were but
little, if any, less hostile than they; and being so remote from her
settlements, Virginia had as yet exercised no act of jurisdiction over
it. But as it now belonged to her, by conquest as well as charter, the
General Assembly created it into a distinct county, to be called
Illinois; a temporary government was likewise established in it, and a
regiment of infantry and a troop of cavalry, ordered to be enlisted
for its defence, and placed under the command of its intrepid and
enterprising conqueror.

The expedition directed under General McIntosh, was not equally
successful. The difficulty of raising, equipping, and organizing, so
large a force as was placed under his command, at so great a distance
from the populous district of the state, caused the consumption of so
much time, that the season for carrying on effective operations had
well nigh passed before he was prepared to commence his march. Anxious
however, to achieve as much as could then be effected for the security
of the frontier, he penetrated the enemy's country, as far as
Tuscarawa, when it was resolved to build and garrison a fort, and
delay farther operations 'till the ensuing spring. Fort Laurens was
accordingly erected on the banks of the Tuscarawa, a garrison of one
hundred and fifty men, under the command of Colonel John Gibson, left
for its preservation, and the main army returned to Fort Pitt.

-----
[1] Lachlan McIntosh was born near Inverness, Scotland,
March 17, 1725. With his father, and 100 others of the Clan
McIntosh, he emigrated to Georgia in 1736, in the train of
Oglethorpe. The party founded New Inverness, in McIntosh
County. Lachlan entered the Colonial army at the opening of
the Revolution, and rose to be brigadier-general. In a duel
with Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, he killed the latter. General McIntosh was at the
siege of Savannah in 1779, was a prisoner of war in 1780, a
member congress in 1784, and in 1785 a commissioner to treat
with the Southern Indians. He died at Savannah, February 20,
1806.--R. G. T.

[2] The distance below Pittsburg is 26 miles. See p.
45, _note_, for notice of Shingiss Old Town, at this
point.--R. G. T.

[3] The distance, according to the shore meanderings of the
U. S. Corps of Engineers, is 263 miles; the mileage of the
channel would be somewhat g