Mason County marks 250 years since Battle of Point Pleasant

POINT PLEASANT, WV (WOWK) – It has been 250 years since one of the most important frontier battles in Colonial history played out in what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

On the morning of Oct. 10, 1774, an army of Native Americans led by Chief Cornstalk crossed the Ohio River and attacked an army of Colonial Militia under Colonel Andrew Lewis. Lord Dunmore had sent the militia – around 2,000 men total – to curb hostilities between colonists and Native Americans.

Thursday, the official anniversary of the battle, was packed with a schedule of events, with many local leaders, as well as US Senator Shelley Moore Capito, coming out for the occasion. The morning started with a memorial service at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, followed by an afternoon reception.

President of the Point Pleasant Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution Ed Cromley says he has a family history tie to the battle.

“One of my ancestors – my great, great, great, great grandfather – was here on this day 250 years ago, and here I am treading that same ground that he had. So, it’s really important to me personally, but to the country. It’s really important because this was the first battle of the American Revolution that really got things started that we could become America,” Cromley said.

Thursday’s festivities will close with the Colonial Ball from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., but Battle Days festivities are continuing all weekend as well. Friday is Living History Day, and the annual Battle Days Parade is scheduled for Saturday.

About the Battle:

Dunmore, the last colonial governor of Virginia, ordered two armies, each with roughly 1,000 men, to converge on Shawnee villages in modern-day Ohio to drive them from the land. According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia, the first army traveled by way of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, down the Ohio River. The second army traveled down the Kanawha River toward Point Pleasant.

The original plan was for both armies to meet at the mouth of the Hocking River, near what is now the Athens-Meigs County line in Ohio. However, the Shawnee were watching both armies and their impending approach.

Chief Cornstalk’s plan was to take 900 warriors across the Ohio River through the night of Oct. 9 and 10, to attack the second army while they slept. The West Virginia Encyclopedia says two of the Virginia militiamen had woken up early to hunt, spotted the Shawnee warriors and sounded the alarm to the rest of the camp.

After hours of intense close-quarters fighting, Chief Cornstalk withdrew back across the Ohio River into what would later become the state of Ohio. The Virginia militia counted that 75 of their men had been killed and 140 wounded in the battle. The Shawnee’s casualties have never been fully documented, as the warriors took the bodies of some of their dead with them, or threw others into the river.

The treaty of Camp Charlotte was signed several days later, ending Lord Dunmore’s War and forcing Native Americans to surrender all the land south of the Ohio River, or what is now West Virginia and Kentucky.

The victory, however, did not mean peace along the rivers. Unrest between the colonists and the Native American tribes would continue, leading up to the Siege of Fort Randolph just four short years later in May 1778.

For a more in-depth look at the history of the Battle, check out WOWK’s three-part web series. Click here for Part 1 , here for Part 2 , and here for Part 3 .

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