The 1970 publication “Botetourt County History Before 1800” was published by the Botetourt County Bicentennial Commission and the Botetourt American Bicentennial Commission. It is available at the Botetourt Museum of History and Culture and contains a description of the October 10, 1774, Battle of Point Pleasant, or Dunmore’s War. Gov. Dunmore ordered Col. Andrew Lewis to raise troops and march to the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers to try to protect the frontier in what was then Botetourt County. The approximately 800 troops came from the Augusta Regiment, the Botetourt Regiment, the Fincastle Regiment, Bedford and Culpepper County. “Though both sides sustained heavy losses, the Indians, defeated, were driven across the Ohio River. The frontier was thereby stabilized for some three years, enabling Americans to concentrate against the British instead of the Indians.” It is considered the first battle of the American Revolution. Six months and eight days later, on April 19, 1775, the battle at Lexington-Concord was fought.
~ Botetourt County Museum of History & Culture
