The Battle of Point Pleasant

The Battle of Point Pleasant. The Chief Event of Lord Dunmore's War. [Front Plaque, Facing East.] , This monument was erected in the year 1909 in commemoration of the Battle of Point Pleasant, fought at the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, now in West Virginia, October 10, 1774. Between twelve hundred and fifty Virginia colonel troops, composing the left wing of Lord Dunmore's Army, commanded by General Andrew Lewis, on the one side; and an equal number of warriors from the united Indian nations - Shawnees, Delawares, Mingoes, Wyandottes, Miamis, and Ottawas - Northwest of the Ohio, on the other. At the head of these warriors were the renowned Shawnee Chief, Keich-tuch-qua, known to Virginians as "Cornstalk," and his subordinate chieftains, Blue-Jacket, Black-Hoff, Red-Hawk, Elinipsico, Scopathus, Chi-ya-wee and puck-e-shin-wa, the last being killed in the battle , and thus leaving his son, Tecumseh, an orphan child. That day there was fought the most important battle ever waged between the forces of civilization and of barbarism in America; and on no other field of the colonial wars, was there displayed greater valor or bravery than on that at Point Pleasant., Cornstalk's battle-cry-"Be Strong! Be Strong!" was often heard above the din of conflict; but he and his hosts were defeated, and Lyman C. Draper estimates the Indian loss at two hundred and thirty three, killed and wounded. It was a great victory for the Virginians, but it was dearly bought; one man out of every five of their number engaged, being killed or wounded. Cornstalk was atrociously murdered by whites, at Point Pleasant, November 10, 1777 - three years and one month after the battle., [Bottom Side Plaque, Facing South.] , Virginians killed in the battle of Point Pleasant. , Careful estimates, made from the most authentic documentary evidence extant, place the number killed at eighty-one. The following is a list of names of persons known to have been among the slain:- Field Officers. , Colonel Charles Lewis, Commanding the Augusta County Regiment. , Colonel John Field, of the Culpeper County Minute Men. , Captain John Murray, of the Botetourt County Regiment. , Captain Robert McClennahan, of the Botetourt County Regiment. , Captain Samuel Wilson, of the Augusta County Regiment. , Captain Charles Ward, of the Augusta County Regiment. , Subaltern Officers. , Lieutenant Hugh Allen, of Captain George Matthews' Company, of the Augusta County Regiment. , Lieutenant Jonathan Cundiff, of Captain Thomas Buford's Company, of the Bedford County Riflemen. , Ensign amuel Baker, of Captain Henry Pauling's Company, of the Botetourt County Regiment. , Ensign Samuel Baker, of Captain Henry Paulding's company, of the Botetourt County Regiment. , Privates. , . John Frogg, A. Sutler, of the Augusta County regiment. , Mark Williams, Roger Topp and Joseph Hughey, of Captain Evan Shelby's Company, of the Fincastle County Battalion. , James Mooney and - Hickman, of Captain William Russell's Company, of the Fincastle County Battalion. , George Cameron, of Captain George Mathews' Company, of the Augusta County Regiment. , Samuel Croley, organization to which he belonged not known. , Burial of the Dead.. The day after the battle, the bodies of the men slain therein, together with those who died of wounds that night, were buried in different places; the following officers-Colonel Charles Lewis, Colonel John Field, Captain John Murray, Captain Robert McClennahan, Captain Samuel Wilson, Lieutenant Hugh Allen, John Frogg and George Cameron - being laid to rest inside of the magazine directly on the upper point of land, at the confluence of the rivers - now Tu-Endi-Wei Park. All were interred without the pomp of war, but that day the cheeks of many a hardy Virginia-West Virginia mountaineer were bedewed with tears., [Top Side Plaque, Facing South.] , The Organization of , The Virginian Army , That , Fought the Battle of Point Pleasant.. , Indian depredations on the Virginian frontier began early in 1774, and on the 12th of May, that year, Lord Dunmore, the Colonial Governor of Virginia, informed the House of Burgesses of the beginning of hostilities. that body, on the next day, directed him to put into force the laws against invasion and insurrection. He hastened over the Blue ridge and organized the right wing, or northern division of an army, commanded by himself, for the invasion of the Indian country northwest of the Ohio from "Rosegill," in Middlesex County, under date of July 12th. Lord Dunmore issued orders to General Andrew Lewis, to collect troops to form the left wing of the army, for the march into the Ohio wilderness. General Lewis issued a call for volunteers to assemble at Union, on the site of the present town of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, now West Virginia. There an organization of the troops was effected as follows:, Left Wing of Lord Dunmore's Army. , General Andrew lewis, commanding Left Wing, or Southern Division. , The Augusta County Regiment. , Colonel Charles Lewis, Commanding (648 men.) , Captains of Companies.. Captain John Dickinson. Captain George Moffatt. Captain George Mathews. Captain John Skidmore. Captain John Lewis. Captain Samuel McDowell. Captain Alexander McClennahan. Captain Andrew Lockridge. Captain Samuel Wilson. Captain Benjamin Harrison. Captain William Nalle. , The Botetourt County Regiment. , Colonel William Fleming, Commanding (450 men.) , Captains of Companies.. Captain Philip Love. Captain John Lewis. Captain John Stuart. Captain Mathew Arbuckle. Captain John Murray. Captain Robert McClennahan. Captain James Ward. , THE FINCASTLE COUNTY BATTALION. , Colonel William Christian, Commanding (350 men.) , CAPTAINS OF COMPANIES.. Captain William Russell. Captain Joseph Crockett. Captain William Campbell. Captain Evan Shelby. Captain William Herbert. Captain John Floyd. Captain Anthony Bledsoe. , Independent Companies.. The Culpeper County Volunteers, Colonel John Field, Commanding. (140 men.) The Dunmore County Volunteers, Captain Thomas Slaughter, Commanding. (40 men.) The Bedford County Riflemen, Captain Thomas Buford, Commanding. (44 men.) The Kentucky Pioneers, Captain James Harrod, Commanding. (27 men.) , The army left Camp Union in September, in the following order: The Augusta regiment, on the 6th; the Culpeper Minute Men, on the 7th. The Botetourt Regiment, with the companies of Russell and Shelby, of the Fincastle Battalion, and the Bedford rifles, on the 12th; Herbert's Company, of the Fincastle Battalion, on the 23rd; and the remainder of the Fincastle Battalion, on the 27th. Except Captain Bledsoe who was left in command at that place. October 10th - the Battle Day - All the troops had arrived at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, except the last part of the Fincastle Battalion, then within thirty miles of that place, and the Dunmore County Volunteers, at the mouth of Elk River - now Charleston - the capital of West Virginia.