On October 10, 1774 at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which was then claimed by Virginia and also claimed by the Shawnee who called the place “Chinoudaista”, Virginia militia commanded by Col. Andrew Lewis fought Shawnee and allied warriors commanded by Chief Hokoleskwa, also known as Chief Cornstalk, at the Battle of Point Pleasant. The Virginians won the battle but lost about 80 men killed and 140 wounded. The Indian losses were not recorded but were probably similar. This battle was the largest engagement of Dunmore’s War and soon led to a treaty in which the Shawnee led by Hokoleska ceded to Virginia all their claimed lands east and south of the Ohio River.
Although the Virginia militia fought under the orders of Royal Governor Dunmore at Point Pleasant, almost all would fight for Virginia and America against Dunmore and the British Army the next year. Andrew Lewis, who immigrated to America from Ireland, became a General in the Continental Army and commanded the Virginia militia in 1776 that defeated Dunmore at the battle that drove Dunmore from Virginia. His subordinate commander Col. William Fleming, an immigrant from Scotland, was badly wounded in the battle and had to resign from the militia, but he continued to serve Virginia as an elected official throughout the War, including briefly as Virginia’s Governor. Lewis’s second division ended up under the command of Capt. Evan Shelby, who emigrated from Wales, and who would end up serving throughout the Revolution as the Colonel in command of Virginia’s frontier militia. Captain George Mathews would rise to rank of Brigadier General in the Continental Army at the end of the War, and would serve as Governor of Georgia after the War. Lt. Isaac Shelby would rise to be a Colonel and one of the commanders at Kings Mountain and other American victories in the War and then Governor of Kentucky after the War. The rank and file militia who survived the Battle of Point Pleasant would, almost to the man, continue defending Virginia from attack by both the Indians and the British throughout the Revolution.
Some historians consider the Battle of Point Pleasant to be the first battle of the Revolutionary War. You can visit a small portion of the battlefield that has been preserved by the State of West Virginia as Tu-Endi-Wei State Park in Point Pleasant. https://wvstateparks.com/park/tu-endie-wei-state-park/
On This Day In The Revolution 