McGary, Mrs. Denton, and Mrs. Hogan, at Boonesborough in September, 1775-the rapid increase of emigration thenceforth the appointment of George Rogers Clark, and one Gabriel Jones, in June, 1776, at a little Congress assembled in Boonesborough, to represent Kentucky in the Assembly of Virginia-at length, after a year's suspense and apprehension, excited by occasional outbreaks of Indian hostility, the frightful scenes of 1777, when the Shawanese once more, as in 1774, ravaged the settlements:-this succession of events, although of thrilling interest, we must dismiss with the most cursory allusion.

As we have said, the murder of Cornstalk terminated all uncertainty, and precipitated the savages over the Kentucky and Virginia border. At the close of 1777, only three settlements existed in the interior of Kentucky-Harrodsburg, Boonesborough and Logan's-and of these three, the whole military population, did not exceed one hundred and two in number. It was a year of siege, of struggle, of sufferingbut the gloomy months elicited some extraordinary instances of heroism and humanity. We read of James Ray, a lad of sixteen, loading an old horse with the game which he shot by day, remote from Harrodsburg, and silently stealing into the besieged fort at night, whence, however, he would again emerge before the next dawn, thus for weeks saving the distressed garrison from starvation-of Benjamin Logan, breaking from the shelter of a block house, into a tempest of rifle balls, to rescue a wounded comrade who had been surprised by an ambush of savages: and of a journey of four hundred miles, through a wilderness swarming with war parties of Indians, and across the mountains to the settlements, to obtain ammunition for his beleaguered companions, successfully accomplishing his hazardous errand. Such, and similar

occurrences, which tradition fondly cherishes, are the romance of history.

The month of September witnessed the siege of Wheeling. Here, where the Zanes had settled in 1770, Fort Fincastle (so called from the western county of Virginia,) was established by Lord Dunmore in 1774. The name was changed in 1776, to Fort Henry, in honor of Patrick Henry, then Governor of Virginia, and this fort was the central point between Fort Pitt and the stockade at the mouth of Kenhawa. In the early autumn of 1777, Colonel Hand, who commanded at Fort Pitt, was informed that a large body of the northwestern Indians was preparing to attack the posts of the Upper Ohio. On the evening of September 26, smoke was seen by those near Wheeling, down the river, and was supposed to proceed from the burning of the block house at Grave Creek, and the people of the vicinity, taking the alarm, repaired to the fort. Here were assembled forty-two fighting men, well supplied with rifles and muskets, but with a scanty supply of gunpowder. Early on the 27th, two men, who were sent out for horses, for the purpose of alarming neighboring settlements, and had proceeded some distance from the fort, met a party of six savages, by whom one of them was shot. The commandant, Col. Shepherd, learning from the survivor, that there were but six of the assailants, sent a party of fifteen men in pursuit. These were led into an ambush, where, completely surrounded, all but three were killed. Still another band of thirteen men rushed from the fort to the assistance of their comrades, and shared their fate. It was now sunrise, and four hundred Indians, led by Simon Girty, soon invested the fort, which was defended by only twelve men and boys.

Fort Henry stood immediately upon the bank of the Ohio,

about a quarter of a mile above the mouth of Wheeling creek. Between it and the steep river hill on the east, were twenty or thirty log huts, which the Indians occupied, and challenged the garrison to surrender. Colonel Shepherd refused, and the attack commenced. From sunrise until noon, the fire on both sides was constant, when that of the assailants slackened. Within the fort, the only alarm was for the want of powder, and then it was remembered that a keg was concealed in the house of Ebenezer Zane, some sixty yards distant. It was determined to make an effort to obtain it, and the question, "Who will go?" was proposed. Then occurred an incident which is related as follows by Mr. G. S. McKiernan, in the American Pioneer:1

"At this crisis, a young lady, the sister of Ebenezer and Silas Zane, came forward and desired that she might be permitted to execute the service. This proposition seemed so extravagant that it met with a peremptory refusal; but she instantly renewed her petition in terms of redoubled earnestness, and all the remonstrances of the Colonel and her relatives failed to dissuade her from her heroic purpose. It was finally represented to her that either of the young men, on account of his superior fleetness and familiarity with scenes of danger, would be more likely than herself to do the work successfully. She replied that the danger which would attend the enterprise was the identical reason that induced her to offer her services, for, as the garrison was very weak, no soldier's life should be placed in needless jeopardy, and that if she were to fall her loss would not be felt. Her petition was ultimately granted, and the gate opened for her to pass out. The opening of the gate arrested the attention of several Indians who were straggling through

1) Vol. ii., p. 309.

the village. It was noticed that their eyes were upon her as she crossed the open space to reach her brother's house; but seized, perhaps, with a sudden freak of clemency, or believing that a woman's life was not worth a load of gunpowder, or influenced by some other unexplained motive, they permitted her to pass without molestation. When she reäppeared with the powder in her arms, the Indians, suspecting, no doubt, the character of her burden, elevated their firelocks and discharged a volley at her as she swiftly glided towards the gate; but the balls all flew wide of the mark, and the fearless girl reached the fort in safety with her prize. The pages of history may furnish a parallel to the noble exploit of Elizabeth Zane, but an instance of greater selfdevotion and moral intrepidity is not to be found anywhere."2

The assault was resumed with much fierceness, and continued until evening. A party of eighteen or twenty Indians, armed with rails and billets of wood, rushed forward and attempted to force open the gate of the fort, but were repulsed with the loss of six or eight of their number. As darkness set in, the fire of the savages grew weaker, though it was not entirely discontinued until next morning. Soon after nightfall, a considerable party of Indians advanced within sixty yards of the fort, bringing with them a hollow maple log, which they had converted into a cannon by plugging up one of its ends with a block of wood. To give it additional strength, a quantity of chains, taken from a blacksmith's shop, encompassed it from end to end. It was heavily charged with powder, and then filled to the muzzle with

2) "Elizabeth Zane afterwards lived about two miles above Bridgeport, on the Ohio side of the river, near Martinsville, in Belmont county. She was twice married-first to Mr. McLaughlin, and, secondly, to Mr. Clark." --Howe's Ohio Historical Collections, 61.

pieces of stones, slugs of iron, and such other hard substances as could be found. The cannon was graduated carefully to discharge its contents against the gate of the fort. When the match was applied, it burst into many fragments, and although it made no effect upon the fort, it killed and wounded several of the Indians who stood by to witness its discharge. A loud yell succeeded the failure of this experiment, and the crowd dispersed.

Late in the evening, Francis Duke, a son-in-law of Col. Shepherd, arrived from the forks of Wheeling, and was shot down by the Indians before he could reach the gate of the fort. Early next morning, Col. Swearingen, with fourteen men from Cross creek, and Major Samuel McCullough, with forty mounted men from Short creek, succeeded in reaching the inclosure, except Major McCullough himself, who was not permitted to pass the gateway. After a perilous pursuit, Putnam-like, he baffled the Indians, by dashing his horse down an almost perpendicular precipice of one hundred and fifty feet descent, with Wheeling creek at its base, and so made his escape.

After the escape of Major McCullough, the Indians concentrated at the foot of the hill, and soon after set fire to all the houses and fences outside of the fort, and killed about three hundred head of cattle belonging to the settlers. They then raised the siege and disappeared.

This band were principally Wyandots, with some Mingoes and Shawanese, and their loss is estimated at from sixty to one hundred. The total number of Americans killed was twenty-six, and four or five were wounded. During the investiture of the fort, not a man within the walls was killed, and only one slightly wounded.

This attack upon Fort Henry indicates decisively that the