Andrew Lewis (October 9, 1720 – September 26, 1781) was an American pioneer, surveyor, and soldier from Virginia. He served as a colonel of militia during the French and Indian War, and as a brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War. He is most famous for his 1774 victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in Lord Dunmore's War.
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Early years
Lewis was born in County Donegal, Ireland to John Lewis and Margaret Lynn. In 1732 John fled to America after having killed his landlord. He brought his family to Virginia, including his sons Andrew and Thomas. They became some of the first settlers in western Augusta County. Andrew gained a basic education, and learned the skills of a surveyor. Early in the 1740s Lewis married Elizabeth Givens, and the couple established their own home. They called it Richfield, and it was located in what today is Roanoke County near Salem. Over the coming years they would have seven children: Samuel (c.1748-1763), John (1750-1788), Thomas (1752-1800), Andrew Jr. (1759-1844), Ann (1760), William (1764 -1812), and Charles (c.1768-1781). Lewis spent fifteen years developing his farm and working as a surveyor in southwestern Virginia. He surveyed much of the Greenbrier District of Augusta County, later Greenbrier County, West Virginia. He became the commander, as county lieutenant and later captain of the Augusta County militia, after some years involvement in protecting against American Indian raids.
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War brought serious conflict to the Virginia frontier. The frontier militia was more formally organized, and Lewis became a Captain in Colonel George Washington's regiment. He was at Fort Necessity when Washington was forced to surrender it in 1754. When Washington's proposal for a series of frontier fortifications was approved, Lewis was promoted to Major to oversee the section along the Greenbrier River. He took part in a number of expeditions against both Indian settlements and French outposts. While a part of the Forbes Expedition, he took part in Major James Grant's attack on Fort Duquesne, and was captured in September 1758. He was taken to Quebec and held as a prisoner until late in 1759.
Between wars
When relative peace came to the frontier, Lewis concentrated on his growing family and his plantation at Richfield. He became part of the local political leadership. When Botetourt County was erected in 1769 his neighbors sent him to the State's Assembly, starting in 1770. He would remain a member until 1780, but attended only occasionally, since his military duties took precedence. Although the Proclamation of 1763 officially restricted Virginia's western expansion, Lewis remained active in hunting and exploration trips into what is now West Virginia. He also provided militia support to some of the western settlements. Then in 1774, Lord Dunmore's War broke out. Governor Dunmore planned an attack, and led a force from Fort Pitt into the Ohio Country. Lewis, now a colonel, led a second force against the Shawnees by the southern route. Colonel Lewis met resistance from Shawnee Chief Cornstalk at the Ohio River crossing at Point Pleasant. Lewis's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10 was the most significant of that conflict, and firmly secured his military reputation.
American Revolution
When the American Revolution began, Governor Dunmore prorogued the Burgesses in 1774. The Whigs (as the American rebels were known) gathered a provisional congress to carry on. Andrew Lewis and his brother Thomas were both delegates to this congress and that of the following year. When the Continental Congress created a Continental Army in 1775, General Washington asked Lewis be made a Brigadier General. But the congress had decided on one from each state, and the honor for Virginia went to Charles Lee. In March of 1776, Lewis accepted his appointment as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army. He oversaw the defense of Virginia, and raising of troops for the main army. That year, Governor Dunmore was still making attacks along the coast. The Committee of Safety called on Lewis to resolve this problem. On July 9, 1776 he led the state's forces against Dunmore's last foothold, a fortified position built on Gwyn's Island in Chesapeake Bay. Lewis succeeded and forced Dunmore's departure for the Caribbean. On April 15, 1777, Lewis resigned his commission due to his failing health. He remained active in the Burgesses and the building of a new government for Virginia. In 1780, Governor Thomas Jefferson appointed him to the Council for the state. Lewis was struck down while returning home from a council meeting, and died of a fever in Bedford County on September 26, 1781. He was taken home to Richfield, and buried in the family plot there. In 1887 he was re-interred in the East Hill Cemetery at Salem, Virginia. Lewisburg, West Virginia, is named after Lewis. And on March 13th, 2001 the General Assembly of Virginia designated the portion of Interstate 81 that traverses Rockbridge, Botetourt, & Roanoke counties, and the city of Salem as the "Andrew Lewis Memorial Highway."
Further reading
- Johnson, Patricia G., General Andrew Lewis of Roanoke and Greenbrier. Walpa Publications,1980, ISBN 0-9614765-5-9.
