The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1776-08-02 00:00:00, page 1

AUGUST :, 1776 - 1" 1! E siNUMBER 79.
LGAZETTE
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s'ctAND THE PUBLlCK GOOD.
si?
High HEAVEN to chcmus ENDS dH'L'ctI n'}: Sl'ORM'.
'W ] L ]. ] A MS B U R G, August 2.
Lqfl chnesday amexprefi arrived with the
' fbllowing account of (: buttle jbught be—
' tween the militia osFincastle and/bme of
the Cherukcc and Creek lndiam, near
the Big island, on the zoth oj'7uly, 1776.
N the 19tl1 our scouts returned, and
() informed us that they had discovered
where a great number of lndians were
making into the sctllcmeut; upon which
alarm. ths sew men that, were stationed
* at Eaton's completcd a breastwork, susii
ciently strong, with the asslstance of what
'men were there, to have repelled a con
siderable number, sent exprc-sses to the dif
ferent stations, and collected all the forces
in one body, and the morning after about
,170 turned out in search of the enemy.
We marched in two divilions, with ilankers
sion each side, and scouts before. Our
ssscouts discovered upwards of 20 meeting
sins, and sired on them. They returned
'the sire, but our men rushed on them with
.such violence that they were obliged to
simake avery precipitate retreat. We took
si-ten bundles, and a good deal of plunder,
'ss- and had great reason to think some of them
sisiwere wounded. Thissismallficirmishhap
--pened on ground very disadvantageous sor
. our men to pursue, though it Was with
'-the greatest difficulty our officers could
restrain their men. A council was held,
and it was thought'adviseable to return,
as we imagined there was a large party
not far off; \Ve accordingiy returned,
. and had not marched mue than a mile
when a nhmher not inferiour to o'urs at—
- tacked usinthc rear. Our man sustained
. the attack with great _br.wessry and intre
pidity, and immediately sorm'ed a line.
, 'ctl'sihe lndians endeavoured to surround us,
_ but were prevented by the uncommon sor
titude and vi riiance ofsica'pt. JamesShdby,
- whotookpo effion ofancminence thatprc
. vented their design. Our line oshattle ex—
. itcnded about :! qu-irterosa mile . \Ve killed
si] 3 on the spot. whom we sound, and have
! the greatest reason to beiiwe that we could
, have found many more. had we had time
to search for them. There were stream:
— of blood every way, and it was generally
thought there was never so much execution
done in so short a time on the srontiers.
:Never did troops fight with greater calm
ness than ours did. The lndians attacked
me with the greatest fury imaginable, and
-made the most vigorous efforts to surronnd
'fls. Our spies really deserved the greatest
applause. We took a great deal of plun
der and many guns, and had only four
men {lightly wounded. The rest of the
troops are in high spirits, and eager for
" another engagcment . We have the great -'
est reason to believe they are pouring in
, great nsixmhers on us, and be;; the asiistance
'l Uulss lslUllud .
JAMES THOMPSON.
_]AMF.S SHELBY.
VV1LL1AM BUCHANAN.
JOHN CAMPBELL.
WlLLlAM (IOCKE.
THOMAS DiADlSON.'
TOMdjorANTHONYBLEDlOE,fi'0mhim
to be immediately ]Z-nt cttacol. PEESTON.
i
chns'rnz,sc. _
THE dcposition os jarrett VVffliams,
taktn besorc me, Anthcmy Bchlsoe,
a justice of the peace for the coumy asore
said, being first sworn on the holy avan
gelists of Almight God, dcposcth and
saith, that be left t e Cherokee nation (un
Monday nisrht the Sth 'mstant (july) that
the part of? the nation called the Overhills
were then preparing to go to war against
the frontiers of Virginia, having purchascd
to the amounc of 1000 fldns, or there
aboute, for mockasons. They were also
beating flour for a march, and making
other warlike preparations. 'l'hcir num—
ber, from a calculation made by the haven
warrio urs , amounts to about boo warriours;
and, according to the deponent's ideas,
"he thinks we-may expect a general attack
every hour: — They proposc to take away
neg'roes, horses, &c. and to kill all kinds
of cattle, sheep, &c. for which purpose
they are well stocked with how: and ar—
rows, &c. "also to destroy all corn, burn
'houses, &c. And he, also heard, that the
anlcy towne were, a part of them, set
off; but that the had sent a runner to
(top them, 'till ass weresi-ready to start.
He farther relates, that Alexander Came
-r0n informed them, that he had conclud
ed to send capt . Nathnni- ] Guest, William
Faulin, lsaac Williams, and the dcponent,
with the ]ndians, till they came ]]CTH' to
-Nanachukey; then the ]ndizms were to
stop, and Guest and the other Whites
athe-mentioned were to go to see is
there were any king's men among the
inhabitants; and isthey found any, they
were to take them off to the ]m!i.zns, or
have a- white signal in their himds, m
oxherwise to distinguiih them. When this
was done, they were to sail on the inha
bitants, and kill and drive all they possibly
could. That on Saturday the (zth inllant,
in the ni vht, he heard two prisoners were
brought in about midnight, but the depa
nent saw only one. That the within
Williams saw one" seal}: brought by a party
Of the ]ndians, witha prisoner ; .but. from
accounts, they had five scalpsct. He also
says, he heard the prisoner examined by
ct C-ameron, though he gave a very imper
fect account, being very much cuit-down .
He farther says, that the (;hcrtkces hzzd
received the war belt from the Shawanese,
Min 0, Taawah, and Delawarenzitiom,
to sfi'ike the white people. That 15-1F
the said nations were lately in the (Iherokce
towm, and that few _os the (Iherokees
went in company w1tn lum ]; snnwnncnc,
&c. That they all intended to strike the
settlers on Kentucky, and that the Chc
rokees gave the said Shawanese, &c. sour
scalps of'white men, which they carried
away with them. The said Shawancsc
and Mingoesinsormed the Cherokees, that
they then were at peace with every other
nation; that the French Were to supply
them with ammunition, and that they
wanted the Cherokees_ to join them to
strike the white people on the srontiers,
which the Cherokees have agreed to.
And the tleponent further saith, that be—
sore be left the nation a number of the
Chemkccs from thB lower tnwm were
gone lu fall on the swnlir rs os Son ]: Cl- _
rolina and Ceorgi 1 , an (! farther lanh not.
JARRE'l T V\ ]LLlAMSsid
Slgncd lnl'ore
AN [[IONY BLEDSOE
-————-——-——-——-—- —
To the gentlemen jrcc/wldtr: os CHARLH
(liTY, JAMES Li'i-Y, audhsv Knot
caimtzes. . -
GLNTLEMEN,
I OBSERVE in the form of government
silaid dowu by the worthy de leg :ies us
this colony, in Conveution, & BENATE
in to be composed of 24 members. lo he
chosen by the free voice of the people;
in consequence of" which, you, no doubt,
will expect to have uffcra made you by
cntlemen nillin r to sene their tuunlry
in the capacity of :: senator. ] have not
yet understood, in the cmnpnsrosmv ac
quaintance, that zssmy gentleman is incctlincd
.to stand as'czindidaie ror thin dilhict, ,no —
withstunding some time has elsi-picd sssin e
this measure has been known to the pur
lick. A oung man, therefore, w io
si) les him elfa friend to liberty, hcgs [me
to offer his service to you on the occasion,
not douhih .— but you will he govermd by
the most liberal and candid principles in
'your choice of a rcprcsemmive, and not
' by prepussesiion in favour of friendship or
pmnC—aion. Most ofyou, gentlemen, I
have the honour" to be Wcll known- w,
particularly in ]amcs City, my native
county, and this, in which l'hzue livec ::
few yours; nor cn'n 1 he unknown to the
greatest part of New Kent, although I
have not contracted so large and so inti
mate an acquaintance thssc. However,
tu gentlemen who alway; act upon such
motives as do thun h mour in the choice
of a legiflunr, nothing cum be, more lsiidicu
lnus them to hippnicihcy huvc' an idea
that a stranger is Icsss cctpu'ssile, bscss-ui'c: he is
a stranger, lu scne hlb (nunu'y insimy
post, than even ifsic must il-iiiimte [ri- g'd
or rcluiiun. dosnr'ssrnm Usinl: ng lhacaz ]
of you will part with yuur freedom in
election, when )... u have on nuffly (lruggled
for your hhci'lssy, siunl ..s it were rcaieu its
'once (huusiing huiu :qu ve the powrr of
(lcspoiick rulc, ihu} [am ( mnmcecl, when
the day comes in which )! u mihsi known
yssds senalor, it will ,not be ""si, pcrlimsion
of the nearest l'sicml sihal c-sim imlucc ),uu
to part with one single ]Hrtlch of in. upon
diihunonrnhh- terms. Is, gentle mm, :my
one should offer his 'rrvlcc tu )si.ss.-_ usszm]
you know to be superiour in nbl'iziu, is
worthy in other respccts. such :: me l
recommend to you in [he strongest tenus;
sur merit um] ubilities ought always to
have promotion, nor shall ] evcr suffer
the least mortification but when the con—
trary is the- case.
'l'hc talk is no doubt great, and nrdu
ous to undertake; but however difficult
to dischargc w the general siuisisifhm-ln us
the world, the camhdnm must not be imi
miduted so much as to wilh-hzzid his desire
from the pubhck, because the motivc on
which he is induced to act is the love of
liberty, his country, andssmsterityss Abi
;:A. _ M.;