Sandy Creek Expedition

The campaign was initiated in early 1756 by Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie in response to Indian raids on settlements in the New River, Greenbrier River, and Tygart River valleys, during which about 70 settlers were killed, wounded, or captured. Farms and communities were abandoned as survivors retreated east into the Shenandoah Valley. In June, 1755, Shawnee warriors captured Captain Samuel Stalnaker at his homestead on the Holston River, (near present-day Chilhowie, Virginia), and killed his wife and son. In July, Mary Draper Ingles and her children were captured during the Draper's Meadow Massacre, (near present-day Blacksburg, Virginia). Both Ingles and Stalnaker later escaped captivity and walked hundreds of miles to return home. After arriving home in November, 1755, Mary Draper Ingles informed her husband William Ingles of the general location and layout of Lower Shawneetown, where she had lived as a captive for about three weeks. William Ingles may have suggested to Governor Dinwiddie the idea for an attack on this large Native American community, which was the main Shawnee village at the confluence of the Ohio River and the Scioto River. Stalnaker was also held at Lower Shawneetown, where Mary Ingles met him and other captives taken in settlement raids. He escaped in May, 1756. four smaller volunteer companies, Preston's Rangers In 1755, Governor Dinwiddie had ordered the formation of several "ranging companies" to protect settlements from attacks by Native tribes allied with the French, to garrison forts and reinforce areas expecting attack. The Cherokee warriors were under the joint leadership of Captain Richard Pearis and Chief Outacite Ostenaco. Dinwiddie had agreed to supply them with guns and ammunition, but could only obtain older, heavier rifles for the Cherokees, writing on 15 January, 1756: "I have sent 150 Small Arms, Powder and Shott...I know they are too heavy but I have desired they may have the lightest [that] are among our people..." The Cherokees offered to train Virginian soldiers in Indian-style warfare, which favored shooting from behind cover, using stealth and surprise, rather than firing in volleys from assembled ranks. Washington wanted Virginian troops to adopt these tactics, and noted, :"...five hundred Indians have it more in their power to annoy the Inhabitants, than ten times their number of Regulars. For, besides the advantageous way they have of fighting in the Woods, their cunning and craft are not to be equalled; neither their activity and indefatigable Sufferings: They prowl about like Wolves; and like them, do their mischief by Stealth...It is in their power to be of infinite use to us; and without Indians, we shall never be able to cope with those cruel Foes to our Country..." On 13 January, 1756, Washington wrote to Dinwiddie: "I have given all necessary orders for training the Men to a proper use of their Arms, and the method of Ind'n Fighting, and hope in a little time to make them expert." Dinwiddie approved, writing to Washington on 23 January: "You have done very right in ordering the Men to be train'd in the [Indian] Method of fighting..." The Virginians also needed to learn woodcraft and the art of tracking enemies through the wilderness. The son of the Cherokee chief Conocotocko I commented to Dinwiddie: "Our brothers [the Virginians] fight very strong, but can’t follow an Indian by the Foot as we can." Timing and route Major Lewis decided not to use the shorter and easier route to Lower Shawneetown, which would have been along the New River to the Kanawha River, because he was afraid the Shawnee would be more likely to learn about the expedition. Instead, he chose a less-traveled route through uninhabited mountains, following a war trail along "Sandy Creek," (now known as the Dry Fork), then following the Tug Fork to the Big Sandy River that forms the West Virginia-Kentucky border today. The expedition passed through present-day McDowell County and Mingo County. The decision to launch the expedition in February was based on the assumption that the Big Sandy would be swollen by snowmelt, making it easier and faster to descend by canoe. Also, Washington apparently had received intelligence indicating that many of Lower Shawneetown's warriors had "removed up the River, into the Neighbourhood of [Fort] Duquesne," leaving the town temporarily defenseless. == Expedition ==

showing "Lor Shawnee T." to the lower left of map's center.On 6 February, 1756, Dinwiddie wrote to Lewis: "The distance by Evans' map is not two hundred miles to the Upper Towns of the Shawnees, however, at once begin your march." On 29 February, Captain Preston wrote in his journal: "The creek has been much frequently used by Indians both traveling and hunting on it, and...I am apprehensive that Stalnaker and the prisoners taken with him were carried this way." The weather was extremely cold and snow made progress even slower. Lieutenant Thomas Morton, who kept a diary of the expedition, wrote: :"...In our Camps was little else but cursing, swearing, confusion and complaining...and we are now suf'ring very much for want of provision, and a great part of the men...have this day fallen on a resolution to go back, for we can see nothing before us but inevitable destruction." The expedition paused on 7 March to build canoes, with the hope that traveling by water would be less tiresome. Captain Preston estimated that by 8 March they had traveled 186 miles. On 12 March, an accident led to the loss of guns and tents. Captain Preston wrote in his diary for that day: :"Capt. Woodson now arrived with some of his company, with the intelligence that his canoe overset, and he had lost his tents, and every thing valuable in it; that Major Lewis' canoe was sunk in the river, and that the Major, Capt. Overton, Lieut. Gun, and one other man had to swim for their lives, and that several things of value were lost, particularly five or six fine guns." Rations were by now nearly exhausted and men began to desert, trying to make their way home in small groups, most of whom did not survive. On 13 March, Lewis asked which of his troops were willing to continue, but only a small number voted to proceed. Two companies had already decided to turn back, and Lewis himself was finally forced to make the decision to abandon the campaign and return home. Preston's diary ends with: :"Then Major Lewis stepped off some yards, and desired all who were willing to serve their country and share his fate, to go with him. All the officers, and some of the privates, not above twenty or thirty, joined him; upon which Montgomery's volunteers marched off, and were immediately followed by Capt. Preston's company, except the Captain, his two Lieutenants, and four privates...Major Lewis spoke to old Outacité, who appeared much grieved to see the men desert in such a manner, and said he was willing to proceed; but some of the warriors and young men were yet behind, and he was doubtful of them...The old chief added, that the white men could not bear abstinence like the Indians who would not complain of hunger." Return home Alexander Scott Withers (using material from Hugh Paul Taylor) says that on the way home, the troops were attacked by Shawnee warriors on 15 March and two soldiers were killed. A Shawnee warrior was taken prisoner. Lieutenant Alexander McNutt then proposed that they proceed to Lower Shawneetown and complete their mission, in hopes of capturing the town and getting food there, but Major Lewis decided to continue home. Thomas Lloyd, the surgeon, later wrote that they had to kill almost all their pack horses for food and at one point were forced to eat boiled leather and "tugs" of buffalo hide. The Tug Fork reportedly took its name from this. Major Lewis arrived in Winchester, Virginia on 6 April, 1756, having ridden ahead on one of the last surviving horses. The troops arrived on 7 April and later returned to Fort Frederick. == Aftermath ==

Analysis of the expedition In his diary, Lieutenant Thomas Morton noted: :"Major Lewis's party suffered greatly on this expedition. The rivers were so much swoln by rains and melting snow that they were unable to reach the Shawanese town, and after six weeks in the woods, having lost several Canoes with provisions and ammunition, they were reduced nearly to a state of starvation, and obliged to kill their horses for food." On 7 April, George Washington wrote to Dinwiddie: :"I doubt not but your honor has had a particular account of Maj. Lewis's unsuccessful attempt to get to the Shawanese town. It was an expedition from which, on account of the length of the march, I always had little hope, and often expressed my apprehensions." Long-term impact Word of the expedition evidently reached Lower Shawneetown, and a defensive force consisting of "1,000 Indians and six French officers" arrived at the town on 9 May, 1756, where it was observed by Samuel Stalnaker, who was still in captivity. He escaped the next day and went to Williamsburg to inform Governor Dinwiddie. In late 1758, Lower Shawneetown was moved upriver to the Pickaway Plains because the Shawnees were, in George Croghan's words, in "fear of the Virginians." The expedition's failure led the Virginia government to reconsider how they might defend the colony from further attacks. Additional trade treaties with local Native American tribes were proposed as an incentive to peace. Washington begged for funds to establish a professional standing army, saying that forts without soldiers would offer little protection. Samuel Stalnaker represented the Holston Settlement and recommended that stockade forts be built at Dunkard's Bottom on the New River and Davis' Bottom at the middle fork of the Holston River. A second Sandy Creek expedition was planned in early 1757, In late 1757, Ephraim Vause attempted to organize a military expedition against the Shawnee, to rescue the prisoners taken after the capture of Fort Vause in June 1756. A number of men known as "The Associators" volunteered for this proposed expedition, and a total of 300 troops were expected to join. John Madison and the Augusta County Militia offered their support, and food and other supplies were obtained. Early in 1758, however, plans for the expedition were abandoned due to constant disputes among the commanding officers. On 3 April 1758, Captain John Smith submitted a proposal to the Virginia House of Burgesses offering to lead another expedition against the Shawnee, but no action was taken. Lieutenant Alexander McNutt was highly critical of Major Lewis in his journal, which was handed over to Francis Fauquier soon after the expedition. The Sandy Creek Expedition served as valuable experience for Andrew Lewis, his cousin William Preston, William Ingles, and others who would defend Virginia during the French and Indian War and in the American Revolution. William Preston continued to lead Preston's Rangers. Seventy men served under him during 1757, including two lieutenants, two sergeants (one of whom was his servant, Thomas Lloyd) and two corporals. The unit was disbanded in May, 1759. In late June 1756, in fulfillment of Governor Dinwiddie's promise, Andrew Lewis built a small fort on the Little Tennessee River near the Cherokee town of Chota in Tennessee. This fort was replaced a few months later by the construction of the much larger Fort Loudoun. On 5 June, 1757, Cherokee warriors defending Fort Cumberland on the Maryland-Virginia border captured the French officer François-Marie Picoté de Belestre, who had been leading raids against English settlements, including one in which Fort Vause was destroyed. Virginia militiamen and other colonial troops continued to receive instruction from the Cherokee on woodcraft, reconnaissance, and combat. Ostenaco led Cherokee warriors on raids against French troops in and around Fort Duquesne throughout 1757 and 1758. == Sources ==

In 2015 a driving tour following the route of the Sandy Creek Expedition was developed by Trails, Inc. == See also ==