"Lord Dunmore's War: The Last Conflict in America's Colonial Era," Glenn Williams
Approximately six months
before the Massachusetts Minutemen fought the Battles of Lexington and Concord,
Virginia militia units fought a Shawnee-led Indian Confederacy in what is known
today as Dunmore’s War.
The war, which was
fought primarily in modern-day West Virginia, was named for Virginia’s royal
governor John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore. A former lieutenant in the
British army, Dunmore personally commanded the military operation to end the
Shawnees’ brutal frontier raids against Virginia settlers which had steadily
increased over approximately 12 months.
“At this point Dunmore
is kind of a friend to America,” said historian and author Glenn F. Williams at
the July 19, 2017 meeting of the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond.
“He had a liking for Americans, and when he served in Parliament, he seconded
the motion to repeal the Townshend Acts. He didn’t become a villain until 1775
when he attempted to maintain royal authority against the independence-minded
Virginians.”
Williams is the author
of the recently published book entitled Dunmore’s War: The Last Conflict of America’s
Colonial Era.
Tensions between
Virginians and various Indian tribes over this geographic area erupted during
the French and Indian War. Virginia’s frontiersmen fought the French and their
Indian allies with little help from British regulars.
Shortly after Great
Britain and its colonies won the war, the British government issued the Royal
Proclamation of 1763. This proclamation attempted to prohibit colonial settlements
west of the Appalachian Mountains, and reserve this land for the Indians. The
proclamation was extremely unpopular with most frontiersmen who had fought for
this land during the recent war, and in some cases had already established
their homes in this region.
Between 1768-1772 four
new treaties were negotiated with Indian tribes to expand colonial land west of
the mountains into parts of modern-day West Virginia and Kentucky. However not
all of the Indian tribes, especially the Shawnees, agreed to the land sale. The
Shawnees regarded much of this land as their hunting grounds, and viewed
colonial settlements as encroachments on their land.
“The settlers and the
Indians had two very different views on land use and land concepts,” said
Williams. “This resulted in violence and counter-violence between the two
sides. Both were guilty of committing torture, murder and other atrocities.”
By the Summer of 1774
the increasing number of Indian raids drove many Virginia settlers into forts
constructed along the frontier. Deciding that Virginia needed to switch from a
defensive strategy of protecting settlers to an offensive one of attacking the
Shawnee villages, Lord Dunmore called out militia units from Virginia’s western
counties.
Dunmore opted to organize
the militia units into two wings. He placed his southern wing under the command
of Colonel Andrew Lewis. The northern wing, which Dunmore personally
accompanied, was placed under the command of Colonel Adam Stephen.
“Technically Stephen was
in command of the northern division but Dunmore was actually in charge,” said
Williams. “This arrangement was similar to the one during the Civil War when
U.S. Grant accompanied the Army of the Potomac, which was technically under the
command of George Meade.”
Lewis chose a site along
the Greenbrier River, eight miles from White Sulphur Springs, as the staging
area for his militia units. He named his division’s campsite Camp Union.
Dunmore and Stephen selected Winchester as the staging area for the northern division.
Both wings would march toward the Ohio River, cross it and march into Indian
territory where the militia would either destroy the Shawnee villages or force
them to seek a peace treaty.
Dunmore and Stephen
marched the northern division to Pittsburgh, Wheeling and down the Ohio River
where they crossed it and built a fortification which they called Fort Gower.
Lewis marched the southern division down the Kanawha River to where it empties
into the Ohio River at Point Pleasant. The two wings of the army were
approximately 70 miles apart and located on opposite sides of the Ohio River.
Meanwhile the Shawnee
chief named Cornstalk learned about the two approaching wings of Virginia
militia, and decided to attack the 1,100-man southern division under Lewis
before it could unite with the 1,300 troops under Dunmore and Stephen.
Cornstalk secretly crossed the Ohio River with 800-1,000 braves near Lewis’
campsite at Point Pleasant.
Early on the morning of
October 10, 1774 when four Virginia soldiers went hunting, they stumbled upon a
huge number of Indians. After briefly exchanging gunfire, three of the four
were able to run back to Lewis’ camp and warn officers about the close
proximity of numerous Indians.
Lewis elected to send
two detachments with 150 men apiece to conduct a reconnaissance-in-force.
Commanding the two detachments were Colonel William Fleming and Colonel Charles
Lewis, Andrew’s brother. The two forces made contact with the Indians, who
launched an aggressive attack with their much larger army against the 300
Virginians. Fleming was wounded, Charles Lewis was killed and both
reconnaissance-in-force columns were forced to retreat before they would get
overwhelmed.
Andrew Lewis sent
reinforcements from his Point Pleasant camp to establish a defensive line. The
Virginians were successful, and by late afternoon they had repelled several
Indian attacks. Shortly before dark the Virginians launched a counterattack
which drove the Indians back to where they were able to form a good defensive
position. Darkness ended the battle. The Indians re-crossed the Ohio River
during the overnight hours with their dead and wounded braves.
Meanwhile Dunmore and
Stephen marched the northern division toward the Shawnee villages that were
located in modern-day Ohio. Cornstalk’s battle-weary army was in no position to
stop them. When Dunmore’s forces reached the Scioto River, they halted and
constructed a fort which they called Camp Charlotte. Located just across the
Scioto River from this new fort were the Shawnee Indian villages.
Rather than fight for
their villages or retreat from them, the Shawnees capitulated. Instead of
burning the Shawnee villages and/or slaughtering the tribe, Dunmore gave the
Shawnees a very lenient peace treaty.
The Treaty of Camp
Charlotte called for the Shawnees to turn over all white prisoners from not
only the recent conflict, but from all previous ones dating back to the French
and Indian War. The Shawnees were also forced to recognize the Ohio River as
the boundary between Indian land and Virginia settlers, and were prohibited
from hunting on the Virginia side of the Ohio River. They were also prohibited
from interfering with any Virginia boats and trade along the river.
To guarantee that the
Shawnees would keep the treaty, Dunmore required the Shawnees to provide a
certain number of “hostages” (who were chiefs or sons of chiefs) to live in
Williamsburg until such time that the Virginians were convinced of Shawnee
intentions to comply with the treaty.
When Dunmore returned to
Williamsburg after this military campaign, he received a hero’s welcome.
Suddenly he was one of the most popular men throughout Virginia.
However Dunmore’s
popularity wore off in less than 12 months. While he and the militia were
fighting the Shawnees, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and
planted some of the first seeds toward American revolution and independence.
Shortly after shots rang out at Lexington and Concord, Dunmore emptied the
Williamsburg public magazine of all its gunpowder. This decision outraged the
public and forced Dunmore to flee Williamsburg on June 8, 1775 for the safety
of a British naval vessel.
Glenn F. Williams is a
historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in
Washington, D.C. He has served as the historian of the National Museum of the
U.S. Army Project, the Army Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration and the
National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program.
Williams also serves as the
president of the American Revolution Round Table of the District of Columbia.
He is the author of several American history books and articles, including the
award-winning Year of the Hangman: George Washington’s Campaign against the
Iroquois.
Prior to the speaker’s
presentation the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond discussed the
following topics:
1. President Bill Welsch
asked the audience for any additional nominations regarding this year’s
Preservation Partner. When no new nominations were made, President Welsch
closed the nominations and said he will soon send online ballots to all
dues-paying members to vote for one of the four earlier nominees.
2. Several brief
announcements were made by President Welsch and members of the audience.
--Bill Seward
