Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-02-23

store, No. 1913 Main street, to Friend
| furniture store, No 1866 Main street,
and from near the west curb OF Main
street to the edge Of the river blur.
| In shape it was a parallelogram. hav-
1 ing block house at each corner. with
| lines of stout pickets about eight feet
high extending from one bloc!shouse to
| the other The lighthouses were
| square, heavy, two-story buildings. the
upper story projecting over the lower
about two feet all around. This PRO-
| lection was also beyond the stockades.
| and commanded all approaches there
| to, so that no Judgement could be made
| against the pickets to set them on fire
| or to scale them. They were pierced
with loop-holes for musketry. The
| roof sloped equally from each side up
ward and was surmounted at the cen>
ire by quadrangular structure called
the sentry box. This was the point of
| observation, affording from it's elevated
| situation an extensive view on all
| sides. 1t was usually occupied in time
| of siege or apprehended attack by two
| or three of the best rifiemen, who were
also well skilled in the tactics of In
| dian warfare
Inside the stockade were store house,
barrack rooms, garrison walls, and
cabins for the use of families. The
principal entrance was through gate
way on the eastern side and facing
the village, though there was also a
! postern gate.
1t was called Fort Fincastle," after
| Lord Dunmore; one of his titles being
Earl of Fincastle, until after the break
| ing out of the war of the revolution,
When the name was changed to the
name of Fort Henry, in honor of Pit.
rick Henry, the illustrious orator
t1776) who was then the Go yernor OF
Virginia. All the years It stood a
place of refuge for the settlers, and a
bulwark of defense to the border, until
the advancing tide of erligfaf;o. into
the northwest territory removed the
boundary line to the Malnee.
When the revolutionary war broke
out, 1T was seen that the British off,
GERS along the Canada frontier and at
Detroit, would stir up the savages
again to make war upon the western
border. The British agents finally Sc
cured confederation of the tribes and
the unfortunate killing of Cornstalk,
the great Shawanee chief, at Fort
Randolph, precipitated the war.
Account of the First Siege.
They gathered large army of say.
ages, under the guidance of some Brit
lsh emm1ssaries, but it was thought
for time that their direction was for
Limestone, Ky. During the night of
August 31st, 1777, however, this army
silently and stealthily approached Fort
Henry and took up its position in the
bottom below the fort The warriors
We're formed in two lines some dis
lance apart, extending from the river
across the point to the creek, with a
corn field to afford them concealment
In the centre between the lines near
road leading through the field to the
tort, and in situation easily exposing
them to view, six Indians were sta
toned for the purpose of decoying
within the lines any force that might
discover them.
When the attack was made the in
habitants of the village fed nreciDite-
ly to the fort, barely getting in before
the army encircled the fort. When the
right flank came up, the commander of
the indians, sometimes, but erroneous
ly, said to have been Simon Girty.
summoned the garrison to surrender
IN the name of his Brittanic Majesty,
oHerlng many inducements if they
would renouneo the cause OF the col
onles and accept British protection. A.
bitter struggle ensued The little gar
rison, depleted by the loss of Mason
and Ogle, now had to make an ex-
traordinary effort to repel assault first
on one side and another until almost
exhausted. The news of the attack
spread rapidly to the surrounding
ne1ghborhood, and force of forty-dve
mounted men, under Major Samuel
McColloch, from Short creek, fastened
to the relief of the fort. Major Nc
Colloch succeeded in throwing his
men into the fort but was himself cut
Off by the approach of the Indians TO
capture him. Wheeling his horse, he
made fcf the hill on his back track,
but ran into another party, and find
ing himeelf hemmed in, he forced his
horse to make the leap over a steep
precipico. and down the hill into the
creek, escaping, as by the skin of his
teeth.
Finding that the country was be-
coming aroused, the Indians gave I'D
the seige after killing 300 cattle, horses
and hogs and burning every dwelling
in the village.
There was no organized attack upon
the fort again until in the fall of 1881,
when rumors of an invasion reached
them, subsequently confirmed by orders
from Col. Brodhead, commanding the
western department, advising them of
an intended attack
David Zeisbergen, one of the Nora
Wan missionaries among the Indians
dispatched a message to Col. Brod-
head at Pittsburg, with written mes
sage to the effect that large body of
Indians, about $50 in all, was approach
ing the settlement with the intention
of going to Wheeling.
Fort Henry was Immediately placed
in condition for defense. The In
dians made their appearance but failed
in the attack and did little mischief,
except killing all the cattle and burn
ing some houses, among them Col.
Zane's residence. He thereupon declar-
ed, that having been burned out twice,
he would build the next house for de-
tense and stay in it, which he did in
the seige of 1882. OF three boys out
side Fort Henry at this attack one
was killed, one-David Glenn-made
prisoner, and the other escaped into
the fort slightly wounded. It occas-