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ALDERSON’S military
history began in 1755 with the Indian attack on Baughman’s
Fort, recounted elsewhere, which was an action of the French
and Indian War. In two attacks, only one soldier was killed,
whereas nine civilian men and four women were killed. One
woman and five children were captured.
Since that time, more
than two centuries ago, Alderson has engaged in every war.
Following 1755, several
treaties and agreements were made with the Indians. They
accomplished little except temporary truces. In the early
1770’s the intensity of the Indian—settler murdering,
pillaging and destructions grew. By 1774 something had to be
done. Lo-rd Dunmore was the Governor of Virginia. Dunmore
determined to beat the Indians and there ensued one of the
strangest military actions in American history, Lord
Dunmore’s War. It was of vital importance to the Alderson
area.
Dunmore decided to
raise two little armies of about 1200 men each and advance
to the Ohio. He led the northern company and appointed
Colonel Andrew Lewis to lead the southern company. Lewis’
"soldiers" were from Augusta, Botetourt and Fincastle
counties. (Included in the area is what are now Greenbrier
and Monroe Counties.) This picturesque army met at Camp
Union (Lewisburg) to march to the Ohio. Three companies
under Captain John Lewis, Captain John Stuart and Captain
Robert McClanahan were from the Greenbrier Valley. There
were about 148 officers and men in the three Greenbrier
companies. There were many familiar Alderson names among
those early fighters. In a day long battle, October 10,
1774, Colonel Lewis and his band defeated Cornstalk, the
great Shawnee chief, at Point Pleasant.
No roster of the
soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War from the
Alderson vicinity has been found. There are several veterans
of that war buried in the Greenbrier Baptist Church
cemetery. Many of the men who are credited with service did
not go east and join Washington’s Continental army but went
west to protect the flank of the settlements from Indian
attack. The British had enlisted the savages to fight the
settlements and the attacks were a constant danger requiring
a great amount of men and time. Their service was called
"spying" and regular patrols were established. Many of these
men were drafted into service. Their declarations are
contained in their applications for pensions which showed
they served in Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. In 1781 the
Governor of Virginia ordered a draft of 137 men from
Greenbrier County to serve under George Rogers Clark in the
west.
The last attack by the
Indians in the Alderson area was the killing of Thomas
Griffith near the mouth of Griffith Creek below the
community in 1780. Griffith was killed early one morning.
His son heard the shot, ran out of the house, and the
Indians grabbed him. The Indians were pursued and
intercepted in Kanawha. The Griffith boy was rescued.
Following the
Revolution, Indian attacks on the frontiers did not cease.
Greenbrier County had an organized militia regiment. It was
the 79th Regiment, 13th Brigade and Third Division, composed
of free white males 16 years and older, of which there were
732 in the county. - The Indian attacks- continued from 1783
until after 1794. They were abated locally but continued in
the western reaches of the county. The Western boundary of
Greenbrier County was the Ohio River when it was formed in
1778.
After the United States
of America began to function with Washington’s
inauguration in 1789, military defense of the Nation became
the responsibility of the United States. In 1794 the first
challenge to the Federal authority was the refusal in
Western Pennsylvania of distillers to pay excise tax on
whiskey.
Washington recognized
this for what it would reap —— collapse of the Nation and
its authority. He issued a call from several states for
troops — 3300 from Virginia. The 79th Regiment of Greenbrier
was exempted by special order "becaus1e they consist of
frontier inhabitants exposed to constant Indian warfare."
(Ref. Calendar of Virginia State Papers, Vol. VII, p. 166.)
In the War of 1812,
Greenbrier and Monroe furnished the following units:
Captain Charles W. Lewis’ Company of Monroe County and
Captain John Welch’s Company of Greenbrier County. Both
companies were attached to the Third Regiment of Virginia
Cavalry. The Light Infantry and Rifle Companies were
commanded by Captain William McDaniels of Monroe County, and
Captain James Hill of Monroe County.
These companies fought
at Norfolk, Virginia, and along the Atlantic seaboard. Many
died of "the plague" in 1914-15 and were buried there.
Rosters are not complete. Two widows in Alderson later drew
government pensions, Jean Halfpenny and Jane Huffman.
Before the Civil War
the people in Alderson Ferry locality were not greatly
disturbed by the slavery question. There were few slave
owners and they rarely owned more than two or three slaves.
This agricultural area was not suited to a slave economy as
were the cotton states. The section was frequently in
disagreement with the Virginia state government or the
Virginians east of the mountains. In fact, there was much
friction. But when the time came to choose North or South,
they sided almost unanimously with the South and gave her
devoted support.
In April 1861, Virginia
seceded from the Union and the nation was on fire. Few names
of men who served in the confederacy from this community can
now be found. An old roster of C. B. Edgars Battalion, C.S.A.,
lists 171 men. This roster has a large number of familiar
Alderson family names. Other military units in which local
men served were Lowry’s Battery, Monroe Guards, Thurmond's
Rangers, Chapman’s Battery, Monroe Sharpshooters, Burdette’s
Company, Fleshman’s Company, Rocky Point Grays, and several
others. Morton’s History of Monroe County lists more than
1200 men who served in the Confederacy from Monroe County
and he has considerately not listed deserters, which gives a
good idea of how deeply involved the area was in the Civil
War.
The troops of both North and South passed through Alderson
Ferry in numbers several times.
Page Two:
Reference: Third
Biennial Report, State Dept. Archives and History, Chapter
Vll, pages l42-l85. Pension Rolls and Applications. Lewis,
Virgil A., Third Biennial Report, Dept, of Archives and His-
tory, W. Va. l9l l. Morrison and Commager, The Growth of the
American Republic, Vol. l, P, 216; Morton, Monroe County
History, various references. |
