, an
Irishman, exasperated with an Indian near him, "cursed the
copper-coloured scoundrel" and raised his musket to shoot
him. Gen. Lewis who had been twice wounded in the engagement,
and was then hobbling on a staff, raised the Irishman's
gun, as he was in the act of firing, and thus not only saved
the life of the Indian, but probably prevented a general
massacre of the Virginia troops.

[11] Congress had given to Gen. Stephens, and some others
(whose senior Lewis had been in former services) commissions as
Major Generals.

[12] Thomas Bullitt was a native of Prince William county,
Virginia. He was appointed an ensign in Washington's first
Virginia regiment, July 20, 1754, and promoted to a lieutenancy
on October 30th following. It is said that he served in
Braddock's defeat; but the records of the Virginia officers
present do not include Lieut. Bullitt's name. He was, perhaps,
with Capt. Lewis in the Greenbrier country, or on some other
detached service. In May, 1756, he was stationed at Winchester;
in July following, in command of Fort Frederick, on Jackson's
River, and in November of that year, in command of Fort
Cumberland. He was in active service in 1757, and early the
next year we find him a captain; as such, he distinguished
himself in checking the enemy and saving many of the fugitives
at Grant's defeat, and shared in Gen. Forbes's successful
expedition in the capture of Fort Du Quesne. In May, 1759,
while guarding with one hundred men, fifteen wagons loaded with
provisions for the westward, he was attacked and defeated by a
strong party of French and Indians, losing thirty-five of his
party killed and prisoners and all his wagons. In 1760, he was
appointed a surveyor of a district bordering on the Ohio, and
had much to do in early Kentucky exploration and surveys,
making an early location and survey at the Falls of Ohio in
1773. In September, 1775, he was appointed adjutant-general of
all the Virginia forces; and on the 9th of December following,
he aided Colonel Woodford in defeating Capt. Fordyce and party
at the Great Bridge. In March, 1776, Congress appointed him
deputy adjutant-general of the Southern Department with the
rank of lieutenant-colonel, a