Stories of Indian Attacks during the Revolutionary War. Part I.

General Andrew Lewis

Indian Attacks during the Revolutionary War In 1776, problems with Indian attacks from the Shawnee and Cherokees continued and the militia was again called upon. An examination of county records in Chesterfield, Fincastle, and Montgomery Counties, Virginia reveals that throughout the Revolution, it was the frontiersmen who provided cattle, grain, lead, horses, and other materials necessary to keep the American troops in the field.

Hence, they were frequently called upon to provide meals for the men and fodder for their horses. Every year the British would send beads, earrings, finger-rings, knives, guns, shots, powder, cloth, and other presents to the Indian tribes. The red men were very proud to have such items and they thought highly of the English people.

General Andrew Lewis, son of the first white man to make his home in Augusta County, Virginia, was born in Ireland about 1720. He served as a major in the regiment commanded by Washington in the Ohio campaign of 10 1754 and 1755; also in the French and Indian wars. General Lewis was highly regarded by General Washington, at whose suggestion he was appointed a brigadier-general in the Continental army. Four of his brothers served in the Revolutionary War, one of them, Colonel Charles Lewis, unfortunately killed at Point Pleasant.

Source: Some Irish Settlers in Virginia by Hon. Joseph T. Lawless, Richmond, Virginia