Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-11-21

Tue HduGlU WOmeu dHu' Cu1IuEou-IO LuSpIEe
them with hope and to rally the only and
fufrm male defender. ,-
She in the mean time had deputed Fred
erick Miller an active lad aged about eleven
years, as7messengeF to Rice's Fort for aid.
But in this strategy she was fsiled. For
the lad had gone willinglyfand heroically
only few hundred yards down the PENN.
sula on his dangerous embassy when he
was Intercepted by the Indians. RetrRciug
his steps he was pursued by two ferocious
Indians with hideous yells and uplifted
tomahawks. a.. ~ aate,s
| This frightfuI race for life was Witnessed
from :he block house with anxiety the
most intense. Every moment it seemed as
though the lad would certainly fall with
cloVen skull beneath the deadly stroke of
suers, each vieiug with the other which
should strike the first and fatal blow. a
fence had to be scaled by the boy without
q blunder or, death--csrtGin, instant
death-was his doom. Summoning all his
boyhood and failing strength he leaped
the barrier, fence, touching i merely with
his hand as the foremost Indians tomR.
kaWk struck the rail accompanied with a
yell of disappointment when both Indians
fred at him. 0ne Of the balls took effect
and passed through his fexed arm shatter-
inglthe bones both above the elbow and
between that joint and the wrist, whirling
the lad around several times. Now sub
dued shrieks of terror commingled with joy
were heard in the block-house as the female
hero who sent out the boy ambassador re-
ceived him in her arms as he bounded to
the door, exhausted from the race and the
loss of blood.
At this moment the Indians leaping from
their concealment appeared in every di-
rection around the block house, and hot
and continuous firing was commenced.
The female band, with the now trembling
and weeping Ault as their counsellor, in
despair and anguish were forced to the
conclusion that the block-house would
soon be taken by storm or envelope them
in its flames, and with no hope Of sue.
cessful resistance were about to "giVe up"
Again, in this crisis of terrible trial and
danger, Mrs. Ann Hupp proved equal to
the emergency. Encouraging the tremb.
ling Ault and the weeping women with
the iconsoling language of hope-nerVing
heriarm and steeling her heart to the Sc.
we're duties of the moment, she, with true
spartanism, snatching up rifle, fred at
the approaching Indiana, and then ''ran
from port hole to port hole," protruding it's
mnZZle in different directions-to convey
the idea of great forces in the house-at
each presentation causing Indians to cover
behind trees or other objects for protection.
This happily conceived and promptly
executed strategy of this pioneer heroine,
without doubt, saved that handful of wo-
men and children from what otherwise was
inevitable-a Wholesale massacre.
A party of the Indians had taken shelter
behind stable that stood not far from
the block house. Emboldened by their
-, 6oty 10 rafnr1aH ma nj
them would occasionally step out to view,
holding up before himself as shield, q
clapboard, and then quickly retreat again
to his shelter. At length he stepped out
boldly into an open space, defantly
stretching his savage frame high in air,
at which Ault was prevailed upon to fire,
but palpably without doing any harm
This exasperated the besiegiug foe, caus-
ing the assault to become still more ter
rible. ~
at this stage of the siege the women
saw and recognized three of their men
approaching in great haste from the dl-
rection of Rice's Fort, when they COM
menced screaming at the top of their vol
ces and beckongiHH the men in the direc-
ton they supposed to be the safest point
to pass the Indians in gaining the block
house. tes--
While the Indians stood in confusion
aud wonderment, not comprehendtng the
meaning Of the screams, the men rushed
forward passing very near to where some
of the savages stood, and before the In
dians sufficiently recovered from their
surprise to FIRE upon them, they with fa-
ces red and turgid from race, bounded In.
to the block. house unscathed.
The names of these three daring spirits,
who thus perilled their lives to save their
1ta
from savage fury, or perish with them,
were Jacob Rowe, Capt. John Jacob Mil
Ter, and Philip Hupp. 70 -
After the arrival of these men the bold
ness and fury of the Indians abated, and
during the remainder of the day only oc-
casional shots were exchanged. Evident"
" filled with chagrin and disappointment
they skulked about the neighborhood till
ufPhtfall, and nothing more was heard OF
them, they no doubt fearing reinforce
ment left during the night bearing away
with them only the scalps of Huppt and
Miller.
The loss to the neighborhood of these
two men was severely felt at time when
men were so much needed; but all hearts
! in that block-house were OVERLOOKING with
! thanks apd gratitude to kind and merci-
full PreserVer for vouchsa6ng to thetn his
laid and protection when their great and
terror. filling peril was impending and for
saving them from the ruthless hands of
the merciless savages.
About noon on Monday, tthe men ven-
tured out from the block house going sadly
and cautiously in search of Hupp and Mil
Ter With the purpose OF performing for them
the last sad rights of tho dear departed.
They found the body of Miller lying near
the bloody path and following the traces
of blood on the leaves and other objects
over which Hupp had run, after he re-
ceived the mortal wound his remains were
promptly discovered. - a..
Their mutilated and frozen bodies were
t;borne to the peninsula and laid side by side
ta few yards from the block house in the
li..,r,n SS,rava vv;tb Hnnnohanao for their cof-