SOLDIER 
 
 mm 
 
 /IONEER. 
 
LIBRARY ™ CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf.: 
 
 TES OF AMERICA. 
 
:l4M -. ' I 
 
SOLDIER AND PIONEER: 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 Lt.-CoL Richard C. Anderson 
 
 CONTINENTAL ARMY. 
 
 By E. IA ANDERSON. 
 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 182 Fifth Avenue, 
 
 1879. 
 
 
COPYRIGHT. 
 
 E. L. ANDERSON, 
 1878. 
 
HUT SINCE IT PLEASKD A VANISH I) EYE, 
 I GO TO PLANT IT OX HIS TOMB, 
 THAT IF IT CAN IT THERE MAY BLOOM, 
 
 OB DYING, THERE AT LEAST MAY DIE." 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
Contents. 
 
 Old Virginia, 7 
 
 Captain" of thk Fifth Virginia, 14 
 
 The Battle of Trenton, ... - 18 
 
 The Fortunes of War, 24 
 
 Mad Anthony Wayne, - 29 
 
 At Yorktown 38 
 
 The Frontier in 1783, .... 42 
 
 The Chenoweth Massacre, - - - - 48 
 
 Time Flies, 53 
 
 Friends Meet, 56 
 
 Adieu, 61 
 
Old Virginia. 
 
 T!N" the latter part of the seventeenth 
 century Kobert Anderson came to 
 America from Scotland and purchased 
 an estate, called Goldmines, from the 
 fact that some earlier colonist had there 
 made search for the precious metal, in 
 what is now Hanover county, Virginia. 
 
 His son Robert, born January 1, 1712, 
 succeeded him in the possession of the 
 property, and was known, and is now 
 remembered, as "Anderson of Gold- 
 mines." 
 
 My grandfather, Richard Clough An- 
 derson, of whose life I propose to give 
 
 (?) 
 
8 Old Virginia. 
 
 some account, was the fifth child of this 
 second Robert and Elizabeth, daughter 
 of Richard Clough, a colonist from 
 Wales. 
 
 The house built by the first Robert, 
 with massive timbers and great outside 
 chimneys, still stands, marking the birth- 
 place of two generations of his descend- 
 ants. Rocky Mills, formerly the home 
 of Colonel John Syme, lies upon the one 
 hand, and upon the other is the once 
 magnificent plantation of the Dabneys. 
 
 From one who, for more than half a 
 century, has been the owner of Gold- 
 mines, I have learned some of the tra- 
 ditions that are still current concerning 
 the second Robert. lie was, it seems, a 
 mighty hunter, and delighted in the 
 company of his neighbor, John Findley, 
 when following the chase. If, upon ris- 
 ing in the morning, the day proved fa- 
 vorable to sport, he would stand at his 
 
Old Virginia. 9 
 
 door, and, by his unaided voice, summon 
 Findley from his house, which lay a full 
 mile off as the crow flies. According to 
 another story, he directed, upon the 
 death of his wife, in November, 1779, 
 that two coffins should be brought from 
 Richmond, for he desired to save his sur- 
 viving friends the tedious journey over 
 miserable roads, when, in the course of 
 events, a period of seventeen years, as it 
 happened, he should require one. I re- 
 collect hearing that Colonel Richard An- 
 derson told how he came unexpectedly 
 upon this memento mori when he returned 
 from the wars, and found it in use as a 
 fruit-bin. 
 
 My grandfather was born upon the 
 twelfth day of January, 1750. He inher- 
 ited from his father a love for field sports 
 that characterized him throughout his life. 
 Schools were not always at hand in early 
 Virginia, and the education of the chil- 
 
10 Old Virginia. 
 
 dren, with many other domestic duties that 
 are unknown in our economy, fell to the 
 part of the women of the household. But 
 it was not often that young Richard could 
 be brought to his books. While his sis- 
 ters were caring for the poultry or weav- 
 ing the threads gathered from the silk- 
 worms (one of them presented General 
 Washington with a suit of silk made on 
 the home loom), he was getting an exact 
 knowledge of the country for many miles 
 around, and acquiring a physical endur- 
 ance almost equal to that of the wild ani- 
 mals he followed. 
 
 At the time of my grandfather's birth, 
 the white population of the colony did 
 not exceed one hundred thousand souls. 
 But little was known of the region that 
 lay beyond the Blue Ridge mountains, 
 and what we now reverently style " Old 
 Virginia," was a sparsely-settled district 
 abounding in all kinds of game, and not 
 
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Old Virginia. 11 
 
 yet free from the dangers of Indian fo- 
 rays. The negro slaves, amounting in 
 number to the white colonists, cultivated 
 tobacco under the direction of overseers, 
 while the planters employed their time 
 in attending horse races and cock fights, 
 or in the more healthy excitement of the 
 chase. 
 
 Eichard Anderson was not destined to 
 be a mere hunter, for Patrick Coots, 
 who, in wealth and ability, stood at the 
 head of the merchants of Virginia, 
 formed so favorable an opinion of him 
 that he offered to put him in the way of 
 making his fortune. Anderson of Gold- 
 mines did not have the grace to conceal 
 that it was the contempt he felt for trade 
 that induced him to oppose this favora- 
 ble offer ; but, in the face of his father's 
 protest, and against the wishes of all the 
 family, Eichard, at the age of sixteen, 
 entered the family of the merchant. 
 
12 Old Virginia. 
 
 Robert Anderson never fully forgave his 
 son for this disobedience, and my grand- 
 father always felt his unjust displeasure. 
 
 While Robert Anderson and his neigh- 
 bors were chasing the fox, and while their 
 daughters, in their frequent interchange 
 of visits, were discussing the latest scan- 
 dals and fashions from London, for now 
 three hundred ships were employed in 
 carrying out tobacco and introducing 
 foreign follies, young Richard was mak- 
 ing voyages as supercargo for the rich 
 merchant, during one of which he saw 
 the tea thrown over into Boston Harbor, 
 an act that did not, perhaps, make any 
 great impression on his mind at the time, 
 but which often recurred to him in after 
 life. 
 
 That Richard Anderson retained the 
 good will of Mr. Coots can not be 
 doubted, for when the colonies rose in 
 arms against the mother country, and 
 
Old Virginia. 13 
 
 Richard joined with the rebels, the loyal- 
 ist merchant could not bear malice against 
 his young friend, and, on his death-bed, 
 bequeathed him a legacy in proof of his 
 continued affection. 
 
Captain in the Fifth Virginia. 
 
 TDATRICK HENRY, who was a fa- 
 miliar visitor at the house of Coots, 
 pressed Richard Anderson to accept the 
 position of paymaster-general to the 
 forces that Virginia had offered for the 
 defense of the Colonies. But, upon An- 
 derson expressing a preference for the 
 active service of the line, he was, upon 
 the twenty-sixth day of January, 1776, 
 appointed captain of the company of reg- 
 ulars from Hanover county, and upon the 
 seventh of March following, he received 
 his commission to that grade in the Fifth 
 Virginia Continentals, of which Peachey 
 (14) 
 
Captain in the Fifth Virginia. 15 
 
 was the colonel, and William Crawford, 
 who perished so miserably by torture in 
 the Indian wars, was the lieutenant- 
 colonel. 
 
 My grandfather, at his entrance upon 
 military life, was twenty-six years of age, 
 with mind and body well adapted to the 
 dangers and hardships of a soldier's du- 
 ties. He was below the medium height, 
 but had broad shoulders and heavily 
 muscled limbs, and, among a race of 
 hardy pioneers, was remarkable for his 
 strength and activity. His face had a 
 lively, and, notwithstanding a nose of 
 disproportionate size, an agreeable ex- 
 pression. He was of cheerful disposi- 
 tion, and exhibited his pleasure by the 
 sparkling of a pair of blue eyes, for he 
 seldom or never laughed. He was fond 
 of society, and talked well, a certain grim 
 humor giving tone to his conversation. 
 I have been told by those who knew him 
 
16 Captain in the Fifth Virginia. 
 
 that lie was inferior to no man in cool 
 courage, and that he was often selected 
 by his commanding officers for the per- 
 formance of duties where his judgment 
 and discretion should supply the place of 
 explicit orders. Hugh Pleasants, writing 
 in the Richmond Despatch, January 21, 
 1861, says of him : " There was no braver 
 officer in the American army." 
 
 An anecdote that was told of him il- 
 lustrates very well some of his peculiari- 
 ties. It seems that Captain Anderson, 
 while standing upon a narrow bridge, 
 overheard some } r oung ladies who were 
 about to pass, commenting upon the size 
 of his nose. "With perfect composure, he 
 raised his hat from his head with one 
 hand, and, with the other, turned aside 
 the offending member as though it had 
 been a projecting bough, and desired 
 them to pass. A gentleman of the party, 
 who laughed at the absurdity of tho 
 
Captain in the Fifth Virginia. 17 
 
 scene, appeased the captain's wrath by an 
 apology. 
 
 Colonel Peachey resigned his commis- 
 sion before the regiment took the field, 
 and the Fifth Virginia joined "Washing- 
 ton, then about to undertake the move- 
 ments that culminated in the battle of 
 White Plains, under the command of 
 Colonel Scott, one of the best officers in 
 the Continental army. 
 
 The part that Captain Anderson took 
 in the battle of Trenton, in which his 
 regiment was next engaged, merits a par- 
 ticular description, as the relation of it 
 will bring to light certain facts, historic- 
 ally important, that have never been 
 properly represented. 
 
The Battle of Trenton. 
 
 TTPOX the twenty-fourth day of De- 
 cember, 1776, the troops then being 
 encamped near Trenton Falls, Captain 
 Anderson was directed by General Ste- 
 phen, who had been colonel of the 
 Fourth Virginia Infantry, to cross the 
 Delaware in boats with his company, 
 and, after making a reconnoissance in cer- 
 tain directions to return by the way of 
 Trenton, where he should feel for the 
 pickets of the enemy, but avoid engaging 
 a superior force. 
 
 At eight o'clock the next evening, 
 Captain Anderson, having so far accom- 
 (18) 
 
The Battle of Trenton. 19 
 
 plished his purpose, approached the Hes- 
 sian outpost at Trenton. A wintry storm 
 was raging-, and the sentinel walked 
 his beat with his head turned from the 
 biting hail, unconscious of the approach 
 of the hostile party with their snow muf- 
 fled feet. The rifle shot that carried 
 his death roused the relief, who rushed 
 from the guard-house to be driven back 
 into the camp. The alarm was soon car- 
 ried into Trenton, and the troops made 
 ready for defense. 
 
 Captain Anderson, in pursuance of his 
 orders, immediately withdrew his force, 
 avoiding the Hessian horse that made a 
 weak pursuit, by taking a route across the 
 fenced fields, and he recrossed the river 
 in safety. On his march toward camp 
 he met Washington's column marching 
 in force to attack the enemy at Trenton. 
 My grandfather was first addressed by 
 Colonel Butler, then on the staff of the 
 
20 The Battle of Trenton. 
 
 commanding general, who expressed great 
 surprise that any one had dared to put 
 the enemy upon its guard, and, as an old 
 friend of the captain's hoped that he had 
 full warrant for his action. General 
 Washington then rode up, and was 
 greatly enraged upon learning where 
 Captain Anderson had been. He forth- 
 with sent for General Stephen, and de- 
 manded to know why his orders had 
 been disregarded, remarking : " You, sir, 
 may have ruined all my plans." General 
 Stephen assumed all responsibility and 
 stated that he had sent out the party to 
 obtain knowledge of the movements of 
 the enemy. General Washington dis- 
 missed Stephen to his station without 
 further words, and, in a calm and consid- 
 erate manner, directed Captain Anderson 
 to march his men in the vanguard, where 
 they would not be so greatly harrassed by 
 
The Battle of Trenton. 21 
 
 fatigue as they would be in their own 
 place in the column. 
 
 This blunder of General Stephen's 
 brought success to the American army. 
 For Colonel Rahl, who had been warned 
 of the projected movement, relaxed his 
 vigilance when he learned that his dra- 
 goons had driven off the attacking party, 
 and the soldiery gave themselves up to 
 the festivities of the season. At eight 
 o'clock of the next morning, twelve 
 hours after the attack upon the picket 
 guard, Washington won an easy victory 
 from a surprised enemy. 
 
 Captain Anderson, in this second ad- 
 vance, received a wound in the hip from 
 a yager ball, and was conveyed to Phila- 
 delphia upon a gun carriage. While ly- 
 ing in hospital in that city he was the 
 victim of a severe case of small pox, the 
 effect of which was not to improve his 
 personal appearance. 
 
22 The Battle of Trenton. 
 
 The English writer, Gordon, who ob- 
 tained his information relating to the 
 first march upon Trenton from the Hes- 
 sian lieutenant who commanded the 
 picket guard, confuses my grandfather 
 with Captain Washington, who was very 
 active in the general engagement, and 
 some other historians have followed him 
 in the mistake. But that Captain "Wash- 
 ington had no part in the reconnoissance 
 we may he certain, for, in letters written 
 from Trenton, upon the twenty-sixth of 
 December, by General Washington and 
 two others, no mention is made of this 
 important affair, although his actual ser- 
 vices are spoken of in detail. There are 
 hundreds now alive who have heard my 
 grandfather's comrades, around the hos- 
 pitable table of Soldier's Eetreat, speak 
 of the part he took on that memorable 
 Christmas night, and there arc still some 
 living who heard this matter discussed, 
 
The Battle of Trenton. 23 
 
 when, in the autumn of 1817, James 
 Monroe, president elect, visiting my 
 grandfather at his home in Kentucky, 
 met Andrew Jackson, Simon Kenton, and 
 other men of mark. The information 
 upon which this chapter is founded was 
 was received from one who was present 
 on that occasion. The Honorable Alfred 
 Yaple, one of the Judges of the Superior 
 Court of Cincinnati, a man learned in 
 American history, informs me that he 
 heard of Captain Anderson's skirmish 
 with the Hessians from those who had 
 it from General Arthur St. Clair, and 
 that General St. Clair often said that 
 my grandfather's conduct on that occa- 
 sion gained for him "Washington's friend- 
 ship. 
 
The Fortunes of War. 
 
 QAPTAIff ANTDERSOtf served with 
 the Fifth Virginia Regiment in the 
 battles of Brandywine and Germantown. 
 On the 10th day of February, 1778, he 
 was promoted to be major in the First 
 Virginia. With his new regiment my 
 grandfather took part in the battle of 
 Monmouth, in June of the last-mentioned 
 year. 
 
 When, in the autumn of 1779, the Count 
 D'Estaing undertook, with the aid of 
 Lincoln's troops from Charleston, the 
 reduction of Savannah, Major Anderson 
 accompanied the expedition. As the 
 (24) 
 
The Fortunes of War. 25 
 
 French commander was pressed for time, 
 it was determined that the siege should 
 he abandoned, and that an attempt should 
 be made to take the place by assault. 
 The attacking troops were ordered to 
 advance with unloaded muskets. A 
 British soldier, who, with fancied im- 
 punity, was picking off the officers of 
 the Americans, was killed by my grand- 
 father's black servant, Spruce, who did 
 not consider that it was demanded of him 
 to charge the enemy with an empty gun. 
 Major Anderson and some others had 
 gained the parapet of the Spring Hill 
 redoubt, when a Captain Tawes, with 
 whom, when Tawes was a prisoner, my 
 grandfather had lived on terms of inti- 
 macy, thrust his sword through Ander- 
 son's shoulder, and knocked him into 
 the ditch ; the fall giving him a hurt 
 from which he never wholly recovered. 
 
26 The Fortunes of War. 
 
 At the same moment, the British officer 
 received his death wound. 
 
 The attack, though at several points 
 successful, was, in the end, repulsed. 
 Upon his way hack to camp, my grand- 
 father met Pulaski. The unhappy Pole 
 was mounted upon a rough-moving pony, 
 at whose every step the hlood from a 
 mortal wound churned up in the long 
 boots of the rider. Until death released 
 Pulaski from his sufferings, at some hour 
 during that night, Major Anderson re- 
 mained with him. He received from the 
 dying man a sword, in memory of the 
 sad service. 
 
 The continental forces were recalled to 
 Charleston, where Major Anderson re- 
 joined the Virginia line that had been 
 sent down for the defense of that threat- 
 ened point. 
 
 Here, nearly eighty years later, his son 
 Robert, holding the like rank, was forced 
 
The Fortunes of War. 27 
 
 to yield up Fort Sumter to his fellow- 
 citizens arrayed against his government. 
 
 Charleston was surrendered, when, by 
 the regular approaches of a siege, the 
 garrison was put at the mercy of the 
 enemy; and Major Anderson remained 
 a prisoner in the hands of the enemy for 
 about nine months, suffering much hard- 
 ship, often keeping off starvation with a 
 few fish caught in the river bordering 
 the camp; and the privilege of fishing 
 was finally denied him. 
 
 Upon his release he joined General 
 Morgan, who was about to withdraw 
 before Lord Cornwallis. Major Ander- 
 son was so impressed with the military 
 skill displayed in Morgan's movements 
 on this retreat, that afterwards, when 
 he had charge of Lafayette's rear-guard, 
 he used the same tactics, and with like 
 success, before the same enemy. 
 
 It was the custom of General Morgan, 
 
28 The Fortunes of War. 
 
 after making the day's march, to go into 
 biviouac and build the usual fires. Then, 
 when his troops had taken supper, he 
 would withdraw them four or five miles, 
 and let them rest until morning. In this 
 way he avoided surprises, though followed 
 by one of the most wily and dashing 
 officers of the British service. 
 
 When Major Anderson reached Rich- 
 mond he found an order from General 
 Washington directing him to report him- 
 self to General Lafayette, who had been 
 placed in command of the Continental 
 troops in Virginia, as it was supposed 
 that my grandfather's accurate know- 
 ledge of the country might prove of great 
 assistance to the Marquis in determining 
 his movements. 
 
Mad Anthony Wayne. 
 
 gima was 
 
 TN the spring of 1781 Vii 
 
 threatened hy a hostile force of 
 twenty-five hundred men, under the 
 traitor Arnold, who was, however, su- 
 perseded in the command by General 
 Phillips before active operations were 
 begun. 
 
 To the Marquis de Lafayette, with a 
 few disheartened troops, was confided 
 the defense of the colony. General Wayne 
 had been directed by the commander-in- 
 chief to march some detachments of Con- 
 tinental troops, that were at York in 
 Pennsylvania, to the army of General 
 
 (29) 
 
30 Mad Anthony Wayne. 
 
 Greene in the Carolinas, and he had been 
 further instructed to lend aid, while on 
 his route, to Lafayette, provided the 
 Marquis should demand it. 
 
 Lafayette was compelled to retreat 
 from Richmond, closely pursued by the 
 British forces, now increased to the 
 number of seven thousand men by 
 the troops of Cornwallis, and under the 
 command of that active leader. The 
 object of Lafayette's movement was to 
 protect the stores that had been carried 
 to Albemarle Court House and other 
 points of present safety; while Corn- 
 wallis not only hoped to destroy these 
 supplies that were of almost vital im- 
 portance to the struggling colonies, but 
 also believed that he might gain the 
 whole of Virginia to the British arms. 
 
 Upon learning the nature of the orders 
 given to General Wayne, the Marquis 
 requested his immediate aid, and in- 
 
Mad Anthony Wayne. 31 
 
 dicated to him the route his army would 
 follow in its retreat and the point 
 where the Pennsylvania troops should 
 join it. Withdrawing now to this place 
 of meeting, the Marquis exhibited to the 
 enemy every proof of disorder and weak- 
 ness. Cornwallis was confident that he 
 had him in his grasp. " The boy can 
 not escape me," wrote the Earl, joyfully 
 anticipating the glory of depriving the 
 rebels of one of their wisest advisers and 
 ablest leaders. 
 
 This " boyhood " of Lafayette's was a 
 matter of ridicule with the enemy and 
 of indignant jealousy to the Continentals. 
 Among these malcontents General Wayne 
 was prominent, as well on account of his 
 rank and reputation in the army as because 
 his ardent temper made him most violent 
 in the expression of his dissatisfaction. 
 
 The time fixed upon for the arrival of 
 the Pennsylvania troops had passed by, 
 
32 Mad Anthony Wayne. 
 
 and yet nothing was heard from Wayne. 
 The delay of this officer, deferring the 
 forward movement, filled Lafayette's 
 mind with anxiety for the safety of Steu- 
 ben's detached force, and of the stores at 
 Albemarle. The Marquis, therefore, sent 
 Major Anderson to urge Wayne to 
 march with all haste, as the occasion 
 was a pressing one. 
 
 Major Anderson fonnd General Wayne 
 in camp at a place called "The Red 
 House," and received from him an un- 
 gracious promise to move up. After the 
 expiration of three days, the Marquis, 
 having learned that Wayne was not ad- 
 vancing, again sent Major Anderson 
 with a peremptory order to join him by 
 forced marches, and Major Anderson 
 was instructed to remain with Wayne, 
 sending forward hourly dispatches to his 
 chief, until the troops should arrive at 
 the camp. 
 
Mad Anthony Wayne. 33 
 
 When Major Anderson reached Wayne 
 on his second mission, he found that the 
 General had moved but four miles from 
 his former headquarters. Upon entering 
 the room that served as the Adjutant's 
 office, my grandfather saluted the Gen- 
 eral and his staff officers in a friendly 
 and natural manner, and asking for pen, 
 ink, and paper, sat down as if to write. 
 Looking up to Wayne, whose curiosity 
 had been aroused by this proceeding, he 
 told the General that he had been sent 
 by the Marquis de Lafayette to repeat 
 the order for his advance, and that as he 
 was about to forward the first of the 
 hourly dispatches required of him, he 
 desired to know what should be the 
 nature of the report. 
 
 Wayne was at first amazed at the au- 
 dacious intrusion, and staring at Major 
 Anderson, asked, in a low tone, "Do 
 you mean to insult me?" My grand- 
 
34 Mad Anthony Wayne. 
 
 father denied having any such intention, 
 but said that in the course of duty he car- 
 ried the commands of a superior officer. 
 Wayne's voice, which had been husky 
 and choked with passion, now broke 
 forth like the thunder that has given a 
 low and threatening prelude: "Superior! 
 Superior ! Do you dare call any damned 
 foreigner, and a hoy, too, my superior?" 
 He then poured forth a torrent of oaths 
 and imprecations upon all foreigners, not 
 sparing my grandfather for having as- 
 sociated himself with "the fortune- 
 seeking Frenchman." He became more 
 vehement as he lashed himself into a 
 fury, and finally, in the rapidity of his 
 utterance, he fell into incoherent raving. 
 Nor did he cease from striding up and 
 down the room, stamping his foot in a 
 paroxysm of rage at each turning. It 
 was the indulgence in these furious out- 
 
Mad Anthony Wayne. 35 
 
 bursts of temper, and not his well-known 
 rashness in battle, that gave him the 
 nickname of Mad Anthony. At length, 
 fatigued by his violent action and the 
 force of his passion, "Wayne gradually 
 subsided into human nature and even 
 into gentleness of manner. But any 
 reference to the object of Major Ander- 
 son's visit led to just such a scene as I 
 have described. Four times did he give 
 way to these frenzies, when, having re- 
 lapsed into a reasonable state of mind, 
 he joined the conversation, which one of 
 his officers had turned into a channel 
 that might divert his mind from the 
 dangerous topic. Wayne having ex- 
 pressed himself hopeful of a certain, but 
 perhaps distant, success for the American 
 arms, Major Anderson confessed that 
 his mind was filled with gloomy fore- 
 bodings. He was, as he secretly hoped 
 
36 Mad Anthony Wayne. 
 
 to be, pressed for his reasons. He 
 saw that the critical moment had ar- 
 rived, and with more words than were 
 customary with him he told the Gen- 
 eral that as the only hope of success 
 against a formidable foe lay in voluntary 
 union and subordination, the example he 
 had witnessed that day of an officer 
 high in rank and of distinguished ser- 
 vices, refusing to obey the orders of a 
 superior, deprived him of the hope of a 
 useful or permanent success. " General 
 Wayne," said he, "I look to you to re- 
 move these apprehensions." 
 
 This condemnation of "Wayne's course 
 seemed about to rouse his anger; but he 
 was, though jealous and excitable, a true 
 patriot and a real soldier, and with 
 almost that heat with which he had 
 lately refused to obey he cried out, " Tell 
 him I'll jine him! Tell him I'll jine 
 
Mad Anthony Wayne. 37 
 
 him ! By God ! tell him I J ll jine him 
 to-morrow ! " 
 
 [This incident was described by J. D. S., a 
 writer unknown to the author, in the Richmond 
 Whig, and his article was republished in the 
 Spirit of the Times, of October 22, 1843.] 
 
sli Yorklown. 
 
 pEXERAL WAYNE brought only 
 eight hundred muskets to Lafayette, 
 but as there was need of prompt action, 
 the Marquis boldly took the offensive. 
 The faint-hearted Continentals caught the 
 ardor of their young and gallant leader, 
 and became eager to seek the glories that 
 were to be won from a foe superior in 
 numbers. 
 
 On several occasions Lafayette offered 
 battle to the enemy, first taking care 
 that he could retreat in case of need; 
 but Lord Cornwallis refused his challenge 
 in each case. Once, on the 5th of July, 
 (38) 
 
At Yorldown. 39 
 
 Wayne rashly forced the enemy to turn, 
 and had not Lafayette been at hand, the 
 Pennsylvania regiments would have been 
 annihilated ; for the British troops were 
 in strong force. Cornwallis was retiring 
 to some point on the coast, in obedience 
 to the orders of Sir Henry Clinton, in 
 order that his army might be available 
 for the defense of New York, should it 
 be required. This attempt to maintain 
 both "New York and Virginia w T as made 
 against the better judgment of Corn- 
 wallis, and he had the mortification of 
 retiring with a larger force before the 
 advance of his despised opponent. "When 
 the Earl had marched his men into the 
 peninsula, Lafayette saw that the enemy 
 was entrapped, and joyously wrote to 
 Washington, " It is the most beautiful 
 sight which I may ever behold." 
 
 Every effort was now made to insure 
 the capture of the embarrassed and en- 
 
40 At Yorktown. 
 
 tangled army. The French fleet took 
 possession of the bay, and all of the un- 
 employed Continental troops were hur- 
 ried upon the scene. General Nelson 
 had been made governor of Virginia, in 
 view of such an occurrence, and the 
 militia promptly answered his call. 
 
 My grandfather had now been in the 
 military family of the Marquis de La- 
 fayette for more than six months, and 
 had gained by his services and character 
 the confidence and friendship of his chief, 
 having on his part the greatest respect 
 and affection for the noble foreigner. It 
 was, therefore, a matter of sincere regret 
 to both that my grandfather was ordered, 
 about the first of September, to report to 
 Governor Nelson to assist him in or- 
 ganizing the militia. Upon the 19th 
 day of September, the third parallel of 
 approach having been opened, and all 
 hope of succor from Clinton having 
 
At Yorktown. 41 
 
 been given up, Lord Cornwallis surren- 
 dered the place and the troops to the 
 allied armies. 
 
 During the whole of this campaign, 
 my grandfather's duties were of the 
 most arduous and responsible nature, 
 and so well were they performed that he 
 was rewarded by promotion to the grade 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Continental 
 army, and he was at the same time ap- 
 pointed a Brigadier- General of Virginia 
 militia. 
 
 In April of the year 1783, the army 
 was disbanded, and Colonel Anderson 
 was with one voice chosen by his brother 
 officers surveyor-general of the lands 
 reserved to pay the Virginia Continental 
 line, and the selection was approved by 
 the State legislature. 
 
The Frontier in 1783. 
 
 SPHERE were two districts reserved for 
 the troops of tlie Continental line. 
 One was a large tract of land in Ken- 
 tucky, lying between the Green and 
 Cumberland rivers. The other was the 
 region lying between the Little Miami 
 and Scioto rivers, going back to the 
 headwaters of those streams in the Ohio 
 country. Hostile Indians inhabited this 
 latter district, and their frequent incur- 
 sions after game rendered Kentucky a 
 dangerous home for the pioneers. 
 
 My grandfather selected Louisville as 
 the most convenient place in which to cs- 
 (42) 
 
The Frontier in 1783. 43 
 
 tablish himself, as it was midway between 
 his districts. At the time he reached the 
 frontier, in the spring of the year 1783, 
 Louisville was nothing more than a few 
 log houses scattered around the palisade 
 work known as Fort ISTelson, and in the 
 territory that is now known as the State 
 of Ohio there was not one permanent 
 settlement. 
 
 In Kentucky, then a county of Virginia, 
 the pioneers gathered for safety at the 
 stations, going out to work the fields 
 during the day, but coming in like sheep 
 to the fold at nightfall. 
 
 These stations were simply huts con- 
 nected by curtains of palisades, and some- 
 times huts only, pierced for musketry 
 and placed so as to protect each other. 
 From these primitive forts a few brave 
 men would drive off an enemy of many 
 times their own number. Indeed, it was 
 seldom that a station was captured by 
 
44 The Frontier in 1783. 
 
 the Indians unless through surprise or 
 treachery, for the knowledge that no 
 mercy could be expected from the savage 
 foe nerved the pioneer's arm to a deadly 
 aim, and he thought not of surrender. 
 
 As the surveyor-general my grand- 
 father was compelled to remain almost 
 constantly in his office, for assistants 
 made the actual surveys and reported 
 them to him. It is easy to imagine that 
 the duties of these assistants led them 
 into dangers and hardships. In small 
 parties, and often singly, they would 
 travel for hundreds of miles through 
 Indian-haunted woods that never before 
 had echoed to the step of a white man, 
 dependent for their food upon the rifle 
 and exposed to death in many forms. 
 Of these men I mention the names of 
 Generals Massie, Lytle, James Taylor, 
 Duncan McArthur, and Lucas Sullivant, 
 as some of the earlier appointments made 
 
The Frontier in 1783. 45 
 
 by Colonel Anderson, and as those who 
 have left their marks npon the times. 
 
 This office-life was not to my grand- 
 father's liking, and, whenever he could 
 lay aside his pen, he would seize his gun 
 and seek the woods. In these excursions 
 he was often accompanied by George 
 Rogers Clark, the grandest actor on the 
 scene, the founder of the Commonwealth 
 of Kentucky, and the leader of one of 
 the boldest expeditions in the history of 
 war. These two would consider them- 
 selves happy when they could leave the 
 safety of the fort, and without shelter, 
 and exposed to many perils, wander in 
 the grim forest. 
 
 In 1787 Colonel Anderson married a 
 sister of General Clark's, and the next 
 year he built a log house ten miles from 
 Louisville, and with his wife, a babe, and 
 some negro servants, moved into the wil- 
 derness. 
 
46 The Frontier in 1783. 
 
 Here my grandfather could gratify his 
 taste for the chase, but I doubt whether 
 the most fearless would consider " Sol- 
 dier's Ketreat," as he called his new 
 home, a very secure refuge. His nearest 
 neighbors, at Linn's Station, were five 
 miles off. In another direction, and but 
 a little further removed, lived Captain 
 Chenoweth and his family. 
 
 No record has been kept of the heed- 
 less travelers who fell victims to the 
 murderous red men of this region, but so 
 wary a backwoodsman as Colonel Linn 
 was killed by a wandering party of In- 
 dians within half a mile of my grand- 
 father's house, and the fate of the Chen- 
 oweth s I will hereafter relate. 
 
 A short time after Colonel Anderson 
 had taken possession of his home, a gen- 
 tleman named Sales, and his negro man 
 Louis, were surprised and captured by a 
 small body of Indians. This party then 
 
The Frontier in 1783. 47 
 
 withdrew into the underbrush, and the 
 captives were directed to keep quiet. 
 Presently, one of the Indians gave a 
 shrill whistle, as if to call some one. At 
 the distance of a long rifle-shot Sales saw 
 my grandfather so intently following his 
 dog that the signal was not heard. 
 Again the Indian whistled, but, fortu- 
 nately Colonel Anderson disregarded it, 
 and walked off into safety. It was not 
 until the escape of Sales that my grand- 
 father learned how narrowly he had 
 avoided the snare. 
 
The Chenowdh Massacre. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the Indians had way- 
 laid many travelers, they had not 
 yet attacked any of the stations or houses 
 about Louisville, and, strange as it may 
 seem to us of this day, the pioneers lived 
 in fancied security. But an event of the 
 year 1789 showed them the dreadful dan- 
 gers with which they had been threat- 
 ened. 
 
 One night, in the year last mentioned, 
 my grandfather was awakened by hear- 
 ing the suspicious sound of a moccasin- 
 covered foot upon the gravel-walk before 
 the house. Raising his right hand, he 
 (48) 
 
The Chenoweth Massacre. 49 
 
 cocked the rifle that lay loaded in the 
 rack above his head, and waited for the 
 next move of the supposed enemy. In a 
 moment there was a light tap at the door. 
 As it was a common trick of the Indians 
 to seek admittance into houses under 
 various pleas, my grandfather demanded 
 the name of his visitor. "I am John 
 Snow," said a familiar voice, " the In- 
 dians have attacked Chenoweth' s, and I 
 alone have escaped." All that could he 
 learned from the frightened man was, 
 that while the family were at supper, 
 Captain Chenoweth being absent, the 
 savages had surrounded the house, and 
 that he had escaped by breaking through 
 their line. 
 
 A visitor, Mr. William Elliott, who 
 was sleeping in the room above the one 
 occupied by my grandfather, was called 
 down and sent to summon the men at 
 Linn's Station. Colonel Anderson at 
 
50 The Chenoweth Massacre. 
 
 once mounted a horse, and reached Chen- 
 oweth's as the day was dawning. 
 
 Upon the door-step was seated a little 
 girl of four years quietly playing with 
 her braided hair. She recognized my 
 grandfather as he rode up, and with a 
 calm voice, said, " We 're all dead here, 
 Colonel Anderson." 
 
 Near the wood-pile at the side of the 
 house lay little Jamie, two years older 
 than his sister, with a deep wound from 
 a tomahawk in his forehead. To the sur- 
 prise of my grandfather, he rose up and 
 seemed fully conscious. Jamie recov- 
 ered, and I knew him when he was a 
 hale old man, seemingly none the worse 
 for this hurt, though the scar showed 
 that it had been a fearful one. 
 
 Mrs. Chenoweth was missing, but three 
 children and a servant were lying dead 
 upon the floor of the cabin, and the In- 
 dians had displaced and broken every 
 
The Chenoweih Massacre. 51 
 
 piece of furniture. The little girl who 
 was unhurt owed her safety to this de- 
 structive spirit, for she was in bed at the 
 time of the attack, and the Indians, in 
 pulling out the mattresses, had thrown 
 her down between the bed and the wall, 
 where she lay until they left the place. 
 
 "When other neighbors came up, the 
 trail of Mrs. Chenoweth was taken, and 
 she was found, lying in the woods at no 
 great distance, nearly dead, her scalp 
 having been taken. She was given the 
 best care that those rude times afforded, 
 and was soon able to tell her sad story. 
 
 When the savages broke into the room 
 she fled through the open door, closely 
 pursued by one of them. At the mo- 
 ment he threw his tomahawk her foot 
 tripped and she fell, the weapon flying 
 harmlessly over her head. She lay there 
 motionless, and the Indian, thinking that 
 he had killed her, took out his knife, 
 
52 The Chenoiveth Massacre. 
 
 and, cutting a circle about her head, tore 
 off the scalp. Such was her fear that 
 she did not cry out during the agony of 
 that terrible operation. "When he left 
 her she was blinded with blood, and, as 
 she was unable to rise, she had crawled 
 to the place where she was found, in an 
 effort to reach Soldier's Eetreat. 
 
 For many years my grandfather did 
 not see Mrs. Chenoweth, but when, on 
 his journey to Virginia, he stopped at a 
 wayside house, his first words drew out 
 the exclamation: "Oh! Colonel Ander- 
 son," from a blind woman sitting in the 
 room he had entered. It was Mrs. Chen- 
 oweth, who never forgot a sound she 
 heard on that dreadful morning. 
 
Time Flies. 
 
 TT^HEN", in the year 1793, General 
 Wayne defeated the combined forces 
 of the Indians at Fallen Timbers, a stop 
 was put to the depredations of the sav- 
 ages, and the journey down the Ohio be- 
 ing comparatively safe, a great number 
 of emigrants went to Kentucky, and the 
 country about Soldier's Retreat became 
 thickly settled. 
 
 The old log-cabin in which my grand- 
 father had lived for several years gave 
 place to a large and substantial house of 
 stone, and there Colonel Anderson prac- 
 ticed a hospitality of the broadest kind. 
 
 (53) 
 
54 Time Flies. 
 
 To his tabic came all of his old army 
 comrades who were passing up or down 
 the river, the pioneers looking for homes, 
 the wandering hunters, and even the In- 
 dians, who, a few years before, had waged 
 relentless war against the white men, 
 some of whom, perhaps, had lain in wait 
 for their host. A gentleman told me 
 that he had often met Little Turtle, who 
 defeated General St. Clair, a harmless 
 guest at Soldier's Retreat. 
 
 The new State flourished, and before 
 the close of the century Colonel Ander- 
 son built a two-masted vessel, called the 
 Caroline, which he loaded with the pro- 
 ducts of Kentucky and sent to London. 
 Whether he gained anything by the ven- 
 ture I do not know, but a French clock 
 that formed part of the return cargo is 
 etill keeping excellent time. 
 
 In 1797, his first wife having died two 
 vears before, Colonel Anderson married 
 
Time Flies. 55 
 
 Sarah, daughter of William and Ann 
 McLeod Marshall. 
 
 With the beginning of the new century 
 came a new order of things. Louisville 
 was a city, and around Soldier's Retreat, 
 where, a few years before, were dense 
 woods and dreary canebrakes filled with 
 wild beasts and savage men, were now 
 smiling farms and peaceful friends. The 
 people were no longer called upon to 
 suffer hardships, for they were within 
 the bounds of civilization, and the frontier 
 had been removed further west. 
 
 Once again, in his seventy-fifth year, 
 my grandfather revisited Vi rginia. Wh at 
 must have been his emotions upon re- 
 turning as an old man to the scenes of 
 his youth, after an unbroken absence of 
 more than forty years. 
 
fc& rfuX'j?A,l> *^<&*'*t«4& 
 
 '££S 
 
 dk 
 
 '#£\ 
 
 Friends Meet. 
 
 TT^HEN, after the lapse of nearly half 
 a century, the Marquis de Lafay- 
 ette came to see, in its strength, the na- 
 tion that he had left in its infancy, he ac- 
 cepted the proffered hospitalities of Ken- 
 tucky. A few days before his arrival in 
 the State, my grandfather received the 
 following note : 
 
 "Colonel Anderson: 
 
 " The committee appointed by the Gov- 
 ernor, on the part of the State, to super- 
 intend the arrangements for the recep- 
 tion, and to provide for the accommoda- 
 tion of General Lafayette while on a visit 
 (56) 
 
Friends Meet. 57 
 
 to this State, sensible of the worth of 
 your military services during our Revo- 
 lutionary War, and knowing the public 
 relation in which you stood to him as 
 one of the aicls-de-camp of that illustrious 
 man, beg leave, on behalf of the State, 
 to request that you will accompany the 
 General on his visit to Frankfort, and at 
 the public entertainment there to be 
 given him by the State. 
 
 " Your mo. obt. servts., 
 
 "W. T. Barry, 
 " J. Bledsoe, 
 " Thos. Bodley, 
 "C.S.Todd." 
 
 In accordance with the arranged order 
 of affairs, the Marquis, who came up the 
 river on a steamboat, was received by 
 the committee on the part of the State 
 at Louisville. I am under obligations to 
 Mr. J. F. D. Lanier, of New York City, 
 who was a witness of the scene, for the 
 following description of the meeting be- 
 
58 Friends Meet. 
 
 tween the Marquis de Lafayette and Col- 
 onel Anderson : 
 
 " In the year 1825, General Lafayette 
 made his first visit to the United States 
 since the Revolutionary "War had ended. 
 I was then a citizen of the State of In- 
 diana, and a resident of Madison. His 
 travels throughout the length and breadth 
 of the country were a grand ovation. 
 He was received and welcomed every- 
 where, each city and town vying with 
 the other in lavishing kindness, hospi- 
 tality, and greetings to the ' nation's 
 guest.' 
 
 "Among other places in the West he 
 visited Louisville, Kentucky, which city 
 was in the course of his journey from 
 the South to visit Mr. Clay at Lexington. 
 That was in the month of June of that 
 year. He came up the Ohio river by 
 steamboat, and landed at Shippingsport, 
 a small town just below Louisville, that 
 being the head of navigation of the Ohio 
 river at that time. The boat that brought 
 
Frieyids Meet. 59 
 
 him up was expected to arrive at a cer- 
 tain hour of the day, and the whole 
 country side' were assembled on the banks 
 awaiting his arrival. At length the boat 
 appeared, and amid the wildest excite- 
 ment and cheering approached the shore, 
 where a plank was thrown out for the 
 passengers to land, as was the custom of 
 that day. 
 
 " Your grandfather, General Richard C. 
 Anderson, who had served as one of 
 General Lafayette's aids during the Inv- 
 olution, together with your father, then 
 a young man, were present on that occa- 
 sion. 
 
 "It has afforded me, in after times,' 
 great pleasure to have been an eye-wit- 
 ness of the occurrence. Although fifty 
 years and more have passed, still I have 
 as vivid a recollection of the affair as if 
 it occurred only last week. 
 
 "After the party had safely landed, Gen- 
 eral Lafayette, who was a little lame, and 
 obliged to lean on a gentleman's arm by 
 his side, surrounded by old friends, was 
 
60 Friends Meet. 
 
 ascending slowly the steep bank of the 
 river, which was now covered with an im- 
 mense multitude, when, at once recog- 
 nizing your grandfather in the crowd, 
 whom he had not seen for forty years, 
 they rushed into each other's arms and 
 kissed each other ! 
 
 "It was indeed an affecting scene, ever 
 to be remembered. It was with diffculty 
 that any one present could repress their 
 emotions at seeing the two friends, now 
 both well advanced in years, in each 
 other's embrace. 1 have a distinct recol- 
 lection of the appearance of your grand- 
 father on that day. His hair was white 
 
 But after the old friends had recovered 
 from the shock at seeing in each other 
 how badly time had treated them, they 
 broke out into hearty laughter upon the 
 Marquis repeating the memorable words 
 of General Wayne: " Tell him I'll jine 
 him ! Tell him I'll jine him ! By God, 
 tell him I'll jine him to-morrow! " 
 
tfdieu. 
 
 r\N the 16th day of October, 1826, atter 
 a painful illness, borne with charac- 
 teristic fortitude, my grandfather gave up 
 this life, which, though passed in unceas- 
 ing labor, and amidst great and constant 
 perils, must beheld to have been a happy 
 one. He was at an early age inured to 
 the hardships that the soldier and the 
 pioneer must undergo, and he found 
 pleasure in the excitements of the camp 
 and of the border. 
 
 He was never rich, nor did he wish to 
 accumulate money, but when the time 
 came he found that he could afford to 
 
 (61) 
 
f>2 Adieu. 
 
 give his children the best advantages in 
 their education. Though he never held 
 a political office, his career was a public 
 one, and he was thoroughly respected. 
 
 He lived long enough to see his chil- 
 dren exhibit characters that promised to 
 reflect credit upon him. He had six 
 sons : Richard, who twice represented his 
 district in the National Congress, was 
 minister to the United States of Colum- 
 bia, and who died, greatly regretted, at 
 Carthagena, on his way to the Congress 
 at Panama, as Commissioner; Larz An- 
 derson, of Cincinnati, lately deceased, a 
 scholar, and the conscientious steward 
 of his large fortune ; Robert Anderson, 
 of Fort Snmter; William Marshall An- 
 derson, one of the first to cross the 
 Rocky mountains, and who, when three 
 score years of age, made a scientific jour- 
 ney through Northern Mexico ; John 
 Anderson, of Chillicothe, and Charles 
 
Adieu. 63 
 
 Anderson, who made the speech before 
 the secession meeting at San Antonio, in 
 1861, in favor of sustaining the Union. 
 
■ ■■■■■ • . . •-- «' ..■VVr 1 ^ 
 
 
J*£.