Battle of Point Pleasant, The

DESCRIPTION: "Let us mind the tenth day of October, Seventy-four, which caused woe." "Captain Lewis and some noble Captains" engage in battle with the Indians by the Ohio River; "seven score," including the officers, are casualties, but the battle is won
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Aplington)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) battle death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 10, 1774 - Battle of Point Pleasant
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 40, p. 93, "The Battle of Point Pleasant" (1 text)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, p. 213, "The Battle of Point Pleasant" (1 text)
Salt-BuckeyeHeritage-OhiosHistory, pp. 25-26, "The Battle of Point Pleasant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colonial-Dames-AmericanWarSongs, p. 13, "The Battle of Point Pleasant" (1 text, so different from most of the above that it is very possibly a separate poem)
Roud #4029
NOTES [152 words]: This song is item dA31 in Laws's Appendix II.
The Battle of Point Pleasant was the culmination of "Lord Dunmore's War." John Murray, Earl of Dunmore (1732-1809), was governor of Virginia, but determined to control territories beyond the Appalachians (a plan completely contrary to official British policy). His maneuvers pushed the Shawnee and Ottowa Indians to war.
The Battle of Point Pleasant was fought when the Shawnee chief Cornstalk was caught between two converging columns of Virginia soldiers, led by Dunmore and Colonel Andrew Lewis. Cornstalk, realizing his plight, attacked Lewis's force at Point Pleasant (at the mouth of the Great Kanawha River), but was defeated.
After Point Pleasant, there was little the Shawnee could do, and diplomats had already convinced other tribes to leave them to their fate. Negotiations secured the Europeans free passage of the Ohio and hunting rights in Kentucky. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: LPnd093

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