Transcript:Indian Raids in Old Augusta during the French and Indian War

The French and Indian war broke out in 1754, and continued, so far as the Indians were concerned, until 1760. The advance line of settlement had passed the Alleghany divide, and the greatest havoc was in the valleys along the frontier. A local cause for the outbreak was the outrage at Anderson's barn on Middle River. The date is not exactly known, but seems to be the month of June, 1753, or possibly 1754. Twelve Indians were returning from a raid against the Cherokees, and lodged with John Lewis near Staunton. Some men were present whose families or friends had suffered some loss at the hands of the natives. A beef was killed and whiskey provided. The guests wore induced to stay till nightfall and give one of their dances. After they left they were followed in the darkness to Anderson's barn, where all but one were mur- dered. For this act of treachery in a time of at least nominal peace, a heavy toll of vengeance was exacted. The colonial government sought to punish the perpetrators, but the effort was ineffectual. One of the faults of the Ulstermcn was their propensity to make trouble with the "heathen."

The Rockbridge area was by no means safe from attack, and there were several blockhouses for the protection of the people. William Patton mentions a stockade at Alexander McClary's, a mile and a half from his home, and says there were several others in the Borden grant. One of these must have been the Bell house, which is still standing and occupied. It is about two miles south of Raphine and very near a branch. Another was a log structure on Walker's Creek, used as a dwelling until a recent date. The floor was of walnut puncheons. The roof, which was too steep to scale, fell in during the winter of 1917-18. In several other instances, the pioneer blockhouse still exists, with widened windows and some other alteration, or the logs have been used in a building of later design. In all instances, the walls and doors were bullet-proof against the weapons of that age, the windows were too narrow for a man to crawl through, and there were loopholes in the walls. The loophole was cut in the shape of the letter X, so that a considerable breadth of vision might be commanded by the gun pointed through the opening. A spring or other water supply was always within easy distance. In some instances the water was reached through a covered way, which was practically a narrow tunnel, high enough for a person to pass through. The Indian was unwilling to storm a blockhouse. The cost might be severe, and the defenders were comparatively safe from his bullets. So he endeavored to gain his end by stealth or strategem, and when he did make an attack it was usually by night. If he could set fire to the roof he did so.

A council of war held at Staunton, May 20, 1756, mentions that "the greatest part of the able-bodied single men of this county is now on duty on our frontiers, and there must continue until they are relieved by forces from other parts." Sitting on this council were these captains: Joseph Culton, John Moor, Joseph Lapsley, Robert Bratton, James Mitchell, and Samuel Norwood.

The only conspicuous raids belonging to this period were the occurrences in the Renick settlement and the first foray into the valley of Kerr's Creek. The latter will be spoken of in connection with the second.

The date of the attack on the Renick house is July 25, 1757. A party of Shawnees, said to have been sixty in number but probably much fewer, came through Cartmill Gap to Purgatory Creek, where they killed Joseph Dennis and his child, and took prisoner his wife, Hannah. They also killed Thomas Perry. Then they went to the house of Robert Renick, where they captured Mrs. Renick, her four sons, and a daughter. The next blow was at Thomas Smith's, where they killed both Renick and Smith, and took away Mrs. Smith and her servant, Sally Jew.

George Mathews, Audley Maxwell, and William Maxwell,^[1]who then were young men, were on their way to Smith's, and thought a shooting match was in progress. As soon as they saw the bodies of the two men, they wheeled their horses about, and the iour bullets fired at them at the same instant did no other harm than to wound Audley Maxwell slightly and take off the club of Mathews' queue. One party of the Indians started away with the prisoners and booty, and the others went to Cedar Creek. An alarm was given and the people of the neighborhood gathered at Paul's stockade near the site of Springfield. The women and children were left with a guard of six men, while George Mathews went in pursuit with a force of twenty-one men. He overtook and fought the enemy, but the night was wet and dark, and the foe got away. Next morning nine dead Indians were found on the battleground and were buried. Benjamin Smith, Thomas Maury, and a Mr. Jew were killed, and were buried in the meadow of Thomas Cross near Spring- field. Mrs. Renick was released a few years later. Her daughter died in cap- tivity, and her son Joshua became a chief of the Miamis. The other children returned with their mother. Mrs. Dennis was a woman of much resourcefulness and determination. She learned the Shawnee tongue, painted as the red men did, and because of her skill in treating illness she was given much liberty. She thereby found a chance to escape, crossed the Ohio on a driftwood log. and made her way back to licr frontier lionie. This was in 1763.

It is very probable that several nunor raids took place, no clear recollection of which has been handed on to the present day. An occurrence can easily be given a wrong setting by its being accidentally merged with some larger event. St)nietimes a single Indian would go on the warpath for himself, and when the party was very small only depredations on a small scale were likely to be com- mitted. There were instances where some white scoundrel would disguise himself as an Indian and perpetrate an outrage. Such may be the explanation of the tragedy at the home of John Mathews, Jr., the nature of which recalls the Pettigrew horror of 1846. Sampson Mathews made oath that his brother John, with his wife and their six children, were burned to death in their house. A neighbor named Charles Godfrey Milliron was arrested on suspicion and held for trial at the capital. We do not know the result, but Milliron seems to have been acquited.

An incident which took place in Botetourt is worthy of meniion here. Robert Anderson and his son William — grandfather to William A. Anderson of Lexington — went to a meadow to look after some livestock, and passed the night in a log shelter, the door of which could be strongly barred. Before morn- ing Mr. Anderson woke up and roused his son, telling him the animals were restless and that he feared Indians were near. Bear oil and cabin smoke gave the redskins an odor that was quickly noticed by domestic animals. \'oices were presently heard, and father and son held their weapons in readiness for an emergency. The prowlers tried the door, and seeing it did not readily yield, they used the pole as a battering ram, but without visible effect. Much to the relief of the persons within they then desisted and went away. In the morning it was seen that another blow would have forced the door.

The red terror threatened to depopulate the Valley of Virginia and the settlenmenls beyond. Writing in 1756, the Reverend James Maury makes this observation:

"Such numbers of people have lately transported themselves into the more Southerly governments as must appear incredible to any except such as have had an op|>ortunity of knowing it. By Bedford courthouse in one week, 'lis said, and I believe, truly said, near 300 inhabitants of this Colony past on their way to Carolina. From all the upper counties, even those on this side of the Blue Hills, great numl)ers are daily following."