Monument to the Battle of Point Pleasant
In the early 1770s colonists from Virginia were moving west toward the Ohio River Valley, into lands occupied by the Shawnee and Mingo Indian tribes. This movement of settlers, as you could guess, was not very popular among those native Americans and soon conflict broke out.
The governor of Virginia at the time was John Murray, who persuaded the House of Burgesses to declare war against the Shawnee and Mingo nations. This war, known as Lord Dunmore’s War (Murray was an English nobleman who was the 4th Earl of Dunmore, making him Lord Dunmore) took place in 1774 with action taking place across the Appalachian frontier.
On this day in 1774 the Battle of Point Pleasant took place at Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia) along the Ohio River. In that battle forces led by Shawnee chief Cornstalk attacked Virginia militiamen commanded by Colonel Andrew Lewis in an attempt to halt the advance of Lewis’ men into the Ohio Valley. After what was the biggest battle in the war, Cornstalk retreated across the Ohio with the Virginians in hot pursuit, accompanied by a second force led by the governor himself, Lord Dunmore.
The colonial forces were able to compel Cornstalk to agree to a treaty, the Treaty of Camp Charlotte, giving to Virginia all Shawnee claims to land south of the Ohio River, in present-day Kentucky and West Virginia. Cornstalk also agreed to return all white captives and to stop harassing barges traveling on the Ohio River.
