Tu-Endie-Wei State Park Point Pleasant, WV Here at the
confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, the bloody, day-long
Battle of Point Pleasant was fought. On October 10, 1774,
Colonel Andrew Lewis 1,100 Virginia militiamen decisively
defeated a like number of Indian forces led by the Shawnee
Chieftain Cornstalk. Long recognized as the decisive engagement
in a protracted series of Indian wars now known as Lord Dunmores
War, the Battle of Point Pleasant has become officially known as
the "First Battle of the Revolution." This action broke the
power of the Indians in the Ohio Valley and quelled a general
Indian war on the frontier. Significantly, it also prevented an
Indian alliance with the British, one which could very possibley
have caused the Revolution to have had a different outcome, as
well as having altered the entire history of the U.S. In
addition, the ensuing peace with the Indians enabled western
Virginians to recross the Alleghenies to aid Revolutionary
forces. Fought on this point of land known by