USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 32
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"On the morning of the 7th I had risen at a quarter after four o'clock, and the signal for calling out the men would have been given in two minutes when the attack commenced. It began on our left flank : but a signal gun was fired by the sentinels, or by the guard, in that direction, which made not the least resistance, but abandoned their officer and fled into camp, and the first notice which the troops of that flank had of the danger was from the yells of the savages within a short distance of the line; but even under those circumstances the men were not wanting to themselves or the occa- sion. Such of them as were awake, or were easily awakened, seized. their arms and took their stations ; others, which were more tardy, had to contend with the enemy in the doors of their tents. The storm first fell upon Capt. Barton's company of the 4th U. S. Reg., and Capt. Geiger's company of mounted riflemen, which formed the left angle of the rear line. The fire upon these was exceedingly severe, and they suffered considerably before relief could be brought to them. Some few Indians passed into the encampment near the angle, and one or two penetrated to some distance before they were killed. I believe all the other companies were under arms and tol- erably formed before they were fired on. The morning was dark and cloudy ; our fires afforded a partial light, which, if it gave us
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HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST.
some opportunity for taking our positions, was still more advanta- geons to the enemy, affording them the means of taking a surer aim ; they were, therefore, extinguished. Under all these discouraging circumstances, the troops (nineteen-twentieths of whom never had been in action before) behaved in a manner that can never be too much applauded. They took their place without noise, and less confusion than could have been expected from veterans placed in the same situation. As soon as I could mount my horse.I rode to the angle that was attacked. I found that Barton's company had suffered severely, and the left of Geiger's entirely broken. I imme- diately ordered Cook's company, and the late Capt. Wentworth's, under Lient. Peters, to be brought up from the center of the rear line, where the ground was much more defensible, and formed across the angle in support of Barton's and Geiger's. My attention was then engaged by a heavy firing upon the left of the front line, where were stationed the small company of United States riflemen (then, however, armed with muskets), and the companies of Bean, Snell- ing and Prescott, of the 4th Reg. I found Major Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies, and understanding that the heaviest part of the enemy's fire proceeded from some trees about fifteen or twenty paces in front of those companies. I directed the major to dislodge them with a part of the dragoons. Unfortu- nately, the major's gallantry determined him to execute the order with a smaller force than was sufficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and attack his flanks. The major was mortally wounded, and his party driven back. The Indians were. however, immediately and gallantly dislodged from their advantageous posi- tion by Capt. Snelling at the head of his company.
"In the course of a few minutes after the commencement of the attack the fire extended along the left flank, the whole of the front, the right flank and part of the rear line. Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen and the right of Warwick's company, which was posted on the right of the rear line, it was excessively severe. Capt. Spencer and his first and second lieutenants were killed, and Capt. Warwick was mortally wounded. Those companies, however, still bravely maintained their posts, but Spencer had suffered so severely, and having originally too much ground to occupy, I reinforced them with Robb's company of riflemen, which had been driven, or by mistake ordered, from their positions on the left flank toward the center of the camp, and filled the vacancy that had been occupied by Robb with Prescott's company of the 4th United States regiment. My great object was to keep the lines entire, to prevent the enemy from
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BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.
breaking into the camp, until daylight, which should enable me to make a general and effectual charge. With this in view, I had rein- forced every part of the line that had suffered much, and as soon as the approach of morning discovered itself I withdrew from the front line Snelling's, Porey's (under Lieut. Albright) and Scott's, and from the rear line Wilson's, companies, and drew them up upon the left flank ; and at the same time I ordered Cook's and Bean's companies, the former from the rear, and the latter from the front, line, to reinforce the right flank, foreseeing that at these points the enemy would make their last efforts. Major Wells, who commanded on the left flank, not knowing my intentions precisely, had taken command of these companies, and had charged the enemy before I had formed the body of dragoons with which I meant to support the infantry. A small detachment of these were, however, ready, and proved amply sufficient for the purpose. The Indians were driven by the infantry at the point of the bayonet, and the dragoons pursued and forced them into a marsh, where they could not be followed. Capt. Cook and Lieut. Larabee had. agreeable to my order, marched their com- panies to the right flank, and formed them under the fire of the ene- my. and, being then joined by the riflemen of that flank, had charged the Indians, killed a number and put the rest to precipitate flight. A favorable opportunity was here offered to pursue the enemy with dragoons, but being engaged at that time on the other flank. I did not observe it till it was too late.
"I have thus, sir, given you the particulars of an action which was certainly maintained with the greatest obstinacy and persever- ance by both parties. The Indians manifested a ferocity uncommon even with them. To their savage fury our troops opposed that cool and deliberate valor which is characteristic of the christian sol- dier. " **
We note a few of the incidents connected with the campaign. The night was dark in consequence of clouds, which occasionally discharged a drizzling rain, affording the Indians a chance to creep up so near the sentries as to hear them challenged when relieved. They intended to rush upon the sentinels and kill them before they could fire ; but one of the sentinels discovering an Indian creeping toward him in the grass, fired his gun. the report of which was in- stantly followed by an Indian yell, and a desperate charge upon the left flank. The Indians advanced to the wild music of their rattles. made of deers' hoofs, the shrill noise of their gun chargers, blowing
* General Harrison's Official Report: American State Papers, vol. 5, pp. 777, 778.
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HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST.
them as whistles, and furious savage yells, that arose in the darkness above the peals of the musketry. They fought like the very demons they were, inspired by the incantations of the Prophet, who. secure from flying bullets. occupied an adjacent eminence and sang "the .
war song." He had told his followers that the American bullets would prove harmless. Soon after the beginning of the battle word was sent him that his men were falling. He encouraged them to fight on, saying it would soon be as he predicted, and then sang the louder. The Indians rushed up to the bayonets of our men, and in one instance. related by Capt. Snelling, an Indian adroitly pushed the bayonet of a soldier aside, and clave his head with a war club. The Winnebago warriors distinguished themselves by their bravery. The governor exposed himself constantly, and was present at every point on the lines as they were severally pressed by the enemy. His clothing, hat, and even his hair, were cut by the enemy's balls .*
The 7th was spent in burying the dead on the field where they fell. caring for the wounded, and fortifying the camp. On the Sth of November the village was reconnoitred, and gave evidence of having been abandoned in great haste. The household utensils were all left, and some guns, still in the covers in which they had been imported, and a quantity of prime double-glazed English rifle powder. Hogs and poultry were found, running through the village, a large quantity of corn and a vast number of kettles. Gen. John Tipton, who took a prominent part in this campaign, says in his daily journal that the Americans destroyed two thousand bushels of corn, besides six wagon loads which they hauled away from the vil- lage.+ Everything useful to the army was removed, and then the
* Of the little more than eight hundred Americans in the action, the killed and wounded numbered one hundred and eighty-eight. An unusual per cent of the wounded died or lost their limbs on account, as the surgeons said, of the Indians having chewed their balls, causing them to tear the flesh severely, and make a more ragged wound than a smooth ball would do. The Indians were estimated by some at six hundred; the traders, whose opportunities for knowing were good, said there were at least eight hundred. The previous summer there were four hundred and fifty war- riors at the Prophet's town, and these were joined a few days before the battle by all the Kickapoos of the prairie, and by many other bands from the Pottawatomie villages on the Illinois, and the St. Josephs of Lake Michigan. It being in the dark, the Indians were enabled to carry many of their dead and wounded away without their being observed; still thirty-eight of their warriors were found upon the field. Of the Kick- apoos braves in the battle belonging to Pa-koi-shee-can, or " La Farine's " band alone, fourteen of the severely hurt, who got away from the Wabash, afterward died of their wounds, and were buried near their village, four miles west of Danville, where their graves, still to be seen, were pointed out to the early salt boilers in 1819, by the sur- vivors who were cognizant of the facts.
+ Tipton's Journal of the "Indian Campaign of 1811" contains many interesting items. It was first published by the enterprising proprietor of the Indianapolis "News," in the issue of the 5th of May, 1879. It covers the late Gen. Tipton's. daily movements from the time his company left Corydon on the 12th of September, 1811, to his return home on the 24th of November, a period of seventy-four days. Much of
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RETURN MARCH.
village and everything in it was committed to the flames. " The vil- lage is on the west side of the Wabash, miles above Vincennes, on the second bank, about two hundred yards from the river, and neat built. This is the main town; but it is scattering, a mile long, all the way a fine corn field." On the 9th the troops were put in motion, returning by the same route they had come. The wounded were placed in wagons drawn by oxen, of which there was scarcely a sufficient number for this humane purpose. All camp equipage and baggage, owing to the insufficiency of transportation, was destroyed, the governor setting the example by knocking his own to pieces and throwing it into the fire. The whole army cheer- fully followed his example, and the camp was quickly strewed with debris of furniture, mess boxes, plates, dishes and bottles. With all this, it was difficult to make the wagons contain those who could neither walk nor ride. The wounded were dying every day. Early in the action two or three of the army fled, reaching the block-house below the Vermilion, and spread exaggerated news of the battle and the defeat of Harrison. And as the troops were returning, they " were frequently met on their way by persons coming to learn the fate of their children or friends."* The army was reduced to the seantiest of rations, part of the time living upon parched corn ; and on the 13th of November they reached the block-house, as appears from Tipton's Journal, just as a timely boat was arriving with much needed provisions. The next day as many of the sick and wounded as the boat would hold were placed aboard and sent down the river. The main army reached Fort Harrison on the 14th of November, and Vincennes four days later, where they were met with great re- joicing by the inhabitants.
In its results, the engagement at Tippecanoe ranks as one of the most important ever fought against the Indians in the west. It may be said to have been the opening battle of the war of 1812, although the formal declaration of hostilities was deferred until the following June. However many and grave were the irritating causes in the Atlantic states which had threatened the peace of the two countries, had they not existed, still, the continued aggressions of the Indians, operated upon as they were by traders within our borders and other subjects of Great Britain in Canada, would have provoked collision. t
his time was occupied in advance of the army, either in picking out crossing places of streams or other difficult portions, and in scouting.
* Samuel R. Brown's History of the Second War of the Independence: Auburn, 1815, vol. 1, p. 227.
+ The causes culminating in the action at Tippecanoe, the movements of the Amer- ican forces before and after the engagement, and the incidents connected with the campaign, are taken from Dawson's Life of Harrison, McAfee's History of the Late
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HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST.
While the Indian difficulties described in this chapter were transpiring, matters between the United States and Great Britain were fast assuming a warlike hue. An embargo was laid upon all our shipping, to protect it against the unwarrantable interference of English cruisers. Our commerce upon the high seas was almost entirely destroyed by the policy of Great Britain and France. then engaged in the mighty struggle for empire upon the continent of Europe. The depleted navy of England was recruited by seizure of Americans aboard of American vessels and empressing them into her service. War was declared on the 19th of June. 1812.
Since the battle of Tippecanoe "the frontiers," wrote Gen. Har- rison, " never enjoyed more perfect repose." Still the Indians were powerful, thoroughly organized, and fully supplied with guns and ammunition from Canada, and were eagerly looking at the toma- hawk long uplifted in the hand of their English father, and only waiting the time when it should fall upon the head of the Ameri- cans, to begin an active and determined war of extermination upon all of the western settlements. Notwithstanding these facts were so apparent, and the importance of providing a naval force upon Lake Erie and an army for the protection of the northwest had been urged upon the secretary of war and others, still the war department refused to do anything commensurate with the magnitude of the danger. William Hull, governor of the Michigan territory, was appointed to the command of the westward frontiers; and, although he advised the department that it was idle to attempt to hold the territory with less than three thousand well-equipped soldiers, little attention was paid to his demands. However. through the activ- ity of the governors of Ohio. Kentucky and Indiana, a small army of militia volunteers, with the 4th United States regiment of regu- lars (Miller's regiment of Tippecanoe fame) as a nucleus, was tardily recruited. Owing to the wide extent of thinly-settled country from which the forces were drawn. the difficulty of obtaining munitions and provisions and moving them over districts unprovided with roads to points of concentration, but very slow progress was made. Before Hull could reach Detroit the enemy, who had received in- telligence of the declaration of war before Hull was notified of the fact, had already begun the war by the capture of a schooner, along with a quantity of baggage and some thirty officers and privates aboard of her, while on its way from Miami Rapids to Detroit. Overcoming all delays, Gen. Hull reached Spring Wells, three
War in the Western Country, and Tipton's Journal, all regarded as sources of original and authentic information.
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LOSS OF TERRITORY.
miles below Detroit, only to be confronted with a naval and mil- itary force of the enemy in a more forward state of concentration upon the Canadian side of the river. The commanding general, on the 12th of the month, moved his forces across the river, issued a florid proclamation to the inhabitants of Canada, whose soil he had invaded, and in the course of a few days retreated back to his old quarters. On the 16th of the same month, without striking a blow, Gen. Ilull surrendered Detroit and his whole force to Sir Isaac Brock, governor-general of Canada. This most unexpected calamity was followed by intelligence, received on the 28th of July, that the port of Mackinaw had been captured by the British. Fast upon this startling news came the surrender of Fort Dearborn to the Indians by Capt. Heald, on the 15th of August, and the mas- sacre or capture of the inhabitants and soldiers. Thus, in less than sixty days after the declaration of hostilities, the whole northwest, from the Detroit to the Mississippi River, was in the hands of the British or their Indian allies under the lead of English traders. Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison were the only points at which the United States presented resistance.
The plans of Teenmseh succeeding more happily than he could have expected, it was determined to lay siege to Forts Wayne and Harrison simultaneously, as the only "remaining obstacles in the way of driving the white inhabitants over the Ohio" River. Fort Wayne was accordingly besieged, and closely invested by the sav- ages until it was relieved by Gen. Harrison, who had been appointed to the chief command of the northwest immediately after the sur- render of Hull.
We will now let Capt. Taylor tell how nearly the Indians suc- ceeded in gaining possession of Fort Harrison, only noting the fact that his official report, written immediately after the assault, before opportunity was given him to acquire more accurate information, erroneously names the Miamis as a part of the attacking force. M.Affee, as well as others, writing at a later date, correctly state that the enemy were Kickapoos and Winnebagoes only.
"FORT HARRISON, September 10.
" DEAR SIR, -On Thursday evening, the 3d instant, after retreat beating, four guns were heard to fire in the direction where two young men (citizens who resided here) were making hay, about four hundred yards distant from the fort. I was immediately impressed with the idea that they had been killed by the Indians, as the Pro- phet's party would soon be here for the purpose of commencing
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HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST.
hostilities, and that they had been directed to leave this place, as we were about to do. I did not think it prudent to send out at that late hour of the night to see what had become of them, and their not coming in convinced me that I was right in my conjecture. I waited till eight o'clock next morning, when I sent out a corporal with a small party to find them, if it could be done without running too much risk of being drawn into an ambuscade. He soon sent back to inform me that he had found them both killed. and wished to know my further orders. I sent the cart and oxen and had them brought in and buried. They had been shot with two balls, scalped and cut in the most shocking manner. Late in the evening of the 4th instant old Joseph Lenar and about thirty or forty Indians arrived from the Prophet's town with a white flag, among whom were about ten women, and the men were composed of the chiefs of the different tribes that compose the Prophet's party. A Shawnee man, that could speak good English, informed me that old Lenar intended to speak to me next morning. and try to get something to eat.
"At retreat beating I examined the men's arms and found them all in good order, and completed their cartridges to fifteen rounds per man. As I had not been able to mount a guard of more than six privates and two non-commissioned officers for some time past, and sometimes part of them every other day, from the unhealthiness of the company. I had not conceived my force adequate to the defense of this post. should it be vigorously attacked, for some time past,
"As I had just recovered from a very severe attack of the fever, I was not able to be up much through the night. After tattoo, I cautioned the guard to be vigilant, and ordered one of the non-com- missioned officers, as the sentinels could not see every part of the garrison, to walk around on the inside during the whole night, to prevent the Indians taking any advantage of us. provided they had any intention of attacking us. About 11 o'clock I was awakened by the firing of one of the sentinels. I sprang up, ran out and ordered the men to their posts, when my orderly-sergeant, who had charge of the upper block-house, called out that the Indians had fired the lower block-house (which contained the property of the contractor, which was deposited in the lower part, the upper having been assigned to a corporal and ten privates as an alarm post). The guns had begun to fire pretty smartly from both sides. I directed the buckets to be got ready and water brought from the well and the fire extinguished immediately, as it was perceivable at that time; but from debility or some other cause the men were very slow in execut-
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ATTACK ON FORT HARRISON.
ing my orders, - the word fire appeared to throw the whole of them into confusion, - and by the time they had got the water and broken open the door, the fire had unfortunately communicated to a quantity of whisky (the stock having licked several holes through the lower part of the building, after the salt that was stored there, through which the fire had been introduced without being discovered. as the night was very dark), and in spite of every exertion we could make use of in less than a moment it ascended to the roof and baffled every effort we could make to extinguish it. As the block-house adjoined the barracks that made part of the fortifications, most of the men immediately gave themselves up for lost, and I had the greatest difficulty in getting my orders executed. And, sir, what from the raging of the fire, the yelling and howling of several hundred Indi- ans, the cries of nine women and children (a part soldiers' and a part citizens' wives, who had taken shelter in the fort), and the despondeney of so many of the men, which was worse than all, I can assure you that my feelings were unpleasant, and, indeed, there were not more than ten or fifteen men able to do a great deal, -the others being siek or convalescent ; and to add to our other misfor- tunes, two of the strongest men in the fort. and that I had every confidence in, jumped the picket and left us. I saw by throwing off a part of the roof that joined the block-house that was on fire, and keeping the end perfectly wet, the whole row of buildings might be saved, and leave only an opening of eighteen or twenty feet for the entrance of the Indians after the house was consumed, and that a temporary breastwork might be executed to prevent their even enter- ing there. I convinced the men that this might be accomplished, and it appeared to inspire them with new life, and never did men act with more firmness and desperation. Those that were able (while the others kept up a constant fire from the other block-house and the two bastions) mounted the roofs of the houses, with Dr. Clark at their head, who acted with the greatest firmness and pres- ence of mind the whole time the attack lasted, which was seven hours, under a shower of bullets, and in less than a moment threw off as much of the roof as was necessary. This was done only with a loss of one man and two wounded, and I am in hopes neither of them dangerously. The man that was killed was a little deranged, and did not get off the house as soon as directed, or he would not have been hurt; and although the barracks were several times in a blaze, and an immense quantity of fire against them, the men used such exertions that they kept it under, and before day raised a tem- porary breastwork as high as a man's head, although the Indians
1
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HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST.
continued to pour in a heavy fire of ball and innumerable quantity of arrows during the whole time the attack lasted, in every part of the parade. I had but one other man killed, nor any other wounded inside the fort, and he lost his life by being too anxious. IIe got into one of the galleys in the bastion and fired over the pickets, and called out to his comrades that he had killed an Indian, and, neglecting to stoop down, in an instant he was shot dead. One of the men that jumped the pickets returned an hour before day, and, running up toward the gate, begged for God's sake for it to be opened. I sus- pected it to be a stratagem of the Indians to get in, as I did not recollect the voice. I directed the men in the bastion, where I hap- pened to be, to shoot him, let him be who he would, and one of them fired at him, but fortunately he ran up to the other bastion, where they knew his voice, and Dr. Clark directed him to lie down close to the pickets, behind an empty barrel that happened to be there, and at daylight I had him let in. His arm was broken in a most shocking manner, which he says was done by the Indians, which, I suppose, was the cause of his returning. I think it probable that he will not recover. The other they caught about one hundred and thirty yards from the garrison, and eut him all to pieces. After keeping up a constant fire until about six o'clock the next morning, which we began to return with some effect after daylight, they re- moved out of reach of our guns. A party of them drove up the horses that belonged to the citizens here, and as they could not catch them very readily, shot the whole of them in our sight, as well as a number of their hogs. They drove off the whole of the cattle, which amounted to sixty-five head, as well as publie oxen. I had the vacancy filled up before night [which was made by the burning of the block-house] with a strong row of pickets which I got by pulling down the guard-house."*
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