USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 50
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ble the world to decide it ; I confess my inability to say on which side the weight of authority lies.
" I hope I may obtain the pardon of the American Congress, for adverting in this discussion to another matter, gravely put forward by the gentleman from Michigan. Without the slightest feeling of dis- respect to that gentleman, I must be allowed to say that his opinions (hastily, I am sure) obtruded on the House in this military question, can only be considered as subjects of merriment.
" But I come to notice, since I am compelled to it, one observation of the gentleman, winch I feel quite certain, on reflection, he will regret himself. In a sort of parenthesis in his speech, he said that a rumor prevailed at the time (alluding to the battle of Tippecanoe) that Colonel Joseph H. Davies, of Kentucky, who commanded a squad- ron of cavalry there, was by some trick of General Harrison, mounted, during the battle, on a white horse belonging to the Gen., and that, being thus conspicuous in the fight, he was a mark for the assailing Indians, and fell in a charge at the head of his men. The gentleman says he does not vouch for the truth of this. Sir, it is well that he does not vouch here for the truth of a long-exploded slander. It re- quires a bold man, a man possessing a great deal of moral courage, to make even an allusion to a charge such as that, against one whose only possessions in this world are his character for courage and conduct in war in his country's defense, and his unstained integrity in the vari- ous civil offices it has been his duty to occupy. Did not the gentle- man know that this vile story was known by every intelligent man west of the mountains to be totally without foundation ? The gentle- man seemed to appeal to the gallant Kentuckians to prove the truth of this innuendo. He spoke of the blood of their countrymen so pro- fusely poured out at Tippecanoe, as if they would give countenance to the idea that the gallant Davies, who fell in that engagement, fell a victim to the artifice of the commanding general, and their other gal- lant sons who fell there, were wantonly sacrificed by the gross igno- rance of Gen. Harrison in Indian warfare. Now sir, before the gen- tleman made this appeal, he should have remembered a few historical facts, which if known to him, as I should suppose they were to every other man twenty years of age in Western America, would make the whole speech of that gentleman little else than a wanton insult to the understanding of the people and government of Kentucky. Let us briefly notice the facts.
" In November, 1811, the battle of Tippecanoe was fought. There Col. Davies and Col. Owens with other Kentuckians fell. These, says the gentleman (at least he insinuates it), were sacrificed by either
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the cowardly artifice or by the ignorance of Gen. Harrison. Now, Mr. Speaker, I abhor the habit of open flattery, nay, I do not like to look in the face of a man, and speak of him in warm terms of eulogium, however he may deserve it; but sir, on this occasion I am obliged to say, what history will attest, of the people of Kentucky. If any com- munity of people ever lived, from the time of the dispersion on the plain of Shinar up to this day, who were literally cradled in war, it is to be found in the State of Kentucky. From the first exploration of the country by Daniel Boone up to the year 1794, they were engaged in one incessant battle with the savages of the West. Trace the path of an Indian ineursion any where over the great valley of the West, and you will find it red with Kentucky blood. Wander over any of the battle-fields of that great theater of savage war, and you will find it white with the bones of her children. In childhood they fought the Indians, with their sisters and mothers, in their dwellings. In youth and ripe manhood they fought them in ambuseades and open battle-fields. Such were the men of Kentucky in 1811, when the bat- tle of Tippecanoe was fought. There too, as we know, they were still found foremost where life was to be lost or glory won ; and there they were commanded by Gen. Harrison. Now, sir, if in that battle Gen. Harrison had not conducted as became a soldier and a general, would not such meu have seen and knowu it? Did Kentucky in 1811, mourning as she then did the loss of one of her greatest and most valu- ed citizens, condemn (as the gentleman from Michigan has attempted to) the conduct of the general who commanded in that battle ?
" Let us see how they testified.
" In January, 1812, two months after the battle of Tippecanoe, the Legislature of Kentucky was in session. On the 7th of January, 1812, the following resolution passed the body :
"' Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Kentucky, That in the late campaign against the Indians, upon the Wabash, Gov. William Henry Harrison has behaved like a hero, a . patriot, and a general; and that for his eool, deliberate, skillful, and gallant conduct in the battle of Tippecanoe, he well deserves the warmest thanks of his country, and the nation.'
" Mr. Speaker, the resolution I have just read, was presented by John J. Crittenden, now a Senator from the State of Kentucky, whom to name is to call to the minds of all who know him, a man whose urbanity and varied accomplishments present a model of an American gentleman, whose wisdom, eloquence, and integrity, have won for him the first rank among American statesmen. Such a man, with both branches of the Kentucky Legislature, have testified, two months only
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after the event took place, that in the campaign and battle of Tippe- canoe, Gen. Harrison combined the skill and conduct of an able commander, with the valor of a soldier, and the patriotism of an American. Who rises up twenty-eight years afterward to contradict this ? The young gentleman from Michigan! He who, at the time referred to, was probably conning Webster's spelling-book in some village school in Connecticut. But, Mr. Speaker, I must call another witness upon the point in issue here. On the 12th of November, 1811, the Territorial Legislature of Indiana was in session. This is just five days after the battle. That Legislature, through the Speaker of its House of Representatives, Gen. William Johnson, addressed Gen. Harrison in the following terms :
" 'Sir : The House of Representatives of the Indiana Territory, in their own name, and in behalf of their constituents, most cordially reciprocate the congratulations of your Excelleney on the glorious result of the late sanguinary conflict with the Shawnee Prophet, and the tribes of Indians confederated with him. When we see displayed in behalf of our country, not only the consummate abilities of the general, but the heroism of the man ; and when we take into view the benefits which must result to that country from those exertions, we can not, for a moment, withhold our meed of applause.'
" Here, sir, we have two Legislatures of the States whose citizens composed the militia foree at Tippecanoe, grieved and smarting under the loss of their fellow-citizens, uniting, in solemn council, in bearing their testimony to the skill and bravery displayed by Gen. Harrison in that battle, which the gentleman from Michigan, with a self-com- placency that might well pass for insanity, now says he has discovered, was marked by palpable ineapacity in the commanding general. But, Mr. Speaker, I must call yet another, nay, several other witnesses to confront the opinion of the Michigan general.
" In August, 1812, about nine months after the battle of Tippecanoe, news of fearful import concerning the conduet of Gen. Hull, reached Ohio and Kentucky. Our army had fallen back on Detroit, and rumors of the surrender of that place to the British, which did aetu- ally take place, were floating on every breeze. Three regiments of militia were immediately raised in Kentucky. Before these troops had taken the field, it was well known that our army under Hull, with the whole Territory of Michigan, had been surrendered to the com- bined British and Indian forces, commanded by Brock and Tecum- seh. Our whole frontier in the Northwest lay bare and defenseless to the invasion, not only of the British army, but the more terrible invasion of a savage foe, hungry for plunder, and thirsting for blood,
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led on by the most bold and accomplished warrior that the tribes of the red man had ever produced. In this state of peril, the gallant army of Kentucky looked round for a leader equal to the imminent and momentous crisis. There was Scott, the then Governor of Ken- tucky, who had fought through the Revolutionary war, and, under the eye of Washington, had risen to the rank of brigadier in the regular service. There, too, was the veteran Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, a name that shall wake up the tones of enthusi- asm in every American heart, while heroic courage is esteemed, or lofty integrity remains a virtue. There, too, was Clay, whose trumpet- tongue in this Hall was worth a thousand cannon in the field. These were convened in council. This, let us not forget, was about nine months after the battle of Tippecanoe. Whom, sir, I ask, did these men seleet to lead their own friends and fellow-citizens on to this glo- rious enterprise ? Their laws required that their militia should be commanded by one of their own citizens; yet, passing by Scott and Shelby, and thousands of their own brave sons, this council called Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana-he who had commanded Kentuckians but nine months before at Tippecanoe-he who, accord- ing to the gentleman from Michigan, had shown no trait but imbe- cility as an officer-he, against the laws of Kentucky, was, by such a council, asked to resign his station as Governor of Indiana, and take the rank and commission of Major General in the Kentucky militia, and lead on her armies, in that fearful hour, to redeem our national disgrace, and snatch from British dominion and savage butchery the very country now represented by the gentleman from Michigan. I have yet one other witness to call against the gentleman from Michi- gan. Sir, if the last rest of the illustrious dead is disturbed in this unnatural war upon a living soldier's honor, and a living patriot's fame, the fault is not mine. It will appear presently that the gentle- man from Michigan has - unwittingly, it may be - dishonored and insulted the dead, and charged the pure and venerated Madison with hypocrisy and falsehood. If Gen. Harrison had been the weak, wicked, imbecile thing the gentleman from Michigan would now pretend, was not this known to Mr. Madison, then President of the United States, who gave the orders under which Gen. Harrison acted, and to whom the latter was responsible for his conduct ? Surely no one can sup- pose that there were wanting those who, if they could have done so with truth, would have made known any conduct of Gen. Harrison, at the time referred to, which seemed in any degree worthy of repre- hension. With all these means of information, what was the testi- mony of Mr. Madison respecting the battle of Tippecanoe? I will
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quote his own words from his message to Congress, about a month after the event. The message is dated 18th December, 1811, and reads as follows :
"' While it is deeply to be lamented that so many valuable lives have been lost in the action which took place on the 7th ultimo, Congress will see with satisfaction the dauntless spirit of fortitude vic- toriously displayed by every description of troops engaged, as well as the collected firmness which distinguished their commander on an occasion requiring the utmost exertions of valor and discipline.'
" Mr. Speaker, I have no pleasure in thus recapitulating and piling proof upon proof, to repel an insinuation which, I think it is now appa- rent to all, has been thrown out in the madness of party rage, without consideration, and founded only on a total perversion, or rather flat contradiction of every historical record having relation to the subject.
" Something was said by the gentleman from Michigan about the encampment of Tippecanoe. If I understood him rightly, he con- demned it as injudicious, because it had a river on one side, and a morass on another. Now, Mr. Speaker, I shall give no opinion on the question thus stated ; but it just now occurs to me that this very subject, which I think in the military vocabulary is ealled castramenta- tion, admits of some serious inquiry bearing upon the criticism under consideration. In almost all scientific research, we find that what is now reduced to system, and arises to the dignity of science, was at first the product of some casualty, which, falling under the notice of some reflecting mind, gave rise to surprising results. The accidental falling of an apple developed the great law of gravitation. I am sure I have somewhere seen it stated that Pyrrhus, the celebrated King of Epirus, who is allowed by all authority to have been the first general of his time, first learned to fortify his camp by having a river in his rear and a morass on his flank ; and this was first suggested to him by seeing a wild boar, when hunted to desperation, back' himself against a tree or rock, that he might fight his pursuers without danger of being assailed in his rear. Now, sir, if I comprehend the gentle- man from Michigan, he has against him on this point not only the celebrated king of Epirus but also the wild boar, who, it seems, was the tutor of Pyrrhus in the art of castramentation. Here, then, are two approved authorities, one of whom nature taught the art of war, as she kindly did us colonels, and the other that renowned hero of Epirus, who gave the Romans so much trouble in his time. These authorities are near two thousand years old, and, as far as I know, unquestioned, till the gentleman from Michigan attacked them yester-
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day. Here again, I ask who shall decide ? Pyrrhus and the boar on one side, and the gentleman from Michigan on the other. Sir, I decline jurisdiction of the question, and leave the two hundred and forty colonels of this House to settle the contest, ' non nostrum tantas componere lites.'
" Mr. Speaker, I feel it quite impossible to withdraw from this part of the debate without some comment on another assertion, or rather intimation, of the gentleman from Michigan, touching the conduct of Gen. Harrison at the battle of the Thames. All who have made themselves acquainted with the history of that event, know that the order in which the American army was to attack the combined force of British and Indians at the Thames was changed at the very moment when the onset was about to he made. This order of the General drew forth from Commodore Perry and others, who were in the staff of the army, and on the ground at the time, the highest encomiums. The idea of this change in the plan of attack, it is now intimated, was not original with Gen. Harrison, but was, as the gentle- man seems to intimate, suggested to him by another, who, it is said, was on the ground at the time. Who that other person is, or was, the gentleman has not said, but seemed to intimate he was now in the other end of the Capitol; and thus we are led to suppose that the gentleman intends to say that Col. Johnson, the Vice President, is the gentleman alluded to. Sir, I regret very much that the gentleman should treat historical facts in this way. If there be any foundation for giving Col. Johnson the honor of having suggested to Gen. Har- rison a movement for which the latter has received great praise, why not speak out and say so? Why insinnate ? Why hint or suppose on a subject susceptible of casy and positive proof? Does not the gentleman know that he is thus trifling with the character of a soldier, playing with reputation dearer than property or life to its possessor ? Sir, I wish to know if Col. Johnson, the Vice President of the United States, has, by any word or act of his, given countenance to this insinuation ? It would be well for all who speak at random on this subject, to remember that there are living witnesses yet who can testi- fy to the point in question. It may not be amiss to remind some that there is extant a journal of Colonel Wood, who afterward fell on the Niagara frontier. For the benefit of such, I, too, will state what can be proved in relation to the change made by Gen. Harrison in the order of attack at the Thames.
" The position of the British and Indians had been reported to General Harrison by volunteer officers-brave men, it is true, but who, like many of us, were officers who had not seen a great deal of
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hard fighting. On this report the order of attack first intended was founded; but, before the troops were ordered on to the attack, Col. Wood was sent to examine and report the extent of front occupied by the British troops. Col. Wood's military eye detected at once what had escaped the unpracticed observation of the others-that is, that the British regulars were drawn up in open order; and it was on his report that, at the moment, the change was made by Gen. Harrison in the order of the attack-a movement which, in the estimation of such men as Wood, and Perry, and Shelby, was enough of itself to entitle Gen. Harrison to the highest rank among the military men of his age.
" Mr. Speaker, when I review the historical testimony touching this portion of Gen. Harrison's history, I confess my amazement at the Quixotic (I pray my friend from Michigan to pardon me), but I must call it the Quixotic exhibition which he has made of himself. Sir, the gentleman had no need to tell us he was a general of militia. His conduct in this discussion is proof of that-strong even as his own word for the fact. He has shown all that reckless bravery which has always characterized our noble militia, but he has also, in this attack, shown that other quality of militia troops which so frequently impels them to rush blindly forward, and often to their own destruction. I should like to hear many of the brave men around me speak of Gen. Harrison. Some there are now under my eye who carry British bul- lets in their bodies, received while fighting under the command of General Harrison. I should be glad to hear my whole-souled and generous-hearted friend from Kentucky (Major Butler), who agrees with the gentleman from Michigan in general politics, who has not merely hcard of battle, but who has mingled in war in all its forms, and fought his way from the ranks up to the head of a battalion-I say I should be glad to hear his opinions of the matters asserted, hinted at, and insinuated by the gentleman from Michigan.
" Why, I ask, is this attempt to falsify the common history of our country made now, and why is it made here? Is it vainly imagined that Congressional speeches are to contradict accredited, long-known historical facts ? Does the fierce madness of party indulge a concep- tion so wild ?
" Sir, I repeat, that I feel only amazement at such an attempt. I could not sit still and witness it in silence. Much as I desired to speak to the House and the country on the question touching the Cumberland road, I should have left it to others, had I not been impelled to get the floor to bear my testimony against the gross injustice which I thought was about to be done to a citizen-an hon-
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ored, cherished citizen of my own State. This House, Mr. Speaker, knows that I am not given to mueh babbling here. Yes, sir, you all know that, like Balaam's ass, I never speak here till I am kicked into it. I may claim credit, therefore, for sincerity, when I declare that a strong sense of justice alone could have called me into this debate. Let me now remind gentlemen who may be tempted into a similar course with my friend from Michigan, that all such efforts must recoil with destructive effect upon those who make them. Sir, it has been the fortune of Gen. Harrison to be identified with the civil and mili- tary history of this country for nearly half a century. What is to be gained, even to party, by perverting that history ? Nothing. You. may blot out a page of his biography here, and tear out a chapter of his history there ; nay, you may, in the blindness of party rage, rival the Vandal and the Turk, and burn up all your books, and what then have you effected ? Nothing but an insane exhibition of impotent party violence. Gen. Harrison's history would still remain in the memory of his and your cotemporaries ; and coming events, not long to be delayed, will show to the world that his history, in both legisla- tion and war, dwells not merely in the memories of his countrymen, but is enshrined in their gratitude and engraven upon their hearts.
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THE TIMES.
THE TIMES.
THE sailor that was cast on a desolate island, laid himself down to sleep under the shade of the trees. When he awoke he missed one of his gloves, that had been taken off his hand while he slept; after looking for it for some time, he accidentally cast his eyes into the top of the trees, where he saw a number of large monkeys ; on the paw of one of them was the lost glove. After trying all the means he could think of to get it, in despair and rage he took the glove from his hand and dashed it on the ground, saying to the monkey, you have got one of my gloves, here is the other, take both, one is of no use to me. At that moment, the monkey seeing the sailor, took the glove from his paw, and with a like violent gesture threw it down; the sailor took it up and left the grove.
This simple story is introductory to the remark, that all intelligent beings are like the monkey, creatures of imitation. Nations imitate each other, from the greatest to the smallest. Men imitate each other, from the richest to the poorest. The royal eagle stoops from her mountain eyrie, and carries off the lamb of the farmer from the valley below, to feed her young eaglets ; the crow, that had built her nest in the trees on the side of the mountain, thought she could imitate the royal bird, and carry up to her nest another lamb. Down she sped and fixed her claws in the wool of the intended repast for her young, but lacking the power of the eagle to rise, she became an easy prey to the farmer ; so it is with nations and individuals, the weaker are the imita- tors of the stronger, and ninety-nine of every hundred of all the failures of nations, as well as individuals, grow out of the attempt to imitate, where the ability and power to succeed, are wanting. These remarks are preliminary to some thoughts on the times, that have been sug- gested by the great monetary pressure now upon us.
My views on this important subject are peculiarly my own, they are not intended to subserve party purposes, they rise higher and above party, and are given as the result of much reflection and long experi- ence, with a deep interest in the prosperity of our common country, and the perpetuity of our glorious Union. I am aware that my views may, and no doubt will, be the subject of criticism, this matters not; the object of my remarks will be accomplished if I shall be able to call the attention of others to the subject, whether in approval or otherwise. Let us then inquire, why is it that we are in the midst of a monetary crisis ? That the banks have suspended with few excep- tions ; that the large mercantile houses in the importing cities, lie prostrate; that many of the manufacturing establishments of the
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United States are silenced, and the workmen thrown out of employ ; that the arm of industry has been paralyzed ; that money has become too scaree to answer the purposes of trade and commerce; that the precious metals have been driven to the strong boxes to be kept under lock and key, to be drawn forth only at great sacrifices ; that the Gov- ernment is enabled to fill her treasury to plethora in these times of monetary embarrassment and distress among the people? Are we involved in a foreign war, to demand and exhaust our means? Is any destroying epidemic sweeping over the land? Does the earth refuse to yield her reward to the hands of industry ? Have the mines and gold-bearing quartz of California, been exhausted ? Have we received less of the precious metals within the last ten years, than for any like term at any time before? Is there less money, including the mixed currency, in the United States at this time, than at any former period? Does our flag that floats over our commerce, frequent fewer oceans and seas than formerly ? Are embargoes laid ou our foreign commerce by foreign nations ? Are our manufacturers, artizans, meehanics, labor- ers, less skillful, less industrious than formerly ? Is our population decrcasing ? Is our territory being cireumscribed ? Do we not extend from ocean to occan ? Does not the flag of a united people wave over us ? Is there a nation under heaven whose onward course points to so high a destiny, if we remain true to ourselves and true to our national flag? We now stand among the great and powerful nations of the earth, and while we remain united and stand together as breth- ren, our star in the galaxy of nations must become still more brilliant, until it shall shine as a sun in the national firmament. If these things be true, the question still arises ; why our present embarrassed position ? It is perfectly clear that it does not grow out of any radical defect in the form of our Government, or any want of all the elements of prosperity on the part of the people; where then lies the canse ? This is the great, the important question.
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