Treaty of Fort Stanwix
Dunmore’s War was a border conflict waged between mostly Shawnee and Mingo Indians and the Pennsylvania and Virginia Colonial Militias. It was the last war in which Americans fought under the crown of England. This conflict arose after British colonists began to move into present day West Virginia and Kentucky in accordance with the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. In this treaty, the Iroquois, hoping to preserve their homelands in modern day New York State, ceded territory south of the Ohio River to the English. The Shawnee, Mingo and Delaware Indians who actually occupied these lands had not, however, agreed to the terms of the treaty.
Daniel Boone & The Shawnee
The war essentially started in October, 1773, when a group of colonists guided by Daniel Boone attempted to settle in Kentucky which at the time was a county of Virginia. These settlers were attacked by the Shawnee. Boone’s son, James, was captured and later killed. Other attacks followed. Colonists were captured, tortured, and put to death. Women and children were taken into slavery.
War was officially declared on April 26, 1774. The following day, a party of colonial militiamen under the command of Captain Michael Cresap, spotted a band of Indians canoeing down the Ohio River. Cresap and his men chased the Indians downriver and engaged them at Pipe Creek. A skirmish ensued, and one Indian was taken prisoner. On May 3, settlers led by Daniel Greathouse attacked a group of Indians at Yellow Creek. Among the dead were relatives of the Mingo Chief Logan. In retaliation, Logan and about twenty warriors led an attack into Western Pennsylvania, killing thirteen settlers. The Pennsylvania Militia responded in August, 1774 by attacking and destroying seven Mingo villages.
Lord Dunmore & The Battle of Point Pleasant
Lord Dunmore, the Governor of Virginia, ordered a full military offensive against the Indians in the Ohio Country. Dunmore himself commanded one group of soldiers down the Ohio River from Fort Pitt. Another force, led by Colonel Andrew Lewis traveled from Camp Union near present day Lewisburg, West Virginia. On October 10, 1774, Lewis’ forces, about one thousand strong, were camped at Point Pleasant, where the Kanawa River empties into the Ohio. The Indians, led by Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, attacked the Virginians in what became known as the Battle of Point Pleasant. After hours of intense and at times hand-to- hand combat, about seventy five colonial troops lay dead with another one hundred fifty wounded. Cornstalk and his men though, were driven across the northern bank of the Ohio. The strength of the Indian forces as well as their casualty count is unknown, but some reports indicate that Cornstalk may have waged battle with as few as three or four hundred warriors. The following account was written from the field by Lieutenant Isaac Shelby, six days after the Battle of Point Pleasant:
“Many of their dead they scalped, rather than we should have them; but our troops
scalped upwards of twenty of their men that were first killed. It is beyond doubt
their loss in number, farr exceeds ours, which is considirable.”
Following Cornstalk’s defeat, Dunmore’s War was officially ended with the Treaty of Camp Charlotte. The Shawnee people ceded their lands south of the Ohio River to England allowing for the white settlement of West Virginia and Kentucky. And the remaining Shawnee lands would not be kept for long.
Further Reading: The Battle of Bushy Run and Mary Jemison - White Woman of the Genesee
SOURCES
History of the Battle of Point Pleasant, 1909, Virgil A. Lewis, The Tribune Printing Company, Charleston, WV.
History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, With Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, 1882,Boyd Crumrine, L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, PA
Daniel Boone: The Life & Legend of an American Pioneer, 1992, John Mack Faragher, Holt, NY, NY
Letter From Lieutenant Isaac Shelby to John Shelby, October 16, 1774, West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
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