the bane of every neighboring Indian tribe, and renowned all along the border for his deeds of desperate prowess, his wonderful adventures, and his hairbreadth escapes.  Another, of a very different stamp, was Simon Girty, of evil fame, whom the whole west grew to loathe, with bitter hatred, as “the white renegade.”  He was the son of a vicious Irish trader, who was killed by the Indians; he was adopted by the latter, and grew up among them, and his daring ferocity and unscrupulous cunning early made him one of their leaders.[5] At the moment he was serving Lord Dunmore and the whites; but he was by tastes, habits, and education a red man, who felt ill at ease among those of his own color.  He soon returned to the Indians, and dwelt among them ever afterwards, the most inveterate foe of the whites that was to be found in all the tribes.  He lived to be a very old man, and is said to have died fighting his ancient foes and kinsmen, the Americans, in our second war against the British.

But Lord Dunmore’s army was not destined to strike the decisive blow in the contest.  The great Shawnee chief, Cornstalk, was as wary and able as he was brave.  He had from the first opposed the war with the whites;[6] but as he had been unable to prevent it, he was now bent on bringing it to a successful issue.  He was greatly outnumbered; but he had at his command over a thousand painted and plumed warriors, the pick of the young men of the western tribes, the most daring braves to be found between the Ohio and the Great Lakes.  His foes were divided, and he determined to strike first at the one who would least suspect a blow, but whose ruin, nevertheless, would involve that of the other.  If Lewis’ army could be surprised and overwhelmed, the fate of Lord Dunmore’s would be merely a question of days.  So without delay, Cornstalk, crafty in council, mighty in battle, and swift to carry out what he had planned, led his long files of warriors, with noiseless speed, through leagues of trackless woodland to the banks of the Ohio.

The backwoodsmen who were to form the army of Lewis had begun to gather at the Levels of Greenbriar before the 1st of September, and by the 7th most of them were assembled.  Altogether the force under Lewis consisted of four commands, as follows:  a body of Augusta troops, under Col.  Charles Lewis, a brother of the general’s;[7] a body of Botetourt troops, under Col.  William Fleming;[8] a small independent company, under Col.  John Field; and finally the Fincastle men, from the Holston, Clinch, Watauga, and New River[9] settlements, under Col.  William Christian.[10] One of Christian’s captains was a stout old Marylander, of Welsh blood, named Evan Shelby; and Shelby’s son Isaac,[11] a stalwart, stern-visaged young man, who afterwards played a very prominent part on the border, was a subaltern in his company, in which Robertson likewise served as a sergeant.  Although without experience of drill, it may be doubted if a braver or physically finer set of men were ever got together on this continent.[12]