 
 this proclamation an important document, and nowhere re- 
 corded, I give it to the reader verbatim, in toto : 
 
 '^To the inhabitants of Pennsylvania and Virginia, on the west 
 side of the Laurel Hill : 
 
 " Friends and Countrymen : It gives us much concern 
 "to find that disturbances have arisen, and still continue among 
 "you, concerning the boundaries of our colonies. In the char- 
 "acter in which we now address you, it is unnecessary to 
 "inquire into the origin of those unhappy disputes, and it 
 "would be improper for us to express our approbation or cen- 
 "sure on either side; but as representatives of two of the colo- 
 "nies united among many others for the defense of the liberties 
 "of America, we think it our duty to remove, as far as lies in 
 "our power, every obstacle that may 'prevent her sons from co- 
 "operating as vigorously as they would wish to do toward the 
 "attainment of this great and important end. Influenced solely 
 "by this motive, our joint and earnest request to you is, that 
 "all animosities which have heretofore subsisted among you, as 
 "inhabitants of distinct colonies, may now give place to gener- 
 "ous and concurring efforts for the preservation of everything 
 "that can make our common country dear to us. 
 
 " We are fully persuaded that you, as well as we, wish to 
 "see your differences terminate in this happy issue. For this 
 "desirable purpose we recommend it to you, that all bodies of 
 ''^ armed men kept up u/nder either province be dismissed; that all 
 "those on either side who* are in confinement or under bail for 
 "taking a part in the contest, be discharged ; and that until 
 
 * This word is, in the original, " we," not " who." 
 
62 LIFE OF CAPTAIjy- CRESAP. 
 
 "the dispute be decided every person be permitted to retain 
 "his possessions unmolested. 
 
 " By observing these directions the public tranquillity will 
 "be secured without injury to the titles on either side ; the 
 "period, we flatter ourselves, will soon arrive when this unfor- 
 "tunate dispute — which has produced much mischief, and, as 
 "far as we can learn, no good — will be peaceably and constitu- 
 "tionally determined." 
 
 " We are your friends and countrymen, 
 
 P. he:n^ry, 
 
 RICHARD HEIS-RY LEE, 
 BENJ. HARRISOJN', 
 TH. JEFFERSON, 
 JOHN DICKUSrSON", 
 GEO. ROSS, 
 B. FRAJN^KLIN, 
 JAMES WILSOJSr, 
 CHA. HUMPHREYS. 
 '' PhiladeljpUa, July 25, 1775." 
 
 But to conclude this part of our subject. I think the 
 reader cannot but see from Dunmore's proclamation the 
 violent measures of his lieutenant, Connoly, and the Virginia 
 officers ; and from the complexion of the times, and the sub- 
 sequent conduct of both Dunmore and Connoly — as we shall 
 see hereafter — that this unhappy state of things, if not actu- 
 ally produced, was certainly improved by Dunmore, to sub- 
 serve the views of the British Court. 
 
 We now proceed to examine the question, how far facts 
 and circumstances justify us in supposing the Earl of Dun- 
 more himself instrumental in producing the Indian war of 
 1774. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ ORE SAP. 6S 
 
 It has been already remarked that this Indian war was but 
 the precursor to our Revolutionary war of 1775; that Dun- 
 more, the then Governor of Virginia, was one of the most 
 inveterate and determined enemies to the Revolution ; that 
 he was a man of high talents, especially for intrigue and 
 diplomatic skill ; that, occupying the station of Governor and 
 Commander-in-Chief of the large and respectable State of 
 Virginia, he possessed means and power to do much to serve 
 the views of Great Britain. 
 
 And we have seen from the preceding pages how effectually 
 he played his part among the inhabitants of the western 
 country. I was present myself when a Pennsylvania magis- 
 trate, of the name of Scott, was taken into custody and 
 brought before Dunmore, at Redstone Old Fort; he wasf 
 severely threatened and dismissed, perhaps on bail, but I do 
 not recollect now. Another Pennsylvania magistrate was 
 sent to Staunton jail. And I have already shown in the pre- 
 ceding pages that there was a sufficient preparation of mate- 
 rials for this war in the predisposition and hostile attitude of 
 our affairs with the Indians; that it was, consequently, no 
 difficult matter with a Virginia Governor to direct this incipi- 
 ent state of things to any point most conducive to the grand 
 end he had in view — namely, weakening our national strength 
 in some of its best and most efficient parts. If, then, a war 
 with the Indians might have a tendency to produce this re- 
 sult, it appears perfectly natural and reasonable to suppose 
 that Dunmore would make use of all his power and influence 
 to promote it ; and, although the war of 1774 was brought to 
 a conclusion before the year was out, yet we know that this 
 fire was scarcely extinguished before it burst out again into a 
 flame with tenfold fury ; and two or three armies of the 
 whites were sacrificed before we could get the Indians sub- 
 
64 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP, 
 
 dued. And this unhappy state of our affairs with the Indians 
 happening during the severe conflict of our Revolutionary 
 war, had the very effect I suppose Dunmore had in view — 
 namely, dividing our forces and enfeebling our aggregate 
 strength ; and that the seeds of these subsequent wars with 
 the Indians were sown in 1774 and 1775, appears almost 
 certain. Yet still, however, we admit that we are not in pos- 
 session of materials to substantiate this charge against the 
 Earl, and all we can do is to produce some facts and circum- 
 stances that deserve notice, and have a strong bearing on the 
 case. 
 
 And the first we shall mention* is, a circular letter sent by 
 Major Connoly, his proxy, early in the Spring of the year 
 1774, warning the inhabitants to be on their guard ; that the 
 Indians were very angry, and manifested so much hostility 
 that he was apprehensive they would strike somewhere as 
 soon as the season would permit^ and enjoining the inhabitants 
 to prepare and retire into forts, etc. It might be useful to 
 collate and compare this letter with one he wrote to Captain 
 Cresap on the 14th July following — see hereafter. In this 
 letter he declares there is war, or danger of war, before the 
 war is properly begun ; in that to Captain Cresap he says the 
 Indians deport themselves peaceably, when Dunmore, and 
 Lewis, and Cornstalk are all on their march for battle. 
 
 This letter was sent by express in every direction of the 
 country. Unhappily we have lost or mislaid it, and conse- 
 quently are deficient in a most material point in its date, but 
 from one expression in the letter, namely, he says the Indians 
 will strike when the season permits, and this season is gener- 
 ally understood to mean when the leaves are out — that is, in 
 
 * The remark, as it should seem incideutally made in Dunmore's proclamation as to the In- 
 dian war (see page 58), deserves notice, as it has no connection with the subject of that pro- 
 clamation.. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJSr CRESAP. 65 
 
 the month of May. We find from a subsequent letter from 
 Pentecost and Connoly to Captain Reece, that this assumed 
 fact is proved — see hereafter. Therefore this letter cannot be 
 of a later date than sometime in the month of April, and if 
 so, before Butler's men were killed on Little Beaver, [that 
 this was the fact, is, I think, absolutely certain, because no 
 mention is made in Connoly's letter of this alFair, which cer- 
 tainly would not have been omitted if precedent to this 
 letter,] and before Logan's* family were killed on Yellow 
 Creek, and was in fact the fiery red cross and harbinger of 
 war, as in days of yore among the Scottish clans. 
 
 This letter produced its natural result: the people fled into 
 forts, and put themselves into a posture of defense, and the 
 tocsin of war resounded from Laurel Hill to the banks of the 
 Ohio. Captain Cresap, who was peaceably at this time em- 
 ployed in building houses and improving lands on the Ohio, 
 received this letter, accompanied it is believed with a confirm- 
 atory message from Colonel Croghan and Major McGee, In- 
 dian agents and interpreters, as already stated in my third 
 
 ♦Logan was the second son of Shikellbmus, a celebrated chief of the Cayuga nation. 
 This chief, on account of his attachment to the English government, was of great service to 
 the country; having the confidence of all the Six Nations, as well as that of the English, he 
 was very useful in settling disputes, &c., &c. lie was highly esteemed by Conrad Weisser, Esq., 
 (an officer for government in the Indian department,) with whom he acted conjunctly, and 
 was faithful unto his death. His residence was at Shamokin, where he took great delight in acts 
 of hospitality to such of the white people whose business led them that way. His name and 
 fame were so high on record, that Count Zinzendorf, when in this country, in 1742, became 
 desirous of seeing him, and actually visited him at his house in Shamokin. About the year 
 1772, Logan was introduced to me, by an Indian friend, as son to the late reputable chief Shi- 
 kellemus, and as a friend to the white people. In the course of conversation, I thought him a 
 man of superior talents than Indians generally were. The subject turning on vice and immor- 
 ality, he confessed his too great share of this, especially his fondness for liquor. He exclaimed 
 against the white people for imposing liquors upon the Indians; he otherwise admired their 
 ingenuity; spoke of gentlemen, but observed the Indians unfortunately had but few of these as 
 their neighbors, &c. He spoke of his friendship to the white people, wished always to be a 
 neighbor to them, intended to setttle on the Ohio, below Big Beaver; was (to the best of my 
 recollection) then encamped at the mouth of this river, (Beaver,) urged me to pay him a visit, 
 &c. Note. — I was then living at the Moravian town on this river, in the neighborhood of 
 Cuskuskee. In April, 1773, while on my passage down the Ohio for Muskingum, I called at 
 Logan's settlement, where I received every civility I could expect from such of the families as 
 were at home. — American Pioneer^ by J. S. Williams, p. 22. 
 
66 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 chapter,* and he thereupon immediately broke up his camp 
 and ascended the river to Fort Wheeling, the nearest place 
 of safety ; from whence it is believed he intended speedily to 
 return home, but during his stay at this place a report was 
 brought into the fort that two Indians were coming down the 
 river. Captain Cresap, supposing from every circumstance 
 and the general aspect of affairs that war was inevitable, and 
 in fact already begun, went up the river with his party, and 
 two of his men, of the name of Chenoweth and Brothers, 
 killed these two Indians ; and beyond controversy this is the 
 only circumstance in the history of this Indian war in which 
 his name can in the remotest degree be identified with any 
 measure tending to produce this war. And it is certain that 
 the guilt or innocence of this affair will appear from its date. 
 It is notorious, then, that those Indians were killed not only 
 after Captain Cresap had received Connoly's letter, and after 
 Butler's men were killed in the canoe, but also after the affair 
 at Yellow Creek, and after the people had fled into forts. 
 But more of this hereafter, when we take up Dr. Doddridge 
 and his book — simply, however, remarking here that this 
 affair of killing these two Indians has the same aspect and 
 relation to Dunmore's war that the battle of' Lexington had 
 to our war of the Revolution. 
 
 But to proceed. Permit us to remark, that it is very diffi- 
 cult at this late period to form a correct idea of those times, 
 unless we can bring distinctly into view the real state of our 
 frontier. The inhabitants of the western country were at this 
 time thinly scattered from the Allegheny mountain to the 
 eastern banks of the Ohio, and most thinly near that river. 
 In this state of things, it was natural to suppose that the few 
 settlers in the vicinity of Wheeling, who had collected into 
 
 * I had this from Captain Cresap himself a short time after it occurred. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 67 
 
 that fort, would feel extremely solicitous to detain Captain 
 Cresap and his men as long as possible — especially until they 
 could see on what point the storm of war would fall. Captain 
 Cresap, the son of a hero, and a hero himself, felt for their 
 situation ; and getting together a few more men in addition 
 to his own, and not relishing the limits of a little fort nor a 
 life of inactivity, set out on what was called a scouting party 
 — that is, to reconnoitre, and scour the frontier border ; and 
 while out, and engaged in this business, fell in with and had 
 a running fight with a party of Indians, nearly about his 
 equal in numbers. One Indian was killed, and Cresap had 
 one man wounded. This aifair took place somewhere on the 
 banks of the Ohio. Doddridge says it was at the mouth of 
 Capteening ; be it so — it matters not ; but he adds, it was on 
 the same day the Indians were killed in the canoe. In this 
 the Doctor is most egregiously mistaken, as I shall prove 
 hereafter. 
 
 But may we not ask — What were these Indians doing here 
 at this time on the banks of the Ohio ? They had no town 
 near this place, nor was it their hunting season, as it was 
 about the 8th or 10th of May. Is it not then probable, nay, 
 almost certain, that this straggling banditti were prepared 
 and ready to fall on some part of our exposed frontier, and 
 that their dispersion saved the lives of many helpless women 
 and children. 
 
 But the old proverb, " Cry mad-dog, and kill him,^^ is, I 
 suppose, equally as applicable to heroes as to dogs. 
 
 Captain Cresap soon after this returned to his family, in 
 Maryland ; but feeling most sensibly for the inhabitants on 
 the frontier in their perilous situation,* immediately raised a 
 
 *Cresap is spoken of as remarkable for his brave, hardy, and adventurous disposition, and 
 awarded credit for often rescuing the whites by a timely notice of the savages' approach, a 
 knowledge of which he obtained by unceasing vigilance over their movements. — Brantz 
 Mayer's Address^ p. 34. 
 
68 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV ORE SAP. 
 
 company of volunteers and marched back to their assistance, 
 and having advanced as far as Catfish's camp — the place 
 where Washington, Pennsylvania, now stands — he was ar- 
 rested in his progress by a peremptory and insulting order 
 from Connoly, commanding him to dismiss his men and to 
 return home. 
 
 This order, couched in offensive and insulting language, it 
 may be well supposed was not very grateful to a man of 
 Captain Cresap's high sense of honor and peculiar sensibility, 
 especially conscious as he was of the purity of his motives 
 and the laudable end he had in view. He nevertheless 
 obeyed, returned home and dismissed his men, and with the 
 determination, I well know from what he said after his return, 
 never again to take any part in the present Indian war, but 
 to leave Mr. Commandant at Pittsburg to fight it out as he 
 could. This hasty resolution was, however, of short duration; 
 for however strange, contradictory and irreconcilable the con- 
 duct of the Earl of Dunmore and his Yice-Governor of Pitts- 
 burg may appear, yet it is a fact that on the 10th of June the 
 Earl of Dunmore— unsolicited, and to Captain Cresap cer- 
 tainly unexpected — sent him a captain's commission of the 
 militia of Hampshire county, Virginia, notwithstanding his 
 residence was in Maryland. This commission reached Cap- 
 tain Cresap a few days after his return from the expedition to 
 Catfish's camp, just above mentioned ; and inasmuch as this 
 commission, coming to him in the way it did, carried with it 
 a tacit expression of the Governor's approbation of his con- 
 duct — add to which, that about the same time his feelings 
 were daily assailed by petition after petition, from almost 
 every section of the western country, praying, begging and 
 beseeching him to come over to their assistance. Several of 
 these petitions, and Dunmore's commission, have escaped the 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CBESAP, 69 
 
 wreck of time, and are in my possession. This commission, 
 coming at the time it did, and in the way and under the cir- 
 cumstances above recited, aided and strengthened as it was 
 by the numberless petitions aforesaid, broke down and so far 
 extinguished all Captain Cresap's personal resentment against 
 Connoly, that he once more determined to exert all his power 
 and influence in assisting the distressed inhabitants of the 
 western frontier. He accordingly immediately raised a com- 
 pany, placed himself under the command of Major Angus 
 McDonald, and marched with him to attack the Indians, at 
 their town of Wappatomica, on the Muskingum. His popu- 
 larity at this time was such, so many men flocked to his 
 standard, that he could not, consistently with the rules of an 
 army, retain them in his company, but was obliged to transfer 
 them, much against their wills, to other captains. The result 
 was, that after retaining in his own company as many men as 
 he could consistently, he filled completely the company of his 
 nephew. Captain Michael Cresap, and also partly the company 
 of Captain Hancock Lee. This little army of about 400 
 men,* under Major McDonald, penetrated the Indian country 
 as far as the Muskingum, after a smart little skirmish with a 
 party of Indians under Captain Snake, about four miles on 
 this side of that river, in which battle McDonald lost six men 
 and killed the Indian chief, Caj^tain Snake. 
 
 A little anecdote here will go to show what expert and close 
 shooters we had in those days among our riflemen : When 
 
 »These men were collected from the western part of Virginia; the place of rendezvous was 
 Wheeling, some time in the month of June, 1774. They went down the river in boats and 
 canoes, to the mouth of Captina, from thence by the shortest route to the Wappatomica town, 
 about sixteen miles below the present Coshocton. The pilots were Jonathan Zane, Thomas 
 Nicholson and Tady Kelly. About six miles from the town the army was met by a party of 
 Indians, to the number of forty or fifty, who gave a skirmish, by the way of ambuscade, in 
 which two of our men were killed and eight or nine wounded. It was supposed that several 
 more of them were killed, but they were carried off. — Red Men of the Ohio Valley, hy J. R. 
 Dodge, p. 161. 
 
70 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 McDonald's little army arrived on the near bank of the Mus- 
 kingum, and while lying there, an Indian on the opposite 
 shore got behind a log or old tree, and was lifting up his head 
 occasionally to view the white men's army. One of Captain 
 Cresap's men, of the name of John Hargiss, seeing this, 
 loaded his rifle with two balls, and placing himself on the 
 bank of the river, watched the opportunity when the Indian 
 raised his head, and firing at the same instant, put both balls 
 through the Indian's neck and laid him dead,* which circum- 
 stance, no doubt, had great influence in intimidating the 
 Indians. 
 
 McDonald, after this, had another running fight with the 
 Indians, drove them from their, towns, burnt them, destroyed 
 their provisions, and returning to the settlement, discharged 
 his men. 
 
 But this aflkir at Wappatomica and expedition of McDon- 
 ald f was only the prelude to more important and eflicient 
 measures. It was well understood that the Indians were far 
 from being subdued, and that they would now certainly collect 
 all their force, and to the utmost of their power return the 
 compliment of our visit to their territories. 
 
 The Grovernor of Virginia, whatever might have been his 
 views as to ulterior measures, lost no time in preparing to 
 meet this storm. He sent orders immediately to Colonel 
 Andrew Lewis, of Augusta county, to raise an army of about 
 
 * The Indians dragged off the body, and buried it with the honors of war. It was found 
 the next morning, and scalped by Hargiss, The Muskingum at this place is said to be about 
 two hundred yards wide. 
 
 t McDonald, agreeably to Dunraore's orders, after a dreary march through the wilderness, 
 had rendezvoused his four hundred men at Wheeling creek in June, and, from this place, it was 
 resolved to invade the Indian territory on the head waters of the Muskingum, and to destroy 
 the Wappatomica towns. The results of this expedition were not of remarkable value in the 
 campaign, though the Indian towns were destroyed by the invaders after the savages had fled. 
 McDonald and his men were harassed by the foe, and being short of provisions, returned with 
 dispatch to Wheeling. — Discourse hy Brantz Mayer, delivered be/ore the Maryland Historical 
 Society, p. 5S. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJr CRESAP. 71 
 
 one thousand men, and to march with all expedition to the 
 mouth of the Great Kanawha, on the Ohio river, where, or at 
 some other point, he would join him after he had got together 
 another army, which he intended to raise in the northwestern 
 counties and command in person. Lewis lost no time, but 
 collected the number of men required, and marched without 
 delay to the appointed place of rendezvous. 
 
 But the Earl was not quite so rapid in his movements, 
 which circumstance the eagle eye of old Cornstalk, the gen- 
 eral of the Indian army, saw, and was determined to avail 
 himself of, foreseeing that it would be much easier to destroy 
 two separate columns of an invading army before than after 
 their junction and consolidation. With this view, he marched 
 with all expedition to attack Lewis before he was joined by 
 the Earl's army from the north— calculating confidently, no 
 doubt, that if he could destroy Lewis he would be able to 
 give a good account of the army under the Earl. 
 
 The plans of Cornstalk appear to have been those of a con- 
 summate and skillful general, and the prompt and rapid exe- 
 cution of them displayed the energy of a warrior. He there- 
 fore, without loss of time, attacked Lewis at his post. The 
 attack was sudden, violent, and I believe unexpected ; it was 
 nevertheless well fought, very obstinate, and of long continu- 
 ance, and as both parties fought with rifles, the conflict was 
 dreadful ; many were killed on both sides, and the contest 
 was only finished with the approach of night. The Virgin* 
 ians, however, kept the field, but lost many valuable officers 
 and men, and among the rest Colonel Charles Lewis, brother 
 to the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 Cornstalk and Blue Jacket, the two Indian captains, it is 
 said performed prodigies of valor ; but finding at length all 
 their efforts unavailing, drew off their men in good order, and 
 
72 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 with the determination to fight no more if jDoace could be 
 obtained upon reasonable terms. 
 
 This battle of Lewis's opened an easy and unmolested pas- 
 sage for Dunmore through the Indian country;* but it is 
 proper to remark here, however, that when Dunmore arrived 
 with his wing of the army at the mouth of the Hocking, he 
 sent Captain White-eyes, a Delaware chief, to invite the In- 
 dians to a treaty, and he remained stationary at that place 
 until White-eyes returned, who reported that the Indians 
 would not treat about peace. I presume, in order of time 
 this must have been just before Lewis's battle, because it will 
 appear in the sequel of this story that a great revolution took 
 place in the minds of the Indians after the battle. 
 
 Dunmore, immediately upon the report of White-eyes that 
 the Indians were not disposed for peace, sent an express to 
 Colonel Lewis to move on and meet him near Chillicothe, on 
 the Scioto, and both wings of the army were put in motion. 
 But as Dunmore f approached the Indian towns he was met 
 by flags from the Indians demanding peace, to which he ac- 
 ceded, halted his army, and runners were sent to invite the 
 Indian chiefs, who cheerfully obeyed the summons and came 
 to the treaty, save only Logan, the great orator, who refused 
 to come. It seems, however, that neither Dunmore nor the 
 Indian chiefs considered his presence of much importance, for 
 
 * A little anecdote will prove that Dunmore was a general, and also the high estimation 
 in which he held Captain Oresap. While the army was marching through the Indian country 
 Dunmore ordered Captain Cresap with his company and some more of his best troops in the 
 rear. This displeased Cresap, and he expostulated with the Earl, who replied, that the reason 
 of this arrangement was, because he knew that if he was attacked in front all those men 
 would soon rush forward into the engagement. This reason — which was, by the by, a haiM- 
 some compliment — satisfied Cresap and all the rear guard. 
 
 t John Gibson, in the year 1774, accompanied Lord Dunmore on the expedition against the 
 Shawanese and other Indians on the Scioto; that on their arrival within fifteen miles of the 
 towns they were met by a flag and a white man by the name of Elliot, who informed Lord 
 Dunmore that the chiefs of the Shawanese had sent to request his lordship to halt his army and 
 $end in some person who understood their language ; that this deponent, at the request of Lord 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAUy^ CRESAP, 73 
 
 they went to work and finished the treaty without him — refer- 
 ring, I believe, some unsettled points for future discussion at 
 a treaty to be held the ensuing Summer or Fall, at Pittsburg. 
 This treaty — ^the articles of which I never saw, nor do I know 
 that they were ever recorded — concluded Dunmore's war, in 
 September or October, 1774. After the treaty was over, old 
 Cornstalk, the Shawanee chief, accompanied Dunmore's army 
 until they reached the mouth of Hocking, on the Ohio ; and 
 what was most singular, he rather made his home in Captain 
 Cresap's tent, with whom he continued on terms of the most 
 friendly familiarity. I consider this circumstance as positive 
 proof that the Indians themselves neither considered Captain 
 Cresap the murderer of Logan's family nor the cause of the 
 war. It appears, also, that at this place the Earl of Dunmore 
 received dispatches from England. Doddridge says he re- 
 ceived these on his march out. 
 
 But we ought to have mentioned in its projier place, that 
 after the treaty between Dunmore and the Indians commenced 
 near Chillicothe, Lewis arrived with his army and encamped 
 two or three miles from Dunmore, which so alarmed the 
 Indians, as they thought he was so much irritated at losing 
 so many men in the late battle that he would not easily be 
 pacified ; nor would they be satisfied until Dunmore and old 
 Cornstalk went into Lewis's camp to converse with him. 
 
 Dr. Doddridge represents this affair in different shades of 
 
 Dunmore, and the whole of the officers with him, went in ; that on his arrival at the towns, 
 Logan, the Indian, came to where this deponent was sitting with the Cornstalk, and the other 
 chiefs of the Shawanese, and asked him to walk out with him ; that they went in to a copse of 
 wood when they sat down, when Logan, after shedding abundance of tears, delivered to him 
 the speech, nearly as related by Mr. Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia; that he the 
 deponent, told him then that it was not Colonel Cresap who had murdered his relatives, and 
 although his son, Captain Michael Cresap, was with the party who had killed a Shawanese chief 
 and other Indians, yet he was not present when his relatives were killed at Baker's, near the 
 mouth of Yellow Creek, on the Ohio; that this deponent, on his return to camp, delivered the 
 speech to Lord Dunmore; and that the murders perpetrated as above were considered as 
 ultimately the cause of the war of 1774, commonly called Cresap's war. — Appendix to Brantz 
 Mayer' t Address be/ore the Maryland Historical Society, p. 1G. 
 
74 LIFE OF CAPTAIJy- CRESAP. 
 
 light from this statement. I can only say, I have my inform- 
 ation from an officer who was present at the time. 
 
 But it is time to remind the reader that, although I have 
 wandered into such a minute detail of the various occurrences, 
 facts and circumstances of Dunmore's war — and all of which 
 as a history may be interesting to the present and especially 
 to the rising generation — yet it is proper to remark that I 
 have two leading objects chiefly in view : First, to convince 
 the world that, whoever and whatever might be the cause of 
 the Indian war of 1774, it was not Captain Cresap ; secondly, 
 that from the aspect of our political affairs at that period, and 
 from the known hostility of Dunmore to the American Revo- 
 lution, and withal from the subsequent conduct of Dunmore, 
 and the dreadful Indian war that commenced soon after the 
 beginning of our war with Grreat Britain — I say, from all 
 these circumstances we have infinitely stronger reason to sus- 
 pect Dunmore than Cresap; and I may say that the dis- 
 patches above mentioned, that were received by Dunmore at 
 Hocking, although after the treaty, yet were calculated to 
 create suspicion.* 
 
 But if, as we suppose, that Dunmore was secretly at the 
 bottom of this Indian war, it is evident that he could not' 
 with propriety appear personally in a business of this kind ; 
 and we have seen, and shall see, how effectually his sub-gov- 
 
 * In Burk's History of Virginia, vol. 4, p. 74, the reader will find a further derelopment of 
 Connoly's subsequent conduct and hostility to American interests, as disclosed in the plot 
 formed by Lord Dunmore to bring the Indian tribes of the West into the Revolutionary con- 
 flict. He had been commissioned by the Earl as a Lieutenant Colonel Commandant. [4th 
 Burk, Appendix 4.] The joint plans of these loyal Britons show the great probability that 
 there was, in truth, a scheme in embryo to crush the American Revolution at its birth, by a 
 union between the Indians, negroes and loyalists, and by the excitement of an Indian war on 
 the frontier, which would compel the settlers to think of self-protection against savages, 
 instead of demanding from England the security of rights and liberty, at the point of the 
 sword or muzzle of the rifle. By a letter from Lord Dartmouth to Lord Dunmore, dated at 
 Whitehall on the 2d August, 1775, it appears that, in the previous May, Dunmore had commu- 
 nicated to the home government his vile plan of raising the Indians and negroes to join the 
 miscalled loyalists in an onslaught against the Americans. — Brantz Mayet's Address^ p. 41. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJsr CRESAP, 15 
 
 ernor played his part between the Virginians and Pennsylva- 
 nians, and it now remains for us to examine how far the 
 conduct of this man (Connoly) will bear us out in the suppo- 
 sition that there was also some foul play, some dark, in- 
 triguing work to embroil the western country in an Indian 
 war. 
 
 And I think it best, now, as we have introduced this man 
 Connoly again, to give the reader a short, condensed history 
 of his whole proceedings, that we may have him in full view 
 at once. We have already presented the reader with his 
 circular letter, and its natural results and consequences, and 
 also with his insulting letter and mandatory order to Captain 
 Cresap at Catfish's camp, to dismiss his men and go home ; 
 and that the reader may now see a little of the character of 
 this man, and understand him — if it is possible to understand 
 him — I present him with the copy of a letter to Captain 
 Reece : 
 
 "As I have received intelligence that Logan,* a Mingo 
 "Indian, with about twenty Shawanese and others, were to 
 "set off for war last Monday, and I have reason to believe 
 "that they may come upon the inhabitants about Wheeling, 
 
 * One of the incidents attending this incursion deserves to be mentioned, as illustrating the 
 character of Logan. While hovering, with his followers, around the skirts of a thick settle- 
 ment, he suddenly came within view of a small field, recently cleared, in which three tneh 
 were pulling flax. Causing the greater part of his men to remain where they were, Logan, 
 together with two others, crept up within long shot of the white men and fired. One man fell 
 dead, the remaining two attempted to escape. The elder of the fugitives (Hellew,) was quickly 
 overtaken and made prisoner by Logan's associates, while Logan himself, having thrown down 
 his rifle, pressed forward alone in pursuit of the younger of the white men, whose name waa 
 Robinson. The contest waa keen for several hundred yards, but Robinson, unluckily, looking 
 around, in order to have a view of his pursuer, ran against a tree with such violence as com- 
 pletely to stun him, and render him insensible for several minutes. 
 
 Upon recovering, he found himself bound and lying upon his back, while Logan sat by his 
 side, with unmoved gravity, awaiting his recovery. He was then compelled to accompany 
 them in their further attempts upon the settlements, and in the course of a few days, was 
 marched off" with great rapidity for their villages in Ohio. During the march, Logan remained 
 silent and melancholy, probably brooding over the total destruction of his family. The 
 prisoners, however, were treated kindly, until they arrived at an Indian village upon the 
 
 7 
 
76 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CEFSAP. 
 
 "I hereby order, require and command you, with all the 
 "men you can raise, immediately to march and join any of 
 ^'the companies already out avid under the pay of the Govern^ 
 ^'ment^ and, upon joining your parties together, scour the 
 "frontier and become a barrier to our settlements, and en- 
 "deavor to fall in with their tracks and pursue them, using 
 "your utmost endeavors to chastise them as open and avowed 
 "enemies. 
 
 "I am, sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 "DoKSEY Pentecost, for 
 
 "JOHN COJN^NOLY. 
 ''Captain Joel Reece: Use all expedition. May 27, 1774/' 
 
 Now, here is a fellow for you. A very short time before 
 this, perhaps two or three days before the date of this letter, 
 Captain Cresap, who had a fine company of volunteers, was 
 insulted, ordered to dismiss his men and go home ; and 
 indeed it appears from one expression in this letter — namely, 
 ''the companies who are already ouf — that these companies 
 must have been actually out at the very time Cresap was 
 ordered home. 
 
 Muskingum. When within a mile of the town, Logan became more animated, and uttered the 
 "scalp hallo" several times, in the most terrrible tones. The never failing scene of insult and 
 torture then began. Crowds flocked out to meet them, and a line was formed for the 
 gauntlet. 
 
 Logan took no share in the cruel game, but did not attempt to repress it. He, however, 
 gave Robinson, whom he regarded as his own prisoner, some directions as to the best means of 
 reaching the council house in safety, and displayed some anxiety tor his safe arrival, while 
 poor Hellew was left in total ignorance, and permitted to struggle forward as he best could. 
 Eobinson, under the patronage of Logan, escaped with a few slight bruises, but Hellew, not 
 knowing where to run, was dreadfully mangled, and would probably have been killed upon 
 the spot, had not Robinson (not without great risk on his own part) seized him by the hand 
 and dragged him into the council house. 
 
 On the following morning, a council was called in order to determine their fate, in which 
 Logan held a conspicuous superiority over all who were assembled. Hellew's destiny came 
 first vmder discussion, and was quickly decided by an almost unanimous vote of adoption. 
 Robinson's was most difficult to determine. A majority of the council (partly influenced by a 
 natural thirst for vengeance upon at least one object, partly, perhaps, by a lurking jealousy of 
 the most imposing superiority of Logan's character,} were obstinately bent upon putting him 
 to death. Logan spoke for nearly an hour upon the question ; and if Robinson is to be 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 77 
 
 !N^ow, if any man is skilled in the art of legerdemain, let 
 him unriddle this enigma if he can. 
 
 But, as so many important facts crowd together at this 
 eventful period, it may be satisfactory to the reader, and 
 have a tendency more dearly to illustrate the various scenes 
 interwoven in the thread of this history, to present to his 
 view a chronological list of these facts ; and I think the first 
 that deserves notice is Connoly's circular letter, which we 
 date the 25th day of April ; secondly, the two men killed in 
 Butler's canoe we know was the 1st or 2d day of May ; 
 thirdly, the affair at Yellow Creek was on the 3d or 4th day 
 of May ; fourthly, the Indians killed in the canoe above 
 Wheeling the 5th or 6th day of May ; fifthly, the skirmish 
 with the Indians on the river Ohio about the 8th or 10th day 
 of May ; after which Captain Cresap, returning home, raised 
 a company of volunteers and returned to Catfish's camp about 
 the 25th of May. Indeed, this fact speaks for itself ; it could 
 not be earlier, when it is considered that he rode home from 
 the Ohio, a distance of about 140 miles, raised a company and 
 marched back as far as Catfish, through bad roads, near 120 
 
 believed, with an energy, copiousness, and dignity, which would not have disgraced Henry 
 himself. He appeared at no loss for either words or ideas ; his tonea were deep and musical, 
 and were heard by the assembly with the silence of death. All, however, was vain. Rob- 
 inson was condemned, and within an hour afterward, was fastened to the stake. Logan stood 
 apart from the crowd with his arras folded, and his eyes fixed upon the scene with an air of 
 stern displeasure. 
 
 When the fire was about to be applied, he suddenly strode into the circle, pushing aside those 
 who stood in the way, and advancing straight up to the stake, cut the cords with his tom- 
 ahawk, and taking the prisoner by the hand, led him with a determ'ned air to his own 
 wigwam. The action was so totally unexpected, and the air of the chief so determined, that 
 he had reached the door of his wigwam before any one ventured to interfere. Much dis- 
 satisfaction was then expressed, and threatening symptoms of a tumult appeared; but so deeply 
 rooted was his authority, that in a few hours all was quiet, and Robinson, without opposition, 
 was permitted to enter an Indian family. He remained with Logan until the treaty of Fort 
 Pitt, in the autumn of the ensuing year, when he returned to Virginia. He ever retained the 
 most unbounded admiration for Logan, and repeatedly declared that his countenance, when 
 gpeaking, was the most striking, varied, and impressive, that he ever beheld. And when it is 
 recollected that he had often heard Lee and Henry, in all their glory, the compliment must be 
 regarded as a very high one. — Appendix to Western Adventure, by John A. Mc Clung, p. 278. 
 
78 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP, 
 
 miles — and all, agreeable to my statement, in seventeen days. 
 Then it is evident he was not at Catfish's camp sooner than 
 the 25th of May ; and if so, he was ordered home at the very 
 time when scouts were out, and the settlement threatened 
 with an attack from the Indians, as is manifest from Connoly's 
 own letter to Captain Reece, dated May 27, 1774. 
 
 But the hostility of Connoly to Captain Cresap was unre- 
 mitting, and without measure or decency ; for on the 14th of 
 July, of the same year, we find one of the most extraordinary, 
 crooked, malignant, Grubstreet epistles that ever appeared 
 upon paper. But let us see it: 
 
 "Fort Dunmore, July 14, 1774. 
 "Your whole proceedings, so far as relate to our disturb- 
 "ances with the Indians, have been of a nature so extraord- 
 "inary, that I am much at a loss to account for the cause; 
 "but when I consider your late steps, tending directly to 
 "ruin the service here, by inveigling away the militia of this 
 "garrison by your preposterous proposals, and causing them 
 "thereby to embezzle the arms of Government, purchased at 
 "an enormous expense, and at the same time to reflect infinite 
 "disgrace upon the honor of this colony by attacking a set of 
 "people which, notwithstanding the injury they have sus- 
 "tained by you in the loss of their people, yet continue to 
 "rely upon the professions of friendship which I have made, 
 "and deport themselves accordingly — I say, when I consider 
 "these matters I must conclude that you are actuated by a 
 "spirit of discord so prejudicial to the peace and good order 
 "of society, that the conduct calls for justice, and due execu- 
 "tion thereof can only check. I must once again order you 
 " to desist from your pernicious designs, and require of you, jif 
 "you are an officer of militia, to send the deserters from this 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 79 
 
 *^ place back with all expedition, that they may be dealt with 
 "as their crimes merit. 
 
 "I am, sir, your servant, 
 
 "JOHN CONNOLY." 
 
 This letter, although short, contains so many things for 
 remark and animadversion, that we scarcely know where to 
 begin. It exhibits, however, a real picture of the man, and 
 a mere superficial glance at its phraseology will prove that he 
 is angry, and his nerves in a tremor. It is, in fact, an inco- 
 herent jumble of words and sentences, all in the disjunctive. 
 But it is a perfect original and anomaly in the epistolary line, 
 and contains in itself internal marks of genuine authenticity. 
 
 The first thing in this letter that calls for our attention, is 
 the language he uses toward the people he calls " militia 
 deserters'' " That they may be dealt with,'' he says, " as 
 their crimes merit." Now, I pray you, who were those 
 people? Doubtless the respectable farmers and others in 
 the vicinity of Pittsburg. And what does this Mogul of the 
 West intend to do with them? Why, hang them, to be 
 sure, for this is military law. But the true state of this case 
 doubtless is, that these militia considered themselves free 
 men ; that they were not well pleased either with Connoly or 
 garrison duty ; that, viewing their country in danger, and 
 their wives and children exposed to savage barbarity, pre- 
 ferred more active service, and joined the standard of Captain 
 Cresap. And is this a new thing, or reprehensible? How 
 often do our militia enter into the regular army, and who 
 ever dreamed of hanging them for so doing? 
 
 But secondly, we say, it is possible Captain Cresap did not 
 know from whence these men came; and if he did, he deserves 
 no censure for receiving them. And as to the charge of in- 
 
80 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 veigling away tlie militia from the garrison, we know this 
 must be positively false, because he was not in Pittsburg in 
 the year 1774, either personally or by proxy. 
 
 As to the general charge against Captain Cresap of attack- 
 ing the Indians, and the great injury he had done them, I 
 need only say, this charge is refuted again and again in the 
 course of this history; and its unparalleled impudence, espe- 
 cially at the date of this letter, merits the deepest contempt. 
 But the most extraordinary feature in this most extraordinary 
 letter is couched in these words, namely: " That the Indians 
 relied upon the expressions of friendship he made them^ and de- 
 ported themselves accordingly y 
 
 Be astonished, oh ye nations of the earth, and all ye kin- 
 dreds of the people, at this ! For be it remembered that this 
 is the 14th day of July, 1774, when Connoly has the unblush- 
 ing impudence to assert that the Indians relied upon his 
 expressions of friendship and deported themselves accord- 
 ingly, when at this very time we were engaged in the hottest 
 part of Du'nmore's war; when Dunmore himself was raising 
 an army, and personally on his way to take the command ; 
 when Lewis was on his march from Augusta county, Virginia, 
 to the Ohio; and when Cornstalk,* with his Indian army, 
 was in motion to meet Lewis ; and when Captain Cresap was 
 
 * Cornstalk and Elenipsico, his son, were killed during a friendly visit to Point Pleasant, in 
 the summer of 1775, only a few months after the action. The circumstances attending the 
 aflFair are thus related by Colonel Stewart : 
 
 " A Captain Arbuckle commanded the garrison of the fort erected at Point Pleasant after 
 the battle fought by General Lewis with the Indians at that place, in October, 1774. In the 
 succeeding year, when the Revolutionary war had commenced, the agents of Great Britain ex- 
 erted themselves to excite the Indians to hostility against the United States. The mass of the 
 Shawnees entertained a strong animosity against the Americans. But, two of their chiefs, 
 Cornstalk and Red Hawk, not participating in that animosity, visited the garrison at the Point, 
 where Arbuckle continued to command. Colonel Stewart was at the post in the character of 
 a volunteer, and was an eye-witness of the facts which he relates. Cornstalk represented his 
 unwillingness to take a part in the war, on the British side ; but stated, that his nation, except 
 himself and his tribe, were determined on war with us, and he supposed that he and his people 
 would be compelled to go with the stream. 
 
 "On this intimation, Arbuckle resolved to detain the two chiefs, and a third Shawnee who 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 81 
 
 actually raising a company to join Dunmore when he arrived. 
 And it was while engaged in this business that he received 
 this letter from Connoly. 
 
 Now, if any man can account for this strange and extra- 
 ordinary letter upon rational principles, let him do so if he 
 can ; he has more ingenuity and a more acute discernment 
 than I have. 
 
 Soon after receiving this letter, Captain Cresap left his 
 company on the west side of the mountain and rode home, 
 where he met the Earl of Dunmore at his own house, and 
 where he (the Earl) remained a few days in habits of friend- 
 ship and cordiality with the family. One day, while the Earl 
 was at his house. Captain Cresap, finding him alone, intro- 
 duced the subject of Connoly's ill treatment — with a view, I 
 suppose, of obtaining redress, or of exposing the character of 
 a man he knew high in the estimation and confidence of the 
 Earl. But what eifect, suppose ye, had this remonstrance on 
 the Earl? I'll tell you : it lulled him into a profound sleep ! 
 Aye, aye — thinks I to myself, young as I then was — this will 
 not do, Captain ; there are wheels within wheels, dark things 
 behind the curtain, between this noble Earl and his sub- 
 satellite. 
 
 Captain Cresap was himself open, candid and unsuspicious, 
 
 came with them to the fort, as hostages, under the expectation of preventing thereby any 
 hostile eflforts of the nation. On the day before these unfortunate Indians fell victims to the 
 fury of the garrison, Elenipsico, the son of Cornstalk, repaired to Point Pleasant for the pur- 
 pose of visiting his father, and on the next day, two men belonging to the garrison, whose 
 names were Hamilton and Gillmore, crossed the Kanawha, intending to hunt in the woods 
 beyond it. On their return from hunting, some Indians who had come to view the position at 
 the Point, concealed themselves in the weeds near the mouth of the Kanawha, and killed Gill- 
 more while endeavoring to pass them. Colonel Stewart and Captain Arbuckle were standing 
 on the opposite bank of the river at that time, and were surprised that a gun had been fired so 
 near the fort, in violation of orders which had been issued inhibiting such an act. 
 
 "Hamilton ran down the bank, and cried out that Gillmore was killed. Captain Hall com- 
 manded the company to which Gillmore belonged. His men leaped into a canoe, and hastened 
 to the relief of Hamilton. They brought the body of Gillmore weltering in blood, and the 
 head scalped, across the river. The canoe had scarcely reached the shore, when Hall's men 
 cried out, ' let us kill the Indians in the fort.' Captain Hall placed himself in front of his 
 
82 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 and I do not know what he thought ; but I well remember 
 my own thoughts upon this occasion. 
 
 But that we may, as nearly as possible, finish our business 
 with Connoly, although we must thereby get a little ahead of 
 our history ; yet, as already remarked, we think it less per- 
 plexing to the reader than to give him here a little and there 
 a little of this extraordinary character. 
 
 We find, then, that in the year 1775, Connoly, finding that 
 his sheepskin could not cover him much longer, threw oif the 
 mask and fled to his friend Dunmore, who also, about the 
 same time, was obliged to take sanctuary on board a British 
 ship-of-war in the Chesapeake Bay; from this place — i, 6., 
 Portsmouth, in Virginia — Connoly wrote the following letter 
 to Colonel John Gibson, who, no doubt, he supposed possessed 
 sentiments somewhat congenial with his own. It happened, 
 however, that he was mistaken in his man, for Gibson ex- 
 posed him, and put his letter into the hands of the commis- 
 sioners who were holding a treaty with the Indians. But let 
 us see this letter. It is dated — 
 
 "Portsmouth, August 9, 1775. 
 '^Bear Sir: I have safely arrived here, and am happy in 
 "the greatest degree at having so fortunately escaped the 
 
 soldiers, and they ascended the river's bank, pale with rage, and carrying their loaded firelocks 
 in their hands. Colonel Stewart and Captain Arbuckle exerted themselves in vain to dissuade 
 these men, exasperated to madness by the spectacle of Gillmore's corpse, from the cruel deed 
 which they contemplated. They cocked their guns, threatening those gentlemen with instant 
 death if they did not desist, and rushed into the fort. 
 
 " The interpreter's wife, who had been a captive among the Indians and felt an affection for 
 them, ran to their cabin and informed them that Hall's soldiers were advancing, with the in- 
 tention of taking their lives, because they believed that the Indians who killed Gillmore had 
 come with Cornstalk's son on the preceding day. This the young man solemnly denied, and 
 averred that he knew nothing of them. His father, perceiving that Elenipsico was in great 
 agitation, encouraged him and advised him not to fear. ' If the Great Spirit,' said he, 'has sent 
 you here to be killed, you ought to die like a man !' As the soldiers approached the door, 
 Cornstalk rose to meet them, and received seven or eight balls, which instantly terminated his 
 existence. His son was shot dead in the seat which he occupied. The Red Hawk made an at- 
 tempt to climb the chimney, but fell by the fire of some of Hall's men." — Appendix to Western 
 Adventure, by John A. Mc Clung, p, 286. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 83 
 
 * narrow inspection of my enemies — the enemies to their 
 'country's good order and government. I should esteem 
 
 * myself defective in point of friendship toward you, should I 
 
 * neglect to caution you to avoid an over-zealous exertion of 
 *what is now ridiculously called 'patriotic spirit;' but on 
 'the contrary, to deport yourself with that moderation for 
 'which you have always been so remarkable, and which 
 'must in this instance tend to your honor and advantage. 
 'You may rest assured from me, sir, that the greatest una- 
 'nimity now prevails at home, and the innovating spirit 
 ' among us here is looked upon as ungenerous and undutiful ; 
 'and that the utmost exertions of the powers in Government 
 ' (if necessary) will be used to convince the infatuated people 
 'of their folly. 
 
 "I would, I assure you, sir, give you such convincing proofs 
 'of what I assert, and from which every reasonable person 
 'may conclude the effects, that nothing but madness could 
 'operate upon a man so far as to overlook his duty to the 
 ' present Constitution, and to form unwarrantable associations 
 'with enthusiasts^ whose ill-timed folly must draw down upon 
 'them inevitable destruction. His Lordship desires you to 
 'present his hand to Captain White-eyes,* and to assure him 
 'he is sorry he had not the pleasure of seeing him at the 
 'treaty, [a treaty held by Connoly in his name,] or that the 
 'situation of affairs prevented him from coming down. 
 
 "Believe me, dear sir, that I have no motive in writing 
 ' sentiments thus to you, further than to endeavor to steer you 
 ' clear of the misfortunes which I am confident must involve 
 'but unhappily too many. I have sent you an address from 
 'the people of Great Britain to the people of America, and 
 'desire you to consider it attentively, which will, I flatter 
 
 * A Delaware Indian Chief. 
 
84 LIFE OF CAPTAIJy CRESAP. 
 
 "myself, convince you of the idleness of many determinations, 
 "and the absurdity of an intended slavery. 
 
 "Grive my love to Greorge, [his brother, afterward a Colonel 
 "in the Revolutionary war,] and tell him he shall hear from 
 "me, and I hope to his advantage. Interpret the inclosed 
 "speech to Captain White-eyes, from his Lordship. Be pre- 
 " vailed upon to shun the popular error, and judge for your- 
 "self, as a good subject, and expect the rewards due to your 
 
 "services. I am, &c., 
 
 "JOHN CONNOLY." 
 
 The inclosed speech to White-eyes we shall see in its 
 proper place, after we have finished our business with Con- 
 noly. It seems, then, that either a mista'ken notion of his 
 own influence, or greatly deceived by his calculations on the 
 support of Colonel Gribson, his brother and friends, or in 
 obedience to the solicitations of his friend Dunmore, he under- 
 takes, incog,^ a hazardous journey from the Chesapeake Bay 
 to Pittsburg, in company, if I recollect right, with a certain 
 Dr. Smith; but our Dutch republicans of Fredericktown, 
 Maryland, smelt a rat, seized and imprisoned him* in limbo, 
 from whence he was removed to the Philadelphia jail, where 
 we will leave him awhile to cool. But let us now look at 
 these two characters. Connoly uses every effort to destroy 
 us and subvert our liberties, and Cresap marches to Boston 
 with a company of riflemen to defend his country. If, then, 
 men's actions afford us the true and best criterion to judge of 
 
 * The original papers relative to the arrest of Connoly and his incendiary companions in 
 Maryland in 1775 are recorded in the MS. "Journal of the Committee of Observation of the 
 Middle District of Frederick County," under date of 21 Nov., 1775, in the possession of the 
 Maryland Historical Society. This record gives 1st : the letter from John Connoly to John 
 Gibson, dated at Portsmouth, Aug. 9, 1775; 2d: A letter from Lord Dunmore to the Indian 
 Captain White-eyes. It contains a loving message to " Us brother " The Cornstalk — (the same 
 who had fought at Point Pleasant) ; 3d : Proposals to General Gage for raising an army to the 
 Westward for the purpose of eflfectually obstructing a communication between the Southern 
 and Northern Governments. One of the chief proposals was to raise the Indians. — Brantz 
 Mayer's Address, p. 41. 
 
LIFE OF €APTAIJ^ CRESAP, 85 
 
 their merit or demerit, we can be at no loss to decide on this 
 occasion. 
 
 N'or can there be any doubt that this man, so full of tender 
 sensibility and sympathy for the suiferings of the Indians, 
 when arrested with his colleague, Smith, in Frederick, had a 
 Pandora's box full of firebrands, arrows and death, to scatter 
 among the inhabitants of the West. 
 
 But it is probable the reader, as well as the writer, is weary 
 of such company. We therefore bid him adieu, and once 
 more attend His Excellency the Governor of Virginia, whom 
 we left, I think, on board a British sloop-of-war in the Cliesa-. 
 peake Bay, and to avoid confusion in our narrative took up 
 Connoly, and have been so long paying our respects to him 
 as almost to have forgotten the Earl. 
 
 The reader has not forgotten, we presume, that we long 
 since stated it as our opinion that it was probable, and that 
 we had strong reasons to believe, that Dunmore himself, 
 from political motives, though acting behind the scenes, was 
 in reality at the bottom of the Indian war of 1774. We have 
 already alluded to several circumstances previous to and 
 during that war, but we have in reserve several more, evinc- 
 ing the same fact, subsequent to the war. 
 
 It may be remembered that at the treaty of Chillicothe it 
 was remarked that some points were referred for future dis- 
 cussion at Pittsburg, in the ensuing Fall; and it appears 
 that a treaty was actually held by Connoly, in Dunmore's 
 name, with the chiefs of the Delaware and some Mingo tribes 
 in the Summer ensuing. And this is historically a fact, and 
 matter of record, which I extract from the minutes of a 
 treaty* held in the Autumn of the same year with several 
 
 * The original minutes of this treaty are in my possession. It was presented to me by my 
 friend John Madison, Secretary to the Commissioners. 
 
86 . LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAR 
 
 tribes of Indians, by commissioners from the Congress of the 
 United States and from Virginia. 
 
 But to understand this perfectly, the reader must be in- 
 formed that previous to this treaty Captain James Wood,* 
 afterward Governor of Virginia, was sent by that State as 
 the herald of peace, with the olive branch in his hand, to 
 invite all the Indian tribes bordering on the Ohio and its 
 waters, to a treaty at Pittsburg, on the 10th day of September 
 following. Captain Wood kept a journal, which is incorpo- 
 rated in the proceedings of the treaty, from which journal I 
 copy, as follows : 
 
 **July the 9th, I arrived at Fort Pitt, where I received 
 * information that the chiefs of the Delawares and a few of 
 "the Mingoes had lately been treating with Major Connoly, 
 "agreeable to instruction from Lord Dunmore, and that the 
 "Shawanese had not come to the treaty," &c. 
 
 Captain Wood, however, acknowledges in a letter he wrote 
 to the Convention of Virginia from this place, that this treaty 
 held by Connoly was in the most open and candid manner ; that 
 it was held in the presence of the committee^ and that he laid the 
 Governor's instructions before them. Very good. But why 
 these remarks respecting Connoly and Dunmore ? Does not 
 this language imply jealousy and suspicion, which Captain 
 Wood — ^who certainly was deceived — was anxious to remove ? 
 But to proceed. He says : 
 
 * On the 25th of July, 1775, Captain James Wood having been sent with a single compan- 
 ion to invite the Western Indians to a treaty at Fort Pitt, encountered Logan and several other 
 Mingoes who had been prisoners at that post. He found them all deeply intoxicated and in- 
 quisitive as to their designs. To his appeal the savages made no definite reply, but represented 
 the tribes as very angry. The wayfarers bivouacked near the Indian town, and about ten 
 o'clock at night one of the savages stole into the camp and stamped upon the sleeper's head. 
 Starting to his feet and arousing his companion, Wood and the interpreter found several In- 
 dians around them armed with knives and tomahawks. For awhile the Americans seemed to 
 have pacified the red men, but as a friendly squaw apprized them that the savages meditated 
 their death, they stole away for concealment in the recesses of the forest. When they returned 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJf CRESAP. 87 
 
 ^'J^^ly 10. — White-eyes came, with an interpreter, to my 
 "lodging. He informed me he was desirous of going to Wil- 
 "liamsburg with Mr. Connoly, to see Lord Dunmore, who 
 "had promised him his interest in procuring a grant from 
 "the King for the lands claimed by the Delawares ; that they 
 "were all desirous of living as the white people do, and under 
 "their laws and protection ; that Lord Dunmore had engaged 
 "to make him some satisfaction for his trouble in going sev- 
 "eral times to the Shawanee towns, and serving with him on 
 "the campaign, &c. He told me he hoped I would advise 
 "him whether it was proper for him to go or not. I was 
 "then under the necessity of acquainting him with the dis- 
 "putes subsisting between Lord Dunmore and the people of 
 "Virginia, and engaged whenever the assembly met that I 
 "would go with him to Williamsburg, &c. He was very 
 "thankful, and appeared satisfied." 
 
 The reader must observe this is July the 10th, 1775; and 
 if he will please to refer to page 75, he will see from Con- 
 noloy's letter of August 9th how much reliance was to be 
 placed on his candor and sincerity, as stated by Captain 
 Wood to the Convention on the 9th day of July. Thus we 
 find that about thirty days after Captain Wood's testimony 
 in his favor, Connoly threw away the mask and presented 
 himself in his true character ; and from his own confession, 
 and the tenor of his letter to Gibson, it is plain that the 
 current of suspicion ran so strongly against him that he de- 
 
 again to the Indian town after daylight, Logan repeated the foul story of the murder of his 
 "mother, sister, and all his relations" by the people of Virginia. By turns he wept and sang. 
 Then he dwelt and gloated over the revenge he had taken for his wrongs ; and finally, he told 
 Wood that several of his fellows, who had long been prisoners at Fort Pitt, desired to kill the 
 American messengers, and demanded if the forester was afraid? " No 1 " replied Wood, "we 
 are but two lone men, sent to deliver the message we have given to the tribes. We are in 
 your power ; we have no means of defence, and you may kill us if you think proper 1 " 
 " Then," exclaimed Logan, apparently confounded by their coolness and courage, " you shall 
 not be hurt ! " — nor were they, for the ambassadors departed unmolested to visit the Wyandotte 
 towns. — Discourse by Brantz Mayer ^ />. 65. 
 
 8 
 
88 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP, 
 
 clared himself '^most happy in escaping the vigilance of his 
 enemies y 
 
 We owe the reader an apology for introducing this man 
 again; but the fact is, that Dunmore and Connoly are so 
 identified in all the political movements of this period that 
 we can seldom see one without the other; and Connoly is the 
 more prominent character, especially in the affairs of the 
 West. 
 
 But we now proceed with Captain Wood's journal. He 
 tells us that, on the 20th of July, he met Garrett Pendergrass 
 about 9 o'clock ; that he had just left the Delaware towns ; 
 that two days before the Delawares had just returned from 
 the Wyandots' towns, where they had been at a grand council 
 with a French and English officer and the Wyandots ; that 
 Monsieur Baubee and the English officer told them to be on 
 their guard, that the white people intended to strike them 
 very soon, &c. 
 
 ^^July 21. — At 1 o'clock, arriving at the Moravian Indian 
 "town, examined the minister (a Dutchman), concerning the 
 "council lately held with the Indians, &c., who confirmed the 
 "account before stated. 
 
 ^^Jnly 22. — About 10 o'clock arrived at Coshocton (a chief 
 *'town of the Delawares), and delivered to their council a 
 "speech, which they answered on the 23d. After expressing 
 "their thankfulness for the speech, and willingness to attend 
 "the proposed treaty at Pittsburg, they delivered to Captain 
 "Wood a belt and string that they said were sent to them by 
 "an Englishman and Frenchman from Detroit, accompanied 
 "with a message that the people of Virginia were determined to 
 "strike them ; that they would come upon them two diiferent 
 "ways — the one by the way of the lakes, and the other by 
 "way of the Ohio, and the Virginians were determined to 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 89 
 
 "drive them off and to take their lands ; that they must be 
 "constantly on their guard, and not to give any credit to 
 "whatever you said, as you were a people not to be depended 
 "upon; that the Virginians would invite them to a treaty, but 
 "that they must not go at any rate, and to take particular 
 "notice of the advice they gave, which proceeded from mo- 
 "tives of real friendship." 
 
 Now, by comparing and collating this with the speech sent 
 from Dunmore, inclosed in Connoly's letter, it will furnish us 
 with a squinting at the game that was playing with the In- 
 dians by the Earl of Dunmore and other British officers — to 
 be convinced of which, read the following speech from Dun- 
 more : * 
 
 ^'Brother Captain White-eyes: I am glad to hear your good 
 "speeches, as sent to me by Major Connoly; and you may 
 "be assured I shall put one end of the belt you have sent 
 "me into the hands of our great King, who will be glad to 
 "hear from his brothers, the Delawares, and will take strong 
 "hold of it. You may rest satisfied that our foolish young 
 "men shall never be permitted to have your lands, but on 
 "the contrary the great King will protect you, and preserve 
 "you in the possession of them. 
 
 "Our young people in this country have been very foolish, 
 "and have done many imprudent things, for which they must 
 "soon be sorry, and of which I make no doubt they have 
 "acquainted you; but I must desire you not to listen to them, 
 "as they would be willing you should act foolishly with them- 
 " selves ; but rather let what you hear pass in at one ear and 
 "out of the other, so that it may make no impression on your 
 "heart, until you hear from me fully ^ which shall be as soon 
 "as I can give further information. 
 
 ♦ This speech was inclosed in a letter to Gibson. 
 
90 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP. 
 
 "Captain White-eyes will please acquaint the Cornstalk* 
 "with these my sentiments, as well as the chiefs of the Min- 
 "goes and other Six Nations. 
 
 [Signed] " DUNMORE." 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark here that the flight of 
 Dunmore from Williamsburg, of Connoly from PittsLurg, 
 this speech of Dunmore's, and the speech of the Delawares 
 to Captain Wood, are all nearly cotemporaneous, and point 
 the reader pretty clearly to the aspect of our affairs with the 
 Indians at this period. Dunmore's speech, as you have it 
 above, although pretty explicit, is yet guarded, as it had to 
 pass through an equivocal medium; but he tells Captain 
 White-eyes he shall hear from him Jiereajter ; and this here- 
 after speech was no doubt in Connoly's portmanteau when he 
 was arrested in Frederick. 
 
 But to conclude this tedious chapter. Nothing more now 
 seems necessary than to call the attention of the reader to 
 those inferences that the facts and circumstances detailed in 
 the foregoing pages seem to warrant. The first circumstance 
 in the order of events seems to be the extraordinary and con- 
 tradictory conduct of Dunmore and Connoly respecting Cap- 
 tain Cresap. They certainly understood each other, and had 
 one ultimate end in view ; yet we find on all occasions Dun- 
 more treats Cresap with the utmost confidence and cordiality, 
 
 * Few, if any, chiefs in history are spoken of in terms of higher commendation than 
 Cornstalk, sachem of the Shawanese, and king of the Northern Confederacy in 17 74, a chief 
 remarkable for many great and good qualities. He was disposed to be at all times the friend 
 of white men, as he ever was the advocate of honorable peace. But when his country's 
 wrongs " called aloud for battle, " he became the thunderbolt of war, and made her oppressors 
 feel the weight ot his uplifted arm. His noble bearing, his generous and disinterested attach- 
 ment to the colonies when the thunder of British cannon was reverberating through the land, 
 his anxiety to preserve the frontier of Virginia from desolation and death (the object of his 
 visit to Point Pleasant), all conspired to win for him the esteem and respect of others ; while 
 the untimely and perfidious manner of his death caused a deep and lasting regret to pervade 
 the bosoms even of those who were enemies to his nation, and excited the just indignation of 
 all toward his inhuman and barbarous murderers. The blood of the great Cornstalk and of 
 his gallant son was mingled with the dust, but their memory is not lost in oblivion. — Brak£t 
 " Indians of North America," Book V., p. 49. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJSr CRESAP. 91 
 
 and that Connoly's conduct was continually the reverse — even 
 outrageously insulting him while under the immediate orders 
 of Dunmore himself ; secondly, we find Dunmore acting with 
 duplicity and deception with Colonel Lewis and his brigade 
 from Augusta county ; * thirdly, we find Captain Cresap's 
 name foisted into Logan's pretended speech, when it is evi- 
 dent, as we shall hereafter prove, that no names at all were 
 mentioned in the original speech made for Logan ; fourthly, 
 it appears pretty plainly that much pains was taken by Dun- 
 more at the treaty of Chillicothe to attach the Indian chiefs 
 to his person, as appears from facts that afteward appeared ; 
 fifthly, the last speech from Dunmore to Captain White-eyes 
 and the other Indian chiefs, sent in Connoly's letter to Gib- 
 son; to all which we may add his Lordship's nap of sleep 
 while Cresap was stating his complaints against Connoly, and 
 all Connoly's strange and unaccountable letters to Cresap. 
 
 I say, from all which it will appear that Dunmore had his 
 views, and those views hostile to the liberties of America, in 
 his proceedings with the Indians in the war of 1774. And 
 the circumstances of the times, in connection with his equivo- 
 cal conduct, lead us almost naturally to infer that he knew 
 pretty well what he was about ; and among other things, that 
 he knew a war with the Indians at this time would materially 
 subserve the views and interests of Great Britain, and conse- 
 quently he perhaps might feel it a duty to promote said war ; 
 and if not, why betray such extreme solicitude to single out 
 some conspicuous character and make him the scape-goat to 
 bear all the blame of this war, that he and his friend Connoly 
 might escape ? 
 
 ♦ So says Doddridge. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The famous Logan s/peech examined and refuted. 
 
 It is not the smallest misfortune entailed upon the fallen 
 sons and daughters of Adam, that the unhallowed flame of 
 hatred and misanthropy seems to have consumed all that 
 milk of human kindness, benevolence and love, originally 
 planted in the heart of man in his primeval state. Hence 
 we find — and every day's experience and a thousand facts 
 confirm it — that one of the strongest propensities of human 
 nature is to search out and expose the failings of our breth- 
 ren. A thousand good, great and noble actions pass in review 
 before us daily, unnoticed, and sink into oblivion, while the 
 smallest deviation from the more rigid rules of propriety is 
 presented before the public for scorn and derision. So true 
 it is that we are eagle-eyed to see the mote in our brother's 
 eye, when behold ! a beam is in our own. 
 
 It is not, however, my business at present to inquire after 
 the beams in the eyes of the Philosopher of Monticello and 
 the pious Dr. Doddridge, but to remove, if I can, the mote 
 from the eye of Captain Cresap. 
 
 He stands charged by the former with the murder of Lo- 
 gan's (the Indian) family on Yellow Creek, and with being 
 infamous for his many Indian murders. Heavy charges. 
 And by the latter with being the cause of Dunmore's war 
 of 1774. 
 
 These, we grant, are heavy charges ; and supported, or 
 attempted to be supported, by witnesses of the first respecta- 
 bility. If, then, these facts can be proved and sustained, 
 there can be no question that my client must be condemned ; 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 93 
 
 but may it please this honorable court and jury (I mean all 
 the world) to suspend their decision for one half-hour. I 
 hope in that time to satisfy them that all these charges, what- 
 ever may be the blackness of their present aspect, are but the 
 visions of fancy, the offspring of hasty credulity, and as flip- 
 pant and unsubstantial as the quivering gossamer of a Sum- 
 mer's day. 
 
 But to avoid confusion, we will take up the several counts 
 in the indictment in the order they stand, and devote this 
 chapter to an examination of the charges offered by the first 
 witness, i. e.^ Mr. Jefferson ; and as there are two counts in 
 this charge we will attend to each in due order. 
 
 But, may it please the court, it is my duty before we enter 
 into a discussion as to the truth or falsity of the charges in 
 the indictment, to enter my protest and file a bill of exceptions 
 to the competency of this witness ; first, because we say his 
 residence was several hundred miles from the scene of action, 
 either where Logan's family were killed, or where and when 
 this pretended speech was delivered; secondly, because his 
 testimony is hearsay testimony, and therefore inadmissible in 
 any legal court — which the witness himself, as a lawyer, will 
 not deny ; thirdly, as to the second item in his charge, we say 
 the accuser, Mr. Jefferson, never saw nor had any acquaint- 
 ance with the accused. Captain Cresap ; nor do we believe he 
 ever heard any man, woman or child say that Captain Cresap 
 was a man ^Hnfamous for his many Indian murders ;^^ and if 
 he did, it was hearsay testimony again, and is good for 
 nothing. 
 
 But inasmuch as a great many respectable members of this 
 court are now absent, and scattered all over this vast conti- 
 nent, and it is more than probable that they have already 
 decided on this case on an ex-parte hearing, I must take the 
 
94 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 liberty of entering into an argument upon the merits of the 
 question, in hopes of obtaining a reversal of judgment. 
 
 The leading and most important fact in this case is, may it 
 please your honors, that Logan never made any speech* at 
 all ; and if he did, he told an absurd, willful and wicked lie. 
 But we say he never made any speech — at least, not the 
 speech in question; neither was he at the treaty of Chilli- 
 eothe, where it is said this pretended speech was delivered ; 
 and fortunately we have indubitable living testimony to this 
 fact, from a gentleman of unimpeachable veracity, which the 
 reader shall see in the appendix. But, as this is the first and 
 perhaps most important link in the chain, it is proper the 
 reader should have it in detail. 
 
 It appears, then, that while preparations were making for 
 the treaty of Chillicothe, in the autumn of the year 1774, 
 Simon Grirty, an Indian interpreter, was sent by the Earl of 
 Dunmore to Logan's town to invite him to the treaty ; that 
 Benjamin Tomlinson, Esq., one of Dunmore's officers, was 
 then on the out-guard ; that as Girty was passing by him he 
 stopped and conversed some time with him ; that he told Mr. 
 Tomlinson his business, but said he did not like it, for that 
 Logan was a surly fellow, &c.; that after the treaty had com- 
 menced, and when he was officer of the day to preserve order, 
 he saw Simon Girty return ; that a circle or ring was immedi- 
 ately formed around him ; that Logan was not with him, nor 
 did he come to the treaty; that John Gibson, f who was in the 
 
 » Of the genuineness of that speech nothing need be said. It was known to the camp where 
 it was delivered ; it was given out by Lord Dunmore and his officers : it ran through the public 
 papers of these States ; was rehearsed as an exercise at schools ; published in the papers and 
 periodical works of Europe; and all this a dozen years before it was copied into the Notes on 
 Virginia. In fine, General Gibson concludes the question forever, by declaring that he received 
 it from Logan and delivered it to Lord Dunmore, and that the copy in the Notes is a faithful 
 copy. — Appendix to Jefferson's Notes, p. 265. 
 
 tJohn Gibson has always been regarded as an honest and tmthful person. He enjoyed the 
 confidence of Washington, who, in 1781, entrusted him with the command of the Western 
 Military Department. In 1782, when Gen. Irvine had succeeded him, Col. Gibson was en- 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAF. 95 
 
 ring, took Simon Girty aside, and after conversing a little 
 while in private, he saw Gibson go into a tent and soon after 
 return^with a piece of new, clean paper in his hand, on which 
 was written a speech from Logan. "As I stood," says Mr. 
 Tomlinson, "near Dunmore's person, I heard this speech read 
 three Jtimes — once by Gibson and twice by Dunmore ; but 
 neither was the name of Cresap nor any other name men- 
 tioned in this speech. I then saw Dunmore put the speech 
 among the treaty papers." 
 
 Now here, may it please the court, is a witness unimpeached 
 and unimpeachable, and fully competent to bear testimony, 
 who declares, first, that Logan was not at the treaty; that 
 the pretended speech was made by Gibson, whose sensi- 
 bility, perhaps, was a little wounded by the loss of his 
 squaw, who was Logan's sister, and unhappily killed at Yel- 
 low creek ; nor yet was Cresap's name in the speech. 
 
 I ask then, where shall we look, or where is the man, 
 that can unriddle this mystery? To charge this interpola- 
 tion upon Mr. Jefferson seems not fair, because we have no 
 evidence of the fact; to say that it was in the original is 
 most manifestly untrue, not only from the testimony of Mr. 
 Tomlinson, but from the certainty that so malicious and un- 
 just a charge against Captain Cresap in his own presence, 
 and not only in his own presence, but in the presence of 
 at least five hundred persons, who all well know, from per- 
 sonal knowledge, that Captain Cresap had no more concern 
 nor connection with the affairs at Yellow creek than Mr. 
 Jefferson himself. I say then, that it is impossible that it 
 
 trusted with the command during the General's absence, which continued for several mouths. 
 Jefferson, Madison and Harrison respected him. He was a Major General of Militia, Secretary 
 of Indian Territory under the administration of Jefferson and Madison ; member of the Penn- 
 sylvania Convention in 1778; and an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of 
 Alleghany County, Pa. Chief Justice Gibson and General George Gibson, sons of Colonel 
 Gibson who was mortally wounded at St. Clair's defeat, are his well known aud esteeiued 
 nephewa.— ^rante Mayer'* Addrett, p. 80. 
 
m LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP, 
 
 should be in the original, because the lie would have been 
 detected and exposed upon the spot. 
 
 The only rational way that occurs to my mind to solve 
 this difficulty is to suppose that Dunmore — or Connoly, after 
 he joined Dunmore, with a view to throw the blame of this 
 war on Cresap, and divert the public attention from them- 
 selves — copied this Gribson-Logan speech,* and inserted the 
 name of Cresap; and that this copy, by some means, came 
 to the hands of Mr. Jefferson. If not so, there is an inex- 
 plicable secret in this business that nothing but the light 
 of Eternal Justice can ever develope. 
 
 Had Mr. Jefferson stopped at this point, we have our- 
 selves hammered out an excuse for him ; but what shall we 
 say to the more dreadful charge against Cresap, of being a 
 man ^'^ infamous for his many Indian murder s^ It is well 
 Captain Cresap did not live to hear this story ; if he had, 
 alas ! alas ! 
 
 Gentle reader, I have given you an honest, complete and 
 faithful detail of all the affairs Captain Cresap ever had 
 with the Indians, and I know that I am sufficiently ac- 
 quainted with his whole history, to declare that nothing is 
 hid; nothing behind the curtain. Where then do we find, 
 in all his proceedings against these people any one fact or 
 circumstance that will warrant such a charge as this ; and 
 I beseech you, where in the name of common sense, of jus- 
 tice, mercy, truth, or that common civility due from man to 
 man, could our honorable ex-president find a motive to pub- 
 lish to the world, and all succeeding generations, a charge 
 so odious and detestable. 
 
 *In respect to the speech of Logan, it would be highly gratifying if a few matters connected 
 with it could be settled ; but whether they ever will, time only can determine. From the 
 statement of Dr. Barton, we are led to expect that he had other documents than those he at 
 that time published, going to show that Cresap was not the murderer of Logan's family, but 
 he never published them, as I can learn, and he has left us to conjectnre upon such as we 
 have.— DrMA:«'« Fifth Book of the Indians, p. 48. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJf CRESAP. 97 
 
 I take it for granted, that no honest historian will record 
 facts equivocal and doubtful and hand them down to pos^ 
 terity for truth, with the imposing sanction of their own 
 celebrity. If then, Mr. Jefferson had heard stories of Captaia 
 Cresap (which we are under the impression he never did), 
 yet if it was, it was vague report, unsubstantiated by any 
 evidence, because it was not true. 
 
 And I gisk, what would this honorable gentleman thinks 
 were we to measure to him the same measure he has meted 
 tp Cresap? We also have heard stories about him, but as 
 we know but little as to their truth, we let them sleep. 
 
 Yet certainly it is the best for those who dwell in glass 
 houses not to throw stones. But before we dismiss this 
 subject, I must be permitted to return to a remark long 
 since made, namely, that my task is extremely difficult. 
 
 To prove a negative, and especially a negative so indef- 
 inite as not to apply to any particular or specific period, is 
 more difficult still. For instance, A charges B with stealing 
 a horse, but does not say of whom, where nor when ; now, 
 I pray you, how is B to meet and refute a charge of this 
 kind ? But again, A charges B with stealing a horse from 
 D, on the night of August 20th, 1820, out of D's stable, in 
 the town of Wheeling; now in this case a negative can be 
 proven, because B can prove that on the first day of August, 
 and for many preceding and succeeding days he was in the 
 city of Baltimore. So here is positive proof against positive 
 proof, and the credibility of the witness will decide it. But 
 the first case is the case before us. Captain Cresap is 
 charged with being infamous for many Indian ^murders ; now 
 this charge embraces his whole life, and is of that vague, 
 shapeless, and indefinite kind that it is impossible to bring 
 testimony to bear upon it, unless we could prove where he 
 
98 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP. 
 
 was and what he was about every day of his life, from 
 about ten years old until his death. 
 
 But it is our duty and our business to deny the charge 
 in toto, and call upon the accuser to prove it. Here then 
 we rest the subject, until these charges are put into some 
 shape or specific form. We trust they will sink with all 
 general charges of the kind, into the dark shades of obliv- 
 ion, and where also the names and characters of the accuser 
 and accused must shortly go.* 
 
 *Thi3 was written in March, 1824, since which, the answer has also gone to the accused. 
 August 28, 1826. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Doctor Doddridge's Book — Charge against Captain Cresap ex- 
 amined and refuted. 
 
 Having had the honor of traveling so long with one of 
 the ex-Presidents of the United States, we part by mutual 
 consent, and I trust in good humor, at least it is so on my 
 part. I now turn round to face my old friend, the Rev. Dr. 
 Doddridge ; and is it true, that this herald of the gospel of 
 peace and good will to men ; this son of the West — who can 
 not but be perfectly acquainted with the nature of savage war- 
 fare, and who has, I believe, seen, and heard, and felt some of 
 its effects — who ought not to have forgotten the efforts made 
 by Captain Cresap to defend the frontier at this perilous 
 season, and that among those exposed families, his father's 
 was one ; and is it, I say, or can it be true, that this reverend 
 Doctor, like another Brutus, raises his consecrated and hal- 
 lowed hand to give another stab to wounded Caesar? 
 
 And why and wherefore is this. Doctor ? Did you think it a 
 duty incumbent upon you, as a faithful historian, to state facts 
 of a vague, equivocal and doubtful nature, merely to swell 
 the pages of your history? or were you of opinion that the 
 name of a man so well known and so conspicuous a character 
 as Captain Cresap would embellish your discrepant narrative ? 
 But whatever may have been your motive, nothing will justify 
 a departure from truth in a historian ; for, although were we 
 to admit that a writer is not bound to say everything he 
 knows respecting a character he attempts to narrate, yet he is 
 certainly bound to say nothing at random, or what he does 
 not know. 
 9 
 
100 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 Doctor Beattie says, when we doubt a man's word, we have 
 always one of these four reasons : 1st. We think that what 
 he says is incredible or improbable. 2d. There is some 
 temptation or motive which inclines him in the present case to 
 violate truth. 3d. That he is not a competent judge of the 
 matter wherein he gives testimony. 4th. We doubt his vera- 
 city now because we have known him to be a deceiver formerly. 
 
 And he says again, that of a person of whom we know 
 nothing, modesty requires that we should say nothing; and 
 candor at least requires that we should say nothing abusive. 
 
 But Dr. Doddridge not only says a great deal about Cap- 
 tain Cresap, of whom he never knew anything, for I sup- 
 pose he was dead before Doddridge was born ; but he 
 also violates most egregiously Dr. Beattie's other rule, 
 namely : by abusing him most unmercifully. 
 
 But he (Beattie) gives us four reasons for doubting testi- 
 mony, one of which, and the most innocent I believe of the 
 four is, that the testifier is an incompetent judge of the matter 
 wherein or whereof he gives testimony. JS^ow as we know, 
 and are confident, that Dr. Doddridge has given us, to say the 
 least, a most incorrect and uncandid statement of the cause of 
 Dunmore's war, and of the proceedings of Captain Cresap 
 about the time that war commenced, hence, we will for 
 charity's sake attribute the incorrect statement, made by the 
 Doctor, to a want of competency to judge and report of facts 
 with which he could not in the nature of the things have any 
 know^ledge ; at least no other knowledge than mere vague re- 
 port, or perhaps vain conjecture. But what is most strange 
 in this business is, that Dr. Doddridge himself acknowledges 
 in his preface how imperfect his acquaintance is with this 
 part of his history. 
 
 But to proceed. Doddridge says (page 225), '^devoutly might 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CEFSAF.] 101 
 
 humanity wish that the record of the causes which led to the de- 
 structive war of 1774:, might be blotted from the annals of our 
 country ;^^ and permit me to retort, that it is most devoutly to 
 be wished, that a minister of the everlasting gospel had not 
 been the first to commit to record a string of assumed facts, 
 upon no better authority, and thus to register in the annals of 
 our country what never appeared before in any record ; most 
 devoutly is it to be wished, might the Doctor say, that I could 
 some way or another, have avoided, or been restrained from, 
 uttering what I do not know to be true ; and I now call upon 
 the Doctor to produce those records in the annals of our 
 country which he says is now too late to efface. 
 
 How passing strange is this ! what affected sensibility for 
 the honor of our country ! when at the same time — so far as 
 the honor of our country is involved in the causes leading to 
 Dunmore's war, he himself, even Dr. Doddridge has used his 
 best endeavors, by laying before the public and the world, 
 a statement of false facts (I have Jefferson's authority for 
 these words), and giving such erroneous views of the real 
 causes of Dunmore's war, that if the honor of our country 
 suffers it must be through his means, and for the want of 
 correct information. 
 
 But, inasmuch as I have in my IV chapter given the reader 
 what I think is a faithful and correct view of the causes lead- 
 ing to the war of 1774, and not from vague report or conjec- 
 ture, but from personal memory and many records, it is, 
 therefore, I presume, needless to repeat and say over again 
 what has already been said ; and I trust, that personal knowl- 
 edge of facts aided and frequently confirmed by records, will 
 be deemed sufficient testimony to outweigh the credibility of 
 a story told from hearsay fifty years after all the facts and 
 circumstances have laid buried in oblivion. 
 
102 LIFE OF CAPTAIJY CRESAP. 
 
 But the Doctor says (page 266), that a certain report of the 
 Indians stealing horses — which report, he says, was not true, 
 but I say it was true, although of little importance— 3^^^ that 
 re;port^ vague as it was, induced a 'pretty general belief that the lU' 
 dians were about to make war upon the frontier settlements, but for 
 this apprehension there does not appear to be the slightest found- 
 ation. 
 
 Now all this is wonderful — passing wonderful — ^for either 
 Dr. Doddridge did know, or did not know, of some of the 
 material facts connected with the beginning of this war, 
 to-wit : Connoly's* circular letter; the white men killed by the 
 Indians on Hocking, in 1773, and the two men killed in But- 
 ler's canoe about the first of May, 1774 ; the unceasing hostil- 
 ities between the Indians and whites in Kentucky, and the 
 general panic among all the settlements in the western 
 country, and their running into forts about the last of April. 
 Now if the Doctor knows all this, and has suppressed it, 
 he is bound to account with the public and the world for 
 such a material omission. But if he did not know these 
 facts — most of which are matters of record — it proves to ab- 
 solute demonstration his incompetency and ignorance of the 
 most material facts connected with the history he under- 
 takes to write. But his own history confutes itself; for I 
 ask if any man in his senses can believe, that a mere idle 
 
 *0n the 21st of April, Connoly wrote to the settlers along the Ohio, that the Shawanese 
 were not to be trusted, and that they (the whites) ought to be prepared to revenge any wrong 
 done them. Five days before its date, a canoe, belonging to William Butler, a leading Pitts- 
 burg trader, had been attacked by three Cherokees, and one white man had been killed. This 
 happened not far from Wheeling, and became known there of course ; while about the same 
 time the report was general that the Indians were stealing the traders' horses. When, there- 
 fore, immediately after Connoly's letter had been circulated, the news came to that settlement 
 that some Indians were coming down the Ohio in a boat, Cresap, in revenge for the murder by 
 the Cherokees, and as he afterward said, in obedience to the direction of the commandant at 
 Pittsburg, contained in the letter referred to, determined to attack them. They were, as it 
 chanced, two friendly Indians, who, with two whites, had been dispatched by William Butler, 
 when he heard his first messengers were stopped, to attend to his peltries down the river, ia the 
 Shawanee country. — Perkins's Annals of the Westj page\2Z. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJf CRESAP, 103 
 
 and doubtful report of the Indians stealing horses, as he 
 states it, would have had the effect of putting a whole 
 country, at least sixty miles square, into such a panic and 
 alarm as to fly into forts, which he knows was the fact; 
 and we also know, that the Indians as well as the white 
 people, often stole horses from our frontiers in peace as well 
 as in war. 
 
 But that the Indians did actually steal horses from Mr. 
 Joseph Tomlinson, at Grave creek; and Mr. Richard Mc 
 Macken, a little below Wheeling, about this time, is most 
 certain ; yet this was a very inconsiderable item in the causes 
 leading to Dunmore's war. 
 
 Having premised thus much, we pronounce beforehand, 
 that the Doctor's book will not bear the scrutiny of being 
 judged by these rules, (the rules laid down by Dr. Beattie, 
 and also by myself), because none of the charges he brings 
 against Captain Cresap stand upon any better testimony 
 than his mere say so, and this say so proof is unsupported 
 by any direct or inferential evidence. Hence it appears 
 that they all originated in himself. 
 
 But we will do the Doctor ample justice, and pay him 
 the respect of traveling, however tedious and irksome our 
 journey may be, through all his charges, taking them in 
 the order they rise, admitting what is truth — if we find any 
 — and exposing and refuting what is most assuredly untrue. 
 
 The Doctor's first charge is general, and like one we have 
 lately discussed, not susceptible of direct proof against it, 
 to- wit : that Captain Cresap was the cause of Dunmore's war ; 
 but he has also superadded several specific and direct 
 charges, which are consequently more in our power to con- 
 trovert. 
 
 I believe his first specific assertion, bearing on this sub- 
 
104 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 ject, that deserves our notice is, that the white people shed 
 the first blood in the war of 1774; or, in other words, be- 
 gan the war. 
 
 Secondly : He says Captain Cresap commanded the Fort 
 at Wheeling. 
 
 Thirdly: He charges Captain Cresap with the murder of 
 two Indians in a canoe, and goes on to say, that afterward 
 on the same day, he went down to Capteening and had a 
 battle with some more. 
 
 Fourthly: He says Colonel Zane expostulated with Cap- 
 tain Cresap before he attacked the Indians in the canoe, 
 but that he would not regard him. 
 
 Fifthly : He says the massacre on Yellow Creek, and battle 
 at Capteening, comprehended all the family of Logan, mean- 
 ing, I suppose, that they were all killed at these two places. 
 
 Sixthly : He calls Colonel Lewis General Lewis, and Logan* 
 a Cyuga chief; whereas, he was a Mingo, and no chief. 
 
 Seventhly : He says the authenticity of Logan's speech 
 is no longer a subject of doubt. 
 
 Eighthly : Logan, he says, sent his speech in a belt of 
 wampum. 
 
 I believe the foregoing affords us an analysis of all the 
 general and specific charges in Doddridge's book against 
 Captain Cresap. We shall therefore now take them up in 
 the order they stand. 
 
 * Simon Kenton, who was taken prisoner by the savages, spent two nights with his captors 
 and Logan on the head waters of the Scioto. "Well, young man," said Logan addressing 
 Kenton, the night of his arrival, "these chaps seem very mad with you.' "Yes," replied Ken- 
 ton, "they appear so." "But don't be disheartened," interrupted Logan, "I am a great chief; 
 you are to go to Sandusky; they talk of burning you there; but I will send two runners to- 
 morrow to speak good for you !" And so he did, for on the morrow, having detained the hostile 
 party, he dispatched the promised envoys to Sandusky, though he did not report to Kenton 
 of their success when they returned at nightfall. The runners, by Logan's orders, interceded 
 with Captain Druyer, an influential British Indian-agent at Sandusky, who with great diflSculty 
 ransomed the prisoner and saved him from the brutal sacrifice of the stake. — Discourse hy Brantz 
 Mayer^ p. 66. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 105 
 
 And first, as to the general charge that Captain Cresap 
 was the author of Dunmore's war. JN'ow, although we have 
 admitted, and do admit, the difficulty of answering this broad, 
 vague and indefinite charge, yet I trust we shall be able to 
 offer stronger reasons against the truth of it than he has or 
 can produce for it. 
 
 In the first place, then, we believe, and are convinced, that 
 no man,* red, white or black, ever heard of this charge before, 
 either in English, Indian, Dutch, French, Latin, Greek or 
 Hebrew, in the whole course of about fifty years, to-wit: from 
 the year 1774 to 1824; hence we are led to the inevitable con- 
 clusion that this charge is bran span new — just hatched in a 
 parson's cap in Wellsburg. I therefore deny the charge, and 
 call upon Dr. Doddridge for the proof, either from certain 
 and indisputable testimony, or from any genuine record of the 
 transactions of the day; and until he does so, I give this 
 charge to the winds, or throw it back with all its malignity 
 upon himself, to shake off if he can. 
 
 Second. — We have, however, more arguments in reserve to 
 meet and refute this charge; and I cannot but think that the 
 candid and faithful detail I have given the reader in the 
 fourth chapter of this work, of all the proceedings of Captain 
 Cresap, and every circumstance in connection with the Indian 
 war of 1774, affords one of the most weighty and forcible 
 arguments in this case. 
 
 Third. — I ask, how comes it to pass that neither Cornstalk, 
 head chief of the Shawanee tribe of Indians, nor any other 
 chief of the various tribes who attended the treaty of Pitts- 
 burg, in September, of the year 1775, never once mentioned 
 the name of Cresap as the aggressor, or cause, or beginner of 
 
 * I am not absolutely certain that Mr. Jefferson does not hint something like this. I hare 
 not his book before me, and it is manj years since I read it. 
 
106 LIFE OF CAFTAIJV CRESAF. 
 
 the war of the preceding year? And this is the more re- 
 markable as Cornstalk and the Shawanee chiefs were hard 
 pressed by the Virginia commission as to their compliance 
 with one of the articles of the treaty of Chillicothe ; and this 
 fact happens to be matter of record, as I have before me, as 
 already remarked, this original treaty. 
 
 Moreover, it is stated by Captain Wood that on the 25th 
 day of July he arrived at the Seneca town, where he found 
 Logan* and several other Mingoes; that they were pretty 
 drunk and angry; that Logan repeated in plain English how 
 the ^people of Virginia had killed his mother, sister and all 
 his relations, during which he wept and sung alternately. 
 Now, may we not ask how it happened that this drunken 
 Indian, with his feelings highly excited, never once mentions 
 the name of Cresap ? And may we not further remark that 
 this fact, which happens to be matter of record, cuts like a 
 two-edged sword — not only by implication giving the lie to 
 his pretended speech, but affording at the same time an argu- 
 ment that whatsoever might be the opinion of their advocate. 
 Dr. Doddridge, it was not the opinion of the Indians them- 
 selves that Cresap was the cause of Dunmore's war. But 
 enough. 
 
 And we now proceed to take up the Doctor's long list of 
 specific charges, in the order they occur. 
 
 *The Rev. Dr. David McClure, during a visit to Fort Pitt and the neighboring regions of 
 the Ohio, met our hero, and saw many other Indians who were in the habit of resorting to the 
 settlements for the sake of a drunken frolic, staggering about the town. At that time Logan 
 was still remarkable for the grandeur of his personal appearance. TAH-OAH-i jtb, or ^' Short 
 Dress," lor such was his Indian name, stood several inches more than six feet in hight ; he 
 was straight as an arrow ; lithe, athletic, and symmetrical in figure ; firm, resolute, and com- 
 manding in feature ; but the brave, open, and manly countenance he possessed in his earlier 
 years was now changed for one of martial ferocity. After tarrying and preaching nearly three 
 weeks at Fort Pitt, Dr. McClure, in the summer or autumn of 1772, set out for Muskingum, 
 accompanied by a Christian Indian as his interpreter. The second day after his departure, the 
 wayfarers unexpectedly encountered Logan. Painted and equipped for war, and accompanied 
 by another savage, he lurked a few rods from the path beneath a tree, leaning on his rifle ; nor 
 did the missionary notice him until apprised by the interpreter that Logan desired to speak 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 107 
 
 The first is, that the white people began the war of 1774. 
 Now, it is evident that if we were to admit its truth, it would 
 not apply to Captain Cresap more than any other man ; but, 
 interwoven and connected with the thread of his history, he 
 appears to wish it to be understood as applying to Cresap. 
 But as I have already proved in my fourth chapter — not from 
 assertion only, but from authentic documents — that this asser- 
 tion is not true, and that it rests upon no better authority 
 than the parson's ipse dixit, we need not weary the reader's 
 patience by multiplying arguments or using repetition in this 
 case. 
 
 The Doctor's second assertion is, that " Captain Cresap com- 
 manded Fort Wheeling at the commencement of the warT Now 
 this charge, considered as detached from inferences and con- 
 sequences, would seem to mean nothing, nor have any tend- 
 ency to injure the character of Cresap. But when we con- 
 sider the adjuncts and inferences the Doctor designs we shall 
 draw from this circumstance, it wears a serious aspect, be- 
 cause he intends we shall consider Cresap as a prowling wolf, 
 who makes his den in Wheeling, sallying out occasionally and 
 killing his poor sheep, the Indians ; and moreover, because 
 the design of this assertion is to entirely mislead the mind of 
 the public as to the real fact and circumstances that accident- 
 ally led Captain Cresap to that place at all. 
 
 with him. McClure immediately rode to the spot where the red man remained, and asked 
 what he required. For a moment Logan stood pale and agitated before the preacher, and then, 
 pointing to his breast, exclaimed : "I feel bad here. Wherever I go the evil Manethoes pursue 
 " me. If I go into my cabin, my cabin is full of devils. If I go into the woods, the trees and 
 " the air are full of devils. They haunt me by day and by night. They seem to want to 
 "catch me, and throw me into a deep pit, full of fire." In this moody strain of abrupt, maud- 
 lin musing — with the unnatural pallor still pervading his skin — he leant for awhile on his rifle, 
 and continued to brood over the haunting devils. At length he broke forth with an earnest 
 appeal to the missionary as to '-what he should do?" Dr. McClure gave him sensible and friendly 
 advice suggested by the occasion ; counselled him to reflect on his past life ; considered htm 
 as weighed down by remorse for the errors or cruelties of past years, and exhorted him to that 
 sincere penitence and prayer which would drive from him the "evil Manethoes" forever. 
 — Brantz Mayer't Addrus, p. 32. 
 
108 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 I have already stated, in my third and fourth chapters, the 
 real and true state of this case — namely : that Captain Cresap, 
 being warned of his danger, fled to Fort Wheeling as a place 
 of refuge; that he was a mere bird of passage — a transient 
 (though I believe very welcome) guest ; that he had no more 
 right to assume the command of Fort Wheeling than a trav- 
 eler, who may call and tarry a night with any of you gentle- 
 men, has to assume the command of your family and servants ; 
 and that in fact he tarried there but a few days, as he was, 
 perhaps, at this time dependent upon the hospitality of his 
 friend Colonel Zane, who was the real commandant. 
 
 Third. — But the Doctor has more yet against us, and of a 
 more serious nature — namely: that Caj^tain Cresap killed two 
 Indians in a canoe, 
 
 I have already admitted that two Indians were killed in a 
 canoe — not by Captain Cresap personally, but two of his men ; 
 and we also admit that some of the English red-coats were 
 killed at Lexington by some wicked Yankees, in April, 1775. 
 Now, in the former case, we have shown that it was subse- 
 quent to acts of hostility by the Indians, and at a time when 
 war was considered as inevitable, and as actually begun. But 
 in the latter case, the red-coats and the Yankees went at it 
 pell mell, and both were the first aggressors; yet who ever 
 blamed our Yankees for this ? 
 
 But, as I have already anticipated and answered the Doctor 
 as to this charge, in my fourth chapter, I need not add any 
 more here. But the Doctor adds, that after Captain Cresap 
 killed the two Indians in the canoe, he went down the Ohio 
 the same day, and killed more Indians at the mouth of Cap- 
 teening. So, then, this prowling wolf having killed two 
 Indians — up the river, the Doctor says, but he does not say 
 how far up — yet insatiable, passed by his den and went down 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJy- CRESAP, 109 
 
 the river about fifteen or eighteen miles the same day, and 
 killed more. Now this story contradicts itself ; 'tis scarcely 
 possible that any men could do this without the aid of swift 
 horses or a balloon, neither of which I suppose they had. 
 But I have also given the reader a candid and honest state- 
 ment of this fact in my fourth chapter, therefore need not 
 repeat it again and again. 
 
 Fourth. — But Colonel Zane, says the Doctor, ^'expostulated 
 with Captain Cresap about killing the two Indians^ We deny 
 this assertion, and call on his reverence to prove it — and not 
 by assertion or vague report, but positively and pointedly; 
 because we conceive this charge the mere offspring of malevo- 
 lence, and designed to present Captain Cresap before the 
 public in the most odious colors. 
 
 Fifth. — He tells us that the massacre on Yellow Creek and 
 the battle on Capteening comprehended all the family of Logan — 
 meaning, I presume, that all Logan's family were killed at 
 those two places. Now, that several of Logan's family were 
 killed at Yellow Creek we never heard disputed, but that any 
 part of that family was killed at Capteening we never heard 
 before ; and we have seen in the preceding pages of this work 
 that only one Indian was killed there, or in the skirmish 
 Cresap had with the Indians on the Ohio — whether at Cap- 
 teening or elsewhere is uncertain ; but who this Indian was, 
 or of what family, I know not, nor ever heard; nor can any 
 reason be offered why these two affairs of Yellow Creek and 
 Capteening should be thus blended together, except that the 
 Doctor is determined in some way or other to lug in Captain 
 Cresap as one of the murderers of Logan's family.* 
 
 • John Sappington states that he was " intimately acquainted with all the circumstances re- 
 specting the destruction of Logan's family," though he does not admit, in his carefully drawn 
 statement, that he was present at the scene of murder. McKee, in his certificate appended to 
 Sappington's testimony in Jefferson's Notes, says that Sappington admitted he was the man who 
 
110 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 But, if we were to admit that this Indian killed at Cap- 
 teening was in fact one of Logan's family, it would neither 
 add nor diminish aught to the innocence or criminality of the 
 action. The only conceivable motive for blending the two 
 affairs of Yellow Creek and Capteening, is to give a kind of 
 currency to the Logan speech ; for we shall presently see that 
 the Doctor himself is constrained to acknowledge, although 
 indirectly and covertly, yet plainly enough, that Captain 
 Cresap was not, nor had he any agency or concern in the 
 affair on Yellow Creek. 
 
 Sixth. — The Doctor calls Colonel Lewis General Lewis, and 
 Logan a Cayuga chief — in both of which he is incorrect ; nor 
 is it of any other importance than to show a want of precision 
 and accuracy in his history, that may lead to suspicion in 
 matters of greater importance ; and that the Doctor is mis- 
 taken in the grade of Colonel Lewis is most certain, because, 
 before our Revolutionary war, Virginia had in her militia no 
 higher military grade than county lieutenant with the title of 
 colonel ; and that he is also mistaken respecting his favorite, 
 the grand Indian orator. Prince Logan, appears not only from 
 the certificate of Benjamin Tomlinson, Esq., but also from 
 Captain Wood's journal. 
 
 Seventh. — He says the authenticity of the Logan speech is 
 now no longer a subject of doubt; and for fear the reader should 
 be so unhappy as to die without being gratified with such a 
 delicious feast, he gives him the whole speech. 
 
 killed Logan's brother. See also the statement written by Mr. Jolly, published in the Ameri- 
 can Journal of Science and Art, vol. xxxi, p. 10. 
 
 It is important to recollect that all these statements and depositions positively prov« that 
 Captain Michael Cresap was neither present at nor countenanced the alleged murder of Logan's 
 kin at the Yellow Creek massacre. The fact that Sappington's statement was published by Mr. 
 Jefferson himself, indicates the confidence he placed in it, especially as he inserts it as a sort of 
 supplement to the other testimony on the subject which had been printed before its reception. 
 Logan's mother, brother and sister, (Gibson's Indian wife or squaw, in all likelihood,) were, 
 probably, all of the relatives of Logan killed there. — Brantz Mayer's Address, p. 53. 
 
LIFE OF CAFTAIJT CRESAP. Ill 
 
 Now, gentle reader, I do most earnestly entreat your pa- 
 tience while I endeavor, with all simplicity, to bring into 
 your view this crooked and unparalleled jumble of contradic- 
 tions. Let us see how this story will hang together : 
 
 1. We are told that there is now no longer any doubt as to 
 the authenticity of this Logan speech, and of course, I pre- 
 sume he means to say, the facts contained in that speech — one 
 of which most prominent facts, according to the speech as 
 recited by himself, is that Colonel Cresap, the last Spring, in 
 cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all Logan's relations, 
 not even sparing his women and children. 
 
 2. He says the massacre at Capteening, and that which took 
 place at Baker's,* about forty miles above Wheeling, a few 
 days after that at Capteening, were unquestionably the sole 
 cause of the war of 1774. The last was perpetrated by thirty- 
 two men under the command of Daniel Greathouse. The 
 whole number killed at the place, and on the river opposite, 
 was twelve, &c., &c. 
 
 Now, here is an artful, dark, and yet sufficiently explicit 
 confession that Captain Cresap had no concern in the Yellow 
 Creek business, or in killing Logan's relations ; yet it is told 
 in such ambiguous and indistinct terms, as it should seem 
 purposely to deceive the reader; for, instead of telling us 
 plainly that this affair at Baker's was in fact the affair of 
 
 * Baker was a man who sold ram, and the Indians had made frequent visits at his house, 
 induced probably by their fondness for that liquor. He had been particularly desired by Cresap 
 to remove and take away his rum, and he was actually preparing to move at the time of the 
 murder. The evening before a squaw came over to Baker's house, and by her crying seemed 
 to be in great distress. The cause of her uneasiness being asked, she refused to tell; but 
 getting Baker's wife alone, she told her that the Indians were going to kill her and all her 
 femily the next day, that she loved her, did not wish her to be killed, and therefore told her 
 what was intended, that she might save herself. In consequence of this information, Baker got 
 a number of men, to the amount of twenty-one, to come to his house, and they were all there 
 before morning. A council was held, and it was determined that the men should lie concealed 
 in the back apartment; that if the Indians did come and behaved themselves peaceably, they 
 should not be molested ; but if not, the men were to show themselves and act accordingly. Early 
 in the morning seven Indians, four men and three squaws, came over. Logan's brother was on* 
 
 10 
 
112 LIFE OF CAPTAIJy- CRESAP. 
 
 Yellow Creek, and that the people that were killed there were 
 Logan's relations, he has put the statement of this fact into 
 such a shape as no doubt to have deceived his readers, with 
 the meritorious view of saving the Logan speech and vilifying 
 most cruelly and unjustly the character of Captain Cresap. 
 And what makes this suspicion stronger is, he calls the battle 
 at Capteening (for he will have a battle there, right or 
 wrong,) a "massacre;" whereas I have shown, and I hope 
 satisfactorily, too, that there was no more reason to call that 
 battle a massacre than Lewis's battle at the mouth of Kan- 
 awha, or any other battle fought during the whole war. Nor 
 do I believe, from everything I have heard — although I am 
 far from advocating this Yellow Creek business of murdering 
 women in cool blood — ^yet I say from all I have ever heard 
 of this business, that the Doctor has given a tolerably correct 
 and honest statement of that affair ; certainly he is wrong in 
 a most essential point, for the Yellow Creek business was 
 antecedent to that at Capteening, and is entirely distinct, and 
 has no connection with it. 
 
 But the wonderful part of this story yet remains to be toldr 
 and it plainly comes out to be Doddridge versus Doddridge ; 
 for first he tells us that the authenticity of the Logan speech 
 is now no longer a subject of doubt, that this authentic speech 
 
 of them. Thej immediately got rum, and all, except Logan's brother, became very much 
 intoxicated. At this time all the men were concealed, except the man of the house, Baker, and 
 two others, who staid out with him. Those Indians came unarmed. After some time Logan's 
 brother took down a coat and hat belonging to Baker's brother-in-law, who lived with him, 
 and put them on, and setting his arms akimbo, began to strut about, till at length coming up 
 to one of the men, he attempted to strike him, saying, '■'white man son of a bitch." The white 
 man, whom he treated thus, kept out of his way for some time, but growing irritated he jumped 
 to his gun, and shot the Indian as be was making to the door with the coat and hat on him. 
 The men who lay concealed then rushed out and killed the whole of them, excepting one child, 
 which I believe is alive yet. But before this happened, two canoes, one with two, the other 
 with five Indians, all naked, painted, and armed completely for war, were discovered to start 
 from the shore on which Logan's camp was. Had it not been for this circumstance, the white 
 men "would not have acted as they did; but this confirmed what the squaw had told before. 
 The whit^ meA haying killed as aforesaid the Indians in the house, ranged themselves along 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 113 
 
 gives us clear and unequivocal testimony that Colonel Cresap 
 murdered all Logan's family at Yellow Creek, not sparing 
 his women and children ; secondly, that this family of Logan's 
 who were killed at Baker's — which is the same place and 
 same people — were killed by Daniel Greathouse and thirty- 
 two men, among whom he has not, and among whom truth 
 and his own conscience would not permit him to name Captain 
 Cresap. So here we have Logan in a speech charging Colonel 
 Cresap with killing his relations, and a Dr. Doddridge con- 
 firming the truth of that speech with all the weight his asser- 
 tion, his book and character can give it, and at the same time, 
 in the same book and in the same chapter, acknowledging 
 that it was not Cresap but Greathouse that committed the 
 murder and massacre at Yellow Creek. Now, I ask the reader 
 if he ever saw an argument so much like the letter X with 
 the Doctor stuck on each point ? 
 
 But, how shall we account for all this ? Did Dr. Doddridge 
 believe, or did he not believe that Captain Cresap killed Lo- 
 gan's family ? If he did, and does believe it, pray who were 
 the people killed by Greathouse ? And why has he not, somo 
 where in his book, charged Captain Cresap with this among 
 all his other charges ? For I have nowhere yet discovered 
 any disposition in the Doctor to spare him. But if, on the 
 
 the bank of the river to receive the canoes. The canoe with the two Indians came near, being 
 the foremost. Oar men fired upon them and killed them both. The other canoe then went 
 back. After this two other canoes started, the one containing eleven, the other seven Indians, 
 painied and armed at the first. They attempted to land below our men, but were fired upon, 
 had one killed^ and retreated, at the same time firing back. To the best of my recollection 
 there were three of the Greathouses engaged in this business This is a true representation of 
 the affair from beginning to end. I was intimately acquainted with Cresap, and know he had 
 no hand in the transaction. He told me himself afterward, at Redstone Old Fort, that the day 
 before Logan's people were killed, he, with a small party, had an engagement with a party of 
 Indians on Capteener, about forty-four miles lower down. Logan's people were killed at the 
 mouth of Yellow Creek, on the 24th of Way, 1774; and the 23d. the day before, Cresap was 
 engaged, as already stated. I know likewise that he was generally blamed far it, and believed 
 by all, who were not acquainted with the circumstances, to have been the perpetrator of it. I 
 know that he despised and hated the Greathouses ever afterward on account of it. — Appendix 
 to Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, p. 266. 
 
114 LIFE OF CAPTAIJSr CRESAP. 
 
 contrary, he did not, nor does not believe that Captain Cresap 
 had any concern in this Yellow Creek massacre, why does he 
 attempt to palm the Logan speech on the public for a genuine, 
 authentic document ? — knowing in his own conscience that if 
 the speech itself is authentic, it is an authentic record of lies, 
 which he was bound in honor, as an honest man, and in can- 
 dor and veracity as a historian, to publish to the world. 
 
 Eighth. — But as Logan was not at the treaty. Dr. Dodd- 
 ridge tells us he sent Ms sjpeecJi in a belt of wampum ; so, right 
 or wrong, by hook or by crook, in some way or other, the 
 Doctor must have a Logan speech. 
 
 " He sent Ms speech in a belt of wampum V 
 
 Now, if I am not greatly mistaken here is one new thing 
 under the sun — a perfect original. That the Indians use belts 
 of wampum and strings of wampum in their treaties, which 
 serve for them as records, and also generally at the conclusion 
 of their harangues or speeches, as a kind of amen or confirm- 
 ation, is not disputed ; but a speech in a belt of wampum, 
 unaccompanied with a message, is quite a new thing — and in 
 fact a thing that never happens. The reader, by recurring to 
 a preceding page of this work, will see the use of belts and 
 strings of wampum, as well from the English and French 
 officers at Detroit, the Delaware tribe of Indians, as from the 
 said Delawares to Captain Wood, and from Captain Wood to 
 them ; but we do not find that in either instance these belts 
 became vocal ; on the contrary, they were as quiescent and 
 silent as a dormouse. 
 
 But as the speech of the Delaware chiefs to Captain Wood 
 is not very long, and may serve as a specimen of Indian 
 speeches and customs, we give it to the reader, as follows : 
 
 " Brothers the Big-knife: Your brothers, the Delawares, are 
 "very thankful to you for your good talk yesterday, and are 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 116 
 
 "glad to find their brothers' hearts are good toward them, 
 "and they will be joyful at meeting them at the time and 
 "place you mention. 
 
 "Brothers, in order to convince our elder brothers of Vir- 
 "ginia that we desire to live in friendship with them, I now 
 "deliver to you this belt and string; they were sent to us by 
 "an Englishman and a Frenchman [in a subsequent meeting 
 Captain Wood had with the Wyandots, they denied that the 
 French had any concern in this business, but that it was the 
 English only,] at Detroit, with a message that the people of 
 "Virginia were determined to strike us; that they would 
 "come upon us two different ways — the one by the lakes and 
 "the other by the Ohio — and that the Virginians were deter- 
 " mined to drive us off and to take our lands ; that we must 
 "be constantly on our guard, and not give any credit to what- 
 "ever you said, as you were a people not to be depended 
 "upon; that the Virginians would invite us to a treaty, but 
 "we must not go at any rate ; and to take particular notice of 
 "the advice they gave, which proceeded from motives of real 
 "friendship, and nothing else.'* , 
 
 They then delivered the belt and string received from De- 
 troit. I trust the reader now sees and understands the use 
 made by Indians and those concerned in Indian affairs of belts 
 of wampum. They are among these people significant symbols 
 of peace and war, and commemorative of conditions and arti- 
 cles of treaty. But to send a speech in a belt of wampum, 
 unaccompanied with a message, is a thing never known. We 
 find the message from Detroit to the Indians accompanied 
 with a belt and string of black wampum ; this was significant, 
 and agreeable to Indian customs, and denoted war. We find, 
 also. Captain Wood delivers a string of white wampum ; this 
 we know was emblematical of peace and good will. 
 
116 LIFE OF CAPTAIJSl' CRESAP. 
 
 I have taken more pains to elucidate this subject than, per- 
 haps, was necessary. But as it was the last fibre in the 
 Doctor's cobweb, I thought it best, with the brush of plain, 
 simple, honest truth, to dash it all away together. But, before 
 I dismiss the Doctor and conclude this chapter, may we not 
 ask this sensitive, this tender-hearted and noble champion 
 and defender of the Indians, where was his sympathy for the 
 christian Delaware Indians that were massacred in cold blood 
 by hundreds? It is true he speaks with horror of the action, 
 but finds an apology for the perpetrators ; be it so ; I feel no 
 wish to disturb the ashes of the dead, or irritate old sores that 
 time and oblivion have buried ; and only mention the circum- 
 stance to show with what avidity he seized every idle report 
 to aid him in consigning to infamy and detestation a character 
 which duty, gratitude, and the best feelings of the noblest 
 mind ought to have urged him rather to eulogize. It is re- 
 markable that Dr. Doddridge closes his chapter on the mas- 
 sacre of the Moravian Indians in the following words — i. e,, 
 that the names of these murderers should not stain the pages 
 of history, from his pen, at least. (Page 265.) 
 
 Alas, sir, what have you done ? You have used your best 
 endeavors to hand down to succeeding generations the name 
 and character of a man with whom you had no acquaintance, 
 ^s the most odious, the most detestable ; and so far as your 
 bppk and inflluence extends, you no doubt intended they 
 sljLOuld have this effect. 
 
 Jn the name, then, of that awful being whose minister you 
 arp, or ought to be, in the name of truth, justice and mercy, 
 J ask what reparation, what atonement can you make ? — not 
 ta the naanes of Captain Cresap only, but to his large, ex- 
 tensive and respectable family, who never did nor ever 
 wisheci tP ipjvire you. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Concluding scenes of Captain Cresap^s life — marches to Boston 
 — taken sick in camp — makes an effort to get home-— dies 
 at New York, 
 
 As a traveler worn down with weariness and fatigue looks 
 forward with joyful and pleasing anticipations of ease and 
 rest at his journey^s end, so my weary hands and aching 
 head are cheered as they approximate the end of toil and 
 labor, now full in view. 
 
 Although we have repeatedly mentioned the name of Cap- 
 tain Cresap on various occasions in the course of our history, 
 yet we left him personally at the conclusion of our third chap- 
 ter, to which the present may properly be considered a sup- 
 plement. 
 
 It was there stated, that Captain Cresap was engaged at 
 the commencement of Dunmore's war in improving lands on 
 the Ohio ; that, being driven by the hostile attitude of our 
 affairs with the Indians from the business he was engaged in, 
 he took an active part in that war, and never after attended 
 to his own business until after its conclusion. But the con- 
 cluding scene, however, of this story, this chequered drama of 
 life, remains yet to be told. 
 
 After the treaty of Chillicothe, and the army was disbanded, 
 Captain Cresap returned to his family, and spent the latter 
 part of the Autumn of 1774 and succeeding Winter in repose 
 in his domestic circle — a thing, by the by, not very common 
 with him. But very early in the Spring of 1775 he hired 
 another set of young men and returned to the Ohio, with the 
 
118 LIFE OF CAPTAIM CRESAP. 
 
 view of finishing the work he had commenced the year before. 
 Nor did he stop at this time at his old station on that river, 
 but descended with a part of his hands as low as Kentucky, 
 where he also made many improvements ; but being indis- 
 posed, he left his hands and started for home. However, this 
 eventful period scattered again all his golden dreams, as we 
 shall presently see. American blood was shed, the battle of 
 Lexington had taken place, and all America was in a flame ; 
 Congress had met, conventions were formed, and committees 
 were appointed in every section of the country ; and a letter 
 was addressed by the delegates from Maryland in Congress 
 to the committee of Frederick county, requesting them with 
 all convenient speed to raise two companies of riflemen, &c. 
 
 But, as this letter is an important document, and naturally 
 leads the mind back and gives us a view into those times that 
 tried men's souls, and moreover as I am not sure that it has 
 a place in any record, I give it to the reader at full length : 
 
 "Philadelphia, June 15, 1775. 
 
 ^^ Gentlemen : We inclose you a resolution of Congress for 
 "raising two* companies of riflemen, two of which in our own 
 "province. It is thought this small body of men, all of which 
 "we expect to be expert hands, will be more serviceable for 
 "the defense of America in the continental army near Boston. 
 "You will please to observe the men are to be enlisted for 
 "one year, unless the affairs of America will admit of their 
 "discharge before that time. It is left to the delegates of 
 "Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia to fall on such meas- 
 "ures as may appear most likely to get the companies quickly 
 "formed and on their march. 
 
 "The gentlemen of Pennsylvania and Virginia write, as we 
 
 *It is "two" in the original, but it ought to be "six." 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP, 119 
 
 "do, to the committees of the counties, where it is most likely 
 "the best men mav the soonest be had; and for the conveni- 
 "ence of having the whole end on all events on the same day, 
 "have agreed the year shall finish on the first day of July, 
 "1776, as we suppose the enlistments will begin about the 
 "first day of next month. 
 
 "The committee of your county, it is expected, will give 
 "recommendatory certificate of the officers for their respective 
 "places and ranks, and the commissions can be made out ac- 
 "cordingly under the direction of Congress. The companies, 
 "as soon as formed, will march forward to Boston with all ex- 
 "pedition, and it is unnecessary that there should be a rendez- 
 " vous of all the company at any one place before they get to 
 "the camp. You will, doubtless, if possible, get experienced 
 ^^ officers, and the very best men that can be procured, as well from 
 ^^your affection to the service as for the honor of our province ; we 
 "hope it will appear to you as to us, prudent to [get the men 
 "as far back as may be, not only because there is a fair 
 "chance of their being as good as any others, but that those 
 "whose situations will permit, may be left at hand, to act 
 "in our own province, if unhappily there should be occasion, 
 "unless you should be advised time enough of a dififerent 
 "provision. You will direct captains to give certificates of 
 "their necessary expenses incurred on the way for sub- 
 "sistence. The Virginia and Pennsylvania captains will, if 
 "necessary, do so too. 
 
 "We shall expect to be advised from time to time of 
 "the success of your endeavors, or any difficulty you may 
 "meet with. We have wrote to you only on this subject, 
 "thinking the whole may be executed in your county; but 
 "if you are likely to meet with any embarrassment, we 
 "should be glad you would speedily consult the committee 
 
120 LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CRESAP. 
 
 "of Baltimore, who may probably be able to render you 
 
 "some assistance. 
 
 "We are, gentlemen, 
 
 "Your most obedient servants, 
 
 "MATTHEW TILGHMAN, 
 
 "THOMAS JOHNSON, Jr. 
 
 "JOHN HALL, 
 
 "ROBERT GOLDSBOROUGH, 
 
 "T. STONE, 
 
 "WILLIAM PACA, 
 
 "SAMUEL CHACE. 
 
 "To the Committee of Frederick County, Maryland.'* 
 
 In consequence of this resolve of Congress, and letter from 
 the delegation of Maryland, the committee of Frederick im- 
 mediately appointed Captain Michael Cresap and Thomas 
 Price, of Fredericktown, captains to command these two rifle 
 companies ; and as soon as this was known, I was dispatched 
 in all haste to give Captain Cresap notice of this appointment, 
 and met him in the Allegheny mountains on his way. As I 
 have already remarked, he had left his hands and business 
 through indisposition, and was making homewards. 
 
 When I communicated my business, and announced his 
 appointment, instead of becoming elated he became pensive 
 and solemn, as if his spirits were really depressed; or as if 
 he had a presentiment this was his death warrant. He said 
 he was in bad health, and his affairs in a deranged state, but 
 that nevertheless, as the committee had selected him, and as 
 he understood (from me) that his father had pledged himself 
 that he should accept of this appointment, he would go, let 
 the consequences be what they might. He then directed me 
 to proceed to the west side of the mountains, and publish to 
 his old companions in arms this his intention; this I did, 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 121 
 
 and in a very short time collected and brought to him, at his 
 residence in Old Town, about twenty-two as fine fellows as 
 ever handled a rifle, and most, if not all of them, com- 
 pletely equipped with rifles, etc., etc. Soon after these men 
 joined his company, he marched,* and bid, alas ! a final fare- 
 well to his family. 
 
 The immense popularity of this ^Hnfamous Indian murderer^^ 
 will appear not only from the circumstance of twenty men 
 marching voluntarily nearly one hundred miles — leaving their 
 families and their all, merely from a message sent by a boy — 
 to join the standard of their ol dcaptain ; and that, too, from 
 the very county where, if his name was odious, it must be 
 most odious, as being in the vicinity of those dreadful Indian 
 murders. 
 
 But the high estimation in which Captain Cresap stood with 
 his fellow-citizens, who certainly knew him best, will appear 
 further from the fact, that while he was passing through the 
 lower end of the county in which he lived, his company in- 
 creased and swelled to such a multitude, that he was obliged, 
 daily, to reject many men that wished to join his company ; 
 and I think there is no question but that he could have raised 
 
 *"I hare had the happiness of seeing Captain Michael Cresap marching at the head of a 
 formidable company of upward of one hundred and thirty men from the mountains and 
 backwoods, painted like Indians, armed with tomahawks and rifles, dressed in hunting shirts 
 and moccasins, and though some of them had traveled near eight hundred miles from the banks 
 of the Ohio, they seemed to walk light and easy, and not with less spirit than at the first hour 
 of their march. Health and vigor, after what they had undergone, declared them to be inti- 
 mate with hardship and familiar with danger. Joy and satisfaction were visible in the crowd 
 that met them. Had Lord North been present, and been assured that the brave leader could 
 raise thousands of such like to defend his country, what think you, would not the hatchet and 
 the block have intruded on his mind? I had an opportunity of attending the Captain during 
 his stay in town, and watched the behavior of his men, and the manner in which he treated 
 them; for it seems that all who go out to war under him do not only pay the most willing 
 obedience to him as their commander, but, in every instance of distress look up to him as their 
 friend and father. A great part of his time was spent in listening to and relieving their wants, 
 without any apparant sense of fatigue and trouble. When complaints were before him, he 
 determined with kindness and spirit, and on every occasion condescended to please without 
 losing his dignity. 
 
 "Yesterday the company were supplied with a small quantity of powder from the magazine, 
 
122 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 a regiment, merely and chiefly from his personal influence, in 
 less than two months ; and I am clearly of opinion, that no 
 other individual in the state of Maryland could, at that period, 
 have raised as many men as himself. 
 
 And as a further proof of public sentiment at this period — 
 which happens to hang on the very heels of Dunmore's war 
 — I add a few lines, extracted from a letter written to Captain 
 Cresap, by John Cary, a respectable citizen of Fredericktown. 
 Mr. Cary, after speaking of some private business, concludes 
 his letter in the following words : 
 
 " Ymi^ and your brother soldiers, have relieved us in one quarter ^ 
 ^^and our own virtue, Joined with yours, is like to relieve us in the 
 ^^ other, I wish you ^prosperity and happiness, and am, 
 
 ^^ Yours, &c., 
 [Signed] "JOHN CARY. 
 
 ''Frederick, April 11, 1775." 
 
 The reader will permit me to remark here, that at this 
 period, viz : immediately after the conclusion of Dunmore's 
 war, no individual, great or small, friend or enemy, ever said, 
 or heard it said, either that Captain Cresap murdered Logan's 
 family or was infamous as an Indian murderer,^or that he was 
 
 which wanted airing, and was not in good order for rifles ; in the evening, however, they were 
 drawn out to show the gentlemen of the town their dexterity at shooting. A clapboard with 
 a mark the size of a dollar, was put up ; they began to fire off-hand, and the bystanders were 
 surprised, few shots being made that were not close to or in the paper. When they had shot' 
 for a time in this way, some lay on their backs, some on their breast or side, others ran twenty 
 or thirty steps, and firing, appeared to be equally certain of the mark. With this performance 
 the company were more than satisfied, when a young man took up the board in his hand, not by 
 the end but by the side, and holding it up, his brother walked to the distance and very coolly 
 shot into the white ; laying down his rifle, he took the board and holding it as it was held 
 before, the second brother shot as the first had done. By this exercise I was more astonished 
 than pleased. But will you believe me when I tell you that one of the men took th« board, 
 and placing it between his legs, stood with his back to a tree while another drove the centre ! 
 
 "What would a regular army of considerable strength in the forests of America do with one 
 thousand of these men, who want nothing to preserve their health and courage but water from 
 the spring, with a little parched corn, with what they may easily procure in hunting ; and who, 
 wrapped in their blankets, in the damp of night, would choose the shade of a tree for thei; 
 covering and the earth for their bed." — Brantz Mayer's Address, p. 63, 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJV CEESAP. 123 
 
 the cause of Dunmore's war. The two first of these charges 
 appeared first in Jefferson's Notes, how many years after this 
 pretended date I do not recollect ; the third was hatched by 
 Dr. Doddridge, in the hot-bed of ignorance and prejudice, 
 about fifty years after Dunmore's war. Please pardon this 
 digression, and we proceed. 
 
 With this first company of riflemen, although in bad 
 health, Captain Cresap proceeded to Boston, and joined the 
 American Army under the command of G-en. Washington ; 
 but at length admonished of his declining health, and feeling 
 in himself, no doubt, serious forebodings of its consequences, 
 made an effort to reach home ; but finding himself too ill to 
 proceed, stopped in the city of New York, where he ended his 
 earthly career, on the 5th day of October, 1775, having lived 
 a little more than thirty-three years. 
 
 Thus we are led to the concluding scene of Captain Cresap's 
 life, than whom no man, considering the short period of his ex- 
 istence, ever did more for his country ; and few men, since 
 the mad-caps of Greece and Rome, have been so shamefully 
 abused and so ungratefully treated. Captain Cresap not only 
 sacrificed his life in defense of his country, but all his lands 
 in Kentucky; and much of that on the Ohio was lost. yy<Q 
 
 But we have seen — and indubitable facts, not to be dis- 
 puted, prove it — ^that he died at last in the service of, and a 
 martyr to, the liberties of his country ; and we are certain 
 that his funeral was attended with the most splendid military 
 honors ; so much so, that I myself heard a gentleman say — 
 whether wisely or unwisely matters not — that he would not 
 begrudge to die if his funeral could be as honorable as 
 Cresap's. 
 
 But that no doubt may remain upon the public mind as to 
 the estimation in which Captain Cresap stood . in the year 
 11 
 
124 LIFE OF CAPTAIM CRESAP. 
 
 1775, I take the liberty of calling their attention to the letter 
 from the Maryland delegates in Congress to the committee of 
 Frederick, and the proceedings of that committee in conse- 
 quence thereof. We must not forget the strong and emphatic 
 injunction in that letter to the committee, to select the most 
 experienced officers and best men that could be procured — 
 not only that the service required it, but that the honor of the 
 State would also be identified with this appointment. And 
 what was the result? Did this respectable committee of 
 Frederick, with this injunction before their eyes and the 
 honor of the State in their hands, appoint a man infamous as 
 an Indian murderer, as the principal instrument and cause of 
 the Indian war of the preceding year, yea, the murderer of 
 the helpless women and friends of Logan in cold blood ? Did 
 this committee, I say, appoint such a man as this to the most 
 distinguished and honorable station, in a military view, then 
 in the gift of the State of Maryland ? Can any man in his 
 sober senses believe this ? If they do, they must believe that 
 the county of Frederick, certainly, if not the whole State of 
 Maryland, was composed of characters the most detestable, if 
 the best man among them was an infamous murderer. Were 
 Cresap's accusers and defamers aware of this? Did they 
 intend this stigma should rest not only on Frederick county, 
 but the State at large^ and indeed in some degree upon every 
 military officer in Maryland ? — because, as already remarked. 
 Captain Cresap was the very first captain appointed in that 
 State. 
 
 I ask a Smallwood, a Grist, a Howard, a Smith, a Williams 
 (Williams was Lieutenant to Captain Price), how they relish 
 the idea of such a character being preferred before them ? or 
 what is tantamount, if he had lived and continued in the 
 army he must, according to seniority— -and I hope I may now 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 125 
 
 say without a blush, according to merit, also — ^have filled the 
 first station and highest grade in the Maryland line. This 
 is abundantly evident from the fact that Rawlings, who was 
 Cresap's Lieutenant, commanded the rifle regiment that made 
 such havoc among the Hessians who attacked Fort Washing- 
 ton in 1776. Thus we find his Lieutenant was promoted to 
 a regiment in less than a year after Captain Cresap's death. 
 Again, Williams, who was Price's Lieutenant, obtained the 
 rank of Brigadier General before the war was over. 
 
 When the nature and date of these facts are considered, 
 and contrasted with the loose and quite recent date* of the 
 guess-work, malevolent, unsupported and vague charges 
 against the character of Captain Cresap, it must appear, I 
 think, to all men, that whatever had been the motive, or with 
 what view, or to whatsoever end these charges were laid be- 
 fore the public, yet they certainly rest upon no better founda- 
 tion than the baseless fabric of a vision. 
 
 We may also add, if any additional evidence is necessary 
 to demonstrate the high estimation in which Captain Cresap 
 stood in the year 1775, that while on his march through Fred- 
 erick county, Maryland, and through all the different States, 
 cities, towns and villages, on his way to Boston, he was hailed, 
 caressed and honored in the highest degree, the citizens 
 vieing with each other who should show him most respect ; 
 indeed, so much so that I was informed by one of his officers 
 that it was his opinion that this unremitting scene of feasting 
 and hilarity shortened his days. 
 
 *I do not exactlj know the date of Mr. Jefferson's Notes, bat am certain they were 
 written after this period. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Becajpitulation, or condensed view of the whole worh^ to assist the 
 
 reader's memory. 
 
 In my introduction, as I conceived it would be satisfactory 
 to the reader, I have given a brief sketch of my connection 
 and acquaintance with Captain Cresap and the Cresap family, 
 to evince from matter of fact and substantial reason my com- 
 petency — so far as a knowledge of fact was concerned — to dis- 
 charge with truth and fidelity the work I undertook; and 
 this point, I trust, is certainly gained. 
 
 My first chapter has much about the same relation to the 
 subject and nature of my history that a corps of pioneers has 
 to an army — namely : to clear away the brush and rubbish, 
 but who are not designed to render any efficient service in the 
 ranks. I have, however, presented the reader with a few 
 hints as to the habits, customs and manners of our citizens in 
 1774-75-76; related, also, a few interesting anecdotes, and 
 especially called his attention to the peculiar providence that 
 tied the hands of our enemies until the proper time was come» 
 \ My second chapter, being a catalogue of naxnes, the reader, 
 after he has satisfied his curiosity in running over the little 
 interesting sketch of the life of old Colonel Cresap, may, if he 
 pleases, leave all the rest to examine when he has leisure. 
 
 My third chapter is short, containing little more than a 
 brief view of the juvenile days of Captain Cresap. It is, 
 however, in some degree, the key to the whole work, because 
 it leads us to the cause and motives that led Captain Cresap 
 to the Ohio in the Spring of the year 1774. 
 
LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 127 
 
 My fourth chapter contains the body, nerves and sinews of 
 my book. In this chapter we are led to view many and im- 
 portant facts connected with Dunmore's war. 
 
 In preceding pages the reader has a view into the preca- 
 rious state of the western country, the hostile attitude of our 
 affairs with the Indians, and the slender thread of a dubious 
 peace. 
 
 The Earl of Dunmore is introduced as suspected of com- 
 bining his own influence, with predisposing causes, not only 
 to set the Virginians and Pennsylvanians by the ears, but 
 by artful and indirect means provoking a war with the 
 Indians. 
 
 Arguments are adduced to prove the first, and circum- 
 stances produced to beget strong suspicion of the latter ; and 
 to elucidate these two important points I have devoted sev- 
 eral pages. 
 
 But especially as to the latter — i. ^., the cause we have to 
 suspect Dunmore as being concerned in producing the Indian 
 war of 1774 — we mentioned, as the first item in our list of 
 suspicious circumstances, a circular letter from Dr. Connoly, 
 his sub-governor and confidential agent at Pittsburg, warning 
 the inhabitants to be on their guard,* &c. This letter I have 
 applied as it ought to be applied — namely: to the justification 
 of Captain Cresap, and every other person that considered it 
 the herald and proclamation of war ; and also as implying 
 suspicion that it was designed to accelerate and make certain 
 what was at the time only squally and threatening. 
 
 This letter, with the confirmatory messages as related in 
 the chapter I am now analyzing, brought up Captain Cresap 
 from some distance down the Ohio river to Wheeling, and in 
 
 * I must regret that I cannot lay my hands on this letter, but I not only recollect it, but 
 recollect its motive and contents. Nor does the truth of this letter and its effects rest on my 
 testimony only ; Dr. Wheeler says the same. 
 
128 LIFE OF CAFTAIK CRE8AF. 
 
 conjunction with other facts and circumstances laid the found- 
 ation — and was in fact the real cause — of all the subsequent 
 proceedings of Captain Cresap with the Indians, which are 
 given in detail as they occurred. 
 
 I have also led the reader with Major McDonald and his 
 little army to Wappatomica, on the Muskingum, and to the 
 end of that campaign ; then presented him with a view of 
 Colonel Lewis and his fine body of western Virginians en- 
 camped at the mouth of Big Kanawha, and the sanguinary 
 battle at that place.* Also, with the northern wing of the 
 army under Dunmore in person, their march to the Scioto, 
 treaty with the Indians, and conclusion of the war. 
 
 But I have interwoven throughout the course of this nar- 
 rative several circumstances implying suspicion that Dunmore 
 and Connoly were often moving ostensibly one way and cov- 
 ertly another ; and as an argument evincive and confirmatory 
 of this fact, we are led to a view of them naked and without 
 a covering in the concluding scene of the drama ; nor need 
 
 * This battle was the most bloody ever fought with the Indians within the limits of Vir- 
 ginia. Its sanguinary nature made it long remembered among the borderers, and its history 
 is given in a rud« song, which is even heard to the present day among the mountain cabins of 
 that region: 
 
 Let us mind the tenth day of October, By which the heathen were confounded, 
 
 Seventy-four, which caused woe ; Upon the banks of the Ohio. 
 
 The Indian savages they did cover 
 
 The pleasant banks of the Ohio. Colonel Lewis and some noble captains 
 
 Did down to death like Uriah go, 
 The battle, beginning in the morning, Alas 1 their heads wound up in napkins, 
 
 Throughout the day it lashed sore, Upon the banks of the Ohio. 
 
 Till the evening shades were returning down 
 
 Upon the banks of the Ohio. ISAngB lamented their mighty fallen 
 
 Upon the mountains of Gilboa ; 
 Judgment precedes to execution, And now we mourn for brave Hugh Allen, 
 
 Let fame throughout all dangers go ; Far from the banks of the Ohio. 
 
 Our heroes fought with resolution, ^ , . , ^. „ „ 
 
 Upon the banks of the Ohio. 0, bless the mighty King of Heaven 
 
 For all his wondrous works below, 
 Seven score lay dead and wounded. Who hath to us the victory given. 
 
 Of champions that did face their foe ; Upon the banks of the Ohio. 
 
 -^Eowit Great West, p. 82. 
 
LIFE OF CAFTAIJi CRESAP. 129 
 
 we thank them that it was not to the people of the West a 
 most direful tragedy. 
 
 I have, in my fifth chapter, taken up, examined, exposed 
 and refuted the famous Logan speech, and proved by the 
 most respectable and indisputable testimony that it is a mere 
 counterfeit; and even that counterfeit, base as it is, is still 
 more base and detestable from the malignant interpolation 
 foisted in, to serve no earthly purpose but to blacken the 
 character of a most valuable and distinguished citizen. 
 
 0, ye philosophers, orators, poets and scribblers, how little, 
 how contemptible do you feel, and should you feel ! After 
 bandying about from north to south, and from south to north 
 again, this speech — after sporting with the name and fame of 
 a man you never knew, and who, if alive, would chastise you 
 as you deserve — how must you feel to be told, and have it 
 proved in your teeth, that your Logan speech, your fine speci- 
 men of Indian oratory, is a lie, a counterfeit, and never in 
 fact had any existence as a real Indian speech ! No doubt 
 Colonel Gibson, if alive, must be highly delighted with the 
 compliment you pay him, and truly diverted at your credulity. 
 But bark on, gentlemen ; we know that fiests may with im- 
 punity bark at a dead lion. 
 
 My sixth chapter is devoted to an indispensable but very 
 unpleasant subject ; and I cannot but express my regret that 
 truth and justice compel me to handle rather roughly a man 
 I always esteemed. Dr. Doddridge, for some cause to me 
 inexplicable, has thought proper, in a book he has lately pub- 
 lished, to introduce the name and fame of my friend Captain 
 Cresap, who has now been dead something more than fifty 
 years, and to load his memory with many atrocious and 
 scandalous crimes; and knowing, as I do from personal 
 knowledge, that every item in his long list worth notice is 
 
130 LIFE OF CAPTAIJ^ CRESAP. 
 
 either not true, or if true, so distorted, misrepresented and 
 falsified in their coloring as to be actually untrue, I have 
 therefore, as the most conspicuous as well as most compend- 
 ious method, dissected and analyzed his various charges, and 
 I trust satisfied a candid public that, Dr. Doddridge and his 
 book to the contrary notwithstanding. Captain Cresap is en- 
 tirely innocent of every charge against him. For shame, 
 Doctor! You know the good book says — "Thou shalt not 
 bear false witness against thy neighbor;" but this witness of 
 yours is the more malignant and permanent in its kind, as 
 you have embodied it in your book, with a view to send it 
 down to all succeeding generations. 
 
 My seventh chapter concludes the short, eventful and active 
 life of Captain Cresap. After marching a company of rifle- 
 men to Boston he is taken sick in camp, gets worse, sets oif 
 for home and reaches New York, where he dies, and is buried 
 with military honors. 
 
 And here I advance an argument which I conceive con- 
 clusive and incontrovertible: that the very circumstance of 
 his appointment to the command of this company is the 
 strongest possible evidence of the high estimation in which 
 he stood with his fellow citizens at that period, to- wit: in 
 June, 1775; and that, as he died in less than four months 
 after this date, and as his ashes have been honored and per- 
 mitted to repose in peace for many years, is It not strange, 
 and one of those mysteries that reason searches in vain for a 
 cause, why they should be disturbed at this late period ? 
 
 May I not be permitted to say that no benevolent heart, 
 no heart in which is one drop of the milk of human kindness, 
 that has either father or mother, brother or sister, wife or 
 children, could or would, we should naturally suppose, merely 
 for the sake of defamation, even admitting they had truth on 
 
LIFE OF CAPTdlJf CRESAP. 131 
 
 their side, wish to wound the feelings of honorable and sur- 
 viving relatives, merely to pour contempt and contumely 
 upon the ashes of the dead. But how much worse, how much 
 stronger the case when the devoted victim is an honest man ! 
 And here I close my book, bidding adieu, I expect for- 
 ever, at least in this world, to all Captain Cresap's accusers, 
 calumniators and enemies, and pray God to forgive them; 
 and that no unhallowed hands or tongues may disturb their 
 ashes, some ten, or twenty, or fifty years after they are dead. 
 
•^^ ■ ' < 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 The first witness we introduce is Benjamin Tomlinson, 
 Esq., who is still living — a man universally respected, and 
 whose testimony no man dare to call in question. It is given 
 by way of interrogatory. 
 
 Questi(m 1st. What number of Indians were killed at Yel- 
 low Creek? 
 
 Answer, Logan's mother, younger brother, and sister, who 
 was called Gibson's squaw; this woman had a child half 
 white, which was not killed. 
 
 Ques, 2d, Do you recollect the time and circumstances of 
 the affair at Yellow Creek ? 
 
 Ans. Yes ; the time was the third or fourth day of May, 
 1774, and the circumstances were that two or three days be- 
 fore these Indians were killed at Yellow Creek [the reader 
 has not forgotten that this is precisely what I say in my 
 fourth chapter, and the more gratifying to me as I had not 
 Mr. Tomlinson's certificate then before me,] by the whites, 
 two men were killed and one wounded in a canoe belonging 
 to a Mr. Butler, of Pittsburg, as they were descending the 
 Ohio river near the mouth of Little Beaver, [Little Beaver 
 and Yellow Creek are not far apart,] and this canoe was 
 plundered of all the property ; and moreover, about this time 
 the Indians were threatening the inhabitants about the river 
 Ohio, [this I state in my fourth chapter also, and confirm it 
 by Connoly's letter or proclamation,] and I was also informed 
 
134 APPEJ^DIX. 
 
 they had committed some depredations on the property of 
 Michael Cresap. I assisted in the burial of the white men 
 killed in Butler's canoe. 
 
 Qaes, M, Who commanded the party that killed the In- 
 dians at Yellow Creek, and who killed those Indians ? Do 
 you know? 
 
 Ans. The party had no commander. I believe Logan's 
 brother was killed by a man named Sappington ; who killed 
 the others I do not know, although I was present. But this 
 I well know— that neither Captain Michael Cresap nor any 
 other person of that name was there, nor do I believe within 
 many miles of the place. 
 
 Ques, 4th. Where was Logan's residence, and what was his 
 character ? 
 
 Ans. I believe his residence was on Muskingum. His 
 character was no ways particular; he was only a common 
 man among the Indians — no chief, no captain. _^ ^ 
 
 Ques. 5th. Where and when did Logan die ? 
 
 Ans. To this question I answer, that I do not know when 
 or where Logan died,* but was informed by Esquire Barkley, 
 of Bedford, that he became very vile; that he killed his 
 own wife, and was himself killed by her brother. I am, 
 however, certain he did not die until after Dunmore's treaty 
 on the Scioto. 
 
 » Logan, at an Indian Council held at Detroit, became wildly drunk, and, in the midst of 
 delirious passion, prostrated his wife by a sudden blow. She fell before him apparently dead. 
 In a moment, the horrid deed partly sobered the savage, who, thinking he had killed her, fled 
 precipitately lest the stern Indian penalty of blood for blood might befall him at the hand of 
 some relative of the murdered woman. While traveling alone, and still confused by liquor 
 and the fear of vengeance, he was suddenly overtaken in the wilderness between Detroit and 
 Sandusky, by a troop of Indians with their squaws and children, in the midst of whom he 
 recognized his nephew or cousin Tod-kah-dohs. Bewildered as he was, he imagined that the 
 lawful avenger pursued him in the form of his relative, — for the Indian rule permits a relation 
 to perform the retributive act of revenge for murder, — and rashly bursting forth in frantic 
 passion, he exclaimed that the whole party should fall beneath his weapons. Tod-kah-dohs, 
 seeing their danger, and observing that Logan was well armed, told, his companions that their 
 only safety was in getting the advantage of the desperate man by prompt action. But Logan 
 was quite as alert as his adversary ; yet while leaping from his horse to execute his dreadful 
 
APPEJ^DIX. 135 
 
 Ques, Qth. Was Logan at the treaty held by Dunmore with 
 the Indians at Camp Charlotte, on the Scioto ? Did he make 
 a speech ? And if not, who made a speech for him ? 
 
 Am. To this question I answer: Logan was not at the 
 treaty ; perhaps Cornstalk, the chief of the Shawanee nation, 
 mentioned among other grievances the Indians killed on 
 Yellow Creek ; but I believe neither Cresap nor any other 
 persons were named as the perpetrators. I perfectly recollect 
 that I was that day officer of the guard, and stood near Dun- 
 more's person, and consequently I saw and heard all that 
 passed ; that also two or three days before the treaty, when I 
 was on the out-guard, Simon Girty, who was passing by, 
 stopped with me and conversed ; he said he was going after 
 Logan, but he did not like his business, for he was a surly 
 fellow ; he, however, proceeded on, and I saw him return on 
 the day of the treaty, and Logan was not with him. At this 
 time a circle was formed and the treaty begun. I saw John 
 Gibson, on Girty's arrival, get up and go out of the circle and 
 talk with Girty ; after which he (Gibson) went into a tent, 
 and soon after returning into the circle, drew out of his pocket 
 a piece of clean, new paper, on which was written, in his own 
 hand- writing, a speech for and in the name of Logan. This 
 I heard read three times — once by Gibson and twice by Dun- 
 threat, Tod-kah-dohs lereled a shot-gun within a few feet of the savage and killed him on the 
 spotl 
 
 Tod-kah-dohs, or The Searcher, originally from Oonestoga, and probably a son of Logan's 
 sister residing there, died, about 1844, at the cold spring on the Allegheny Seneca Reservation, 
 nearly 100 years old. He was better known as Captain Logan, and was either a nephew or 
 cousin of the celebrated Indian. He left children, two of whom have been seen by Mr. Draper; 
 so that, in spite of Logan's speech, tome of his "blood" still ^^runs^^ in human veins, 77 years 
 after the Yellow Creek tragedy. The substance of this narrative was given me in MS. by 
 Mr. Lyman C. Draper, who received it from Dah-gan-on-do, or Captain Decker, as it was related 
 to him by Tod-kah-dohs, who killed Logan. " Decker, " says Mr. Draper, " was a venerable 
 Seneca Indian, and the best Indian chronicler I have met with. His narratives are generally 
 sustained by other evidence, and never seem confused or improbable." Logan's wife, who 
 was a Shawanese, and had no children by him, did not die in consequence of her husband's 
 blow, but recovered and returned to her people. — Brantz Mayer s Address^ p. 67. 
 
 12 
 
136 APPEJ^DIX. 
 
 more — ^the purport of which was, that he (Logan) was the 
 white man's friend ; that on a journey to Pittsburg to brighten 
 this friendship, or on his return from thence, all his friends 
 were killed at Yellow Creek ; that now, when he died, who 
 should bury him? — for the blood of Logan was running in 
 no creature's veins ; but neither was the name of Cresap or 
 the name of any other person mentioned in this speech. But 
 I recollect having seen Dunmore put this speech among the 
 other treaty papers. 
 
 Qaes, 1th, If Logan was not at the treaty, and made no 
 speech, pray from whence came and who was the author of 
 that famous speech ? 
 
 Ans. In addition to what is stated above, I say there is no 
 doubt in my mind that it originated altogether with and was 
 framed and produced by Colonel John Gibson. 
 
 Ques. Sth. Do you recollect the names of any gentlemen 
 who were present at the treaty ? 
 
 Ans, Yes; I recollect the following persons, and believe 
 they are still alive* and live at the following places, to-wit : 
 General Daniel Morgan, Berkley county, Virginia; Colonel 
 James Wood, now Governor of Virginia ; Captain David 
 Scott, Monongahela ; Captain John Wilson, Kentucky ; Lieu- 
 tenant Gabriel Cox, Kentucky; Captain Johnson, Youghio- 
 gheny ; Captain James Parsons, Moorfield ; General George 
 R. Clark, Captain William Harrod, Colonel L. Barret, Lieu- 
 tenant Joseph Cresap and Captain Wm. Henshaw, Berkley. 
 
 [I believe most of these gentlemen are now (1826) dead.] 
 
 Ques. 9th, Was the question as to the origin of the war dis- 
 cussed at the treaty ? 
 
 Ans. Yes ; the Indians gave as a reason, the Indians killed 
 at Yellow Creek, Whetstone Creek, Beech Bottom and else- 
 
 * This was on the 17th of April, 1797. 
 
APPEJVDIX. 137 
 
 where. But the Indians were in fact the first aggressors, and 
 committed the first hostilities. 
 
 Qaes. 10th. Were not some white men killed by the Indians 
 in the year 1773 ? 
 
 Ans. Yes ; John Martin and two of his men were killed on 
 Hockhocking, about one year before Dunmore's army went 
 out, and his canoe was plundered of above £200 worth of 
 goods. 
 
 I lived on the river Ohio, and near the mouth of Yellow 
 Creek, from the year 1770 until the Indians were killed at 
 Yellow Creek, and several years after ; I was present when 
 the Indians were killed, and also present at the treaty in Sep- 
 tember or October, 1774, near Chillicothe, on the Scioto ; and 
 certify that the foregoing statements of facts are true, to the 
 best of my recollection. 
 
 [Signed] BENJAMIN TOMLINSON. 
 
 Cumberland, April 17, 1797. 
 
 We now present the reader with the testimony of Dr. 
 Wheeler, a man equally respectable, but now dead. It is 
 also in the same way of question and answer : 
 
 Question 1st. Do you know, or recollect to have heard, of 
 the murder of John Martin and other Indian traders, on the 
 Hockhocking, in 1773? 
 
 Answer. 1 recollect that John Martin and Guy Meeks were 
 killed by the Indians in 1773 ; the former I personally knew, 
 the latter I was acquainted with, but thought they had been 
 killed at the mouth of Capteening. 
 
 Ques. 2d. Do you know, or have you heard, of two men that 
 were killed and one that was wounded in a trading canoe 
 belonging to Mr. Butler, of Pittsburg, at or near the mouth 
 of Little Beaver, by the Indians ? And did you hear that 
 the canoe was plundered ? 
 
138 AFPEJ^DIX. 
 
 Ans, I heard an acquaintance say he was well acquainted 
 with one of the men that was wounded in Butler's canoe, but 
 whether it was plundered or not I cannot say. 
 
 The third question, not being answered, is omitted. 
 
 Qaes. 4th. Was there not a bustle before or about the time 
 Butler's men were killed — an express sent by Major Con- 
 noly,* the commandant at Pittsburg, warning the inhabitants 
 to be on their guard, that the Indians were about to strike ? 
 And had not this express a written message, or circular letter? 
 
 Ans. There was a circular letter sent to the inhabitants of 
 Redstone Old Fort by Major Connoly, for the purpose of 
 warning them to be on their guard; but whether before or 
 after Butler's canoe was robbed, I cannot tell. 
 
 Ques. 5th. Were there not about this time, to-wit : a little 
 before any Indians were killed, a general panic and uneasy 
 apprehensions among the people on the Ohio and its vicinity, 
 fearing daily a stroke from the Indians ? And were not the 
 people flying in all directions to forts, &c ? 
 
 Ans. To this question I can answer from experience, [the 
 Doctor lived at this time about four or five miles west of 
 the Monongahela,] and assert that it was the case. 
 
 Ques. 6th. Do you apprehend that when Captain Cresap 
 went down the Ohio, in 1774, it was to fight Indians or im- 
 prove lands ? 
 
 * Dr. John Connoly, who played so prominent a part as commandant of Pittsburg, where 
 he continued at least through 1774, was, from the outset of the Revolutionary movements, a 
 tory ; and being a man extensively acquainted with the West, a man of talent, and fearless 
 withal, he naturally became a leader. This man, in 1775, planned a union of the north- 
 western Indians with British troops, which combined forces were to be led, under his com- 
 mand, from Detroit, and, after ravaging the few frontier settlements, were to join Lord Dun- 
 more in eastern Virginia. To forward his plans, Connoly visited Boston to see General 
 Gage; then, having returned to the South, in the fall of 1775, he left Lord Dunmore for the 
 West, bearing one set of instructions upon his person, and another set — the true ones — most 
 artfully concealed under the direction of Lord Dunmore himself, in his saddle, secured by tin 
 and waxed cloth. He and his comrades, among whom was Dr. Smyth, had gone as far as 
 Hagerstown, where they were arrested upon suspicion and sent back to Frederick. There 
 they were searched, and the papers upon Connoly's person were found, seized and sent to Con- 
 
APPEJ^DIX. 139 
 
 Ans. I can in justice say it was to improve lands. 
 
 Ques, 1th. Was Captain Cresap, or any of the Cresaps, at 
 Yellow Creek when the Indians were killed at that place, and 
 where was he? 
 
 Ans. At the time the Indians were killed on Yellow Creek 
 Captain Cresap was at Wheeling. Greathome killed Logan's 
 sister at Yellow Creek. 
 
 Ques. Sth. Do you apprehend that if Captain Cresap had 
 not heard of Connoly's message, of the murder committed in 
 Butler's canoe, nor seen nor heard of anything hostile in the 
 Indians, that he would ever have attacked them ? 
 
 Ans. It was evident Captain Cresap was much interested 
 at that time in improving lands for himself; therefore it can 
 not in reason be thought he would, to his injury, have en- 
 couraged an Indian war, to the hindrance of that business 
 and to his loss ; but, being well assured of the hostile dispo- 
 sition of the Indians, he, like a man of spirit and resolution, 
 armed himself and others 'against their attacks. 
 
 Ques. 9th. [Omitted, as it is implied and answered above.] 
 
 Ques. 10th. Was Captain Cresap a man infamous for his 
 many Indian murders? When, where, and who were the 
 Indians killed by him before the year 1774? 
 
 Ans. I was closely acquainted with Captain Cresap at the 
 time he was over the Monongahela river, and with truth 
 
 gress. Washington having been informed by one who was present when the genuine instruc- 
 tions were concealed as above stated, wrote twice on the subject to the proper authorities, in 
 order to lead to their discovery, but we do not learn that they were ever found. Connoly 
 himself was confined, and remained a close prisoner till 1781, complaining much of his hard 
 lot, but finding few to pity him. 
 
 Connoly, soon after, was for a short time released by the sheriflF, upon the promise to return 
 to the law's custody, which promise he broke, however, and having collected a band of 
 followers, on the 28th of March, came again to Pittsburg, still asserting the claim of Virginia 
 to the government. Then commenced a series of contests, outrages and complaints, which 
 were too extensive and complicated to be described within our limited space. The upshot of 
 the matter was this, that Connoly, in Lord Dunmore's name, and by his authority, took and 
 kept possession of Fort Pitt ; and as it had been dismantled and nearly destroyed, by royal 
 orders, rebuilt it, and named it Fort Dunmore. — Perkins's Annals of the West, pp. 151, 122. 
 
140 APFEJy'DlX, 
 
 m* 
 
 assert that he killed no Indian before the year 1774. But a 
 little before McDonald's campaign, Captain Cresap went on a 
 scout with a few men to the frontier, at which time he killed 
 and scalped an Indian man ; he had also a man named Mas- 
 terson wounded in the groin in the engagement. 
 
 Ques. 11th. If Captain Cresap had no reason to apprehend 
 an attack from the Indians, why did he leave his lands and 
 business and ascend the Ohio twenty or thirty miles to the 
 nearest place of safety — ^. e., Wheeling — when he had at the 
 same time eight or ten men hired at $6 50 per month, and 
 their loss of time must have been to him a serious injury? 
 Say what you think and believe of this. 
 
 Ans, Captain Cresap frequented my house, alias cabin, on 
 his way out and return from the frontier, and I remember his 
 observing the great disappointment and injury he had sus- 
 tained from the hostile disposition of the Indians at that time, 
 as it prevented his improving the lands he had taken up. 
 
 Ques. 12th, How do Indians begin their war — with procla- 
 mations or with scalping-knives ? 
 
 Ans. It has been unhappily experienced that Indians have 
 no honor or regular form with white inhabitants ; before 
 going to war their first proclamation is gun, tomahawk and 
 knife. 
 
 With respect to this certificate of Dr. Wheeler, it is proper 
 to remark that the interrogatories were sent to 'him in a letter ; 
 that he himself set down the answers, and sent them back, 
 also in a letter; so that what he says is entirely his own, 
 neither myself nor any other friend of Captain Cresap being 
 present; and this accounts for the defect as to date — his en- 
 velope being mislaid. 
 
 We now, thirdly, add the testimony of General Minor : 
 
 "I do hereby certify that I was intimately and particularly 
 
APPEJy'DIX, ' 141 
 
 "acquainted with the late Captain Michael Cresap, as well 
 "before as after the Indian war of 1774, called Dunmore's 
 "war ; that from that intimacy I not only believe but am well 
 "assured that the object of his journey to the Ohio in the 
 "Spring of the year 1774 was not to fight Indians ; that after 
 "the rencounter or skirmish that took place between Captain 
 "Cresap and some Indians on the Ohio, near Grave Creek, 
 [this is Dr. Doddridge's Capteening battle, and Dr. Wheeler 
 alludes to the same battle when he says Captain Cresap killed 
 an Indian man and had one man wounded,] "I was frequently 
 "in his company, and always when the subject of that fight 
 "was introduced, heard him say that no man dared to charge 
 "him with making an unjust or improper attack upon Indians; 
 "and that while he, the said Cresap, was on the Ohio, he re- 
 "ceived a message from Major Connoly, commandant at Pitts- 
 "burg, Mr. Alexander McKee, and I believe Colonel Croghan, 
 "giving him (Cresap) notice that he must be on his guard — 
 "that the Indians were about to strike, and manifested a very 
 "hostile disposition. 
 
 "I further certify that from my long and intimate acquaint- 
 "ance with Captain Cresap, I believe and am certain that he 
 "ought not, nor could not with justice and propriety, be 
 "deemed a man infamous for murdering Indians, nor in any 
 "other point of view. He was, it is true, a good soldier, and 
 "report says (which I believe) that he shot an Indian with a 
 • "pistol while he (the Indian) was attempting to scalp a Mr. 
 "Welder that the Indian had killed at Old Town many years 
 "before Dunmore's war, and while Cresap was a youth. 
 
 "Given under my hand this 24th September, 1800. 
 
 [Signed] "JOHN MIJ^OR, B. G. of MilUiar 
 
 ^^ Witness: Evan Gwynn, Justice of the Peace for Alle- 
 "gheny county." 
 
142 ' APPEJVDIX, 
 
 To which certificate General Minor adds, that he recollects 
 having heard Captain Cresap speak with pointed disapproba- 
 tion of the Indian massacre at Yellow Creek. 
 
 I have all these original certificates by me, which any 
 skeptical reader is at liberty to consult. 
 
 But now to conclude the whole, if I may be permitted to 
 add my own testimony, I say that from my intimate personal 
 acquaintance with Captain Cresap and the most minute cir- 
 cumstance in his public life, all of which I have faithfully 
 detailed in the preceding memoir, I am absolutely certain 
 that he had no more concern, either directly or indirectly, in 
 the murder of Logan's relations, than he had in stabbing 
 Julius Caesar, or cutting off Pompey's head ; and that there 
 is no more reason to stigmatize him as a detestable Indian 
 murderer, than Hancock, Adams, Washington and Jefferson 
 as rebels and traitors ; neither is there any more justice in 
 saddling him with all the carnage, blood and awful conse- 
 quences of Dunmore's war, than to charge Dr. Doddridge with 
 setting fire to the theater in Richmond and burning the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, 
 
 I have, however, in reserve an anecdote, which indeed at 
 this late period may be considered rather a work of superero- 
 gation, yet as it is directly in point as to the Logan speech, 
 and has not yet been told, I think it best the reader should 
 have it : 
 
 Some ten or twelve years ago, in a little journey I took to 
 the West, I called and tarried a day at Wheeling, and lodged 
 with my old friend Colonel Zane. After dinner we took a 
 walk into town, and stepped into a tavern, where several gen- 
 tlemen were just finishing their dinners. We sat down, and 
 the conversation soon turned upon Mr. Jefferson's J^otes, 
 when a gentleman from Kew York — of the name, if I recol- 
 
APPEJSfDIX. 143 
 
 lect right, of Miller — said he must continue to think that 
 what Mr. Jefferson had said respecting Cresap's* killing Lo- 
 gan's family, was certainly true. 
 
 I replied: "Sir, I thought Mr. Martin had put that ques- 
 tion to rest." 
 
 He said : " No, sir ; I have seen Mr. Martin's piece, and 
 he has not satisfied my mind." 
 
 I then said: "If so, sir, I am happy to have it in my 
 power to satisfy you upon the spot." 
 
 He seemed pleased with this, and observed that he should 
 be glad to get at the truth. I then addressed myself to Col. 
 Zane, and said : 
 
 "I think, Colonel, you know something about this busi- 
 ness?" 
 
 He replied: "Yes, I do. I was here at Wheeling at the 
 time Logan's relations were killed on Yellow Creek, and 
 Captain Cresap was here also with me." 
 
 I then addressed Colonel Chaplaine, and said: " It is prob- 
 able you also know something of this business. Colonel?" 
 
 He replied: "Yes, I know very well, for I was here, and 
 know that Captain Cresap was also here." 
 
 I then turned to Mr. Miller and said : "Are you now sat- 
 isfied, sir?" 
 
 He replied : " Yes ; and gratified and glad to get at the 
 real truth." I think I then requested him, upon all proper 
 occasions, to state the fact as he now knew it, which I believe 
 he promised to do. 
 
 * Gibson, it is true, states in his testimony that he corrected Logan on the spot when he 
 made the charge against Cresap, for he knew his innocence, but either the Indian did not 
 withdraw it or the messenger felt himself compelled to deliver it as originally framed. When 
 it was read in camp, the pioneer soldiers knew it to be false as to Michael Cresap ; but it only 
 produced a laugh in the crowd, which displeased the Maryland Captain. George Rogers Clark, 
 who was near, exclaimed, that " he must be a very great man, as the Indians palmed every 
 thing that happened on his shoulders !" The Captain smiled and replied that " he had a great 
 inclination to tomahawk Greathouse for the murder!" — Brantz Mayer's Address, p. 61. 
 
144 APPEJ^DIX. 
 
 If, then, truth is not falsehood and facts are not lies, it must 
 be evident from the plain and incontrovertible statement I 
 have laid before the public of the life of Captain Cresap, that 
 none of the many malicious and reiterated charges against 
 him have any foundation in fact. I can, therefore, and do, 
 confidently appeal to the world, and ask, in the name of can- 
 dor, justice, mercy and truth, to what particular period, to 
 what circumstance, to what public or private act in the life of 
 Captain Cresap can we point our finger and say — "Here is 
 the murderer of Logan's family;" or, "here is the infamous 
 murderer of Indians;" or, "here is the man that was the 
 primary and first moving cause of Dunmore's war, or in any 
 way the cause of that war." 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 If there is any error in the foregoing narrative it is in the chronology. 
 The author has lost or mislaid some important papers, and consequently 
 has in some instances supplied the defect from memory, but thinks he is 
 even substantially correct in this also — and especially as in one instance 
 he has tested his accuracy by a record. 
 
Supplement. 
 
 As the author of the foregoing sketch had nothing in view 
 but to rescue from public odium and infamy the name and 
 character of a friend, he therefore turned his attention wholly 
 and only to some remarks made by Mr. Jeiferson in his cele- 
 brated Notes on Virginia, and to Dr. Doddridge's chapter on 
 Dunmore's war. The residue of the Doctor's book escaped 
 his notice and attention until his manuscript went to the 
 press. But, being now relieved from that intense application 
 indispensable in the prosecution of his work, and other multi- 
 farious concerns, he has leisurely and attentively traveled 
 through the Doctor's book, and must say he is sorry to find 
 so many things in that book that merit animadversion. 
 
 On page 101, the Doctor says that 'Hhose atrocious murders 
 of the peaceable and irwffensive Indians at Capteening and Yellow 
 Creek^ brought on the war of Lord Dunmore in the Spring of the 
 year 1774." Very good ; but he forgets to tell us that, two or 
 three days before this atrocious murder at Yellow Creek, and 
 several days before his assumed fact of the atrocious murder 
 at Capteening, these Indians, or some other Indians, (to retort 
 his own language) were guilty of the atrocious murder of two 
 or three men in Mr. Butler's canoe, near the mouth of Little 
 Beaver, almost in the neighborhood of Yellow Creek, and no 
 doubt was the cause of that strong excitement and irritation 
 that eventuated in the massacre at that place. 
 
 But let us hear what the Doctor says himself respecting 
 
146 SUPPLEMEJVT. 
 
 these *^ peaceable and inoffensive Indians." Page 117 he tells 
 us that '''the Indian mode of warfare was an indiscriminate 
 slaughter of all ages and both sexes ^ Again, page 125 — but 
 marked in his book 132 — he says his '''uncle Teter^s hunting- 
 camp was so judiciously and artfully selected, that, unless hy the 
 rejport of his gun or the sound of his ax, it would have been hy 
 mere accident if an Indian had discovered his concealment ^ So, 
 then, it seems his uncle was a little suspicious of these peace- 
 able fellows. And if the Doctor is correct in what he imme- 
 diately adds, his uncle certainly acted wisely; for on the same 
 page he (the Doctor) says, ''the hunters were often surprised 
 and killed in their camps y 
 
 But that the reader may more clearly see what peaceable 
 fellows these Indians are, or then were, we will present him 
 with a few more extracts from the Doctor's book. Page 133, 
 under the title of "The Wedding," in portraying the sim- 
 plicity and rustic manners of that period, he says, among 
 other things, that " it was a custom for some of the company 
 to take Black Betty — ^. e., the whisky bottle — in their hands 
 and say, * Here's health to the groom, not forgetting myself; 
 and here's to the bride — thumping luck and big children.' 
 This, so far from being taken amiss, was considered an ex- 
 pression of a very proper and friendly wish ; for big children, 
 especially sons, were of great importance, as we were few in 
 number, and engaged in perpetual hostility with the Indians, 
 the end of which no one could foresee." 
 
 Again, on page 139, he says that " the early settlers on the 
 frontiers of this country were like Arabs of the deserts of 
 Africa, at least in two respects : Every man was a soldier, 
 and from early in the Spring till late in the Fall was almost 
 continually in arms. Their work was carried on by parties, 
 each of whom had his rifle and everything belonging to his 
 
SUPPLEMEJYT, 147 
 
 war dress. These were deposited in some central place in 
 the field, a sentinel was stationed on the outside of the fence, 
 so that on the least alarm the whole company repaired to 
 their arms, and were ready for the combat in a moment." 
 
 iN'ow, from my own knowledge of the state of things in the 
 western country at the period alluded to by the Doctor, I can 
 add my testimony that the statement he has made is tolerably 
 correct ; yet candor compels me to say that the shades he has 
 drawn are rather too dark, because it is not exactly true that 
 the first settlers were engaged in perpetual hostility ; if so, 
 Dunmore's war of 1774 could have had no origin,* and must 
 have been nothing more than a continuation of pre-existing 
 hostility, and could be in no other way distinguishable from 
 the preceding time than by the increase of forces on each side, 
 and the fury of the combatants ; and the fact, I believe, is, 
 that there were some short periods of precarious peace, or 
 suspension of hostilities, although the people never thought 
 themselves secure from attacks from the savages. 
 
 But, admitting the dark picture the Doctor has given us of 
 the savage nature and conduct of the Indians to be correct, 
 I ask, what are we to do with his bright side? He calls 
 them a ^'peaceable and inoffensive^^ people, and proves it by 
 declaring that their " mode of warfare was an indiscriminate 
 slaughter of all ages and both sexes;" that they frequently 
 killed the hunters in their camps, and that they were en- 
 gaged in perpetual hostility with the early settlers on the 
 frontier. Now, if this is the character of "peaceable and in- 
 ofifensive" people, I, for one, would beg to be excused from 
 residing in their neighborhood. 
 
 But it seems when the Doctor is disposed to abuse white 
 people — Captain Cresap especially — he lays a white ground 
 
 * Page 225, the Doctor says the western settlers had peace from 1764 to 1774. 
 
 13 
 
148 SUPPLEMEJYT, 
 
 for his profile in the character of the Indians, that the reader 
 niay trace more accurately the black lines of his picture,* 
 And vice versa — when he wishes to puff and trumpet the fame 
 and delineate the suiferings of the early settlers on the fron- 
 tiers, why then, to be sure, the Indians are dreadful fellows — 
 ferocious savages, murdering indiscriminately old and young, 
 male and female, killing the hunters in their camps, and 
 granting the people no respite, no peace, but war, war, un- 
 ceasing hostility. 
 
 But, I thank God that however just and accurate the 
 Doctor's pencil may be in delineating those gloomy days of 
 wars and blood, I trust the scene has changed, and is rapidly 
 changing, into circumstances vastly more congenial to the 
 feelings and wishes of all who love peace, and whose bosoms 
 swell with an ardent and pure desire to see our Aceldama — 
 our world of blood — changed, revolutionized, and converted 
 into a world of peace and love, of harmony and universal 
 good will among men ; and that the time is come, or near at 
 hand, when the savage yell and war-whoop of an Indian shall 
 no more be heard — to the terror of the helpless female and 
 feeble infant — echoing through our hills ; but on the contrary, 
 white men, red men and black men shall sweetly unite in 
 harmonious anthems of praise and loud hallelujahs to God 
 and the Lamb ; when our American wilderness and solitary 
 places shall be glad, and our desert, as far* as the Pacific 
 ocean, shall blossom as the rose. 
 
 But to return to the Doctor. I think it probable he will 
 attempt to escape from the nook into which he has so unguard- 
 edly wedged himself, in some way or other. But we will save 
 him the trouble by anticipating and examining every hole and 
 
 * Others that are really guilty, and certainly deserve the severest censure — as, for instance, 
 the murderers of Old Cornstalk and his son and the Moravian Indians — he just brushes 
 with a feather. 
 
SUPPLEMEJSTT. 149 
 
 path through which he may attempt to escape. In the first 
 place, if he says the description he has given us of the fero- 
 cious and savage nature of Indians has no reference to a pe- 
 riod antecedent to Dunmore's war, we meet him with his own 
 words. He tells us that the settlement between the Monon- 
 gahela and the Laurel Ridge commenced in the year 1772, 
 and that in the succeeding year they reached as far as the 
 Ohio river. [I think, however, it was one year sooner.] But 
 be this as it may, these settlements were anterior to Dun- 
 more's war ; and that he refers to the period of the first set- 
 tlement of the country he tells us himself, for he says the 
 early settlers were in a state of perpetual hostility or almost 
 always at war with the Indians. 
 
 But only let us suppose that his meaning is, that those In- 
 dians who were killed at Yellow Creek and Capteening were 
 "peaceable and inoffensive." Now, supposing this to be his 
 meaning, we answer, that although these Indians at this par- 
 ticular period at Yellow Creek might have had no hostile in- 
 tentions, yet it is absolutely certain, as I have already re- 
 marked, that only a day or two before this affair these 
 Indians, or some of this party, or some other Indians, had 
 killed two or three white men in Butler's canoe, near Yellow 
 Creek ; and moreover, that Captain Cresap, on whom the 
 Doctor seems anxious to throw the whole weight of Dunmore's 
 war, had no more concern in that business than Dr. Dodd- 
 ridge himself; nor was he by many miles as near the scene of 
 action as his reverence. 
 
 Again, that Cresap may by no means escape the bitterness 
 of the Doctor's pen, he has coupled — unfairly, unjustly, and, I 
 may add, contrary to all rules of propriety and candor in a 
 historian — two things different in their nature, and at a dis- 
 tance as to time, place and circumstances. The atrocious 
 
150 SUPPLEMEJVT. 
 
 murder, he says, of the peaceable, inoffensive Indians at 
 Yellow Creek and Capteening, brought on the war of Lord 
 Dunmore, in the Spring of the year 1774. Now, as I have 
 already set this affair at Capteening before the reader in the 
 clearest light, and proved that, so far from being an atrocious 
 murder, it was a regular battle, in which both parties were 
 engaged, and one man at least killed or wounded on each 
 side, and that it was several days after the affair at Yellow 
 Creek, and many miles distant from it, hence I suppose it is 
 needless to add anything here to repel this deadly blow aimed 
 at the fair fame of Captain Cresap. 
 
 But, as our extreme anxiety to rescue from unmerited 
 odium the character of a deceased friend, has led us to handle 
 the Doctor a little roughly, we will with great pleasure eke 
 out for him the best apology we can devise, or that presents 
 itself to our view, and this, too, from himself — to-wit : In the 
 second page of his address to his readers, he says that the 
 history of our Indian wars (his own history) is in every 
 respect quite imperfect, and that the very limited range of 
 the war he had in view in this work is not fully accomplished ; 
 and on his next page he adds that the whole amount of his 
 present memorials of this widely-extended warfare consists of 
 merely detached narratives, and these for the most part badly 
 written, in many instances destitute of historical precision 
 (and no doubt chronological also). And in the second page 
 of his preface he holds the same language, and says the want 
 of printed documents was not the only difficulty he had to 
 contend with ; that when he traveled beyond the bounds of 
 his own memory (which I presume was no great journey) he 
 found it extremely difficult to procure information from the 
 living which he wished to relate. 
 
 Now, I suppose, if language has any meaning, the natural 
 
SUPPLEMEJVT. 151 
 
 inference from all this is, that the Doctor had at best but an 
 imperfect, partial and superficial acquaintance with the facts, 
 or assumed facts stated in his history ; and therefore, without 
 any reflection upon his veracity as a historian, we may pre- 
 sume he has been led into numberless errors, mistakes, and 
 even contradictions, from the incorrect, partial and mutilated 
 testimony of incompetent and ignorant witnesses ; and if so, 
 his errors are rather to be attributed to improper credulity 
 than malevolence, and to negligence in not cautiously collating 
 and examining his materials. But we must be permitted to 
 remark, however, that after admitting the foregoing as some 
 apology for errors and mistakes in a historian, yet it does not 
 follow that any man is justifiable in recording as facts, and 
 handing them down to posterity as such, any matters or 
 things doubtful in their nature and uncertain as to their truth 
 in his own mind ; and more especially when those doubtful 
 facts and circumstances have a direct tendency to consign to 
 perpetual infamy the character of a respectable fellow citizen. 
 
 As to any recollection the Doctor himself could pretend to 
 have as to any matter or thing beyond the bounds of his 
 father's cornfield at the period he so emphatically alludes to — 
 to-wit: 1772-'73-'74 — it must certainly be very limited and 
 imperfect, for he was then very young. Therefore, when his 
 own knowledge with all its strength is combined with the 
 information he received from others as to the truth and cer- 
 tainty of the facts he records, it will only amount at last to 
 mere conjecture, which the reader is at liberty to think of as 
 he pleases. And as it was impossible that any man could 
 write a correct history from the materials in the Doctor's 
 hands, he has therefore only left undone what no man could 
 possibly do. 
 
 June 5, 1826. 
 
COJSrCLUSION. 
 
 In bidding adieu to my opponents, I would take the liberty 
 to observe that I am at peace with them and all mankind, and 
 therefore extremely regret that what I conceived to be indis- 
 pensable duty, and indeed imperious necessity, over which an 
 accordance with my feelings I scarcely can say I had control, 
 I have been urged and propelled to launch into a field quite 
 new to me, discordant to my wishes, and in good degree at 
 variance with my habits and the general course of my pur- 
 suits. If, therefore, in pursuing with a steady eye the main 
 object I had in view — namely: rescuing from undeserved in- 
 famy the character of a friend and the reputation of a respect- 
 able family, identified inevitably and involved unavoidably in 
 the attempted stigma upon the character of one of the most 
 brilliant and conspicuous characters of the name — if, I say, in 
 j)ursuing this object necessity has compelled me to name some 
 very respectable gentlemen, I hope those gentlemen and all 
 the world will see that it was impossible to avoid it; for I can 
 and do assure those gentlemen that if any method could pos- 
 sibly have been thought of or devised to defend the character 
 of Captain Cresap and at the same time cover- them with the 
 mantle of love, it should have been done ; but as this was not 
 possible, I must therefore entreat those gentlemen to accept 
 as an apology for any tart expressions or apparent unfriendly 
 remarks they may discover in my work, my extreme anxiety 
 to obliterate from the minds of my fellow citizens those preju- 
 dices, and premature, prejudged and erroneous opinions they 
 must, from what they have seen and heard, have imbibed re- 
 specting the character of the man I defend. More especially, 
 
SUPPLEMEJVT. 153 
 
 the venerable age of our honorable ex-President certainly 
 merits respect; and I can and do assure that gentleman 
 that it would be more congenial with my feelings to offer 
 him a cordial, or something to exhilarate, rather than depress 
 the spirit or wound the feelings of an old man, with whom 
 my own feelings, even in the absence of better motives, would 
 teach me to sympathize. 
 
 Finally, as it is possible that under a momentary impulse I 
 may have been led beyond the bounds of cool and dispassion- 
 ate argument, if so, I beg those gentlemen's pardon, and hope 
 they will attribute it to the right motive — namely : an ardent 
 wish to do the same thing that they themselves, if placed in 
 my circumstances, would certainly have done, i. e., to rescue 
 from infamy the character of a highly esteemed friend. May 
 you, gentlemen, notwithstanding all you have said and written 
 against Captain Cresap, and all I have written in refutation 
 of those charges, enjoy felicity and happiness in the present 
 world, and unceasing pleasure and joy unspeakable in the 
 world to come. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 June 5, 1826. 
 
 The author thinks it proper to inform the public, and especially the friends 
 of Dr. Doddridge, that, notwithstanding the unjust attack of the Doctor upon 
 the character of his deceased friend Captain Cresap, and his determination to 
 refute those charges, yet, being anxious to treat him personally with all 
 possible candor, he addressed to him a letter, written as early as May last, 
 but was utterly at a loss where to direct the letter (as he understood the 
 Doctor had removed to the State of Ohio, and he knew not to what place); 
 consequently the letter was never sent ; and as the Doctor is now dead, the 
 opportunity is lost of giving him any notice of his intention. 
 
General Clark's Account. 
 
 [The publisher deems it proper to introduce here, as bearing 
 directly upon the subject matter of this book, the following 
 letter from G-eneral George Rogers Clark, in vindication of 
 Captain Cresap. It was addressed to Samuel Brown, Esq., 
 and dated June 17, 1798.] 
 
 The conduct of Cresap I am perfectly acquainted with. 
 He was not the author of that murder, [of Logan's family,] 
 but a family by the name of Greathouse. 
 
 This country was explored in 1773. A resolution was 
 formed to make a settlement the Spring following, and the 
 mouth of the Little Kanawha appointed the place of general 
 rendezvous, in order to descend the river from there in a body. 
 Early in the Spring the Indians had done some mischief. 
 Reports from their towns were alarming, which deterred 
 many. About eighty or ninety men only met at the appointed 
 rendezvous, where we lay some days. 
 
 A small party of hunters that lay about ten miles below us 
 were fired upon by the Indians, whom the hunters beat back, 
 and returned to camp. This and many other circumstances 
 led us to believe that the Indians were determined on war. 
 The whole party was enrolled, and determined to execute 
 their project of forming a settlement in Kentucky, as we had 
 every necessary store that could be thought of. An Indian 
 town called the Horsehead Bottom, on the Scioto and near 
 
CLARK'S ACCOUJV'T. 155 
 
 its mouth, lay nearly in our way. The determination was to 
 cross the country and surprise it. Who was to command ? 
 was the question. There were but few among us that had 
 experience in Indian warfare, and they were such that we did 
 not choose to be commanded by. We knew of Captain Cresap 
 being on the river about fifteen miles above us, with some 
 hands, settling a plantation, and that he had concluded to 
 follow us to Kentucky as soon as he had fixed there his people. 
 We also knew that he had been experienced in a former war. 
 He was proposed, and it was unanimously agreed to send for 
 him to command the party. Messengers were dispatched, and 
 in half an hour returned with Cresap. He had heard of our 
 resolution by some of his hunters that had fallen in with 
 ours, and had set out to come to us. 
 
 We now thought our army, as we called it, complete, and 
 the destruction of the Indians sure. A council was called, 
 and to our astonishment our intended commander-in-chief was 
 the person that dissuaded us from the enterprise. He said 
 that appearances were very suspicious, but there was no cer- 
 tainty of a war ; that if we made the attempt proposed he had 
 no doubt of our success, but a war would at any rate be the 
 result, and that we should be blamed for it, and perhaps 
 justly ; but if we were determined to proceed, he would lay 
 aside all considerations, send to his camp for his people, and 
 share our fortunes. He was then asked what he would advise. 
 His answer was, that we should return to Wheeling, as a con- 
 venient post, to hear what was going forward; that a few 
 weeks would determine ; as it was early in the Spring, if we 
 found the Indians were not disposed for war, we should have 
 full time to return and make our establishment in Kentucky. 
 This was adopted, and in two hours the whole were under 
 way. As we ascended the river we met Killbuck, an Indian 
 
156 CLARK'S ACCOUJYT. 
 
 chief, with a small party. We had a long conference with 
 him, but received little satisfaction as to the disposition of 
 the Indians. It was observed that Cresap did not come to 
 this conference, but kept on the opposite side of the river. 
 He said that he was afraid to trust himself with the Indians ; 
 that Killbuck had frequently attempted to waylay his father, 
 to kill him ; that if he crossed the river perhaps his fortitude 
 might fail him, and that he might put Killbuck to death. 
 On our arrival at Wheeling (the country being pretty well 
 settled thereabouts) the whole of the inhabitants appeared to 
 be alarmed. They flocked to our camp from every direction, 
 and all that we could say could not keep them from under our 
 wings. We offered to cover their neighborhood with our 
 scouts until further information, if they would return to their 
 plantations ; but nothing would prevail. By this time we had 
 got to be a formidable party. All the hunters, men without 
 families, etc., in that quarter, had joined our party. Our 
 arrival at Wheeling was soon known at Pittsburg. The 
 whole of that country at that time being under the jurisdic- 
 tion of Virginia, Dr. Connoly had been appointed by Dunmore 
 Captain Commandant of the District, which was called West 
 Augusta. He, learning of us, sent a message addressed to the 
 party, letting us know that a war was to be apprehended, and 
 requesting that we would keep our position for a few days, as 
 messages had been sent to the Indians, and a few days would 
 determine the doubt. The answer he got was, that we had 
 no inclination to quit our quarters for some time ; that during 
 our stay we should be careful that the enemy should not 
 harass the neighborhood that we lay in. But before this 
 answer could reach Pittsburg he sent a second express, ad- 
 dressed to Captain Cresap, as the most influential man among 
 us, informing him that the messages had returned from the 
 
CLARK'S AGCOUJVT. 157 
 
 Indians, that war was inevitable, and begging him to use his 
 influence with the party to get them to cover the country by 
 scouts until the inhabitants could fortify themselves. The 
 reception of this letter was the epoch of open hostilities with 
 the Indians. A new post was planted, a council was called, 
 and the letter read by Cresap — all the Indian traders being 
 summoned on so important an occasion. Action was had, and 
 war declared in the most solemn manner; and the same even- 
 ing two scalps were brought into camp. 
 
 The next day some canoes of Indians were discovered on 
 the river, keeping the advantage of an island to cover them- 
 selves from our view. They were chased fifteen miles down 
 the river, and driven ashore. A battle ensued — a few were 
 wounded on both sides — one Indian only taken prisoner. On 
 examining their canoes we found a considerable quantity of 
 ammunition and other warlike stores. On our return to camp 
 a resolution was adopted to march the next day and attack 
 Logan's camp on the Ohio, about thirty miles above us. We 
 did march about five miles, and then halted to take some re- 
 freshment. Here the impropriety of executing the projected 
 enterprise was argued. The conversation was brought forward 
 by Cresap himself. It was generally agreed that those Indians 
 had no hostile intentions, as they were hunting, and their 
 party was composed of men, women and children, with all 
 their stuff with them. This we knew, as I myself and others 
 present had been in their camp about four weeks past, on our 
 descending the river from Pittsburg. In short, every person 
 seemed to detest the resolution we had set out with. We 
 returned in the evening, decamped, and took the road to 
 Redstone. 
 
 It was two days after this that Logan's family were killed. 
 And from the manner in which it was done, it was viewed as 
 
158 CLARK'S ACCOUJVT. 
 
 a horrid murder. From Logan's hearing of Cresap being at 
 the head of this party on the river, it is no wonder that he 
 supposed he had a hand in the destruction of his family. 
 
 Since the reception of your letter I have procured the 
 "Notes on Virginia." They are now before me. The act 
 was more barbarous than there related by Mr. Jefferson. 
 Those Indians used to visit and to return visits with the 
 neighboring whites, on the opposite side of the river. They 
 were on a visit to a family of the name of Greathouse, at the 
 time they were murdered by them and their associates. 
 
 The war now raged in all its savage fury until the Fall, 
 when a treaty of peace was held at Camp Charlotte, within 
 four miles of Chillicothe, the Indian capital of the Ohio. Lo- 
 gan did not appear. I was acquainted with him, and wished 
 to know the reason. The answer was, that he was like a mad 
 dog ; his bristles had been up, and were not yet quite fallen, 
 but the good talk now going forward might allay them. Lo- 
 gan's speech to Dunmore now came forward, as related by Mr. 
 Jefferson. It was thought to be clever, though the army knew 
 it to be wrong as to Cresap ; but it only produced a laugh in 
 camp. I saw it displeased Captain Cresap, and told him that 
 he must be a very great man — that the Indians palmed every 
 thing that happened on his shoulders. He smiled and said 
 that he had an inclination to tomahawk Greathouse for the 
 murder. '* 
 
 What I have related is fact. I was intimate with Cresap. 
 Logan I was better acquainted with, at that time, than with 
 any other Indian in the western country. I was perfectly ac- 
 quainted with the conduct of both parties. Logan was the 
 author of the speech, as altered by Mr. Jefferson ; and Cre- 
 sap's conduct was as I have here related it. 
 
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