and pushed off. They were, however, pursued by two of her brothers, overtaken, at Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, and Isabella forcibly torn from her protector and devoted lover, and brought back to her parents, while the poor Frenchman was warned that if he ever made any farther attempt to take her off, his life should pay the forfeit. This story is familiar to several aged and respectable individuals in the neighborhood of Martinsburg. Isabella afterwards married a man by the name of McClary, removed and settled in the neighborhood of Morgantown, and grew wealthy. George, after an absence of three years, got home also.

A party of fourteen Indians, believed to be part of those defeated by Capt. Smith, on their return to the west killed a young woman, and took a Mrs. Neff prisoner. This was on the South fork of the river Wappatomaka. They cut off Mrs. Neff's petticoat up to her knees, and gave her a pair of moccasins to wear on her feet. This was done to facilitate her travelling; but they proceeded no further than the vicinity of Fort Pleasant,* where, on the second night, they left Mrs. Neff in the custody of an old Indian, and divided themselves into two parties, in order to watch the fort. At a late hour in the night, Mrs. Neff discovering that her guaid was pretty soundly asleep, ran off. The old fellow very soon awoke, fired off his gun, and raised a yell. Mrs. N. ran between the two parties of Indians, got safe into Fort Pleasant, and gave notice where the Indians were encamped. A small party of men, the same evening came from another small fort a few miles above, and joined their friends in Fort Pleasant. The Indians, after the escape of Mrs. Neff, had collected into one body in a deep glen, near the fort. Early the next morning, sixteen men, well mounted and armed,left the fort with a view to attack the Indians. They soon discovered their encampment. The whites divided themselves into two parties, intending to inclose the Indians between two fires; but unfortunately a small dog which had followed them, starting a rabbit, his yelling alarmed the Indians; upon which they cautiously moved off, passed between the two parties of white men unobserved, took a position between them and their horses, and opened a most destructive fire. The whites returned the fire with great firmness and bravery, and a desperate and bloody conflict ensued. Seven of the whites fell dead, and four were wounded. The little remnant retreated to the fort, whither the wounded also arrived. Three Indians fell in this battle, and several were wounded. The victors secured the white men's horses, and took them off.† Just before the above action commenced, Mr. Vanmeter, an old man, mounted his horse, rode upon a high ridge, and witnessed the battle. He

*Fort Pleasant was a strong stockade with block houses, erected on the lands now owned by Isaac Vanmeter, Esq. on the South Branch of Potomac, a short distance above what is called the Trough.

†This battle, is called the "Battle of The Trough."

Messrs. Vanme

ter, McNeill and Heath, detailed the particulars to the author. A block house, with port holes, is now standing in Mr. D. McNeill's yard,-part of an old fort erected at the time of Braddock's war, the logs of which are principally sound.

returned with all speed to the fort, and gave notice of the defeat. The old man was killed by the Indians in 1757.

After committing to writing the foregoing account, the author received from his friend Dr. Charles A. Turley, of Fort Pleasant, a more particular narrative of the battle, which the author will subjoin, in the doctor's own words:

"The memorable battle of The Trough (says Dr. Turley) was preceded by the following circumstances. On the day previous, two Indian strollers, from a large party of sixty or seventy warriors, under the well known and ferocious chief Kill-buck, made an attack upon the dwelling of a Mrs. Brake, on the South fork of the South branch of the Potomac, about fifteen miles above Moorefield, and took Mrs. Brake and a Mrs. Neff prisoners. The former not being able to travel from her situation, was tomahawked and scalped, and the latter brought down to the vicinity of Town fort, about one and a half miles below Moorefield. There one of the Indians, under the pretence of hunting, retired, and the other laid himself down and pretended to fall asleep, with a view, as was believed, to let Mrs. Neff escape to the fort, and give the alarm. Every thing turned out agreeably to their expectations; for as soon as she reached the fort, and related the circumstances of her escape, 18 men from that and Buttermilk fort, five miles above, went in pursuit. They were men notorious for their valor, and who had been well tried on many such occasions.

"As soon as they came to the place indicated by Mrs. Neff, they found a plain trace left by the Indian, by occasionally breaking a bush. Mr. John Harness, who was well acquainted with the manners and mode of warfare of the Indians, pronounced that the hunter Indian had not returned to his comrade, or that they were in great force somewhere near and in ambush. They however pursued the trace, without discovering any signs of a larger party, until they arrived between two mountains, forming what from its resemblance is called The Trough. Here, directly above a fine spring about 200 paces from the river, which at that time was filled to an impassable stage by a heavy fall of rain, these grim monsters of blood were encamped, to the number above stated. The western face of the ridge was very precipitous and rough, and on the north of the spring was a deep ravine, cutting directly up into the ridge above. Our little band of heroes, nothing daunted by the superior number of the enemy, dismounted unobserved, and prepared for battle, leaving their horses on the ridge. But by one of those unforeseen and almost unaccountable accidents which often thwart the seemingly best planned enterprises, a small dog which had followed them just at this juncture started a rabbit, and went yelping down the ridge, giving the Indians timely notice of their approach. They immediately flew to arms, and filing off up the ravine before described, passed directly into the rear of our little band, placing them in the very situation they had hoped to find their enemies, between the mountain and the swollen river. Now came the "tug of war," and both parties rushed to the onset, dealing death and slaughter at every fire. After an hour or two hard fighting, during which each of our little band had numbered his man, and more than half their number had fallen to rise no more, those

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that remained were compelled to retreat, which could only be effected by swimming the river. Some who had been wounded, not being able to do this, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible; and deliberately loading their rifles, and placing themselves behind some cover on the river bank, dealt certain death to the first adversary who made his appearance, and then calmly yielded to the tomahawk.

"We cannot here pass over without mentioning one of the many despotic acts exercised by the then colonial government and its officers towards the unoffending colonists. At the time of which we are speaking, there were quartered in Fort Pleasant, about one and a half miles above the battle ground, and within hearing of every gun, a company of regulars, commanded by a British officer named Wagner, who not only refused to march a man out of the fort, but, when the inhabitants seized their rifles and determined to rush to the aid of their brothers, ordered the gates to be closed, and suffered none to pass in or out. By marching to the western bank of the river, he might have effectually protected those who were wounded, without any danger of an attack from the enemy. And when the few who had escaped the slaughter, hailed and demanded admission into the fort, it was denied them. For this act of Capt. Wagner's the survivors of our Spartan band called him a coward; for which insult he thought it his duty to hunt them down like wolves, and when caught, to inflict corporal punishment by stripes.

"The Indian chief, Kill-buck, afterwards admitted, that although he had witnessed many sanguinary contests, this was the most so that he had ever experienced for the number of his enemies. Kill-buck was a Shawnee, a savage of strong mental powers, and well acquainted with all the families in the settlement before the war broke out. Col. Vincent Williams, whose father was inhumanly murdered by Kill-buck and his party on Patterson's creek, became personally acquainted with him many years afterwards, and took the trouble, when once in the state of Ohio, to visit him. He was far advanced in years, and had become blind. The colonel informed me that as soon as he told Kill-buck his name, the only answer he made was, "Your father was a brave warrior." The half brother of Col. Williams, Mr. Benjamin Casey, was with him. Mr. Peter Casey had once hired Kill-buck to catch and bring home a runaway negro, and was to have given him fourteen shillings. He paid him six shillings, and the war breaking out, he never paid him the other eight. At the vivist spoken of, Kill-buck inquired the name of his other visitor, and when the colonel told him it was Benjamin Casey,What, Peter Casey's son?' "Yes." "Your father owes me eight shillings; will you pay it?" said the old chief. The colonel at that time got all the particulars of the tragical death of his father, as well as the great heroism manifested by our little band at the battle of The Trough."

Dr. Turley refers in the foregoing narrative to the murder of Mr. Williams, on Patterson's creek. This melancholy tragedy the author is enabled to give, as it was related to him by Mr. James S. Miles, of Hardy.

Mr. Williams lived on Patterson's creek, on the farm now occupied by his grandson, Mr. James Williams. Hearing of the approach of the Indians, he repaired with his neighbors to Fort Pleasant (nine miles) for se

curity. After remaining here a few days, supposing their houses might be revisited with safety, Mr. W. with seven others crossed the mountain for that purpose. They separated on reaching the creek; and Mr. W. went alone to his farm. Having tied his horse to a bush, he commenced salting his cattle, when seven Indians (as was afterwards said by Killbuck) got between him and his horse, and demanded his surrender. Mr. W. answered by a ball from his rifle, which killed one of the Indians, then retreated to his house, barricaded the door, and put his enemy at defiance. They fired at him at random through the door and windows, until the latter were filled with shot-holes. For greater security, Mr. W. got behind a hommony block in a corner, from which he would fire at his assailants through the cracks of the building, as opportunity offered. In this way he killed five out of the seven. The remaining two, resolved not to give up their prey, found it necessary to proceed more cautiously; and going to the least exposed side of the house, one was raised upon the shoulders of the other to an opening in the legs some distance above the level of Mr. W., who did not, consequently, observe the manœuvre, from which he fired, and shot Mr. W. dead. The body was instantly quartered, and hung to the four corners of the building, and the head stuck upon a fence stake in front of the door. This brave man was the father of the venerable Edward Williams, the clerk of Hardy county court-antil the election in 1830 under the new constitution, when his advanced age compelled him to deeline being a candidate.

Sometime after the battle of The Trough, at a fort seven miles above Romney, two Indian boys made their appearance, when some of the men went out with the intention of taking them. A grown Indian made his appearance; but he was instantly shot down by Shadrach Wright. A nuinerous party then showed themselves, which the garrison sallied out and attacked; but they were defeated with the loss of several of their men, and compelled to retreat to the fort.*

Kill-buck, the chief before mentioned, used frequently to command these marauding parties. Previous to the breaking out of the war, he was well acquainted with many of the white settlers on Wappatomaka, and lived a good part of his time among them. His intimate acquaintance with the country enabled him to lead his band of murderers from place to place, and to commit many outrages on the persons and property of the white inhabitants. In the progress of this work, some further notice will be taken of this distinguished warrior. There was another great Indian warrior called "Crane;" but the author has not been able to collect any particular traditionary accounts of the feats performed by him.

In the year 1757, a numerous body of Indians crossed the Allegany, and, as usual, divided themselves into small parties, and hovering about the different forts, committed many acts of murder and destruction of property. About thirty or forty approached Edward's fort, on Capon river,

*Mr. James Parsons, near Romney, Hampshire county, gave the author this information.

Edward's fort was located on the west side of Capon river, not more than three quarters of a mile above where the stage road from Winchester

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killed two men at a small mill, took off a parcel of corn meal, and retreating along a path that led between a stream of water and a steep high mountain, they strewed the meal in several places on their route. mediately between this path and the stream is an abrupt bank, seven. or eight feet high, and of considerable length, under which the Indians concealed themselves, and awaited the approach of the garrison. Forty men under the command of Capt. Mercer, sallied out, with the intention of pursuing and attacking the enemy. But oh! fatal day! Mercer's party, discovering the trail of meal, supposed the Indians were making a speedy retreat, and, unapprised of their strength, moved on at a brisk step, until the whole line was drawn immediately over the line of Indians under the bank, when the latter discharged a most destructive fire upon them, sixteen falling dead at the first fire. The others attempting to save themselves by night, were pursued and slaughtered in every direction, until, out of the forty, but six got back to the fort. One poor fellow, who ran up the side of the mountain, was fired at by an Indian: the ball penetrated just above his heel, ranged up his leg, shivering the bones, and lodged a little below his knee: he slipped under the lap of a fallen tree, there hid himself,and lay in that deplorable situation for two days and nights before he was found by his friends, it being that length of time before the people at the fort would venture out to collect and bury the dead. This wounded man recovered, and lived many years after, though he was always a cripple from his wound. Capt. George Smith, who now resides on Back creek, informed the author that he was well acquainted with him.

Sometime afterwards, the Indians, in much greater force, and aided, it was believed, by several Frenchmen in person, determined to carry this fort by storm. The garrison had been considerably reinforced; among others, by the late Gen. Daniel Morgan, then a young man. The Indians made the assault with great boldness; but on this occasion they met with a sad reverse of fortune. The garrison sallied out, and a desperate battle ensued. The assailants were defeated with great slaughter, while the whites lost comparatively but few men.

The remains of a gun of high finish, ornamented with silver mounting and gold touch-hole, were plowed up near the battle ground about forty years ago. It was supposed to have belonged to a French officer. Part of a bomb shell was also found. Morgan in this action performed his part with his usual intrepidity, caution and firmness, and doubtless did much execution.*

Other parties of Indians penetrated into the neighborhood of Winchester, and killed several people about the Round hill; among others a man by the name of Flaugherty, with his wife. Several inmates of a family by

to Romney crosses the river.

*Mr. William Carlile, now ninety-five years of age, and who resides near the battle ground, informed the author that he removed and settled on Capon soon after the battle was fought. He also stated that he had frequently heard it asserted that Morgan was in the battle, and acted with great bravery, &c. Mr. Charles Carlile, son of this venerable man, stated the fact of the gun and part of a bomb shell being found.