U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen, Adam (1718-1791) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aler's History of Martinsburg and Berkeley County, West Virginia by F. Vernon Aler, 1888 Printed for the Author by The Mail Publishing Company, Hagerstown, MD. CHAPTER VIII. Historical Pen Sketches of the Early Residents of Berkeley County by the late Hon. Chas. James Faulkner. Pages 149-158, MAJOR GEN, ADAM STEPHEN There is now upon the lands of Charles J. Faulkner and within the recently enlarged limits of Martinsburg, the remains of a monument, under which repose the ashes of this distinguished soldier and patriot. By whom this structure was erected — whether by the executors and legatees of the deceased, or by the grateful contributions of his countrymen, is not known. There is nothing in the will nor in the detailed account of the executors to throw any light on the subject. The design of the monument is obviously a rectangular pyramid, with abase of twenty feet square. Its supposed altitude from the vertex to the plane of the base may have been from six to nine feet. It has now an elevation of a little more than four feet. The large stones used in its construction — some of them twelve feet in length, are hard silicious mountain stones, and must have been transported, at great expense, from a distance, as they are not natives of this valley. I think a careful examination of the remains will lead to the conclusion (contrary to the present popular belief) that the monument was once finished according to its original design, but being much exposed and unprotected — a play spot for the boys — the apex was first thrown off, and stone after stone injured and removed, leaving only what remains of the original structure. It is at present within the limits of our city, and since it has been in the possession of its present proprietor since 1839, (now thirty-three years ago) has been protected from farther injury. General Stephen's life and fortunes are intimately identified with the County of Berkeley. He was one of the earliest immigrants to this locality — he became the owner of large tracts of land in this neighborhood; he was one of the most active agents in having the County of Berkeley established, and one of the most prominent actors in its early civil and judicial history. It was upon his land that the city of Martinsburg was located; here he lived a long and prosperous life, and in her soil have his remains been interred. The people of Berkeley, therefore, should feel an interest in learning something of his history, and a pleasure in seeing his memory vindicated from any unjust and unmerited reproach cast upon it. General Stephen was born about the year 1718, and is believed to have been a native of Pennsylvania. He emigrated to this portion of Virginia about 1738, a few years after the first settlements were made in this valley. He must have derived the most of his land by direct grant from Lord Fairfax. Military History. The earliest notice we have of the military movements of Adam Stephen, is in immediate connection with Washington. Information reached the colonial authorities at Williamsburg, that the French and Indians had taken possession of the northwestern portion of Virginia, on the Monongahela, murdering and driving away the settlers of that section. The General Assembly authorized the raising of six companies for the recovery of that territory. The command of this force was tendered to Washington, but because of his youth he declined it in favor of Col. Joshua Fry, an experienced English officer, and Washington became Lieutenant Colonel. Stephen had raised a company from the settlers hereabouts, and by Washington's order, met him with his company at Winchester on the 20th of March, 1754. This assembled force started for the frontiers, but Col. Fry having died, the command necessarily devolved upon Washington, and Stephen, in June, 1854, was appointed Major. On August the 14th, same year, the regiment was re-organized with Washington as Colonel, Stephens as Lieut. Colonel and Andrew Lewis as Major. They pursued their difficult and wearisome march through the wilderness until they reached the Great Meadows, and there unexpectedly encountered a hostile force, greatly superior to their own, and were defeated in battle. They took shelter in Fort Necessity, but they were, after a gallant resistance, compelled to surrender, but upon terms which allowed them to march out with flying colors and with all the honors of war. Col. Stephen was then placed in command of Fort Cumberland, the frontier out post of that period. In 1755 he was in the memorable battle of the Monongahela, usually called Braddock's defeat, and was wounded, though not seriously. In 1756 he resumed his command of Fort Cumberland. In 1757 he accompanied Washington in his expedition to Fort DuQuesne, where they recovered possession of that territory, and captured Fort DuQuesne, which they subsequently named Fort Pitt, the site of the present city of Pittsburg. In the same year he proceeded, by order of Congress, to the South, to quell the hostilities of the Creek Indians in that section. In August, 1763, the colonial government ordered out a force of 1,000 men — 500 of whom were to be raised from this section of the colony and were placed under the command of Stephen, for service on the North-western frontier; and 500 to be raised in Greenbrier and the adjoining counties, and placed under the command of Col. Andrew Lewis, to protect the South-western portion of our territory. The object of these expeditions was to repel an attack upon our people, by a formidable alliance of Shawnees, Delawares, Wynadotts and other Indian tribes, acting in alliance with Pontiac. Sir Jeffery Amherst, then in command of all the British forces in America, thus notices these expeditions in a letter of the 27th of August, 1763, addressed to Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian affairs: "An effectual stop will be put to these outrages; particularly as Col. Stephen with a body of 500 men of the Virginia militia, is advanced as far as Fort Cumberland and Bedford, with a view not only of covering the frontiers, but of acting offensively against the savages. That public-spirited colony has also sent a large body of the like number of men under the command of Col. Lewis for the defense and protection of the South-west frontiers. "What a contrast this makes between the Pennsylvanians and Virginians, highly to the honor of the latter; but places the former in the most despicable light imaginable." Again, in a letter of September the 14th, 1763, to the same person, he says: "The attempts against the Shawnees are certainly very necessary, and I heartily wish Col. Stephen success in his expedition. His chief danger will be his retreat up the river." Mr. Bancroft thus describes the sad condition of our frontier in June, 1763, which it was the object of the expedition under General Stephen to avenge and redress: "Nor was its garrisoned stockades only that encountered the fury of the savages. They roamed the wilderness, massacring all whom they met. They struck down more than a hundred, traders in the woods, scalping every one of them; quaffing their gushing life blood, mutilating their bodies. They prowled around the cabins of the husbandman on the frontier, and their tomahawks struck alike the laborer in the field or the child in the cradle. They passed the mountains and spread death even to Bedford. The unhappy emigrant knew not if to brave danger or to leave his home and his planted fields for wretchedness and poverty. Nearly five hundred families from the frontiers of Virginia fled to Winchester, unable to find so much as a hovel to shelter them from the weather, bare of every comfort, and forced to lie scattered in the woods." (vol. 5th, page 124.) After aiding to quell these hostile Indian movements, Col. Stephen returned to the east and was placed in command of Fort Loudon at Winchester, charged with the protection of our entire Northwestern frontier. All further dangers being removed from the frontiers, our troops were disbanded and Col. Stephen, now a Brigadier General in the State Militia, returned in 1768 to his home in Berkeley County — after fourteen years of almost continuous service in defense of the people and territory of Virginia. That General Stephen at that period enjoyed in a high degree the confidence of Washington is not only obvious from the preceding narrative, but is farther shown by the fact that when, in 1756, he was required to visit Boston on important public business, he left Col. Stephen in command of all the troops in the service of Virginia. In continuation of the history of his military service we pass for the present over the intervening period of time. At the commencement of the revolutionary war he was, in December, 1775, commissioned by Virginia Colonel of one of the regiments raised by that State. Isaac Reed was at the same time chosen Lieut. Colonel, and Robt. Lawson Major of this regiment. On the 13th of February, 1776, he was transferred, with his regiment, to the Continental line. On the 4th of September, 1776, he was appointed by Congress a Brigadier General of the Continental troops, and on the 9th of February, 1777, promoted to the rank of Major General. Gen. Stephen was with Washington in 1776, at the battles of Trenton and Princeton — in his celebrated retreat of ninety miles through the Jerseys — the most critical and disastrous campaign of the war, but which was marked by brilliant stratagems and daring exploits. He continued with him in 1777, and at the battle of Brandy wine was in "command of a division as Major General, giving entire satisfaction by his bravery and good conduct. We now approach the most painful period of the military history of General Stephen. On November the 4th, 1777, was fought the battle of Germantown. Washington was defeated. The enemy triumphed. Gen. Stephen was charged with " unofficer-like conduct," and the specification was that he was "intoxicated" on that day. He was found guilty and dismissed from the army. The friends of General Stephen, whilst not questioning a fact ascertained by a court of competent jurisdiction, have nevertheless complained of the harshness and unkindness of the sentence of dismissal. They thought in view of his long and valuable military services and in view of the further fact, that his intoxication in no wise contributed to the disastrous defeat of that day, it should have been overlooked, or a milder penalty inflicted. They say, further, that as strict a deciplinarian as Washington was, he was more than usually severe and exacting in this case, with a view of creating a vacancy in that high grade of the army, for his friend and favorite, the Marquis de Lafayette. On the 26th of November, 1777, he wrote to the President of Congress, urging for military and political considerations, the appointment of Gen. Lafayette to a division of the army. This authority was given to him by Congress on the 1st of December, and in three days afterwards it was proclaimed in general orders that he was to take command of the division recently under General Stephen, who had been dismissed from the army. I have read with great interest, the account of the battle of Germantown, as given by our best historians to see if our defeat was in any way attributable to the misconduct of General Stephen, or of the division of which he had commanded, and I cannot find a single imputation upon his conduct, personally, during the battle — none upon his division except what is satisfactorily explained. Washington Irving in his "Life of Washington," referring to the delay of General Knox, in this battle, says: "This half hour's delay of nearly one half of the army, disconcerted the action. The divisions and brigades thus separated from each other, by the skirmishing upon Chew' s house, could not be reunited. The fog and smoke rendered all objects indistinct at thirty yards distance; the different parts of the army knew nothing of the position or movements of each other, and the commander-in- chief could take no view nor gain any information of the situation of the whole. "Green and Stephen, with their divisions, having had to make a circuit, were late in coming into action, and became separated from each other, part of Stephen's division being arrested by a heavy fire from Chew's house and pausing to return it. "At this moment a singular panic seized our army. Wayne's division, which had pushed the enemy nearly three miles, was alarmed by the approach of a large body of American troops on its left Hank, which it mistook for foes, and fell back in defiance of every effort of its officers to rally it. In its retreat it came upon Stephen's division, and threw it into a panic, being in its turn mistaken for the enemy; thus all fell into confusion and our army fled from its own victory." Mr. Bancroft, who may be regarded as one of the most impartial and perhaps one of the most censorious of our historical critics, in describing that battle, utters not a word in disparagement of Gen. Stephen. "His (Washington's) plan was to direct the chief attack on the enemy's right, to which the approach was easy; and for that purpose, to Greene, in whom of all his generals he most confided, he gave the command of his left wing,. composed of Greene and of Stephen, and flanked by Macdongall's brigade." Again, "Greene should by this time have engaged the British right, but nothing was heard from any part of his wing." Again, "and where was Greene? From some cause, which he never explained, he reached the British outpost three quarters of an hour later than the troops of Washington; then at a very great distance from the force, which he was to have attacked, he formed his whole wing, and thus in line of battle, attempted to advance two miles or more through marshes, thickets and strong and numerous post and rail fences. Irretrievable disorder was the consequence; the divisions became mixed and the line was broken." Again, "Greene on that day, 'fell under the frown' of the Commander-in-Chief. Had the forces entrusted to him acted as efficiently as the troops with Washington, the day might have been fatal to Howe's army." Thus Greene and Woodford are censured by the historian, for their conduct in this battle; not a word of censure is cast upon Gen. Stephen. From all which I infer, that whilst he may have been proved to have been intoxicated on the day of battle, there is nothing in these accounts to show that his intoxication disqualified him for command, or that the country sustained any injury "from his improper indulgence in the use of liquor. Thus ended the military career of this distinguished soldier, after a service of 14 years in fighting the French and Indians, and two in fighting the enemies of our liberty and independence. I have seen no evidence in his previous career, and none in his subsequent life, that he was habitually addicted to the use in excess of ardent spirits. For this one violation of military discipline he seems to have been treated with unusual harshness. Civil History. After the return of Gen. Stephen from military services, in 1768, he gave his attention to his private affairs, and was chiefly instrumental in having the county of Berkeley created, by an act of the General Assembly. Its limits were so arranged as to make the present site of Martinsburg about the centre of the county. So perfectly was this understood that the justices appointed by Lord Dunmore assembled at that point on the 19th of May, 1772, and formed the first court of the county. General Stephen was one of the justices so appointed and also at the same time commissioned first High Sheriff of the county. Prompt arrangements were made for the erection of all the necessary county buildings, and there being no town then established, it was only known as the Berkeley Court House. Gen. Stephen being withdrawn from the county, by his services in the Revolutionary army, no steps were taken for the establishment of a town, until his return in 1777. In 1778 Martinsburg was by an act of General Assembly laid out on 130 acres of land, granted for that purpose by Gen. Stephen. Mr. Bancroft, incorporated into his great historical work, a letter of Gen. Stephen, written in advance of the war, vindicating the position then being taken by the colonies, that would have done honor to the patriotism and public spirit of a Henry or a Jefferson. In 1788 Gen. Stephen and Gen. Darke were elected by the voters of Berkeley county to the convention which assembled in Richmond on the 2nd of June of that year to determine whether Virginia would give her consent to the adoption of our present Federal Constitution. It is difficult to imagine a higher and more important trust that could have been confided to two of her citizens. The convention was nearly equally divided on the question of the ratification or rejection of that Constitution. In favor of its adoption were such men as Jas. Madison, John Marshall, Edmund Pendleton and Geo. Wythe; for its rejection were such men as James Monroe, Patrick Henry, George Mason and Theodore Bland. The vote stood 89 for adoption, 79 against it. It is almost unnecessary to say that the delegation from Berkeley stood by the Constitution in all their votes from the beginning to the end of the session. For. this alone, if for nothing else, we owe them a debt of gratitude. The speech delivered by Gen. Stephen in favor of the adoption of the Constitution may be seen on pages 642, 643 and 644 of Elliot's debates of that convention, and does great credit to his ability, eloquence and patroitism. The speech is so honorable to him that it should be incorporated into this sketch but it is too long for present publication. Gen. Stephen, died in Martinsburg in 1791, possessed of a large real and personal estate. His will, bearing date the 5th of June, 1791, was admitted to-record in the Winchester District Court, at the September term, 1791. He has left many descendants in the States of Virginia and West Virginia, and many collateral relatives, the grand children of his brother Robert. Gen. Stephen, at his death, must have left many valuable papers in the hands of his executors, and especially his military correspondence. But after inquiry I learn that not a single paper has been preserved to throw light upon his long and eventful career. A sketch of his life can only be gleaned from the general histories and public records of the country. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Berkeley County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/berkeley/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------