James Stewart

• Gender: Male
• Birth: circa 1743 - Cowpasture River, Augusta County, Province of Virginia
• Death: June 1772 (24-33) - Stewart's Run (Present Huttonsville), Augusta County (Present Randolph County, Province of Virginia (Present West Virginia)
• Killed by Indians, supposedly at Martin's Fort on Stewart’s Run)
• Son of Capt. James Stuart and Mary Ann (Lafferty) Armstrong
• Husband of Isabelle (Foster) Barker

  ---

From Joel Hager's Southern West Virginia Research:

ID: I216605

• Name: James Stuart
• Given Name: James
• Surname: Stuart
• Sex: M
• Birth: Abt 1743 in Augusta County, Virginia
• Death: Jun 1772 in West Augusta (Randolph) County, (West) Virginia
• _UID: 5F393A0670744B99862ED1A32F92347B3828
• Change Date: 4 Dec 2009 at 15:16

Note: From: Lee Ballard [mailto:lballard@tstar.net]

• Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 1:03 AM
• To: hagerj@us.army.mil
• Subject: James Stuart (Stewart)

Joel:

In your posting on worldconnect, you state: "In the month of June, at Martin's Fort on Crooked Run, another murderous scene was exhibited by the savages.....etc.

According to the Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish in VA the Augusta County Court on August 18, 1772 the administration o f James's estate was granted to his widow (Isabella). This info will give you the year in which James died.

I believe you will find that James and Isabella were married in 1766 and they migrated to Tygart's Valley in 1772 and were living on Stewart's Run which was ca 8 miles south of what is today's Huttonsville WV (Randolph Co WV).

I believe the Martin's Fort you are referring to was located near another Stuarts Run which was west of today's Morgantown, WV.

Were there two Martin's Forts..... one on each Stuarts Run?

Regards

Lee Ballard

From Stan Browning:

James Stewart (2) was the son of James Stewart (1) of Cowpasture River, Augusta (Bath) county, Virginia.

He was born about 1745 and when he was a lad of 12 years old, he and his father were captured by Indians. His brother John (2), who witnessed the attack, escaped. The father was tortured to death and James (2) later escaped or was released and returned to the family farm on Stuart's Run on the Cowpasture.

James (2) chose John Hamilton as his guardian in 1762 when he was 18 years old.

James (2) married Isabella Foster on Aug. 20, 1766.

In 1772, he along with his brother Ralph, moved to what is now Randolph County, WV. His farm was located on Stuart's Run (named, no doubt, in memory of their Bath County home) a tributary of Tygart Valley river, a branch of the Monongahela. James (2) had hardly moved into his new home when he was killed by Indians.

Isabella, widow of James Stuart (2), was named Administratrix of his estate Aug 18, 1772, and James' estate was appraised that same year.

Isabela Stuart, then Barker, Ralph Stuart, Daniel McClane, William Westfall and Henry Delay received a grant from John McClanahan on Sep. 1, 1782, for 1000 acres lying on the Monongahelia River in Tygart Valley.

Some time prior to July 1789, they had the land surveyed and their respective portions were defined. Each member of the group signed indentures as individual portions were sold. Isabella sold her portion to James Stewart, presumed to be her son.

James' widow Isabella married an unknown Barker soon after James' death and moved to Kentucky where she raised a large family of Stuarts and Barkers. The portion of Montgomery County, Kentucky, that became Bath County, Kentucky, in 1811 was settled by many of the old families of Bath County, Virginia, including: Stuart, Hamilton, Laverty, Barker, Cartmill, Delay, Elliot and Armstrong families.

Children of James and Isabella Stewart have not been identified with certainty; however, some historians studying the Barker family report the following:

• (1) Robert Stewart, b: abt 1766;
• (2) John Stewart, b: Abt 1768, d: 1823 in Lexington, Kentucky;
• (3) James Stewart, b: abt 1770 in Virginia, m. Nancy Elliot, d: 1823 in Lexington, Kentucky;
• (4) Polly Stewart (possibly named Mary), b: January 21, 1771, m. William Hanks.

Father: James Stuart b: 4 Dec 1719 in Dunblane, Pertshire County, Ireland

Mother: Mary Ann Laverty b: Abt 1720 in Kilcoskan, Dublin, Ireland

Marriage 1 Isabella Foster b: Abt 1745

• Married: 20 Aug 1766 in Augusta County, Virginia
• Change Date: 25 Sep 2005
• Children
• 1. James Stewart b: Aft 1766
• 2. Mary 'Polly' Stewart b: 21 Jan 1771

From We Relate's page on James Stuart:

Estate Records of James Stuart

Vol. 1 - AUGUST 18, 1772 - (400) Admn. of estate of James Stuart committed to widow, Isabella.

Page 534.--18th August, 1772. Iseble Stewart's bond (with Henry Cresswell, John Elliott) as administratrix of James Stewart.

Page 348.--__ _____, 1772. James Stewart's estate appraised-- Notes of, viz: Richard Elliott, Jas. Scoolcraft, Daniel McLean (by the road), Patt. Hamilton by road, Charles Firnelson by road. Darby Connly by road, Geo. Westfall by the road, by a private balance of Ginsang by Ralph Stewart. (Note: the Ralph Stewart listed in this record is most likely James Stewart's brother).

Information on James Stuart

One source claimed that James Stuart was shot while crossing the Greenbrier River in 1779, during the Revolutionary War, but the following Chalkley's record shows he died in 1772:

Page 534.--18th August, 1772. Iseble Stewart's bond (with Henry Cresswell, John Elliott) as administratrix of James Stewart.

From Stan Browning:

James Stewart (2) was the son of James Stewart (1) of Cowpasture River, Augusta (Bath) county, Virginia. He was born about 1745 and when he was a lad of 12 years old, he and his father were captured by Indians. His brother John (2), who witnessed the attack, escaped. The father was tortured to death and James (2) later escaped or was released and returned to the family farm on Stuart's Run on the Cowpasture. James (2) chose John Hamilton as his guardian in 1762 when he was 18 years old.

James (2) married Isabella Foster on Aug. 20, 1766. In 1772, he along with his brother Ralph, moved to what is now Randolph County, WV. His farm was located on Stuart's Run (named, no doubt, in memory of their Bath County home) a tributary of Tygart Valley river, a branch of the Monongahela. James (2) had hardly moved into his new home when he was killed by Indians.

Isabella, widow of James Stuart (2), was named Administratrix of his estate Aug 18, 1772, and James' estate was appraised that same year. Isabela Stuart, then Barker, Ralph Stuart, Daniel McClane, William Westfall and Henry Delay received a grant from John McClanahan on Sep. 1, 1782, for 1,000 acres lying on the Monongahelia River in Tygart Valley. Some time prior to July 1789, they had the land surveyed and their respective portions were defined. Each member of the group signed indentures as individual portions were sold. Isabella sold her portion to James Stewart, presumed to be her son.

James' widow Isabella married an unknown Barker soon after James' death and moved to Kentucky where she raised a large family of Stuarts and Barkers. The portion of Montgomery County, Kentucky, that became Bath County, Kentucky, in 1811 was settled by many of the old families of Bath County, Virginia, including: Stuart, Hamilton, Laverty, Barker, Cartmill, Delay, Elliot and Armstrong families.

Children of James and Isabella Stewart have not been identified with certainty; however, some historians studying the Barker family report the following: (1) Robert Stewart, b: abt 1766; (2) John Stewart, b: Abt 1768, d: 1823 in Lexington, Kentucky; (3) James Stewart, b: abt 1770 in Virginia, m. Nancy Elliot, d: 1823 in Lexington, Kentucky; (4) Polly Stewart (possibly named Mary), b: January 21, 1771, m. William Hanks.

Ben M. Angel notes:

The Following passages were collected with the idea that James was killed in 1780, in which one study identied a James Stuart as having been a casualty of a massacre at Ruddle's Fort, near Martin's Fort. I'll leave these here for now until the James Stuart listed can be identified.

From "Destruction of Ruddle's and Martin's Forts in the Revolutionary War" by Maude Ward Lafferty, published in The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 54, October 1956, No. 189:

http://kynghistory.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1B25C3C3-F3E4-4BDB-9413-B48B...

LIFE IN THE FORTS

In these forts friends found friends neighbors sought former neighbors, kith and kin banded (together in pre-empting lauds and building homes, and during the intermittent periods of peace when Indians were not on the warpath, there was visiting from fort to fort. Love affairs developed, for knights were bold and ladies fair, and itinerant preachers had many knots to tie. The young people reared large families, and life within the forts was unique in the history of the nation.

The duties of the household were discharged by the women. They milked the cows, prepared the food, spun and wove material for garments, household linens, "kivers" and rag carpets. They made the winter coat of the buffalo into a coarse, warm cloth. and discovered that the lint of the wild nettle could be made to take the place of flax. By combining it with the buffalo wool, they made a good substitute for that made by combining sheep's wool and flax. When their resourcefulness led them to experiment with dyes, they found that inner bark of the white walnut produces dull yellows; black walnut, dark; browns; indigo, blues; madder, dingy reds, hickory bark; yellows; sumac berries, deep reds; oak, purple; cedar berries, dove or lead color. They made their ink of oak bark mixed with cypress.

When war was the order of the day, they ran the bullets and necked them or took their own portholes for the defense of the forts, many of them being expert with the rifle. Boys who had attained the age of twelve were given their portholes also and were expected to defend them in time of attack. The men cleared the forests, planted the crops, built the forts and cabins, hunted the game and constantly watched for the savages.

But there were better times when the Indians were not on the warpath. The restless forters sought excitement in sugarings, huskings, quiltings, log-rollings, house-warmings and in dancing the three- and four-handed jigs and Irish trots. If, perchance a fiddler found his way into the wilderness, there were gala nights when young folks reveled in the mazes of the Virginia Reel.

Although they held horse races from the very beginning, the pioneers were in a little while practicing Christians, too, as the respites from the Indian raids increased allowing the settlers a higher degree of civilization.[11]

Their homes were often established far afort, from which they ventured gun in hand to build their cabins, clear the forests and till the soil. When danger threatened, a messenger was sent from farm to farm at risk of his life to warn the settlers to gather their families and necessities together. Not then daring to light a candle or stir a fire, noiselessly, they crept through the savage-infested woodland to the sheltering fort. Even the dog of the pioneer was trained to silence lest his bark betray his master's whereabouts to the wily Indians.

Such was the life and such were the inhabitants of Ruddle's and Martin's Forts.

HINKSON'S SETTLEMENT

Hinkson's Settlement, later known as Ruddle's Fort, was built one month prior to the Battle of Lexington by Captain John Hinkson and his company of fifteen men.

Captain Hinkson's company was composed of:[12] Captain John Hinkson, John Martin, Pat Callihan, George Gray, Silas Train, John Townsend, William Hoskins, John Woods, John Cooper, Dan Callihan, William Shields, John Haggin, Matthew Fenton, Thomas Shores, and Samuel Wilson.

Hinkson's Company came down the Ohio and up the Licking River in canoes as far as the forks where Falmouth is now. There they tarried a few days, then proceeded up the Licking to the Blue Licks and came over the Buffalo Trace to the point they selected for their future homes, one of the most beautiful spots in all Kentucky.[13]

They immediately took for themselves land and built 15 cabins, named for members of their company. John Townsend on Townsend Creek, and John Cooper on Cooper's Run, raised corn in 1775 in sufficient quantities to furnish seed for the 1776 harvest.[14]

MARTIN'S FORT

About four miles away on Stoner Creek, John Martin built his cabin in 1775 which became a fortified station about 1779. He brought his family from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, down the Ohio to Limestone and with other families settled first at Hinkson's Settlement. then at his own station on Stoner Creek in Bourbon County where the Buffalo Trace crosses the creek.[15]

HAGGIN'S BLOCKHOUSE

Captain John Haggin built his blockhouse a short distance from Captain Hinkson's settlement at the place where Paddy's Run empties into the Licking River.[16]

Haggin's like Martin's, was small and depended on the larger settlement at Captain Hinkson's in time of danger.

Captain Hinkson's original fifteen cabins increased in number, and a thriving community had developed about his fort when a sharp Indian attack found him short of ammunition and obliged to surrender. After traveling a short distance with his captors, Captain Hinkson made his escape, but his little fort was abandoned July, 1776. Some of his people took refuge in McClelland's Fort,[17] now Georgetown, while others left the country.[18]

For three years there was no sign of life at Captain Hinkson's settlement. Then in 1779 Captain Isaac Ruddle arrived at the abandoned fort and established there what is known in history as Ruddle's Fort.

RUDDLE'S FORT

Captain Ruddle, who came from the Shenandoah Valley, was one of Kentucky's earliest settlers. While General Clark was conquering the Northwest, he lived on Corn Island and later at Logan's Fort[19] near what is now Stanford, Kentucky. In 1779 he established his own settlement at Ruddle's on Hinkson Creek in what is now Bourbon County.

Ruddle's wife, Elizabeth, came of heroic stock, being a sister of Colonel John Bowman, first Military Governor of Kentucky County, Virginia, and granddaughter of Jost Hite, one of the historic characters of the Shenandoah Valley.

As the Revolutionary War progressed, the Indians, incited by the British, traveled in war parties and committed depradations on isolated settlements such as Ruddle's Mills. Ruddle, therefore, decided for the safety of his own family and those that had gathered about him to move into Hinkson's deserted fort on the Licking River. He added to and fortified it, making it one of the largest and strongest in the Kentucky wilderness capable of accommodating from two to three hundred people.[20]

His garrison was composed of forty-nine men as follows:

• 1. Isaac Ruddle, Captain
• 2. John Haggin, Lieutenant
• 3. John Mather, Ensign
• 4. Joseph Isaacs, Quartermaster
• 5. John Waters, Sergeant
• 6. John Cloyd, Drummer
• 7. Andrew Baker
• 8. Edward Low
• 9. Henry Loyl
• 10. George Loyl
• 11. Peter Loyl
• 12..Thomas Machen
• 13. Charles Munger, Sr.
• 14. Andrew Bartell
• 15. George Bronker
• 16. Ruben Boughner
• 17. John Burger, Sr.
• 18. Leonard Croft
• 19. David Erdman
• 20. George Baker
• 21. John Bird
• 22. Casper Brown
• 23. John Burger, Jr.
• 24. Peter Call
• 25. William Delinger
• 26. Thomas Emory
• 27. Paul Fisher
• 28. John Hulton
• 29. James Ruddle
• 30. John Smith, Sr.
• 31. Martin Tuffleman
• 32. Andrew Pirtenbustle
• 33. Henry Pirtenbustle
• 34. Len Pirtenbustle
• 35. H. Pirtenbustle, Jr.
• 36. Peter Rough
• 37. Stephen Ruddle
• 38. Patrick Ryan
• 39. William Scott
• 40. John Smith, Jr.
• 41. Frederick Tanner
• 42. Moses Waters
• 43. Jacob Leach, Sr.
• 44. William Marshall
• 45. George Hatfall
• 46. William Munger, Jr.
• 47. George Ruddle
• 48. William Sandidge
• 49. James Stewart

THE SPRING OF 1780

The land owners living near Ruddle's and Martin's Stations pre-empted lands for miles around, farming during intervals of peace and taking refuge within the forts when the Indians were on the warpath.[21] In the immediate neighborhood were Samuel McMillain, John Miller, Alex Pollock, Samuel Nesbitt, William McFall, Captain Asa Reese and E. E. Williams; Pat and Dan Callahan, who lived two miles from Ruddle's; Andrew Linn on Hinkson Creek; James Sodowsky and John Shelp on the Middle Fork of Licking; William Field at the mouth of Stone Creek; William Gillispie on Boone's Creek; John Cooper on Cooper's Run and Michael Stoner[22] on Stoner's Creek.

The spring following the hard winter of 1779 was unusually fine, and the inhabitants of Martin's and Ruddle's Stations saw their cattle grow fat on the luscious bluegrass and the rich soil give promise of bounteous crops. Everywhere there was an atmosphere of peace and prosperity and general well-being, and they went hopefully about their spring work with no premonition of the tragedy that awaited them unaware that a formidable force was being collected at Detroit for the invasion of Kentucky to counteract Clark's success in the West.[23]

Major A. S. DePeyster,[24] who replaced Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton[25] when he was captured by Clark, ordered the invading force to march under the command of Captain Bird. Bird at once began preparations by assembling an army of 150 British, Tories and Canadians and several hundred Indians whose numbers were increased as they advanced southward until they finally totaled between 1,000 and 1,200 men.[26] The attackers were equipped with sailing vessels, bateaux, and birch canoes in which they were floated down the Detroit River, across Lake Erie to the Maumee, up that river to the Great Miami, down the Great Miami to the Ohio and from there to the Licking on which they ascended to Ruddle's Station.[27]

BRITISH AND CANADIANS IN BIRD'S EXPEDITION TO KENTUCKY

The names of the British and Canadians who participated in the expedition of Captain Bird against Ruddle's and Martin's Forts are listed in an old ledger in the Burton Collection at Detroit.[28] The list of those who served from March 24 to May 24, 1780 contains eighty-six names and a payroll of 1165 pounds, 10 shillings and 8 1/2 pence. The list of those who served from May 25 to August 4, a term of seventy-two days, contains the names of fifty-eight and a payroll of 1079 pounds, 12 sllillings and 3 1/4 pence. The payrolls did not include all the cost of provisions and equipment. At the head of the militia muster were Captain Louis Joncaire de Chabert, Lieutenant Jonathan Scheiffeling,[29] Sergeants Francis Babault, Antoine Charon, William Gregg and James McAlphie, and Corporals Joseph Carrier, Joseph Touillier and Joseph Rough.

Captain Bird in his letter to Major DePeyster adds the names of Monsieur LeDuc who made himself useful "mending shafts and repairing carriages," Mr. Reynolds, "an excellent woodsman," and Duperon Baby who was one of the most influential of the French residents in Detroit.[30]

The Tories of the expedition included Matthew Elliott,[31] Alexander McKee[32] whose lands were escheated by Virginia for the benefit of Transylvania Seminary in 1783 and the two hated renegades, Simon and George Girty,[33] who frequently led the Indians in attacks on Kentucky settlers.

Finding it difficult to secure enough pack animals to transport his supplies, Captain Bird ordered Captain Alexander McKee, the Loyalist, to gather them for him. His letters indicate that the Indians were willing to do their part but were slow and inclined to act according to their own custom rather than according to his orders. He expressed anxiety lest certain persons who had escaped might carry a warning to the Falls and spoil the surprise he was planning for the Kentuckians. In his letter to DePeyster, dated May 21, 1789, he says:[34]

I have the pleasure to inform you that everything is six leagues below the portage, where the perrogues are making, they are not yet finished, therefore nothing on our part retards.

At the portage for some unaccountable reason, Bird took two weeks to transport his army and supplies from the Auglaise River to the Big Miami, a distance not exceeding twenty miles. his plans were set forth in a letter to Major DePeyster, dated June 3, 1780, the principal portion of which is shown below: [35]

The Prisoners who were sent off by the Hurons, or rather by Zeans, with their silent consent arrived some time ago at the Falls, with Intelligence of our approach, they went off to Col. Clarke to return immediately. He will not be able to join the Rebels assembling at the Falls-before the 15th of this month. He has certainly 200 Soldiers with him.

By what we can learn they are gathering as many as possible at the Falls to meet us-but there is much division amongst them.

I went to Capt. McKee and told him, I could wish he would attempt to biass the Indians as far as proper to proceed immediately to the Falls-I stated my reasons as follows:

It is possible before Col. Clark's arrival, they may raise 800 men, probably they may raise 600 certain they can raise 400.

Col. Clarke's arrival will add considerably to their numbers, and to their confidence. Therefore the Rebels should be attacked before the arrival, now it is possible he may return by the 14th probable by the 22nd certain by the 1st of July.

Tho possible for us to get to the Falls by the 10th of this month, certain by the 14th. The Indians have their full spirits, the ammunition and every thing plenty, and in the state we could wish it.

After taking the Falls the Country on our return, will be submissive & in a manner subdued, but if we attack the nearer Forts first, as we advance we shall have continual desertion of Indians, the ammunition wasted, or expended, and our People far from fresh, our Difficulties will increase as we advance & Col. Clarke will he at the Falls with all his People collected to fight US at the close.

I have another reason for attacking the Falls, should he succeed, we can ambuscade Mr. Clarke as he returns.

Captain McKee thinks my reasons just, if this plan is not followed, it will be owing to the Indians who may adopt theirs.

THE ATTACK AS DESCRIBED IN BRADFORD'S NOTES

John Bradford's Notes 8 and 9, published in the Kentucky Gazette October 13 and October 20, 1826, presents a thrilling account of the attack based on contemporary pioneer statements.[36]

BRADFORD'S .NOTES No. 8

Kentucky Gazette, Oct. 13, 1826

After Clark had established Fort Jefferson, he went to Coho and to St. Louis- the latter place attacked by an invading army from Michilimackimack; while at Coho French deserters came in and gave him the information of the intended expedition against Kentucky under the command of Colonel Byrd from Detroit. He sent three or four hundred men up the Illinois and to Rock River, who destroyed several towns.

Soon after receiving intelligence of Byrd's intentions General Clark, Major Harlan and Captain Consola, with a few others, set out from St. Louis for Fort Jefferson and sent fifty men up to Louisville with ammunition for the purpose of carrying an expedition into the enemy's country and if possible, intercept Byrd on his march for Kentucky.

From Fort Jefferson, Clark, Harlan and Consola set off on foot for Harrodsburg in Kentucky. It was a remarkably wet season, all the rivers were very full, so that they were obliged to make rafts to cross both the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, the smaller rivers, they swam. A short distance from the Tennessee River they were discovered by a party of Indians and pursued and very narrowly escaped, the Indians having crossed the Tennessee above them and waited to meet them on their landing; but fortunately they discovered the Indians in time to make their landing below the mouth of a wide deep creek. and immediately on landing were out of sight; not long after leaving the Tennessee they came across a bear, and being almost out of provisions, they killed it, but did not wait to skin it, but cut off eacha piece with the skin on and pushed on until night, when they found a sinkhole in which they made a fire and cooked and slept until morning.

They crossed the Cumberland River not far below Nashville, and fell into the path from there to Kentucky, and arrived at Wilson's Station near Harrodsburg about one hour before the express. which brought the news that Ruddle's and Martin's Stations were taken. The plan of this expedition was laid by the British at Detroit, and with the aid of the northern tribes of Indians calculated on breaking up the settlements in Kentucky and bringing the whole country under their control to effect this project, the whole Indian force under the influence of the British were collected with Simon Girty and McKee, and joined by Colonel Byrd with some British regulars and Canadian volunteers; and besides small arms were provided with six pieces of artillery.

The original design of this expedition was first to have gone to Louisville and taken that, and establish their headquarters at that place, but on their approach to the Ohio, received information that the waters of Licking River, were sufficiently high to admit their boats to ascend that river, and from the unwillingness of the Indians to come in contact with a place where there was a cannon,[37] the project was changed.

The first intimation the people of Kentucky received of this meditated attack was from Major A. Chapline[38] who was taken prisoner by the Indians when Captain Rogers was killed in an attempt to ascend the Ohio the preceding fall, as has been noticed. Upon receiving information of the meditated attack on Kentucky, Major Chapline determined to appraise his country of their danger or perish in the attempt; he therefore made his escape and safely arrived at Harrodsburg, early in the month of May, and gave the information.

Immediately on the arrival of Major Chapline, the information he gave was sent to every station in the country and consultations were held to devise the best mode to defeat them. From the best calculations that could be made, it was considered impossible that they could arrive with such an army earlier shall the last of July or first of August, and all arrangements for defense were made according to that calculation; nor was that opinion changed until about the first of June, when a party of twenty-five men attempted to cross the Kentucky River at the ford below Frankfort on their way from Bryan's Station to Louisville, to purchase corn.

As this party descended the bank, they were fired upon by a party of Indians with muskets charged with ball and buckshot. These were arms not generally used by Indians; it was therefore immediately conjectured that it was an advance party of the army that was expected

It has already been noticed that the summer of 1780 was exceedingly wet, and that all the water courses were full. This circumstance induced Colonel Byrd to change his original purpose of attacking Louisville first. He therefore decided to ascend Licking River into the heart of the country, by which means he would be enabled to take with him his artillery to Ruddle's Station, and would easily take it by land from Ruddle's to Martin's and Bryan's and Lexington, the ground being level and the roads easily made passable.

Colonel Byrd landed his artillery, stores and baggage on the point at the forks of Licking, where he put up some huts to shelter them from the weather; and from there marched at the head of 1,000 men. In consequence of the extreme wetness of the weather which had continued for many days, the men at Ruddle's and Martin's Stations who were accustomed to be in the woods, had all come in, therefore Byrd taking advantage of that circumstance, arrived within gunshot of the fort, undiscovered, and the first information the people received of the approach of an enemy was the report from a discharge of one of the field pieces.

Byrd sent in a flag and demanded surrender at discretion, to which demand Captain Ruddle answered that he could not consent to surrender, but on certain conditions, one of which was that the prisoners should be under the protection of the British and not suffered to be prisoners of the Indians; to these terms Colonel Byrd consented, and immediately the gates were opened to him.

No sooner were the gates opened than the Indians rushed into the station and each seized the first person they could lay their hands on and claimed them as their own prisoner. In this way the members of every family were separated from each other, the husband from the wife, and the parents from their children. The piercing screams of the children, when torn from their mothers, the distracted throes of the mothers when forced from their tender offspring, are indescribable.

Ruddle remonstrated with Colonel Byrd against this barbarous conduct of the Indians, but to no effect. He confessed that it was out of his power to restrain them, their numbers being so much greater than that of the troops over which he had control; that he himself was completely in their power.

After the people were entirely stripped of all their property and the prisoners divided among the captors, the Indians proposed to Colonel Byrd to march to and take Martin's Station which was about five miles from Ruddle's: but Colonel Byrd was so affected by the conduct of the Indians to the prisoners taken, that he peremptorily refused unless the chiefs would pledge themselves on behalf of the Indians that all the prisoners taken should be entirely under his control, and that the Indians should only be entitled to the plunder. Upon these propositions being agreed to by the chiefs, the army marched to Martin's Station and took it without opposition. The Indians divided the spoil among themselves, and Colonel Byrd took charge of the prisoners.

The ease with which these two stations were taken so animated the Indians that they pressed Colonel Byrd to go forward and assist them to take Bryan's Station and Lexington. Byrd declined going and urged as a reason the improbability of success: and besides the impossibility of procuring provisions to support the prisoners they already had, also the impracticability of transporting their artillery by land to any part of the Ohio River, therefore the necessity of descending Licking before the waters fell, which might be expected to take place in a few days.

Immediately after it was decided not to go forward to Bryan's Station, the army commenced their retreat to the forks of Licking, where they had left their boats, and with all possible dispatch got their artillery and military stores on board and moved off. At this place the Indians separated from Byrd and took with them the whole of the prisoners taken at Ruddle's Station.

The Indians not only collected all the horses belonging to Ruddle's and Martin's Station, but a great many from Bryan's and Lexington, and with their booty crossed the Ohio River near the mouth of Licking, and there dispersed. The British descended Licking River to the Ohio, down the Ohio to the mouth of Big Miami, and up the Miami as far as it was navigable for their boats, where they hid their artillery and marched by land to Detroit. The rains fell so low that they were able to ascend the Miami but a short distance by water.

THE ATTACK ON RUDDLE'S FORT AS DESCRIBED BY CONTEMPORARIES

Alexander McKee, the noted Tory, in a letter to Major DePeyster, dated July 8, 1780,[40] says that he advanced with 200 Indians to surround the fort before daylight, but remained concealed until the main body arrived with cannon. The firing continued from daybreak; until noon. Captain Bird came up with a small gun and had two charges fired at the fort At the same time a six pounder was summoned. This determined the majority in Ruddle's Fort to capitulate.

Governor Jeremiah Morrow of Ohio later said that "the picketts were cut down like cornstalks," and "twenty persons were tomahawked in cold blood."[41]

The articles of capitulation were written by James Trabue, Deputy Surveyor under John May, who arrived at the fort the night before the disaster. His brother, Daniel Trabue, in an interview with Lyman Draper,[42] said that Bird sent in a flag demanding surrender, and that the cannon was only fired twice, knocking a log in about six inches. James Trabue and Captain Hinkson, according to Trabue, wanted to defend the fort, but Ruddle and the majority were for capitulation. The flag was sent back and forth several times

By the terms of surrender Bird agreed that the women and children should be protected and taken to the nearest station and there safely delivered. The men were to be prisoners with the privilege of taking their rifles and such articles as they pleased.

CLARK'S RETALIATION AS SEEN IN SECTIONS 8 & 9 OF BRADFORD'S NOTES[43]

The information of taking Ruddle's and Martin's Stations entirely changed the project that had been conceived of intercepting the army on its way to Louisville, where Major Chapline informed, was the place on which they designed to make their first attack. General Clark therefore recommended that the whole force that could possibly be raised should pursue the Indians to their towns and destroy all their provisions at least.

This proposition was unanimously agreed to by all the officers of the Militia, and as there were a considerable number of men on a visit to the country, immediate orders were given to enroll every man and to prevent any from leaving the country. An officer with a sufficient force was stationed at Crab Orchard, the only outlet from the settled parts, with orders to stop all who attempted to leave the Country, and if they refused to return and join the expedition, to take from them their arms and ammunition.

The great panic occasioned throughout Kentucky by the taking of Ruddle's and Martin's Stations caused the people to look up to General Clark as their only hope. His counsel and advice was received as coming from an oracle. He advised that a levy of four-fifths should be made of all the men in the country capable of bearing arms, whether inhabitants or strangers, and to meet at the mouth of Licking on the 20th July. Those from Lincoln and Fayette, under the command of Colonel Logan, were to march down Licking-those from Jefferson under General Clark were to march up the Ohio.

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Photo of a reeanactment of the taking of Martin's Station taken from a Kentucky National Guard newsletter article on Kentucky Military History, June 11, 2011:

http://kentuckyguard.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/kentucky-military-his...

COUNTY: (As published in the VA Appalachian Notes)

MB #2, p 113; 24 Aug 1780: JAMES STEWART, Jr. on Suspicion of being guilty of Treasonable Conspiracy against

the States of America -- Jury called - found guilty of the fact & that he pay 100 pounds & Costs.

Source: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~makaylor/gen-stew.html

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via daughter Polly Hanks (born Stewart) by SmartCopy: Dec 2 2015, 17:29:30 UTC