NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
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ITTSBURGH FOUNDED
NOVEMBER 25, 1758
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Block House of Fort Pitt. Built 1764.
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FORT DUQUESNE
AND
FORT PITT
EARLY NAMES of PITTSBURGH STREETS
FOURTH EDITION
PUBLISHED BY
DAUGHTERS of the AMERICAN REVOLUTION
OF
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
1 S • > 1
J • »
Reed & Witting, Press
1914
H,r.
T/iis little sketch of Fort Duquesne a7id Fort Pitt is
compiled from extracts taken 7nainly from Parkmaii' s
Histories; The Olden Ti^ne, by Neville B. Craig; Fort
Pitt, By Mrs. Wm,. Darlington; Pioneer History, by
S. P. Hildreth, etc.
Pittsburgh
September 1898.
CHRONOLOGY.
1753. — The French begin to build a chain of forts to en-
force their boundaries.
December 11, 1753. — Washington visits Fort Le Boeuf.
January, 1754. — Washington lands on Wainwright's Island
in the Allegheny river. — Recommends that a fort be
built at the "Forks of the Ohio."
February 17, 1754. — A fort begun at the "Forks of the
Ohio" by Capt. William Trent.
April 16, 1754. — Ensign Ward, with thirty-three men, sur-
prised here by the French, and surrenders.
June, 1754. — Fort Duquesne completed.
May 28, 1754. — Washington attacks Coulon de Jumonville
at Great Meadows.
July 9, 1755. — Braddock's defeat.
April, 1758. — Brig. Gen. John Forbes takes command.
August, 1758. — Fort Bedford built.
October, 1758. — Fort Ligonier built.
November 24, 1758. — Fort Duquesne destroyed by the re
treating French.
November 25, 1758. — Gen. Forbes takes possession.
August, 1759. — Fort Pitt begun by Gen. John Stanwix.
May, 1763. — Conspiracy of Pontiac.
July, 1763. — Fort Pitt besieged by Indians.
1764. — Col. Henry Bouquet builds the Redoubt.
October 10, 1772.— Fort Pitt abandoned by the British.
January, 1774. — Dr. James Connelly occupies Fort Pitt with
Virginia militia, and changes name to Fort Dunmore.
July, 1776. — Indian conference at Fort Pitt. — Pontiac and
Guyasuta.
June 1, 1777.— Brig. Gen. Hand takes command of the fort.
1778. — Gen. Mcintosh succeeds Hand.
November, 1781.— Gen. William Irvine takes command.
May 19, 1791.— Maj. Isaac Craig reports Fort Pitt in a
ruinous condition. — Builds Fort Lafayette.
September 4, 1805.— The historic site purchased by Gen.
James O'Hara.
April 1, 1894.— I\Irs. Mary E. Schenley, granddaughter of
Gen. James O'Hara, presents Col. Bouquet's Redoubt
to the Daughters of the American Revolution of
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
FORT DUQUESNE
Conflicting Claims of France and England in
North America.
f~\ N maps of British America in the earlier part
^^ of the eighteenth century, one sees the east-
ern coast, from Maine to Georgia, gashed with ten
or twelve colored patches, very different in size and
shape, and defined more or less distinctly by divid-
ing lines, which in some cases are prolonged west-
ward until they reach the Mississippi, or even cross
it and stretch indefinitely towards the Pacific.
These patches are the British Provinces, and the
western prolongation of their boundarj^ represents
their several claims to vast interior tracts founded
on ancient grants, but not made good by occupation
or vindicated by an exertion of power. * * *
Each province remained in jealous isolation,
busied with its own work, growing in strength, in
the capacity of self-rule, in the spirit of independ-
ence, and stubbornly resisting all exercise of
authority from without. If the English-speaking
population flowed westward, it was in obedience to
natural laws, for the King did not aid the move-
ment, and the royal Governor had no authorit}^ to
do so. The power of the colonies was that of a
rising flood, slowly invading and conquering by the
unconscious force of its own growing volume, unless
means be found to hold it back by dams and em-
bankments within appointed limits.
In the French colonies it was different. Here the
representatives of the crown were men bred in the
atmosphere of broad ambition and masterful, far-
reaching enterprise. They studied the strong and
weak points of their rivals, and with a cautious
forecast and a daring energy set themselves to
the task of defeating them. If the English colonies
were comparatively strong in numbers these num-
bers could not be brought into action, w^hile if
French forces were small they were vigorously
commanded and always ready at a word. It was
union confronting division, energy confronting
apathy, and military centralization opposed to in-
dustrial democracy, and for a time the advantage
was all on one side. Yet in view of what France
had achieved, of the patient gallantry of her ex-
plorers, the zeal of her missionaries, the adven-
turous hardihood of her bush-rangers, revealing to
mankind the existence of this wilderness world,
while her rivals plodded at their workshops, their
farms, their fisheries ; in view of all this, her pre-
tensions were moderate and reasonable compared
to those of England.
Forks of the Ohio. — Washington's First Visit.
The Treaty of Utrecht had decided that the
Iroquois or Five Nations were British subjects;
therefore it was insisted that all countries con-
quered by them belonged to the British crown. The
range of the Iroquois war parties was prodigious,
and the English laid claim to every mountain, forest
and prairie w^here an Iroquois had taken a scalp.
This would give them not only all between the
Alleghanies and the Mississippi, but all between
Ottawa and Huron, leaving nothing to France but
the part now occupied by the Province of Quebec.
The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and that of Aix
la Chapelle in 1748, were supposed to settle the dis-
puted boundaries of the French and English posses-
sions in America; France, however, repented of her
enforced concessions, and claimed the whole Ameri-
can continent as hers, except a narrow strip of sea-
coast. To establish this boundary, it was resolved
to build a line of forts from Canada to the Missis-
sippi, following the Ohio, for they perceived that
the "Forks of the Ohio," so strangely neglected by
the English, formed together with Niagara the key
of the great West.
This chain of forts began at Niagara ; then an-
other was built of squared logs at Presque Isle
(now Erie), and a third, called Fort Le Boeuf, on
what is now called French Creek. Here the vv^ork
stopped for a time, and Lagardeur de St. Pierre
went into winter quarters with a small garrison
at Fort Le Boeuf.
On the 11th of December, 1753, Major George
Washington, With Christopher Gist as guide,
Abraham Van Braam as interpreter, and several
woodsmen,* presented himself as a bearer of a
letter from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to the
commander of Fort Le Boeuf. He was kindly re-
ceived. In fact, no form of courtesy was omitted
during the three days occupied by St. Pierre in
framing his reply to Governor Dinwiddle's letter.
This letter expressed astonishment that his (St.
Pierre's) troops should build forts upon lands so
notoriously known to be the property of Great
Britain, and demanded their immediate and peace-
able departure. In his answer, St. Pierre said he
had acted in accordance with the commands of his
general, that he would forward Governor Din-
widdle's letter to the Marquis Duquesne and await
his orders.
*The names of these woodsmen were Barnaby Currin and
James MacGuire, Indian Traders; Henry Stewart and W^iUiam
Jenkins; Half King-, Monokatoocha, Jeskakake, White Thun-
der and the Hunter.
8
It was on his return journey that Washington
twice escaped death. First from the gun of a
French Indian ; then in attempting to cross the
Allegheny, which was filled with ice, on a raft that
he and his companions had hastily constructed with
the help of one hatchet between them. He was
thrown into the river and narrowly escaped drown-
ing; but Gist succeeded in dragging him out of the
water, and the party landed on Wainright's Island,
about opposite the foot of Thirty-third Street. On
making his report Washington recommended that
a fort be built at the "Forks of the Ohio."
Men and money were necessary to make good
Governor Dinwiddle's demand that the French
evacuate the territory they had appropriated; these
he found it difficult to get. He dispatched letters,
orders, couriers from New Jersey to South Carolina,
asking aid. Massachusetts and New York were
urged to make a feint against Canada, but as the
land belonged either to Pennsylvania or Virginia,
the other colonies did not care to vote money to
defend them.
In Pennsylvania the placid obstinacy of the
Quakers was matched by the stolid obstinacy of
the German farmers; notwithstanding, Pennsylvania
voted sixty thousand pounds, and raised twelve hun-
dred men at eighteen pence per day. All Dinwiddle
could muster elsewhere was the promise of three or
four hundred men from North Carolina, two com-
panies from New York and one from South Caro-
lina, with what recruits he could gather in Virginia.
In accordance w^ith Washington's recommendation,
Capt. William Trent, once an Indian trader of the
better class, now a commissioned officer, had been
sent with a company of backwoodsmen to build a
fort at the Forks of the Ohio, and it was hoped he
would fortify himself sufficiently to hold the posi-
tion. Trent began the fort, but left it with forty
men under Ensign Ward and went back to join
Washington. The recruits gathered in Virginia
were to be commanded by Joshua Fry, with Wash-
ington as second in command.
Fort Duquesne. — Washington at Fort Necessity.
On the 17th of April, 1754, Ward was surprised
by the appearance of a swarm of canoes and bateaux
descending the Allegheny, cSLrrymg, according to
Ward, about one thousand Frenchmen, who landed,
planted their cannon, and summoned the Ensign to
surrender. He promptly complied and was allowed
to depart with all his men. The French soon de-
molished the unfinished fort and built in its place a
much larger and better one, calling it Fort Du-
quesne, in honor of the Marquis Duquesne, then
Governor of Canada.
Washington, with his detachment of ragged re-
cruits, without tents and scarcely armed, was at
Will's Creek, about one hiuiclred and forty miles
from the "Forks of the Ohio," and he was deeply
chagrined when Ward joined him and reported the
loss of the fort. Dinwiddle then ordered Washing-
ton to advance. In order to do so, a road must be
cut for wagons and cannon, through a dense forest;
two mountain ranges must be crossed, and innu-
merable hills and streams. Towards the end of May
he reached Great Meadows with one hundred and
fifty men. While encamped here, Washington learned
that a detachment of French had marched from
the fort in order to attack him. They met in a rocky
hollow and a short fight ensued. Coulon de Jumon-
ville, the commander, was killed; all the French
were taken prisoners or killed except one Canadian.
This skirmish was the beginning of the war. AYash-
ington then advanced as far as Christopher Gist's
settlement, twelve or fourteen miles on the other
10
side of the Laurel Ridge. He soon heard that strong
reinforcements had been sent to Fort Duquesne, and
that another detachment was even then on the march
under Coulon de Villiers, so on June 28th he began
to retreat. Not having enough horses, the men had
to carry the baggage on their backs, and drag nine
swivels over miserable roads. Two days brought
them to Great Meadows, and they had but one full
day to strengthen the slight fortification they had
made there, and which Washington named Fort
Necessity.
The fighting began at about 11, and lasted for
nine hours; the English, notwithstanding their half
starved condition, and their want of ammunition,
keeping their ground against double their number.
When darkness came a parley was sounded, to which
Washington at first paid no attention, but when the
French repeated the proposal, and rec|uested that
an officer might be sent, he could refuse no longer.
There were but two in Washington's command Avho
could understand French, and one of them was
wounded. Capt. Van Braam, a Dutchman, acted as
interpreter. The articles were signed about mid-
night. The English troops were to march out with
drums beating, carrying with them all their prop-
erty. The prisoners taken in the Jumonville affair
were to be released, Capt. Van Braam and Major
Stobo to be detained as hostages for their safe re-
turn to Fort Duquesne.
This defeat was disastrous to the English. There
was now not an English flag waving west of the
Alleghanies. Villiers went back exultant to Fort
Duquesne, and Washington began his wretched
march to Will's Creek. No horses, no cattle, most of
the baggage must be left behind, while the sick and
wounded must be carried over the Alleghanies on
the backs of their weary, half starved comrades. And
this was the Fourth of July, 1754.
11
The conditions of the surrender were never car-
ried out. The prisoners taken in the skirmish with
Jumonville were not returned. Van Braam and
Stobo were detained for some time at Fort Duquesne,
then sent to Quebec, where they were kept prisoners
for several years. While a prisoner on parole Major
Stobo made good use of his opportunities by ac-
quainting himself with the neighborhood; afterwards
he was kept in close confinement and endured great
hardships ; but in the spring of 1759 he succeeded in
making his escape in the most miraculous manner.
While Wolfe was besieging Quebec, he returned from
Halifax, and, it is said, it was he who guided the
troops up the narrow wooded path to the Heights of
Abraham. Strange, that one taken prisoner in a far
distant province, in a skirmish which began the war,
should guide the gallant Wolfe to the victory at
Quebec, which virtually closed the war in America.
Braddock.
Nothing of importance was done in Virginia and
Pennsylvania until the arrival of Braddock in Feb-
ruary, 1755, bringing with him two regiments.
Governor Dinwiddle hailed his arrival with joy hop-
ing that his troubles would now come to an end. Of
Braddock, Governor Dinwiddle's Secretary, Shirley
wrote to Governor Morris: ''We have a general
most judiciously chosen for being disqualified for
the service he is in, in almost every respect." Brad-
dock issued a call to the provincial governors to meet
him in council, which was answered by Dinwiddle of
Virginia, Dobbs of North Carolina, Sharpe of Mary-
land, Morris of Pennsylvania, Delancy of New York,
and Shirley of Massachusetts. The result was a plan
to attack the French at four points at once. Brad-
dock was to advance on Fort Duquesne, Fort
Niagara was to be reduced, Crown Point seized, and
12
a body of men from New England to capture Beause-
jour and Arcadia.
AVe will follow Braddock. In his case prompt
action was of the utmost importance, but this was
impossible, as the people refused to furnish the neces-
sary supplies. Franklin, who was Postmaster Gen-
eral in Pennsylvania, was visiting Braddock 's camp
with his son when the report of the agents sent to
collect wagons was brought in. The number was
so wholly inadequate that Braddock stormed, say-
ing the expedition was at an end. Franklin said it
was a pity he had not landed in Pennsylvania, where
he might have found horses and wagons more plenti-
ful. Braddock begged him to use his influence to
obtain the necessary supply, and Franklin on his re-
turn to Pennsylvania issued an address to the farm-
ers. In about two weeks a sufficient number was
furnished, and at last the march began. He reached
Will's Creek on May 10, 1755, where fortifications
had been erected by the colonial troops, and called
Fort Cumberland. Here Braddock assembled a force
numbering about twenty-two hundred. Although
Braddock despised the provincial troops and the
Indians, he honored Col. George AYashington, who
commanded the troops from Virginia, by placing
him on his staff.
A month elapsed before this army was ready to
leave Fort Cumberland. Three hundred axemen led
the way, the long, long, train of pack-horses, wagons,
and cannon following, as best they could, along the
narrow track, over stumps and rocks and roots. The
road cut was but twelve feet wide, so that the line
of march was sometimes four miles long, and the
difficulties in the way were so great that it was im-
possible to moA^e more than three miles a day.
On the 18th of June they reached Little Meadows,
not thirtj^ miles from Fort Cumberland, where a re-
port reached them that five hundred regulars were on
L3
their way to reinforce Fort Duqiiesne. Washington
advised Braddock to leave the heavy baggage and
press forward, and following this advice, the next
day, June 19th, the advance corps of about twelve
hundred soldiers with what artillery was thought
indispensable, thirty wagons, and a number of pack-
horses, began its march; but the delaj^s were such
that it did not reach the mouth of Turtle Creek until
July 7th. The distance to Fort Duquesne by a di-
rect route was about eight miles, but the way was
difficult and perilous, so Braddock crossed the
Monongahela and re-crossed farther down, at one
o'clock.
Washington describes the scene at the ford with
admiration. The music, the banners, the mounted
officers, the troops of light cavalry, the naval detach-
ment, the red-coated regulars, the blue-coated Vir-
ginians, the wagons and tumbrils, the cannon, howit-
zers and coehorns, the train of pack-horses and the
droves of cattle passed in long procession through
the rippling shallows and slowly entered the forest.
Fort Duquesne was a strong little fort, compactly
built of logs, close to the point wdiere the waters of
the Allegheny and Monongahela unite. Tvv^o sides
were protected by these waters, and the other two by
ravelins, a ditch and glacis and a covered way, en-
closed by a massive stockade. The garrison consisted
of a few companies of regulars and Canadians and
eight hundred Indian warriors, under the command
of Contreoeur. The captains under him were Beau-
jeu, Dumas, and Ligneris.
When the scouts brought the intelligence that the
English were within six leagues of the fort, the
French, in great excitement and alarm, decided to
march at once and ambuscade them at the ford. The
Indians at first refused to move, but Beaujeu, dressed
as one of them, finally persuaded them to march, and
they filed off along the forest trail that led to the ford
14
of the Monongahela — six hundred Indians and about
three hundred regulars and Canadians. The}^ did not
reach the ford in time to make the attack there.
Braddock's Defeat.
Braddock advanced carefully through the dense
and silent forest, when suddenly this silence was
broken by the war-whoop of the savages, of whom
not one was visible. Gage's column wheeled delib-
erately into line and fired; and at first the English
seemed to carry everything before them, for the
Canadians were seized by a panic and fled; but the
scarlet coats of the English furnished good targets
for their invisible enemies. The Indians, yelling
their war-cries, swarmed in the forest, but were so
completely hidden in gullies and ravines, behind trees
and bushes and fallen trunks, that only the trees
were struck by the volley after volley fired by the
English, who at last broke ranks and huddled to-
gether in a bewildered mass. Both men and officers
were ignorant of this mode of warfare. The Vir-
ginians alone were equal to the emergency and might
have held the enemy in check, but when Braddock
found them hiding behind trees and bushes, as the
Indians, he became so furious at this seeming want
of courage and discipline, that he ordered them with
oaths to join the line, even beating them with his
sword, they replying to his threats and commands
that they would fight if they could see any one to
fight with. The ground was strewn with the dead
and dying, maddened horses were plunging about,
the roar of musketry and cannon, and above all the
yells that came from the throats of six hundred in-
visible savages, formed a choas of anguish and terror
indescribable.
Braddock saw that all was lost and ordered a re-
treat, but had scarcely done so when a bullet pierced
15
his lungs. It is alleged tliat the shot was fired by
one of his own men, but this statement is without
proof. The retreat soon turned into a rout, and all
who remained dashed pell-mell through the river to
the opposite shore, abandoning the wounded the can-
non, and all the baggage and papers to the mercy of
the Indians. Beaujeu had fallen early in the con-
flict. Dumas and Ligneris did not pursue the flying
enemy, but retired to the Fort, abandoning the field
to the savages, which soon became a pandemonium
of pillage and murder. Of the eighty-six English
officers all but twenty-three were killed or disabled,
and but a remnant of the soldiers escaped.
When the Indians returned to the Fort, they
brought with them twelve or fourteen prisoners,
their bodies blackened and their hands tied behind
their backs. These were all burned to death on the
bank of the Allegheny, opposite the Fort. The loss
of the French was slight ; of the regulars there were
but four killed or wounded, and all the Canadians
returned to the Fort unhurt except five.
The miserable remnant of Braddock's army con-
tinued their wild flight all that night and all the next
day, when before nightfall those who had not fainted
by the way reached Christopher Gist's farm, but six
miles from Dunbar's Camp. The wounded general
had shown an incredible amount of courage and en-
durance. After trying in vain to stop the flight, he
was lifted on a horse, when, fainting from the ef-
fects of his mortal wound, some of the men were in-
duced by large bribes to carry him in a litter. Brad-
dock ordered a detachment from the camp to go to
the relief of the stragglers, but as the fugitives kept
coming in with their tales of horror, the panic seized
the camp, and soldiers and teamsters fled.
The next day, whether from orders given by
Braddock or Dunbar is not known, more than one
hundred wagons were burned, cannon, coehorns, and
16
shells were destroj^ed, barrels of gunpowder were
staved and the contents thrown into a brook, and
provisions scattered about through the Avoods and
swamps, while the enemy, with no thought of pur-
suit, had returned to Fort Duquesne. Braddock died
on the 13th of July, 1755, and was buried on the
road ; men, horses and wagons passing over the grave
of their dead commander as they retreated to Fort
Cumberland, thus effacing every trace of it, lest it
should be discovered by the Indians and the body
mutilated. Thus ended the attempt to capture Fort
Duquesne, and for about three years, while the storm
of blood and havoc raged elsewhere, that point was
undisturbed.
Brigadier General Forbes.
In the meantime Dinwiddle had gone, a new gov-
ernor was in his place, while in the plans of Pitt
the capture of Fort Duquesne held an important
place. Brigadier General John Forbes was charged
with it. He was Scotch by birth, a well bred man of
the world, and unlike Braddock, by his conduct to-
ward the provincial troops, commanded both the
respect and affection of the colonists. He only re-
sembled Braddock in his determined resolution, but
he did not hesitate to embrace modes of warfare
that Braddock would have scorned. He wrote to
Boquet : ^'I have been long of your opinion of equip-
ping numbers of our men like the savages, and I
fancy Col. Burd of Virginia has most of his men
equipped in that manner. In this country we must
learn our art of war from the Indians, or any one
else who has carried it on here." He arrived in
Philadelphia in April, 1758, but it was the end of
June before his troops were ready to march. His
force consisted of Montgomery's Highlanders, twelve
hundred strong ; Provincials from Pennsylvania, Vir-
Henry Bouquet.
17
ginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and a detachment
of Royal Americans ; amounting to about six or seven
thousand men. The Royal Americans were Germans
from Pennsylvania, the Colonel-in-chief bieng Lord
Amherst, Colonel Commandant Frederick Haldi-
mancl, and conspicuous among them was Lieutenant
Colonel Henry Bouquet, a brave and accomplished
Sv/iss, who commanded one of the four battalions
of which the regiment was composed.
General Forbes was detained in Philadelphia by a
painful and dangerous malady. Bouquet advanced
and encamped at Raystown, now Bedford. Then
arose the question of opening a new road through
Pennsylvania to Fort Duquesne, or following the
old road made by Braddock. AVashington, who com-
manded the Virginians, foretold the ruin of the ex-
pedition unless Braddock 's road was chosen, but
Forbes and Bouquet were firm and it was decided to
adopt the new route through Pennsylvania. Forbes
was able to reach Carlisle early in July, but his dis-
order was so increased by the journey that he was
not able to leave that place until the 11th of August,
and then in a kind of litter swung between two
horses. In this way he reached Shippensburg, Avhere
he lay helpless until far into September. His plan
was to advance slowly, establishing fortified maga-
zines as he went, and at last when within easy dis-
tance of the Fort, to advance upon it with all force,
as little impeded as possible with wagons and pack-
horses. Having secured his magazines at Raysto^^Ti,
and built a fort which he called Port Bedford in hon-
or of his friend and patron, the Duke of Bedford,*
Bouquet was sent with his command to forward the
* In recognition of this honor, the Duke of Bedford presented to
the fort a large flag of crimson brocade silk. In 1895 this flag: was in
the possession of Mrs. Moore, of Bedford, who kindly lent It to the
Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, for ex-
hibition at a reception given by them at Mrs. Park Painter's
residence, February I5th, 1895.
18
heavy work of road making over the main range of
the AUeghanies and the Laurel Hills; ''hewing, dig-
ging, blasting, laying facines and gabions, to support
the track along the sides of the steep declivities, or
worming their way like rnoles through the jungle of
swamp and forest." As far as the eye or mind could
reach a prodigious forest vegetation spread its im-
pervious canopy over hill, valley and plain. His
next post Avas on the Loyalhanna Creek, scarcely
fift}" miles distant from Fort Duquesne, and here he
built a fortification, naming it Fort Ligonier, in
honor of Lord Ligonier, commander-in-chief of His
Majestj^'s armies. Forbes had served under Ligonier,
and his influence, together with that of the Duke of
Bedford, secured to Forbes his appointment.
Now came the difficult and important task of se-
curing Indian allies. Sir William Johnson for the
English, and Joncaire for the French, were trjdng in
every way to frighten or cajole them into choosing
sides; but that which neither of them could accom-
plish was done by a devoted Moravian missionary,
Christian Frederic Post. Post spoke the Delaware
language, had married a converted squaw, and by
his simplicity, directness and perfect honesty, had
gained their full confidence. He was a plain German,
upheld by a sense of duty and single-hearted trust in
God. The Moravians were apostles of peace, and
they succeeded in a surprising way in weaning their
converts from their ferocious instincts and savage
practices, while the mission Indians of Canada re-
tained all their native ferocity, and their wigwams
were strung with scalps, male and female, adult and
infant. These so-called missions were but nests of
baptized savages, who wore the crucifix instead of
the medicine-bag.
Post accepted the dangerous mission as envoy to
the camp of the hostile Indians, and making his way
to a Delaware town on Beaver Creek, he Avas kindly
-, - / ' V ^-^ ,
I.uiuloii "l*tiiilr«i IbrRoh'.SayoiJViiaU llfr,!!>,ii- -Sri^ mus Inn KUti .Sdtvl
s
Lord Viscount Ligonier.
19
received by the three kings; but when they con-
ducted him to another town he was surrounded by a
crowd of warriors, who threatened to kill him. He
managed to pacify them, but they insisted that he
should go with them to Fort Duquesne. In his Jour-
nal he gives thrilling accounts of his escape from dan-
gers threatened by both French and Indians. But
he at last succeeded in securing a promise from both
Delaware and Shawnees, and other hostile tribes, to
meet with the Five Nations, the Governor of Penn-
sylvania and commissioners from other provinces, in
the town of Easton, before the middle of Septem-
ber. The result of this council was that the Indians
accepted the white wampum belt of peace, and
asrreed on a joint message of peace to the tribes of
Ohio.
A few weeks before this Col. Bouquet, from his
post at Fort Ligonier, forgot his usual prudence,
and at his urgent request, allowed Major Grant,
commander of the Highlanders, to advance. On the
14th of September, at about 2 A. M., he reached an
eminence about half a mile from the Fort. He di-
vided his forces, placing detachments in different
positions, being convinced that the enemy was too
weak to attack him. Infatuated with this idea, v/hen
the fog had cleared away, he ordered the reveilee to
be sounded. It was as if he had put his foot into a
hornet's nest. The roll of drums was answered by
a burst of war-whoops, while the French came
swarming out, many of them in their night shirts,
just as they had jumped from their beds. There was
a hot fight for about three-quarters of an hour, when
the Highlanders broke away in a wild flight. Cap-
tain Bullit and his Virginians tried to cover the re-
treat, and fought until two-thirds of them were killed
and Grant taken prisoner. The name of "Grant's
Hill" still clings to the much-abused "hump" where
the Court House now stands.
20
The French pushed their advantages with spirit,
and there were many skirmishes in the forest be-
tween Fort Ligonier and Fort Duquesne, but their
case was desperate. Their Indian allies had deserted
them, and their supplies had been cut off; so Ligneris,
who succeeded Contreoeur, was forced to dismiss the
greater part of his force. The English, too, were
enduring great hardships. Rain had continued al-
most without cessation all through September; the
newly made road was liquid mud, into which the
wagons sunk up to the hubs. In October the rain
changed to snow, while all this time Forbes was
chained to a sick-bed at Raystown, now Fort Bed-
ford. In the beginning of November he was carried
from Fort Bedford to Fort Ligonier in a litter, and a
council of officers, then held, decided to attempt noth-
ing more that season ; but a few days later a report
of the condition of the French was brought in, which
led Forbes to give orders for an immediate advance.
On November 18, 1758, two thousand five hundred
picked men, Vvdthout tents or baggage, without
wagons or artillery except a few light pieces, began
their march.
FORT PITT
French Abandon Fort Duquesne. — Fort Pitt Is Built.
On the evening of the 24th they encamped on the
hills around Turtle Creek, and at midnight the sen-
tinels heard a heavy boom as if a magazine had ex-
ploded. In the morning the march was resumed.
After the advance guard came Forbes, carried in
a litter, the troops follovring in three columns, the
Highlanders in the center headed by Montgomery,
the Royal Americans and Provincials on the right
and left under Bouquet and Washington. Slowly
they made their way beneath an endless entangle-
ment of bare branches. The Highlanders were
goaded to madness by seeing as they approached
the Fort the heads of their countrymen, who had
fallen when Grant made his rash attack, stuck on
poles, around which their plaids had been wrapped
in imitation of petticoats. Foaming with rage they
rushed forward, abandoning their muskets and
drawing their broadswords ; but their fury was in
vain, for when they reached a point where the Fort
should have been in sight, there Avas nothing be-
tween them and the hills on the opposite banks of
the Monongahela and Allegheny but a mass of black-
ened and smouldering ruins. The enemy, after burn-
ing the barracks and store-houses, had blown up the
fortifications and retreated, some down the Ohio,
others overland to Presque Isle, and others up the
Allegheny to Venango.
There were two forts, and some idea may be
formed of their size, with the barracks and store-
22
houses, from the fact that John Haslet writes to the
Rev. Dr. Allison, two days after the English took
possession, that there were thirty chimney stacks
standing.
The troops had no shelter until the first fort was
built. Col. Bouquet wrote to ]\Iiss Anne Willing
from Fort Duquesne, November 25th, 1758, "they
have burned and destroyed to the ground their fort-
ifications, houses and magazines, and left us no other
cover than the heavens — a very cold one for an army
without tents or ecpiipages. "
Col. Bouquet, in a letter written to Chief Justice
Allen of Pennsylvania on November 26th, enumer-
ated the needs of the garrison, which he hopes the
Provinces of Pennsj^lvania and Virginia w^ll im-
mediately supply. He adds: "After God, the success
of this expedition is entirely due to the general. He
has shown the greatest prudence, firmness and abili-
ty. No one is better informed than I am, who had an
opportunity to see every step that has been taken
from the beginning and every obstacle that was
thrown in his way." Forbes' first care was to provide
defense and shelter for his troops, and a strong stock-
ade was built around the traders' cabins and soldiers'
huts, which he named Pittsburgh, in honor of Eng-
land's great minister, William Pitt. Two hundred
Virginians under Col. Mercer were left to defend the
new fortification, a force wholly inadequate to hold
the place if the French chose to return and attempt
to take it again. Those who remained must for a
time depend largely on stream and forest to supply
their needs, while the army, which was to return be-
gan their homeward march early in December, Avith
starvation staring them in the face.
No sooner v\^as his work done than Forbes utterly
succumbed. He left with the soldiers, and was car-
ried all the way to Philadelphia in a litter, arriving
William Pitt.
ut^
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC UBVJ.-^:
.r
K
23
there January 18, 1759. He lingered through the
winter, died in March, and was buried in Christ
Church, March 14, 1759. Parkman says: "If his
achievement was not brilliant, its solid value was
above price; it opened the Great West to English
enterprise, took from France half her savage allies,
and relieved the western borders from the scourge of
Indian war. From southern New York to North
Carolina the frontier population had cause to bless
the memory of this steadfast and all-enduring sol-
dier."
Just sixty days after the taking of Fort Duquesne,
William Pitt wrote a letter, dated Whitehall, Janu-
ary 23, 1759, of which the following extract will
show how important this place was considered in
Great Britian.
''Sir : — I am now to accjuaint you that the King has
been pleased immediately upon receiving the news of
the success of his arms on the river Ohio, to direct
the commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces in
North America, and General Forbes, to lose no time
in concerting the properest and speediest means for
completely restoring, if possible, the ruined Fort
Duquesne to a defensible and respectable state, or
for erecting another in the room of it of sufficient
strength, and every way adeciuate to the great im-
portance of the several objects of maintaining Plis
Majesty's subjects in the undisputed possession of
the Ohio," etc., etc.
In a letter dated Pittsburgh, August 1759, Col.
Mercer writes to Gov. Denny: "Capt. Gordon, chief
engineer, has arrived with most of the artificers, but
does not fix the spot for constructing the Fort till
the general comes up. We are preparing the ma-
terials for building with what expedition so few men
are capable of."
24
There was no attempt made to restore the old
fortifications, but about a year afterward work was
begun on a new fort. Gen. John Stanwix, who suc-
ceeded Gen. Forbes, is said to have been a man of
high military standing, with a liberal and generous
spirit. In 1760, he appeared on the Ohio at the head
of an army, and with full power to build a large fort
where Fort Duquesne had stood. The exact date of
his arrival and the day when work was commenced
is not known, but the work must have been begun
the last of August or the first of September, 1759.
A letter dated September 24, 1759, gives the follow-
ing account : " It is now near a month since the army
has been employed in erecting a most formidable
fortification, such a one as will to latest posterity se-
cure the British empire on the Ohio. There is no
need to enumerate the abilities of the chief engineer
nor the spirit shown by the troops m executing the
important task ; the fort will soon be a lasting monu-
ment of both."
The fort was built near the point where the Alle-
gheny and Monongahela unite their waters, but a
little farther inland than the site of Fort Duquesne.
It stood on the present site of the Duquesne Freight
Station, while all the ground from the Point to Third
Street and from Liberty Street to the Allegheny
River was enclosed in a stockade and surrounded by
a moat. It was a solid and substantial building, con-
structed at an enormous expense to the English Gov-
ernment.*' It was five-sided, tvv^o sides facing
the land of brick, the others stockade. The earth
around was thrown up so all was enclosed by a ram-
part of earth, supported on the land side by a per-
pendicular wall of brick ; on the other sides a line of
*There is a wide discrepancy in the authorities as to the
cost of Fort Pitt; some state the cost as "six hundred
pounds, others give it as sixty thousand pounds.
25
pickets was fixed on the outside of the slope, and a
moat encompassed the entire work. Casemates,
barracks and store houses were completed for a gar-
rison of one thousand men and officers, and eighteen
pieces of artillery mounted on the bastions. This
strong fortification was thought to establish the
British dominion of the Ohio. The exact date of its
completion is not known, but on March 21, 1760,
Maj. Gen. Stanwix, having finished his w^ork, set out
on his return journey to Philadelphia.
Conspiracy of Pontiac and Col. Bouquet.
The effect of this stronghold was soon apparent
in the return of about four thousand settlers to their
lands on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Maryland, from which they had been driven by their
savage enemies, and the brisk trade which at once
began to be carried on with the now, to all appear-
ance, friendly Indians. However, this security was
not of long duration. The definite treaty of peace
between England, Spain and France was signed Feb-
ruary 10, 1763, but before that time, Pontiac the
great chief of the Ottawas, was planning his great
conspiracy, which carried death and desolation
throughout the frontier.
The French had always tried to ingratiate them-
selves with the Indians. When their warriors came
to French forts they were hospitably welcomed and
liberally supplied with guns, ammunition and cloth-
ing, until the weapons and garments of their fore-
fathers were forgotten. The English, on the con-
trar}^ either gave reluctantly or did not give at all.
Many of the English traders were of the coarsest
stamp, who vied with each other in rapacity and
violence. AYhen an Indian w^arrior came to an Eng-
26
lish fort, instead of the kindly welcome he had been
accustomed to receive from the French, he got noth-
ing but oaths, and menaces, and blows, sometimes
being assisted to leave the premises by the butt of a
sentinel's musket. But above and beyond all, they
watched with wrath and fear the progress of the
white man into their best hunting grounds, for as
the English colonist advanced their beloved forests
disappeared under the strokes of the axe. The French
did all in their power to augment this discontent.
In this spirit of revenge and hatred a powerful
confederacy was formed, including all the western
tribes, under the command of Pontiac, alike renowned
for his warlike spirit, his wisdom and his bravery,
and whose name was a terror to the entire region of
the lakes. The blow was to be struck in the month
of May, 176-3. The tribes were to rise simultaneously
and attack the English garrisons. Thus a sudden at-
tack was m_ade on all the western posts. Detroit was
saved after a long and close siege. Forts Pitt
and Niagara narrowly escaped, while Le Boeuf,
Venango, Prescju' Isle, Miamis, St. Joseph, Ouach-
tanon, Sanduskj^ and Michillimackinac all fell into
the hands of the Indians. Their garrisons were either
butchered on the spot, or carried off to be tortured
for the amusement of their cruel captors.
The savages swept over the surrounding country,
carrying death and destruction wherever they went.
Hundreds of traders were slaughtered without
mercy, while their mves and children, if not mur-
dered, were carried off captives. The property de-
stroyed or stolen amounted, it is said to five hundred
thousand pounds. Attacks were made on Forts Bed-
ford and Ligonier, but without success. Fort Ligon-
nier was under seige for two months. The preserva-
tion of this post was of the utmost importance, and
Lieut. Blaine, by his courage and good conduct,
27
managed to hold it until August 2, 1763, when Col.
Bouquet arrived with his little army.
In the meantime, every preparation was made at
Fort Pitt for an attack. The garrison at that post
numbered three hundred and thirty, commanded by
Capt. Simeon Ecuyer, a brave Swiss. The forti-
fications having been badly damaged by floods, were
with great labor repaired. The barracks were made
shot-proof to protect the women and children, and
as the buildings inside were all of wood, a rude fire-
engine was constructed to extinguish any flames
kindled by the fire-arrows of the Indians. All the
houses and cabins outside the walls were leveled to
the ground. The fort was so crowded by the families
of the settlers w^ho had taken refuge there, that
Ecuyer wrote to Col. Bouquet "We are so crowded
in the fort that I fear disease, for inspite of every
care I cannot keep the place as clean as I should like.
Besides, the smallpox is among us, and I have there-
fore caused a hospital to be built under the draw-
bridge."
Several weeks, however, elapsed before there was
any determined attack from the enemy. On July
26th some chiefs asked for a parley with Capt.
Ecuyer, which was granted. They demanded that he
and all in the fort should leave immediately or it
and they would all be destroyed. He replied that
they w^ould not go, closing his speech with these
words: ''Therefore, my brother, I will advise you to
go home, * * Moreover, I tell you if any
of you appear again about this fort, I will throw
bomb-shells which will burst and blow you to atoms,
and fire cannon upon 3^ou loaded w^ith a whole bag-
full of bullets. Take care, therefore, for I don't
want to hurt you." On the night succeeding this
parley the Indians approached in great numbers,
crawling under the banks of the two rivers digging
28
holes with their knives, in which they were com-
pletcl}^ sheltered from the fire of the fort. On one
side the entire bank was lined with these burrows,
from which they shot volleys of bullets, arrows and
fire-arrows into the fort. The yelling was terrific,
and the women and children in the crowded bar-
racks clung to each other in abject terror. This
attack lasted for five days. On August 1st the
Indians heard the rumor of Col. Bouquet's approach,
which caused them to move on, and so the tired gar-
rison was relieved.
"V\Tien the news of this Indian uprising reached
Gen. Amherst, he ordered Col. Bouquet to march
with a detachment of five hundred men to the relief
of the besieged forts. This force was composed of
companies from the Forty-second Highlanders and
Seventy-seventh Regulars, to which were added six
companies of Rangers. Bouquet established his
camp in Carlisle at the end of June. Here he found
every building, every house, every barn, every hovel,
crowded Avith refugees. He writes to Gen. Amherst
on July 13th, as follows: "The list of people kno"vvn
to be killed increases every day. The desolation of
so many families, reduced to the last extremity of
want and misery ; the despair of those who have lost
their parents, relations and friends, with the cries of
distracted women and children who fill the streets,
form a scene painful to humanity and impossible to
describe."
Strange as it may seem, the Province of Pennsyl-
vainia would do nothing to aid the troops w^ho
gathered for its defense. The Quakers, who held
a majority in the Assem.bly, were non-combatants
from principle and practice ; and the Swiss and Ger-
man Mennonites, w^ho were numerous in Lancaster
County, professed, like the Quakers, the principle of
non-resistance, and refused to bear arms. Wagons
29
and horses had been promised, but promises were
broken. Bouquet writes again to Amherst: '^I hope
v/e shall be able to save that infatuated people from
destruction, notwithstanding all their endeavors to
defeat your vigorous measures." While Bouquet,
harassed and exasperated, labored on at his difficult
task, the terror of the country people increased, until
at last finding that they could hope for but little
aid from the Government, they bestirred themselves
with admirable spirit in their own defense. They
raised small bodies of riflemen, w^ho scoured the
woods in front of the settlements, and succeeded in
driving the enemy back. In some instances these men
dressed themselves as Indian warriors, painted their
faces red and black, and adopted the savage mode of
warfare.
On the 3d of July a courier from Fort Bedford
rode into Carlisle, and as he stopped to water his
horse he w^as immediately surrounded by an anxious
crowd, to whom he told his tale of woe, adding, as
he mounted his horse to ride on to Bouquet's tent,
"The Indians will soon be here." Terror and excite-
ment spread everywhere, messengers were dispatched
in every direction to give the alarm, and the reports,
harrowing as they had been, were fully confirmed
by the fugitives who w^ere met on every road and by-
path hurrying to Carlisle for refuge. A party armed
themselves and went out to warn the living and bury
the dead. They found death and desolation every-
where, and sickened with horror at seeing groups
of hogs tearing and devouring the bodies of the
dead.
After a delay of eighteen days, having secured
enough wagons, horses and oxen. Bouquet began his
perilous march, with a force much smaller than
Braddock's, to encounter a foe far more formidable.
But Bouquet, the man of iron will and iron hand,
30
had served seven years in America, and understood
his work.
On July 25th he reached Fort Bedford, when he
was fortunate in securing thirt}^ backwoodsmen to
go with him. This little army toiled on through
the blazing heat of July over the Alleghanies, and
reached Fort Ligonier August 2d, the Indians, who
had besieged the fort for two months, disappearing
at the approach of the troops. Here Bouquet left
his oxen and wagons and resumed his march on the
4th. On the 5th, about noon, he encountered the
enemy at Bushy Run. The battle raged for two
days, and ended in a total rout of the savages. The
loss of the British was one hundred and fifteen and
eight officers. The distance to Fort Pitt was twenty-
five miles, which place was reached on the 10th. The
enemy had abandoned the siege and marched to
unite their forces with those which attacked Col.
Bouquet at Bushy Run. The savages continued
their hasty retreat, but Col. Bouquet's force was
not sufficient to enable him to pursue the enemy be-
yond the Ohio, and he was obliged to content him-
self with supplying Fort Pitt and other forts with
provisions, ammunition and stores.
It was at this time that Col. Bouquet built the
little Redoubt which is now not only all that re-
mains of Fort Pitt, but the only existing monument
of British occupancy in this region.
The Indians abandoned all their former settle-
ments, and retreated to the Muskingum ; here they
formed new settlements, and in the spring of 1764
again began to ravage the frontier. To put an end
to these depredations, Gen. Gage planned a cam-
paign into this western wilderness from two points
— Gen. Bradstreet was to advance by way of the
lakes, and Col. Bouquet from Fort Pitt. After the
usual delays and disappointments in securing troops
31
from Pennsylvania and Virginia to aid in this ex-
pedition, the march from Carlisle was begun, and
Col. Bouquet arrived at Fort Pitt September 17th,
and was detained there until October 3d. He fol-
lowed the north bank of the Ohio until he reached
the Beaver, when he turned towards Central Ohio.
Holding on his course, he refused to listen to either
threats or promises from the Indians, declining to
treat with them at all until they should deliver up
the prisoners. Although not a blow was struck, the
Indians were vanquished. Bouquet continued his
march down the valley of the ]\Iuskingum until he
reached a spot where some broad meadows oifered
a suitable place for encampment. Here he received
a deputation of chiefs, listened to their offers of
peace, and demanded the delivery of the prisoners.
Soon band after band of captives arrived, until the
number exceeded three hundred.
The scenes which followed the restoring of the
prisoners to their friends beggar all description ;
wives recovering their husbands, parents seeking for
children whom they could scarcely recognize,
brothers and sisters meeting after a long separation,
and sometimes scarcely able to speak the same lan-
guage. The story is told of a woman whose daugh-
ter had been carried oif nine years before. The
mother recognized her child, but the girl, who had
almost forgotten her mother tongue, showed no sign
of recognition. The mother complained to Col.
Bouquet that the daughter she had so often sung to
sleep on her knee had forgotten her. ''Sing the song
to her that you used to sing when she was a child,"
said Col. Bouquet. She did so, and with a passionate
flood of tears the long-lost daughter flung herself
into her mother's arms.
Everything being settled, the army broke camp
November 18th, and arrived at Fort Pitt on the 28th.
32
Early in January Col. Bouquet returned to Philadel-
phia, receiving wherever he went every possible
mark of gratitude and esteem from the people. The
Assembly of Pennsylvania and the House of Bur-
gesses of Virginia each unanimously voted him ad-
dresses of thanks, and on the arrival of the first
account of this expedition the King promoted him
to the rank of Brigadier General to command the
Southern District of North America.
Conflict Between Pennsylvania and Virginia.
AYe have seen two of the most powerful nations
of Europe contending for the possession of the
"Forks of the Ohio." "We have seen the efforts of
the Indians to destroy the Fort and regain posses-
sion of their hunting grounds.
In October, 1770, "Washington again visited the
"Forks of the Ohio," this time on a peaceful errand.
He reached Fort Pitt October 17, 1770, and he says
in his Journal : "Lodged in what is called the town ;
distant about three hundred yards from the fort, at
one Semple's, who keeps a very good house of enter-
tainment." He describes both the town and the fort,
where the garrison at this time consisted of two
companies of Royal Irish, commanded by Capt. Ed-
monstone. In this Journal we find the following
entry on October 18th: "Dined in the fort with
Col. Croghan and the officers of the garrison ; supped
there also, meeting with great civility from the
gentleman, and engaged to dine with Col. Croghan
next day, at his seat about four miles up the Alle-
srhenv."
Washington and his party, numbering nine or ten
persons, w^th three Indians, continued their journey
down the Ohio in a large canoe. On November 2d,
we find that the party "encamped and went a-hunt-
ing, killed five buffaloes and wounded some others,
Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair.
33
three deer, etc. This country abounds in buffaloes
and wild game of all kinds, as also in all kinds of
wild fowl, there being in the bottoms a great many
small, grassy ponds or lakes, which are full of
swan, geese and ducks of different kinds." The
party returned to Pittsburgh November 21st, were
again hospitably entertained, and on the 23d mount-
ed their horses for their return journey to Virginia.
This was Washington's last visit to Fort Pitt.
Now, after the season of rest and quiet, there
comes another contest, this time between the Prov-
inces of Pennsylvania and Virginia, The British
Government, as the trouble with the colonies in-
creased, deemed it advisable to abandon Fort Pitt
and withdraw the troops. Maj. Edmonstone, then
in command, sold the buildings and material October
10, 1772, to Alexander Ross and William Thompson,
for fifty pounds New York currencj?-. The fort was
evacuated by the British forces in October, 1772,
and in January, 1774, troops from Virginia sent by
the Governor, Lord Dunmore, under command of
Dr. James Connelly, took possession and changed
the name to Fort Dunmore. Dr. Connelly was ar-
rested by Arthur St. Clair, then a magistrate of
Westmoreland County, of which Allegheny County
was at that time a part, and put in jail, but was
soon released on bail. He went back to Virginia,
but shortly returned with civil and military au-
thority to enforce the laws of Virginia. This con-
test continued for several years, until a prominent
citizen wrote to Governor Penn: '^The deplorable
state of affairs in this part of your government is
truly distressing. We are robbed, insulted and dra-
gooned by Connelly and his militia in this place and
its environs." Maryland, too, had contended, some-
times with the shedding of blood, for the possession
of this important point. It was not until 1785 that
commissioners were appointed, the boundary of the
34
western part of the State finally run, and Pennsyl-
vania established in the possession of her territory.
Revolutionary Period.
During the struggle for independence the settle-
ments west of the Alleghanies had little to fear from
the invading armies of Great Britain ; but, influenced
by the English, the Indians again began their rav-
ages.
Fort Pitt was at that time under the command of
Capt. John Neville, and was the center of govern-
ment authority. Just two days after the Declara-
tion of Independence, but long before the news of it
could have crossed the mountains, we read of a con-
ference at Fort Pitt between Maj. Trent, Maj. Ward,
Capt. Neville and other officers of the garrison, with
the famous Pontiac, Guyasuta, Capt. Pipe and other
representatives of the Six Nations. Guyasuta was
the chief speaker. He produced a belt of wampum,
which was to be sent from the Six Nations to other
Western tribes, informing them that the Six Nations
would take no part in the war between England and
America and asking them to do the same. In his
address Guyasuta said: ''Brothers: — We will not
suffer either the English or Americans to pass
through our country. Should either attempt it, we
shall forewarn them three times, and should they
persist they must take the consequences. I am ap-
pointed by the Six Nations to take care of this coun-
try; that is, of the Indians on the other side of the
Ohio" (which included the Allegheny) "and I desire
you VAdll not think of an expedition against Detroit,
for, I repeat, we will not suffer an army to pass
through our country." The Six Nations was the
most powerful confederacy of Indians in America,
and whichever side secured their allegiance might
count on the other tribes following them.
35
Instigated by the agents of Great Britain, it was
not long before a deadly struggle began. Scalping
parties of Indians ravaged the frontier, sparing
neither age nor sex, and burning and destroying all
that came in their path. Companies were formed to
protect the settlements, whose headquarters were at
Fort Pitt, and expeditions were made into the
enemy's country, but with no very great success.
On June 1, 1777, Brig. Gen. Edward Hand took
command of the post and issued a call for two thou-
sand men. He did not receive a very satisfactory
response to this call. After considerable delay, he
made several expeditions against the Indians, but
was singularly unfortunate in his attempts. These
fruitless efforts only emboldened the savages to con-
tinue their ravages.
In 1778, Gen. Hand, at his own request, was re-
called, and Brig. Gen. Mcintosh succeeded him.
Gen. Mcintosh planned a formidable expedition into
the enemy's country. He marched to the mouth of
the Beaver, where he built a fort and called it Fort
Mcintosh; then he advanced seventy-five miles
farther, built another fort, and called it Fort Laur-
ens ; but on hearing alarming reports of the Indians
and for want of supplies, he left Col. John Gibson
with one hiuidred and fifty men there and returned
to Fort Pitt. The depredations of the Indians con-
tinued, and Gen. Mcintosh, utterly disheartened from
the want of men and supplies, asked to be relieved
of his command. He was succeeded by Col. Daniel
Brodhead, who, like his predecessors, planned great
things, but never had the means of carrying out his
plans.
By this time Fort Pitt was badly in need of re-
pairs, and the garrison, half-fed and badly equipped,
was almost mutinous. In November, 1781, Gen.
William Irvine took command of the post. He
describes the condition of the fort and of the sol-
36
diers as deplorable. lie writes: ''The few troops
that are here are the most licentious men and worst
behaved I ever saw, owing, I presume, in a great
measure to their not being hitherto kept under any
subordination or tolerable degree of discipline. ' ' The
firmness of the commander soon restored order, but
not without the free application of the lash and the
execution of two soldiers.
The winter of 1782 and 1783 was comparatively
quiet, and on October 1st, 1783, Gen. Irvine took his
final leave of the western department. The State of
Pennsylvania acknowledged her gratitude for his
services by donating him a valuable tract of land.
In 1790 there was another Indian outbreak. Maj.
Isaac Craig was then acting as Quartermaster in
Pittsburgh. On May 19th, 1791, he wrote to Gen.
Eiiox, representing the terror occasioned by the near
approach of the Indians, and asking permission to
erect another fortification, as Fort Pitt was in a
ruinous condition. This request was granted, and
Maj. Craig erected a fortification occupying the
ground from Garrison Alley to Hand (now Ninth)
Street, and from Liberty to the Allegheny River.
This he named Fort Lafayette.
The expeditions of Gen. Harmar and of Gen. St.
Clair against the Indians had been ineffectual and
disastrous. In 1794, Gen. Anthony Wajrae was more
successful, and defeated and scattered the Indians
so effectually that they never again gave trouble in
this region.
/
1^
m
c
in
q
THE OLD BLOCK HOUSE
IVIrs. Mary E. Schenley's Gift to the Daughters of the
American Revolution of Allegheny County.
The close of the century found Fort Pitt in ruins,
and this spot over which had waved the flags of
three nations, and the banners of two States, was
left to the peaceable possession of the mechanic and
artisan, the trader and farmer. The little Redoubt
built by Col. Bouquet in 1764, and the names of the
streets in Pittsburgh, are all that is left as reminders
of the struggle for the "Forks of the Ohio," — the
only relics of the contest of the courtly Frenchman
with the intrepid British, of the daring of the in-
domitable colonist and the craft and cruelty of the
Indian. This Redoubt was not built by Gen. Stan-
wix when the fort was erected in 1759 and 60, but
by Col. Bouquet in 1764. At the time of Pontiac's
"War, when Col. Bouquet came to Pittsburgh, he
found that the moat which surrounded the fortifica-
tions was perfectly dry when the river was low, so
that the Indians could crawl up the ditch and shoot
any guard or soldier who might show his head above
the parapet. To prevent this, Col. Bouquet ordered
the erection of the Redoubt or Block House, which
completely commanded the moat on the Allegheny
side of the fort. The little building is of brick, five-
sided, with two floors, having a squared oak log
with loop holes on each floor. There were two
underground passages, one connecting it with the
Fort, and the other leading to the Monongahela
River.
38
The ground from Fort Pitt to the Allegheny
River was sold in 1784 to Isaac Craig and Stephen
Bayard, and, after passing through various hands,
was purchased by Gen. James O'llara, September 4,
1805. When Gen. O'Hara died in 1819, the property
passed to his daughter Mary, who in 1821 married
William Croghan. Mrs. Croghan died in 1827, and
her daughter, Mary Elizabeth, an infant barely a
year old, became her sole heir. She married Capt.
E. W. H. Schenley, of the English army, and to
Mrs. Mary E. Schenley, who might be called Pitts-
burgh's ''Fairy Godmother," the Daughters of the
American Revolution of Allegheny County are in-
debted for the gift of the old Block House and sur-
rounding property.
While the property was in possession of Craig and
Bayard, a large dAvelling house was built and con-
nected with the Block House. This was occupied one
year by Mr. Turnbull, and for two years subse-
quently by Maj. Craig. From that time, 1785, until
it came into the possession of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, April 1, 1894, it continued to
be used as a dw^elling house. Time and decay had
done their work in one hundred and thirty years,
and the "Daughters" found the old Block House
fast crumbling away. If it had been left much
longer without repairs it would soon have been noth-
ing but a heap of broken brick. Mrs. Schenley 's
gift to the Daughters of the American Revolution
was the Block House, with a plot of ground measur-
ing one hundred by ninety feet, and a passageway
leading to Penn Avenue of ninety feet by twenty.
As soon as the Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion received the deed for the property, the work of
clearing away the tumble-down tenements which
covered the ground was commenced. It was not
without great difficulty, and no little expense, that
39
the occupants of these houses were induced to give
them up.
While the Block House was used as a dwelling
the stone tablet placed over the door with the in-
scription,
COLL. BOUQUET
J 764
was removed and inserted in the wall of the stair-
case of City Hall. The Daughters of the American
Revoluiton petitioned Councils for permissior .0 re-
store it to its original position. The petition was
granted, and the tablet now fills the space which it
occupid one hundred and thirty-eight years ago.
"I do love these ancient ruins.
We never tread upon them but we set
Our foot upon some rev'rend history."
Pittsburgh
September 1898.
Matilda Wilkins Denny.
NAMES OF PITTSBURGH STREETS.
Their Historical Significance.
By Julia Morgan Harding.
(From the Pittsburgh Bulletin, February 15, 1893.)
We are told in his Autobiography that Benjamin
Franklin ''ever took pleasure in obtaining any little
anecdotes of his ancestors," and in these days of
reawakened interest in things of the past, many
people may be found who, like the great prototype
of American character, Pennsylvania's apostle of
common sense, take pleasure in looking into the
old records of their family history. A still richer
inheritance is the story of the lives of the men who
conquered the wilderness and subdued the Indians,
French and British ; and this inheritance is held in
common by all good citizens of Pittsburgh, w^hether
or not their ancestors fought with Braddock or
Bouquet, or marched with Forbes. In the stir and
bustle of the busy city, above the noise of the trolley
and the iron wagon, one faintly hears the names of
streets whose unfamiliar sounds recall to our minds
these illustrious dead. With but little effort the in-
ward eye quickly sees an impenetrable forest cloth-
ing hills and river banks — dark, mysterious, for-
bidding, crossed by occasional narrow and obstructed
paths; war parties of painted savages; a few scat-
tered settlers' and traders' cabins; here and there
a canoe on the swift and silent rivers; a silence too
often broken by the war whoop of the Indian and
the scream of his tortured victim.
41
From the eastern slope of the Endless Hills to
'the unknown and unbounded ' ' Indian Country ' ' that
lay beyond the Forks of the Ohio, such was the
region into which Washington, Braddock, Forbes and
Bouquet led their ''forlorn hopes." In days when a
less utilitarian spirit prevailed, and association was
still powerful, the City of Pittsburgh acknowledged
its debt of gratitude to the soldiers, statesmen and
early settlers who made its unexampled prosperity
possible, by naming for them many of its streets and
suburbs. Its early history can be traced thereby,
much as the historian and archgeologist discovers
the successive Roman, Saxon, Danish and Norman
occupations of London and other English towns.
Alliquippa, Mingo, Shannopin, Shinghiss, Guyasuta
and Killbuck recall the Indian tribes and chiefs who
once possessed the country; Gist, Montour, Girty,
McKee, Chartiers and Van Braam the guides and
traders who first penetrated the wilderness. Din-
widdle brings to mind the crusty but far-seeing
Scotch governor of Virginia, who first comprehended
the value of the disputed land. Forbes, Bouquet,
Ligonier, Halket, Grant, Stanwix, Neville, Crawford,
Hay, Marbury, Ormsby, Tannehill, O'Hara, Butler,
Wayne, Bayard, Stobo, Steuben, St. Clair, Craig,
Smallman and Irwin recall, or did recall, the soldiers
and commandants who won the West. Duquesne,
St. Pierre and Jumonville speak of the French gover-
nor of Canada, the officer who received Washington
at Fort Le Boeuf, and the captain who fell at Great
Meadows. Smithfield owes its name to Devereaux
Smith, prominent in colonial and revolutionary days ;
and Wood street was called for George Woods, sur-
veyor.
In Penn avenue, or street, as it used to be and still
ought to be called, the name of the founder of the
Commonwealth, the Quaker feudal proprietor, is
42
preserved; and the great city itself, as well as two
shabby, sooty little streets, forever immortalizes
William Pitt, the friend of America, and makes him
a splendid and enduring monument.
But let us dig into the lowest historical stratum,
and discover the real local relationships of names
and places with the first occupants of the land. Alli-
quippa tells of the great queen of the Delawares,
who lived at the mouth of the Youghiogheny, where
McKeesport now is, and whom it must be remem-
bered Washington visited on his first memorable
journey to the Ohio. From what he relates to us
she could not have been a very temperate sovereign
lady, but she w^as a celebrity and a power in her day,
with a prestige that long survived her; and when,
in full savage regalia, surrounded by her w^arriors,
she granted an audience to the young Virginian, she
was doubtless most impressive and condescending.
Shinghiss, who bore a name which suggests a sub-
ject of Queen Wilhelmina rather than a North
American Indian was a mighty warrior in his day,
and a king of the Delawares. Some of the chroni-
clers give him a very bad name and tell us that his
exploits in war would "form an interesting though
shocking document"; others, among them Christian
Post, give him a much better character. Neverthe-
less, it is true that the colony of Pennsylvania offered
a thousand dollars for his scalp. Washington met
him on his first visit to the Ohio, and speaks of him
in his Journal. This brave and much-feared chief
was small in stature for an Indian and lived near
the Ohio on Chartiers Creek.
A chieftain as renovv^ned as Shinghiss, and more
frequently mentioned in the histories of the olden
time, was Guyasuta, or Kiashuta, a Seneca, who first
appears on the scene as one of the three Indians who
accompanied Washington to Fort Le Boeuf. He was
a conspicuous figure in all the Indian w^ars and
43
treaties which followed that event, and was present
at the treaty Col. Bouquet held with the Shawnees,
Delawares and Senecas on the Muskingum. We hear
of him again in Lord Dunmore's war. He was fre-
quently at or in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt, and
had unbounded influence with his people, an influ-
ence he generally exerted for good and in the interest
of the colonies, though finally won over to the
British during the Revolution. His speeches at the
various councils he attended were eloquent, and his
language that of an autocrat who had unquestioning
confidence in the power of his people and in his own
might. He was deeply concerned in the conspiracy
of Pontiac, and is believed to have inspired the attack
on Hannahstown. Guyasuta found his last resting
place near the banks of the Allegheny on Gen.
O'Hara's farm, which is still called by his name.
The stray visitor who from time to time threads
his devious way through the alleys and courts which
surround the Block House may find himself perhaps
in Fort street, on historic ground once trodden by
Washington, Forbes, Bouquet, and the Indian kings
of whom we have just been speaking. The echoes of
the English drums, Scottish bagpipes and clash of
arms have long since died away from the scarred
sides of Mt. Washington and Duquesne Heights, and
in their stead we hear the steam whistle and hollow
reverberations from neighboring boiler shops. Hiber-
nians and Italians inhabit the fields and the river
banks where Killbuck, White Eyes, Shinghiss and
Cornstalk once lit their camp-fires and held eloquent
councils with Jumonville, De Ligneris and Bouquet.
Squalid tenements crowd the narrow promontory
where Robert de la Salle stood at the headwaters of
the Ohio, in all probability the discoverer of the
three rivers. The fort that Pontiac besieged has
disappeared. The painted post to which the Indian
tied his victim, the wigwam, the wampum belts, have
44
vanished; the tomahawk is buried forever, though
the readiness once observed among the residents at
the "Point" to draw knives upon each other on oc-
casions of superhilarity may be but the survival of
the good old customs which prevailed in that neigh-
borhood more than one hundred years ago.
Inspired by the suggestions of heredity, the im-
aginative mind turns to the past for other instances.
On any pleasant Monday morning during the spring
or summer months the thrift}^ housekeepers in Fort
Street or Point Alley, and in the shadow of the Block
House itself, may be seen doing their week's wash-
ing in front of their houses. But little are they
thinking of those Monday mornings in the middle of
the eighteenth century when the women of the fort
were escorted by bands of soldiers to the banks of
the Allegheny, where laundry work was carried on
under rather embarrassing circumstances. For In-
dians were dodging about behind trees and bushes,
and dancing in full view on the opposite shore, with
threatening cries, and only kept at a distance by the
presence of a guard. The custom seems still to pre-
vail on this classic ground, but do the conveniences
of soap and hydrant water make up for the spice
and variety that characterized the lives of colonial
laundresses ?
Pittsburgh has always been pre-eminently a hos-
pitable city, and it is possible that in no other towm
of its size is there as much entertaining. At wed-
dings, too, the display of presents is an object of
surprise to the out-of-tow^n guests, unused to such
lavishness. Tracing our provincial characteristics
back to their remote origins, we discover that Pitts-
burgh at the end of the nineteenth century, in the
grip of heredity, imitates the traders and early set-
tlers in this region, who were in the habit of enter-
taining w^hole tribes of Indians, and of making them
frequent gifts. Gay blankets, red paint, strings of
45
wampum and barrels of whiskey are not now ex-
changed at Christmas and on New Year's Day, or
shoAvn at wedding feasts, as we have improved
somewhat upon the primitive customs of our fore-
fathers, but the instinct is unchanged.
Noted for the beauty and brilliancy of our balls,
and the excellence of our dinners, it may be inter-
esting to know something of our first attempts in
the art of social entertaining. In a letter from Capt.
Ecuyer, commandant at Fort Pitt, dated January
8th, 1763, written to Col. Bouquet, he informs the
latter that they have a ball every Saturday evening,
graced by the presence of the most beautiful ladies
of the garrison. No mention is made of any solid
refreshment, but we are informed that "the punch
was abundant," and it is also intimated that if the
fair sex did not find it strong enough for their taste,
they knew where the whiskey was kept and how to
remedy the fault. Gay indeed must have been the
dancing and the merriment inspired by the frontier
punch and the shrieks of the Indians outside the
stockade, for at that very time hostile savages sur-
rounded and threatened the lonely fort. No wonder
the revellers needed strong drinks to keep up their
spirits! It is indeed very doubtful if the very
strongest ever brewed would give nerve enough to
Pittsburgh belles of today to enable them to dance
a cotillon to the tune of Indian whoops and yells.
As to more intellectual pursuits, it would at first
seem impossible to discover what our frontier ances-
tors did in the way of reading. News from the out-
side world was not to be depended upon, and books
a rare article, one would presume; but information
often comes from unexpected sources, and in an
edition of Robertson's "Charles Fifth," "printed
for the subscribers in America in 1770," is "a list of
subscribers whose names posterity may respect, be-
cause by their seasonable encouragement the Ameri-
46
can edition hath been accomplished at a price so
moderate that the man of the woods, as well as the
man of the court, may solace himself w^ith senti-
mental delight." In this list we find the name of
''Ensign Francis Howard, of the Royal Irish at Fort
Pitt," the only subscriber west of the mountains.
We can imagine the young soldier, far from home
and frinds, reading of those far-off times of war and
peril, the wnnter wind howling up and down the
river and beating against the Block House, carrying
with it the echo, perhaps, of an Indian death halloo !
Doubtless he Avondered what the stern Spanish cam-
paigner would have done if brought to the western
wilderness to fight the red man, and, if he lived to
return to his English home with his scalp intact, it
is more than probable that Ensign Francis Howard's
tales of American warfare and adventure were the
delight of many a hunting dinner or evening fireside.
Few indeed are the tangible relics of the most
romantic period of our local history. The writer
owns a copy of the edition of "Charles Fifth," and
in all probability it is the one that the English en-
sign read at Fort Pitt. A few old letters, maps and
account books, some cannon balls, rusty swords and
bayonets, the handsome carved stone sun dial which
the Chapter has placed for safe keeping in Carnegie
Museum until its own home is built, are about all
we can shov/ of the works and possessions of the
men who made our early history.
Here was the scene of a mighty struggle for em-
pire, a struggle of which the only vestiges left are
the Block House and the names of our streets, too
many of which have been changed in recent years to
suit the vulgar needs of convenience and at the cost
of our historical identity.
Julia Morgan Harding.
47
Postscript
1914
Much water has run under the bridges of the
Allegheny and the Monogahela rivers, since the
sketch, ''The Names of Pittsburgh Streets" was
written, and changes as radical as those that took
place between the first years of the Nineteenth
Century and the early days of the Twentieth, have
revolutionized the historic "Point" in the last
decade.
Just as the French and Indians stole down the
river before the advance of Gen. Forbes and his
British and Colonial troops in 1758, so did the
denizens of the aforesaid "Point" melt away in
every direction before the steam shovels, creaking
derricks and snorting engines of the Pennsylvania
Railroad in 1904-5.
With the consolidation of Pittsburgh and Alle-
gheny into one city came other changes. Some of
the old streets whose names commemorated dead
patriots associated with Colonial and Revolution-
ary Pittsburgh, are buried under embankments,
concrete walls and brick warehouses. Other names
have been dropped, and certain etymological curi-
osities have been put in their places. Still others
have been transferred to distant and irrelevant lo-
calities, and an old resident, returning from the
world of shades would be sadly confused if looking
for old landmarks. Fort Pitt and all pertaining
to it, excepting only the Block House, vanished long
ago. There is nothing left of the later age which
saw "Rice's Castle "in its glory. The new indus-
trialism is steadily and rapidly blotting out the
picturesque and historic all around us. Let all good
Pittsburghers unite to preserve the little that is
left, the redoubt built by Col. Bouquet in 1764.
Julia IMorgan Harding.
1914.
