Taken from Myers History of West Virginia in Two Volumes, 1915: General Andrew Lewis. (From a letter to Wills De Hass, in "Indian Wars".) "John Lewis was a native and citizen of Ireland, descended from a family of Huguenots who took refuge in that kingdom from the persecutions that followed the assassination of Henry IV of France. His rank was that of an esquire, and he inherited a handsome estate, which he increased by industry and frugality until he became the lessee of a contiguous property of considerable value. He married Margaret Lynn, daughter of the laird of Loch Lynn, who was a descendant of the chieftains of a once powerful clan in the Scottish Highlands. By this marriage he had four sons, three of them, Thomas, Andre and William, born in Ireland, and Charles, the child of his old age, born a few months after their settlement in their mountain home." (Note: According to Historian Thwaites, John Lewis, father of Gen. Andrew Lewis, was born in 1678, in County Donegal, Ireland, and his marriage to Margaret Lynn occurred about 1716; owing to sonic trouble with his tenancy in 1729, he fled to Portugal, whence in 1731, after strange adventures, he emigrated to America, where he was joined by his family. He established himself in the Valley of Virginia, two miles east of the present site of Staunton. His house was of stone, built for defense, and in 1754 it successfully withstood all Indian siege. He was colonel of the Augusta County militia as early as 1743, presiding justice in 1745, and high sheriff in 1748. In 1751, then 73 years of age, he assisted his son Andrew, then agent of the Loyal Company, to explore and survey the latter's grant on Greenbrier River. It was because the old man-became entangled in the thicket of greenbriers that he gave this name to the stream. He died at his old fort homestead February 1st, 1762, aged 84 years. He was a member of the Episcopalian Church.) "For many years after the settlement at Fort Lewis, great amity and goodwill existed between the neighboring Indians and the white settlers, whose numbers increased until they became quite a formidable colony, It was then that the jealousy of their red neighbors became aroused and a war broke out, which, for cool though desperate courage and activity on the part of the whites and ferocity, cunning and barbarity on the part of the Indians, was never equalled in any age or country. John Lewis was, by this time, well stricken in years, but his four sons, who were grown up, were well qualified to fill his place and to act the part of leaders to the gallant little band who so nobly battled for the protection of their homes and families . . . . Charles Lewis was the hero of many a gallant exploit, which is still treasured in the memories of the descendants of the border riflemen, and there are few families among the Alleghanies where the name and deeds of Charles Lewis are not familiar as household words. Oil one occasion he was captured by the Indians while on a hunting excursion, and after traveling over two hundred miles barefooted, his arms pinioned behind, and goaded by the knives of his remorseless captors, he effected his escape. While traveling along the bank of a precipice some twenty feet in height, he suddenly, by a strong muscular exertion, burst the cords which bound him, and plunged down the steel) into the bed of a mountain torrent. His persecutors hesitated not to follow. In a race of several hundred yards, Lewis had gained some few yards upon his pursuers, when, upon leaping a fallen tree which lay across his course, his strength suddenly failed and he fell prostrate among the weeds which had grown up in great luxuriance around the body of the tree. Three of the Indians sprang over the tree within a few feet of where their prey lay concealed; but with a feeling of the most devout thankfulness to a kind and superintending Providence, he saw them one by one disappear in the dark recesses of the forest. He now bethought himself of rising from his uneasy bed, when lo! a new enemy appeared, in the shape of an enormous rattlesnake, which had thrown itself the deadly coil so near his face that fangs were within a few inches of his nose; and its enormous rattle, as it waved to and fro, once rested upon his ear. A single contraction of the eyelid - a convulsive shudder-the relaxation of a single muscle, and the deadly reptile would have sprung upon him. In this situation he lay for several minutes, when the reptile, probably supposing him dead, crawled over his body and moved slowly away. 'I had eaten nothing,' said Lewis to his companions, after his return, 'for many days; I had no firearms, and I ran the risk of dying with hunger ere I could reach the settlement; but rather would I have died than made a meal of the generous beast.' During this war, an attack was made upon the settlement of Fort Lewis, at a time when the whole force of the settlement was out on active duty. So great was the surprise that many of the women and children were captured in sight of the fort, though far the greater part escaped and concealed themselves in the woods. The fort was occupied by John Lewis, then very old and infirm, his wife, and two young women, who were so much alarmed that they scarce moved from their seats upon the ground floor of the fort. John Lewis, however, opened a port-hole, where he stationed himself, firing at the savages, while Margaret reloaded the guns. In this manner he sustained a siege of six hours, during which he killed upwards of a score of savages, when he was relieved by the appearance of his party. "Thomas Lewis, the eldest son, labored under a defect of vision, which disabled him as a marksman, and he was, therefore, less efficient during the Indian wars than his brothers. He was, however, a man of learning and sound judgment, and represented, the County of Augusta many years in the House of Burgesses; was a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the United States and formed the constitution of Virginia, and afterwards sat for the County of Rockingham in the House of Delegates of Virginia. In 1765 he was in the House of Burgesses and voted for Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions. Thomas Lewis had four sons actively participating in the war of the Revolution; the youngest of whom, Thomas, bore an ensigns commission when but fourteen years of age. (Note: Withers, in writing of the expedition against the Indians and Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela, says there was a company of riflemen in Braddock's army on this occasion from Augusta, commanded by CAPTAIN Samuel Lewis (THE ELDEST SON OF JOHN LEWIS, who, with Mackey and Salling, had been foremost in settling that countyAugusta), who was afterwards known as Col. Samuel Lewis of Rockingham. Withers also says, that "in this company were contained the five brothers of Capt. Lewis; Andrew, afterwards General Lewis of Botetourt; Charles, afterwards Colonel Lewis, who was likewise killed at Point Pleasant; William, John and Thomas." It will be observed that the letter to De Hass mentions only four sons, namely: Thomas, Andrew, William and Charles, Thomas being the ELDEST and Charles the youngest. Samuel is not mentioned. Doddridge, in commenting on Withers's version of the story of Braddock's defeat, says that Captain Lewis was not with Braddock's army on this occasion, and consequently took no part in the battle.) "Andrew, the second son of John Lewis and Margaret Lynn, is the General Lewis who commanded at the battle of Point Pleasant. "Charles Lewis, the youngest of the sons of John Lewis, fell at the head of his regiment, when leading on the attack at Point Pleasant. Charles was esteemed the most skilful of all the leaders of the border warfare, and was as much beloved for his noble and amiable qualities as he was admired for his military talents-. "William, the third son, was an active participator in the border wars, and was an officer of the Revolutionary army, in which one of his sons was killed and another maimed for life. When the British force tinder Tarleton drove the legislature from Charlottesville to Staunton, the stillness of the Sabbath eve was broken in the latter town by the beat of the drum and volunteers were called to prevent the passage of the British through the mountains at Rockfish Gal). The elder sons of William Lewis, who then resided at the old fort, were absent with the northern army. Three sons, however, were at home, whose ages were seventeen and thirteen years. William Lewis was confined to his room by sickness, but his wife, with the firmness of a Roman matron, called them to her, and bade them fly to the defense of their native land. 'Go, my children,' said she, 'I spare not my youngest, the comfort of my declining years. I devote you all to my country. Keel) back the foot of the invader from the soil of Augusta, or see my face no more.' When this incident was related to Washington, shortly after its occurrence, he enthusiastically exclaimed, 'Leave me but a banner to plant upon the rnountains of Augusta, and I will rally around me the men who will lift our bleeding country from the dust, and set her free.' "I have frequently heard, when a boy, an anecdote related by an old settler, somewhat to this effect: The white, or wild clover, is of indigenous growth, and abounded on the banks of the rivers, etc. The red was introduced by John Lewis, and it was currently reported by their prophets and believed by the Indians generally, that the blood of the red men slain by the Lewises and their followers had dyed the trefoil to its sanguine hue. The Indians, however, always did the whites the justice to say that the red man was the aggressor in their first quarrel, and that the white men of Western Virginia had always evinced a disposition to treat their red brethren with moderation and justice." Washington entertained a very high regard for General Lewis's ability as a military commander, and recommended him to Congress for the appointment to the position of majorgeneral of the American army and afterwards expressed his disappointment in the appointment of Stephens instead. However, at Washington's solicitation, Lewis accepted the commission of brigadier-general and shortly thereafter took command of a detachment stationed at Williamsburg. He was in command of the Virginia troops in 1776, when Dunmore was forced from Gwynn's Island. "General Lewis resigned his command in 1780, to return home, being seized ill with a fever. He died on his way, in Bedford County; about forty miles from his home, on the Roanoke, lamented by all acquainted with his meritorious , services and superior qualities."