Daniel Boone by John Stevens Cabot Abbott : Chapter 9

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter nine of Daniel Boone. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain, recorded by Alison Hester, Chapter nine, Victories
and Defeats. There were but fifty men in the garrison
at Boonsborough. They were assailed by a body of more
than ten to one of the bravest Indian warriors under

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the command of an officer in the British Army. The
boldest in the fort felt their situation was almost desperate.
The ferocity of the Indian and the intelligence of the
white Man were combined against them. They knew that the
British commander, however humane he might be, would have no
power should the fort be taken by storm, to save

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them from death by the most horrible tortures. General Ducaisney
was acting under instructions from Governor Hamilton, the British officer
in supreme command at Detroit. Boone knew that the Governor
felt very kindly towards him when he had been carried
to that place a captive. The Governor had made very

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earnest endeavors to obtain his liberation. Influenced by these considerations,
he consented to hold the conference. But better acquainted with
the Indian character than perhaps Ducaisney could have been. He
selected nine of the most athletic and strong of the garrison,
and appointed the place of meeting in front of the fort,

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at a distance of only one hundred and twenty feet
from the walls. The riflemen of the garrison were placed
in a position to cover the spot with their guns,
so that in case of treachery, the Indians would meet
with instant punishment, and the retreat of the party from
the fort would probably be secured. The language of Boone
is we held a treaty within sixty yards of the

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garrison on purpose to divert them from a breach of honor,
as we could not avoid suspicion of the savages. The
terms proposed by General Ducaisney were extremely liberal. While they
might satisfy the British party, whose object in the war
was simply to conquer the colonists and bring them back
to loyalty, they could, by no means have satisfied the Indians,

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who desired not merely to drive the white men from
their hunting grounds, but to plunder them of their possessions
and to gratify their savage natures by hearing the shrieks
of their victims at the stake, and by carrying home
the trophies of numerous scalps. Moon and his men, buried
in the depths of the wilderness, had probably taken little

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interest in the controversy which was just then rising between
the colonies and the mother country. They had regarded the
King of England as their lawful sovereign, and their minds
had never been agitated by the question of revolution or
of independence. When therefore, General Ducaisny proposed that they should
take the oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain,

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and that then they should be permitted to return unmolested
to their homes and their friends beyond the mountains, taking
all of their possessions with them. Colonel Boone and his
associates were very ready to accept such terms. It justly
appeared to them, in their isolated condition, five hundred miles
away from the Atlantic coast, that this was vastly preferable

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to remaining in the wilderness, assailed by thousands of Indians,
guided by English energy and abundantly provided with all the
munitions of war from British arsenals. But Boone knew very
well that the Indians would never willingly assent to this treaty. Still,
he and his fellow commissioners signed it, while very curious

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to learn how it would be regarded by their savage foes.
The commissioners on both sides had appeared at the appointed
place of conference, as is usual on such occasions, entirely unarmed.
There were, however, a large number of Indians lingering around
and drawing nearer as the conference proceeded. After the treaty
was signed, the old Indian chief, Blackfish, Boon's adopted father,

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and who exasperated by the escape of his ungrateful son,
had been watching him with a very unamiable expression of countenance,
arose and made a formal speech in the most approved
style of Indian eloquence. He commented upon the bravery of
the two armies and of the desirableness that there should
be entire friendship between them, enclosed by saying that it

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was accustom with them on all such important occasions to
ratify the treaty by two Indians shaking hands with each
white man. This shallow pretense scarcely up to the sagacity
of children, by which Blackfish hoped that two savages grappling
each one of the commissioners would easily be able to
make prisoners of them, and then, by threats of torture,

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compelled the surrender of the fort. Did not in the
slightest degree deceive Colonel Boone. He was well aware of
his own strength and of that of the men who
accompanied him. He also knew that his riflemen occup pied
concealed positions from which, with unerring aim, they could instantly
punish the savages for any act of treachery. He therefore

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consented to the arrangement. The grasp was given instantly, a
terrible scene of confusion ensued. The burly savages tried to
drag off their victims. The surrounding Indians rushed in to
their aid, and a deadly fire was opened upon them
from the fort, which was energetically responded to by all

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the armed savages from behind stumps and trees. One of
the fiercests of battles had instantly blazed forth. Still, these
stalwart pioneers were not taken by surprise. Aided by the
bullets of the fort, they shook off their assailants, and
all succeeded in escaping within the heavy gates, which were
immediately closed behind them. One only of their number, Boone's

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brother was wounded. This escape seems almost miraculous, but the
majority of the Indian in intelligence were mere children, sometimes
very cunning, but often with the grossest stupidity. Mingled with
their strategy, do Kesni and blackfish. The associated leaders now
commenced the siege of the fort with all their energies.

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Dividing their forces into two parties, they kept up an
incessant fire upon the garrison for nine days and nine nights.
It was one of the most heroic of those bloody
struggles between civilization and barbarism which have rendered the plains
of Kentucky memorable. The savages were very careful not to
expose themselves to the rifles of the besieged. They were

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stationed behind rocks and trees and stumps, so that it
was seldom that the garrison could catch even a glimpse
of the foes who were assailing them. It was necessary
for those within the fort to be spearing of their ammunition.
They seldom fired unless they could take deliberate aim, and
then the bullet was almost always sure to reach its mark.

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Colonel Boone, in describing this attempt of the Indians to
capture the commissioners by stratagem and of the storm of
war which follows rights. The immediately grappled us, but although
surrounded by hundreds of savages, we extricated ourselves from them
and escaped, all safe into the garrison, except one who

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was wounded through a heavy fire from their army. They
immediately attacked us on every side, and a constant heavy
fire ensued between us day and night for the space
of nine days. In this time, the enemy began to
undermine our fort, which was situated about sixty yards from
the Kentucky River. They began at the water mark and

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proceeded in the bank some distance, which we understood by
their making the water muddy with the clay. We immediately
proceeded to disappoint their design by cutting a trench across
their subterranean passage. The enemy, discovering our countermine by the
clay we threw out of the fort, desisted from that
stratagem experience, now fully convincing them that neither their power

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nor their policy could effect their purpose. On the twentieth
of August, they raised the siege and departed. During this siege,
which threatened death in every form. We had two men
killed and four wounded, besides a number of cattle. We
killed of the enemy thirty seven and wounded a great number.

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After they were gone, we picked up one hundred and
twenty five pounds weight of bullets, besides what stuck in
the logs of our fort, which certainly is a great
proof of their industry. It is said that during this siege,
one of the Negroes, probably a slave, deserted from the
fort with one of their best rifles and joined the Indians,

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concealing himself in a tree, where unseen he could take
deliberate aim. He became one of the most successful assailants,
but the eagle eye of Boone detected him, and, though
as was afterwards ascertained by actual measurement, the tree was
five hundred and twenty five feet distant from the fort,
Boone took deliberate aim, fired, and the man was seen

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to drop heavily from his covert to the ground. The
bullet from Boone's rifle had pierced his brain. At one time,
the Indians had succeeded in setting fire to the fort
by throwing flaming combustibles upon it, attached to their arrows.
One of the young men extinguished the flames, exposing himself

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to the concentrated and deadly fire of the assailants. In
doing so, though the bullets fell like hailstones around him,
the brave fellow escaped unscathed. This repulse quite disheartened the Indians.
Henceforth they regarded Boonsboro as a gibraltar, impregnable to any
force which they could bring against it. They never assailed

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it again. Though Boon's Borreau is now but a small
village in Kentucky, it has a history which will render
it forever memorable. In the annals of heroism. It will
be remembered that Boone's family, supposing him to have perished
by the hands of the Indians, had returned to the
home of Missus Boone's father in North Carolina. Colonel Boone,

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anxious to rejoin his wife and children, and feeling that
Boonsborough was safe from any immediate attack by the Indians.
Soon after the dispersion of the savages, entered again upon
the long journey through the wilderness to find his friends
east of the mountains. In the autumn of seventeen seventy eight,
Colonel Boone again found himself after all his wonderful adventures

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in a peaceful home on the banks of the Yadkin.
The settlements in Kentucky continued rapidly to increase. The savages
had apparently relinquished all hope of holding exclusive possession of
the country. Though there were occasional acts of violence and cruelty,
there was quite a truce in the Indian warfare. But

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the white settlers and those who wished to immigrate were
greatly embarrassed by conflicting land claims. Many of the pioneers
found their titles pronounced to be of no validity. Others
who wished to immigrate experienced great difficulty in obtaining secure
possession of their lands. The reputation of Kentucky as in

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all respects one of the most desirable of earthly regions
for comfortable homes, added to the desire of many families
to escape from the horrors of revolutionary war, which was
sweeping the sea board, led to a constant tide of
immigration beyond the mountains. Under these circumstances, the government of
Virginia established a court consisting of four prominent citizens to

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go from place to place examined such titles as should
be presented to them and to confirm those which were good.
This Commission commenced its duties at Saint Assaf. All the
old terms of settlement proposed by Henderson and the Transylvania
Company were abrogated. Thus Colonel Boone had no title to

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a single acre of land in Kentucky. A new law, however,
was it acted as follows. Any person may acquire title
to so much unappropriated land as he or she may
desire to purchase, on paying the consideration of forty pounds
for every one hundred acres and so in proportion. This

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money was to be paid to the State Treasurer, who
would give for it a receipt. This receipt was to
be deposited with the State Auditor, who would, in exchange
for it, give a certificate. This certificate was to be
lodged at the Land Office. There it was to be registered,
and a warrant was to be given authorizing the survey

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of the land. Selected surveyors who had passed the Ordeal
of William and Mary College, having defined the boundaries of
the land, or to make a return to the land,
and a due record was there to be made of
the survey. A deed was given in the name of
the state. Which deed was to be signed by the
governor with the Seal of the Commonwealth attached. This was

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a perplexing labyrinth for the pioneer to pass through before
he could get a title to his land. Not only
Colonel Boone, but it seems that his family were anxious
to return to the beautiful fields of Kentucky. During the
few months he remained on the Yadkin, he was busy
in converting every particle of property he possessed into money,

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and in raising every dollar he could for the purchase
of lands he so greatly desired. The sum he obtained
amounted to about twenty thousand dollars in the depreciated paper
currency of that day. To Daniel Boone, this was a
large sum. With this the simple hearted man started for
Richmond to pay it to the state treasurer and to

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obtain for it the promised certificate. He was also entrusted
with quite large sums of money from his neighbors for
a similar purpose. On his way, he was robbed of
every dollar. It was a terrible blow to him, for
it not only left him penniless, but exposed him to
the insinuation of having feigned the robbery that he might

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retain the money entrusted to him by his friends. Those
who knew Daniel Boone well would have no more suspected
him a fraud than an angel of light. With others, however,
his character suffered, Rumor was busy in denouncing him. Colonel
Nathaniel Hart had entrusted Boone with two thousand, nine hundred pounds. This,

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of course, was all gone. A letter, however, is preserved
from Colonel Hart which bears noble testimony to the character
of the man from whom he had suffered. I observe
what you say respecting our losses by Daniel Boone. I
had heard of the mis fortune soon after it happened,
but not of my being a partaker before. Now I

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feel for the poor people who perhaps are to lose
their preemptions. But I must say I feel more for Boone,
whose character I am told suffers by it. Much degenerated
must the people of this age be when amongst them
are to be found men to censure and blast the
reputation of a person so just and upright, and in

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whose breast is a seat of virtue too pure to
admit of a thought so base and dishonorable. I have
known Boone in times of old, when poverty and distress
had him fast by the hand, and in these wretched
circumstances I have ever found him of a noble and
generous soul, despising everything mean. And therefore I will freely

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grant him a discharge for whatever sums of mine he
might have possessed. At the time, Boone was now forty
five years of age. But the thought hardships to which
he had been exposed had borne heavily upon him, and
he appeared ten years older. Though he bore without a
murmur the loss of his earthly all and the imputations

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which were cast upon his character, he was more anxious
than ever to find refuge from the embarrassments which oppressed
him in the solitudes of his beautiful Kentucky. Notwithstanding his
comparative poverty, his family on the banks of the Yadkin
need not experience any want. Land was fertile, abundant, and cheap.
He and his boys, in a few days, with their axes,

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could erect as good a house as they desired to occupy.
The cultivation of a few acres of the soil, and
the results of the chase would provide them an ample support.
Here also, they could retire to rest at night with
unbolted door, and with no fear that their slumbers would
be disturbed by the yell of the bloodthirsty savage. The

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wife and mother must doubtless have wished to remain in
her pleasant home, but cheerfully and nobly she acceded to
his wishes and was ready to accompany him to all
the abounding perils of the distant west. Again, the family
set out on its journey across the mountains. Of the
incidents which they encountered. We are not informed the narrative

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we have from Boone as simply as follows. Our readers
will excuse this slight repetition. It involves about this time
I returned to Kentucky with my family, and here to
avoid an inquiry into my conduct, the reader, being before
informed of my bringing my family to Kentucky, I am
under the necessity of informing him that during my captivity

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with the Indians, my wife, who despaired of ever seeing
me again, had transported my family and goods back through
the wilderness amid a multitude of dangers to her father's
house in North Carolina. Shortly after the troubles at Boonsborough,
I went to them and lived peaceably there until this time.
The history of my going home and returning with my

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family forms a series of difficulties, an account of which
would swell a volume, and being foreign to my purpose,
I shall omit them. During Boone's absence from Kentucky, one
of the most bloody battles was fault which ever occurred
between the Whites and the Indians. Colonel Rogers, returning with

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supplies by boat from New Orleans to the Upper Ohio,
when he arrived at the mouth of the Little Miami,
detected the Indians in large numbers, painted armed, and evidently
on the war path, emerging from the mouth of the
river in their canoes and crossing the Ohio to the
Kentucky shore. He cautiously landed his men, intending to attack

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the Indians by surprise. Instead of this, they turned upon
him with overwhelming numbers and assailed him with the greatest fury.
Colonel Rogers and sixty of his men were almost instantly killed.
This constituted nearly the whole of his party. Two or
three affected their escape and conveyed the sad tidings of

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the massacre to the settlements, The Kentuckians were exceedingly exasperated
and resolved that the Indians should feel the weight of
their vengeance. Colonel Bowman, in accordance with a custom of
the times, issued a call inviting all the Kentuckians who
were willing to volunteer under his leadership for the chastisement
of the Indians, to rendezvous at Harrodsburg. Three hundred determined

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men soon assembled. The expedition moved in the month of
July and commenced the ascent of the Little Miami Undiscovered.
They arrived in the vicinity of Old Chillicothe just before nightfall. Here,
it was determined so to arrange their forces in the
darkness as to attack the place just before the dawn
of the ensuing day. One half of the army, under

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the command of Colonel Logan, were to grope their way
through the woods and march around the town so as
to attack it in the rear. At a given signal
from Colonel Bowman, who was to place his men in
position for efficient cooperation, Logan accomplished his movement and concealing
his men behind stomps, trees and rocks. Anxiously awaited the

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signal for attack, but the sharp ear of a watchdog
detected some unusual movement and commenced barking furiously. An Indian
warrior came from his cabin and cautiously advanced the way
the dog seemed to designate. As the Indian drew near,
one of the party, by accident or great imprudence, discharged

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his gun. The Indian gave a war whoop, which immediately
startled all the inmates of the cabins to their feet.
Logan and his party were sufficiently near to see the
women and the children in a continuous line rushing over
the ridge to the protection of the forest. The Indian warriors,
with a military discipline hardly to be expected of them,

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instantly collected in several strong cabins, which were their citadels,
and from whose loopholes, unexposed, they could open a deadly
fire upon their assailants. In an instant the whole aspect
of affairs was changed. The assailants advancing through the clearing
must expose their unprotected breasts to the bullet of an

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unseen foe. After a brief conflict, Colonel Logan, to his
bitter disappointment and that of his men, felt constrained to
order a retreat. The two parties were soon reunited. Having
lost several valuable lives, and depressed by the conviction that
the enterprise had proved an utter failure, the savages pursued,

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keeping up a harassing fire upon the rear of the fugitives.
Fortunately for the white men, the renowned Indian chieftain Blackfish,
struck by a bullet, was instantly killed. This so disheartened
his followers that they abandoned the pursuit. The fugitives continued
their flight all the night, and then, at their leisure,

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returned to their homes, much dejected in this disease that
astrous expedition, nine men were killed and one was severely wounded.
The Indians, aided by their English allies, resolved by the
invasion of Kentucky, to retaliate for the invasion of Little Miami,
Governor Hamilton raised a very formidable army and supplied them

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with two pieces of artillery. By such weapons, the strongest
log fort could be speedily demolished, while the artillerists would
be entirely beyond the reach of the guns of the garrison.
A British officer, Colonel Boyd, commanded the combined forces. The
valley of the Licking River, along whose banks many thriving

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settlements had commenced, was their point of destination. A twelve
days march from the Ohio brought this army, which was
considered a large one in those times, to a post
called Cuttle's Station. The garrison was immediately summoned to surrender,
with the promise of protection for their lives. Only resistance
against artillery was hopeless. The place was surrendered. Indians and

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white men rushed in alike, eager for plunder. The Indians,
breaking loose from all restraint, caught men, women and children
and claimed them as their prisoners. Three persons who made
some slight resistance, were immediately tomahawked. The British commander endeavored
to exonerate himself from these atrocities by saying it was

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utterly beyond his power to control the savages. These Wolfish allies,
elated by their conquest, their plunder, and their captives, now
demanded to be led along the valley five miles to
the next station, called Martin's Fort. It is said that
Colonel Byrd was so affected by the uncontrollable atrocities he
had witnessed, that he refused to continue the expedition unless

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the Indians would consent, that while they should receive all
the plunder, he should have all the prisoners. It is
also said that, notwithstanding this agreement, the same same scenes
were enacted at Martin's Fort which had been witnessed at
Ruttle's station. In confirmation of this statement, it is certain
that Colonel Bird refused to go any farther. All the

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stations on the river were apparently at his disposal, and
it speaks well for his humanity that he refused to
lead any farther savages armed with the tomahawk and the
scalping knife against his white brethren. He could order a retreat,
as he did, but he could not rescue the captives
from those who had seized them. The Indians loaded down

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their victims with the plunder of their own dwellings, and
as they fell by the way, sinking beneath their burdens,
they buried the tomahawk in their brains. The exasperation on
both sides was very great, and General Clark, who was
stationed at Fort Jefferson with a thousand picked men entered
the Indian territory, burned the villages, destroyed the crops, and

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utterly devastated the country. In reference to the expedition, mister
Cecil B. Hartley writes, some persons who have not the
slightest objection to war, very gravely expressed doubts as to
whether the expedient of destroying the crops of the Indians
was justifiable. It is generally treated by these men as

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if it were a wanton display of a vindictive spirit,
where in reality it was dictated by the soundest policy.
For when the indians harvests were destroyed, they were compelled
to subsist their families altogether by hunting, and had no
leisure for their murderous inroads into the settlement. This result

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was plainly seen on this occasion, for it does not
appear that the Indians attacked any of the settlements during
the remainder of this year. The following incident, well authenticated,
which occurred early in the spring of seventeen eighty, gives
one a vivid idea of the nature of this warfare.
Mister Alexander McConnell of Lexington, while out hunting, killed a

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large buck he went home for his horse to bring
it in. While he was absent, five Indians accidentally discovered
the body of the deer. Supposing the hunter would return,
three of them hid themselves within rifles shot of the carcass,
while two followed his trail. McConnell, anticipating no danger, was
riding slowly along the path when he was fired upon

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from ambush. His horse shot beneath him, and he seized
as a prisoner. His captors were in high glee and
treated him with unusual kindness. His skill with the rifle
excited their admiration, and as he provided them with abundance
of game, they soon became quite fond of him. Day
after day, the savages continued their tramp to the Ohio

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River to cross over to their own country. Every night
they bound him very strongly. As they became better acquainted
and advanced farther from the settlements of the pine, they
in some degree remitted their vigilance. One evening, when they
had arrived near the Ohio, mc connell complained so earnestly

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of the pain which the tightly bound cords gave him,
that they more loosely fastened the cord of buffalo hide
around his wrists. Still, they tied it, as they supposed securely,
and attached the end of the cord to the body
of one of the Indians. At midnight, mc connell discovered
a sharp knife lying near him, which had accidentally fallen

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from its sheath. He drew it to him with his
feet and succeeded noiselessly in cutting the cords. Still, he
hardly dared to stir, for there was danger that the
slightest movement might rouse his vigilant foes. The savages had
stacked their five guns near the fire. Cautiously, he crept
towards them and secreted three at but a short distance,

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where they would not easily find them. He then crept
noiselessly back, took a rifle in each hand, rested the
muzzles upon a log, and, aiming one at the heart
and one at the head of the two Indians at
the distance of a few feet, discharged both guns simultaneously.
Both shots were fatal. The three remaining savages, in bewilderment,

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sprang to their feet. McConnell, instantly, seizing the two other guns,
shot one through the heart and inflicted a terrible wound
upon the other. He fell to the ground, bellowing loudly. Soon, however,
he regained his feet and hobbled off into the woods
as fast as possible. The only remaining one of the
party who was unhurt, uttered a loud yell of terror

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and dismay, and bounded like a deer into the forest.
McConnell was not disposed to remain even for one moment
to contemplate the result of his achievement. He selected his
own trusty rifle, plunged into the forest, and, with the
unerring instinct of the veteran hunter, in two days reached
the garrison at length Lexington to relate to them his

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wonderful escape. End of chapter nine.