According to Captain John Stuart, the Shawnees were the most savage. They were warriors who looked upon other fighters with contempt. They were the best warriors.
In 1774, the long boat people, white settlers, were moving toward the Kanawha and Ohio River valleys. The confederacy made preparations to protect their land. They formed a line from the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.
The Battle of Point Pleasant resulted in the deaths of 140 whites and twice as many Native Americans. The Native Americans went into Ohio. A fort was erected at the junction of the rivers to prevent the Native Americans from returning to Virginia.
Cornstalk name terrified the whites. In 1777, he made peace with the whites. That November, the Native Americans were getting ready for a new attack on the whites. Cornstalk and fellow tribesmen didn't want to be in a war they knew they would lose.
On November 7th, Cornstalk and a Delaware Chief, Red Hawk went to the fort to try to make peace. They spoke with Captain Arbuckle. The Shawnee Chief told the captain that he was opposed to joining the war on the side of the Redcoats, but the entire confederacy, except himself wanted to do so.
For his efforts to try to make peace, the reward was that he, Red Hawk and another Native American were held hostage at the fort as an attempt to prevent the Native Americans from joining the British forces.
They were treated well and given comfortable quarters to stay in. Cornstalk helped the soldiers in making maps of the Ohio River Valley. On November 9th, Ellinipsico, Cornstalk's son visited him at the fort. He, too, was held hostage.
On November 10th, gunfire was heard from the direction of the Kanawha River. Two of the soldiers, Gilmore and Hamilton, had been hunting deer and were attacked by members of a tribe that was not Shawnee. Hamilton escaped. Gilmore was killed and scalped.
When Gilmore's body was returned to the fort, the soldiers became frenzied. Although the attacking Native Americans were not Shawnee, they wanted the four hostages killed. As the men strode into the room, Cornstalk stood. He was six feet tall and the men, momentarily stopped. Then they shot at the hostages.
