398 CHARACTER OF GEN. LEWIS. [CHAP. III. Western Virginia had always evinced a disposition to treat their red brethren with moderation and justice." Andrew Lewis, with four of his brothers, were in the expedition of Braddock, and exhibited marked courage and caution. Samuel commanded the company, and acquitted himself with great ability. Andrew Lewis was twice wounded at the siege of Fort Necessity. After the amnesty, and as the Virginians were marching off, an Irishman became displeased with an Indian, and "cursing the copper-headed scoundrel," elevated his gun to fire. At that moment, Major Lewis, who, crippled, was passing along, raised his staff and knocked up the muzzle of the Irishman's rifle, thus doubtless preventing a general massacre. Major Lewis was made prisoner at Grant's defeat, and his bearing on that occasion (elsewhere noticed) on discovering the treachery of Grant, was a true characteristic of the man. Washington, at an early day, formed an exalted opinion of General Lewis's ability as a military commander. On the breaking out of the Revolution, he recommended him to Congress "as one of the major-generals of the American army— a recommendation which was slighted, in order to make room for General Stephens. It is also said, that when Washington was commissioned as commander-in-chief, he expressed a wish that the appointment had been given to General Lewis. Upon this slight in the appointment of Stephens, Washington wrote General Lewis a letter, which is published in his correspondence, expressive of his regret at the course pursued by Congress, and promising that he should be promoted to the first vacancy. At his solicitation, Lewis accepted the commision of brigadier-general, and was soon after ordered to the command of a detachment of the army stationed near Williamsburg. He commanded the Virginia troops when Lord Dunmore was driven from Gwynn's Island, in 1776, and announced his orders for attacking the enemy by putting a match to the first gun, an eighteen-pounder, himself. 1780.] PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 399 "General Lewis resigned his command in 1780, to return home, being seized ill with a fever. He died on his way, in Bedford county, about forty miles from his own house, on the Roanoke, lamented by all acquainted with his meritorious services and superior qualities. "General Lewis,' says Stuart, in his Historical Memoir, 'was upwards of six feet high, of uncommon strength and agility, and his form of the most exact symmetry. He had a stern and invincible countenance, and was of a reserved and distant deportment, which rendered his presence more awful than engaging. He was a commissioner with Dr. Thomas Walker, to hold a treaty, on behalf of the colony of Virginia, with the six nations of Indians, together with the commissioners from Pennsylvania, New York, and other eastern provinces, held at Fort Stanwix, in the province of New York, in the year 1768. It was then remarked by the governor of New York, that "the earth seemed to tremble under him as he walked along.' His independent spirit despised sycophantic means of gaining popularity, which never rendered more than his merits extorted." IT has with much truth been said, "that the history of the Revolution, is not written, and cannot be, till the biographies of the men who made the Revolution are complete." This is eminently true of the great struggle in the west. The conflict here was with the tomahawk and scalping knife, united to the arm of scientific warfare. It was one in which the remorseless savage stole upon the infant settlements in the stillness of the night, and dealt death in all the horrid forms of his peculiar and revolting warfare. It was a war terrible indeed to man, but more terrible still to gentle woman, and most terrible to helpless infancy. To defend the country against the ravages of such war, 1776.] ANCESTRY OF GEN. BRODHEAD. 401 required men of iron nerve and determined will. To lead on these men to victory and success, demanded others of no ordinary character. But there were men fitted to the task; men able, ready, and willing to lead and to strike. It was to the energy of this defence; the skill, bravery, and consummate judgment of these able officers, and experienced frontier soldiers, that the west was saved from the diabolical system of subjugation, meditated by the British ministry. One of the men most prominent in this defence, and one who contributed greatly towards breaking down the power of the savage, and humbling the dominion of Britain, was DANIEL BRODHEAD, the subject of this memoir. Prefacing our sketch with a brief notice of Gen. Brodhead's immediate ancestry, we will proceed to notice such of the more important features of his history, as will be most interesting, and come more directly within the range of our work. Daniel Brodhead, the great-grandfather of the subject of this notice, was born in Yorkshire, England. He was a Captain in the service of Charles II., and by that monarch ordered to America with the expedition under Col. Richard Incolls. On the surrender of New Amsterdam, by Stuyversant, he was sent to Albany, and was one of the witnesses to the treaty with the Indians in 1664. He died in 1670, leaving three sons, Daniel, Charles, and Richard. The last of these was the father of Daniel Brodhead, the subject of our notice. Daniel, or Gen. Brodhead, as we will now call him, married Elizabeth Depue, daughter of Samuel Depue, one of the earliest settlers in the neighborhood of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He had one son and a daughter by this marriage, and their descendants are scattered throughout the State, embracing some of the most extensive and respectable families in the commonwealth. Gen. Brodhead a second time married, the last wife being the widow of Gen. Mifflin. General Brodhead was a man of acknowledged ability and great energy of character. He early gave indications of 402 APPOINTED TO WESTERN DIVISION. [CHAP. III. much promise, and foreshadowed the career of honor and usefulness, which he afterwards run. Scarcely had the news of the battle of Lexington ceased agitating the people, ere Captain Brodhead mustered a company, and marched to the defence of the seaboard. He joined Sullivan, and at the battle of Long Island, his brave "Pennsylvania Riflemen" literally cut their way through the ranks of the enemy. In the fall of 1777, information having been given that the Indians meditated a united attack upon the settlements along the upper Susquehanna, vigorous efforts were made to resist them. In the spring of 1778, Fort Muncy was evacuated, as well as Antis' and Horn's forts above, the inhabitants taking refuge at Sunbury. The savages destroyed Fort Muncy, but did not penetrate near Sunbury, their attention having been directed to the memorable descent upon Wyoming. Shortly after this Col. Brodhead' was ordered to Pittsburgh to relieve General McIntosh, in command of the western division of the army. His appointment was communicated in a very complimentary letter, which is herewith in part given: "HEAD-QUARTERS, MIDDLE BROOK, } "SIR:-Brigadier-General McIntosh having requested from Congress leave to retire from the command of the westward, they have, by a resolve of the 20th February, granted his request, and directed me to appoint an officer to succeed him. From my opinion of your abilities, your former acquaintance with the back country, and the knowledge you must have acquired upon this last tour of duty, I have appointed you to the command in preference to a stranger, as he would not have time to gain the necessary information between that of 'In 1778, he styles himself Colonel of the 8th arranged Pennsylvania Regiment, and as such, signed as a witness, a confederacy at Fort Pitt, between Andrew and Thomas Lewis, U. S. Commissioners, and Captains White Eye, Killbuck, and Pipe, deputies, and chiefs of the Delawares.-(See Indian Treaties; also Old Journals, ii. 577.) |