USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity > Part 27
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With about forty men, on the 13th, Capt. Ulry was sent on a re- connoitering expedition in the direction of Malden, and, upon ap- proaching a partially destroyed bridge extending over Turkey Creek, some nine miles from camp, he discovered a party of some two hun- dred Indians lying in ambush, intending, if possible, to cut off any detachment that might approach. A Canadian had informed Capt. Ulry that a great number of Indians were in the region, and being fearful that he might be encountered by a superior number, he at once returned to camp.
From the time of his abrupt departure from Fort Wayne, up to the breaking out of the war of 1812, Tecumseh had been most ac- tive against the Americans, spiriting up the Indians at various points; and, from the first hostile movements of the British, had allied himself to their cause, and begun to take a most active part with the enemy, who soon made him a brigadier-general in their army. In August, at the head of a party of Shawanoes, accompa- nied by a number of British soldiers, he made an attack upon a company of Ohio militia sent by General Hull to escort some vol- unteers engaged in bringing supplies for the army, which occurred at Brownstown, and was the first action that took place after the declaration of war had been made. Tecumseh and his party had succeeded in drawing the company in ambush, and the loss sus- tained by the company was considerable, and were resolutely fol- lowed by Tecumseh in their retreat towards the river De Corce. And it was about this time that General Hull retreated from Cana- da, and again took up his headquarters at Detroit. On the 16th of August, this post was surrendered by General Hull to a British force, consisting of some seven hundred troops, and about six hun- dred Indians, under command of General Brock, which placed not only the garrison at Detroit, but the whole territory, including all its forts and garrisons, in the hands of the British, which was a mat- ter of as great astonishment to the British as the Americans. Said General Brock, in writing to his superior officer, after this event, " When I detail my good fortune, you will be astonished."
The feeling among the officers and privates at this result was
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
very great, and brought down upon the head of Gen. Hull a shower of hard words from many directions ; although General Hull, while Governor of Michigan, previous to his military appointment, had suggested to the war department the importance of having a supe- rior naval force on Lake Erie, as an auxiliary in the capture of Up- per Canada, stating that the object could not be effected without it, besides pointing out many obstacles that would necessarily attend a different course of action. And at another time advised, strongly, the erection of a navy on the lakes. At the time of the surrender, however, Hull's force was superior to that of the British.
Soon after the conclusion of the capitulation at Detroit, an expe- dition was planned by the British against Fort Wayne.
The garrison at Mackinaw not having received the order of Gen. Hull, as written about the 5th of July, relating to the declaration of war, putting the several forts mentioned in the best defence, etc., this post was surrendered on the 17th of that month, which had the effect to cut off all offensive operations in Upper Canada, and caused General Hull to feel much alarm, saying that "the whole northern hordes of Indians would be let loose upon them." The loss of Mackinaw was at once considered a great impediment to the Ameri- can cause, for the surrender of which General Hull was greatly censured, because of his delay in forwarding the general order made out about the 5th of July. And Fort Dearborn, at Chicago, had suffered a similar neglect, and was in an equally hazzardous position to that of Mackinaw before its capture. Towards the last of July, General Hull began to think seriously of the situation of the Chicago Fort, and the relief of the garrison. Capt. Heald, its commandant, with his family, were now being surrounded by a furious party of Indians in communication with Tecumseh, who, though not yet attempting any acts of violence upon the inmates, were yet only awaiting the necessary encouragement from the enemy.
With this feeling upon him, General Hull, towards the latter part of July, sent an express to Fort Wayne with a view to the imme- diate relief of Captain Heald and his command at Chicago.
Major B. F. Stickney was then Indian agent at Fort Wayne, and the express sent here for the purpose of relief to the Chicago fort, brought a request from Gen. Hull that Major Stickney at once ex- tend to Captain Heald all the information, assistance, and advice within his power, inclosing in his letter to Major Stickney " an or- der to Captain Heald to accept of such aid, and to conform to such instructions as he might receive from the Indian agent" at Fort Wayne.
Instructions were accordingly prepared by Major Stickney to ac- company the order of General Hull, and an Indian agent dispatched to Chicago. Among the contents of the letter forwarded to Cap- tain Heald, he was promised military aid as soon as it was possible to render it.
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CAPT. WELLS SENT TO THE RELIEF OF FORT DEARBORN.
Captain William Wells, the brother-in-law of Little Turtle, was at this time sub-Indian agent here. He had lived among the In- dians from his youth to an advanced age; was then, as before, a great favorite with the Miamies, and accounted a "perfect master of every thing pertaining to Indian life, both in peace and war, and withal a stranger to personal fear;"-was replete with a knowl- edge of Indian strategy; and, says Major Stickney, "if General Wayne desired a prisoner, to obtain information, Captain Wells could always furnish one."
Wells was the man for the work, and Major Stickney readily hit upon him to lead a party to the aid of Captain Heald. Having proposed the matter to Captain Wells, Major Stickney at once sug- gested the raising of thirty warriors to accompany him. With Wells, the Miamies were his favorites, and from among their tribe he selected the number required. The Pottawattamies were now known to be in the vicinity of Chicago, and the fact of Wells being a favorite with the Miamies, made the former tribe unfriendly to- wards him, there having long existed an unfriendly feeling between the Miamies and the Pottawattamies. So that Wells' position was at best,-should trouble arise upon their arrival at Fort Dearborn,- a most precarious one, a fact that he. was by no means unacquaint- ed with, but his fearless nature readily threw him into the opposite scale of undaunted determination, and on the 3d of August, with his braves well equipped by the agent, all in readiness, he set out, full of hope and courage, for the relief of the garrison at Chicago, whither they arrived on the 12th of the month.
Wells and his party had not been long at the fort before he dis- covered unmistakable evidences of coming trouble. For some days a large number of Pottawattamies and Winnebagoes, professing friendship, had been encamped about the fort; and for some time Tecumseh and the British, through their runners, had kept up a regular correspondence with the Indians in the locality, who had only been awaiting the result at Malden in order to join one side or the other. On the night of the 14th, a runner having arrived among the Indians there with the news from Tecumseh that Major Van- horn had been defeated at Brownstown ; that the army under Hull had returned to Detroit; and that there was every hope and pros- pect of success, the Indians about the region were at once decided to join the British, and resolved to remain no longer inactive .*
Wells was warmly attached to Captain Heald. The latter had married his niece, and she was with her husband, to share alike the dangers and vicissitudes that surrounded them.
. On the arrival of Wells and his warriors at the fort, Capt. Heald told Wells that he had received the dispatch from the agent at Fort Wayne, with the order of General Hull; that, on its receipt he had called together all the Indian warriors in his neighborhood, and had entered into a treaty with them The leading terms were, that M'Afee.
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
he was to deliver up to the Indians, the Fort with all its contents, except arms, ammunition and provisions necessary for their march to Fort Wayne. The Indians on their part were to permit him to pass unmolested. Wells at once protested against the terms of the treaty. There was a large quantity of ammunition and whisky in the Fort. These, he declared, they should not have. He urged, that if the Indians had the whisky they would get drunk, and pay no regard to the treaty ; and he was for throwing the ammunition and whisky into the Lake. The Indians learned what was going on in the Fort, and determined to attack Heald and his party, at the first convenient point, after they should leave the Fort. Wells understood Indian character so perfectly that he was aware of their intentions at a glance.
As soon as it was daybreak, Wells saw that the tomahawk was sharpening for them, and told Heald they must be off' as quick as possible, hoping to move before the Indians were ready for them. No time was to be lost. To-pee-nee-bee, a chief of the St. Joseph's band, had, early in the morning, informed a Mr. Kinzie of the mis- chief that was intended by the Pottawattamies, who had engaged to escort the detachment; and urged him to relinquish his design of accompanying the troops by land, promising him that the boat containing himself and family should be permitted to pass in safety to the St. Joseph's, which was declined by Mr. K., on the ground that his presence might operate as a restraint upon the fury of the savages, so warmly were the greater part them attached to himself and family .*
As the troops marched out, on the morning of the 15th, the band struck up the Dead March, as if some invisible force had im- pressed upon them the inevitable fate many of them were soon to meet ; and on they moved, solemn and thoughtful, in military array, Captain Wells taking the lead, at the head of his little band of Mi- ami warriors, his face blackened, " in token of his impending fate." Taking their route along the lake shore, as they gained a range of sand-hills lying between the prairie and the beach, the escort of Pottawattamies, some five hundred in number, instead of continuing along the beach with the Americans and Miamies, kept the level of the prairie, and had marched perhaps about a mile and a half, when Capt. Wells, who had rode a little in advance with the Miam- ies, suddenly came galloping back, exclaiming: "They are about to attack us ; form instantly, and charge upon them," telling his niece not to be alarmed ; that " they would not hurt her, but that he would be killed."; And no sooner had he ceased to speak, than a volley was fired from among the sand-hills. The troops being now hastily brought into line, they charged rapidly up the bank. A veteran, of some seventy years, was the first to fall. Capt. Wells soon fell, " pierced with many balls;" and in the words of one of the party, (Mrs. Kinzie), " Pee-so-tum held dangling in his *"Wau-Bun, or Early day in the North west." + Maj. B. F. Stickney.
209
BRAVERY AND WISDOM OF MRS. HEALD.
hand a scalp, which, by the black ribbon around the queue, I re- cognized as that of Capt. Wells." Their leader now being killed, the Miamies fled ; one of their chiefs, however, before leaving the scene of disaster, riding up to the Pottawattamies, and exclaiming to them in pretty strong terms: "You have deceived the Ameri- cans and us. You have done a bad action, and (brandishing his tomahawk), I will be the the first to head a party of Americans to return and punish your treachery ;" and then galloped away over the prairie in pursuit of his companions, who were rapidly making their way back towards Fort Wayne.
"The troops," says Mrs. Kinzie,* "behaved most gallantly. They were but a handful ; but they seemed resolved to sell their lives as dearly as posssible. Our horses pranced and bounded, and could hardly be restrained, as the balls whistled among them."
The Indians made several desperate attempts to rush upon and tomahawk the soldiers, but every such effort was bravely repulsed by them. Several women and children were killed; and the ranks at length became so reduced as not to exceed twenty effective men ; yet they were undaunted and resolute, and remained united while able to fire. Having now withdrawn some distance from their for- mer position, the Indians sent a small French boy to demand a surrender. The boy was Capt. Heald's interpreter, who had de- serted to the side of the Indians in the early part of the engage- ment. Advancing very cautiously towards the Americans, a Mr. Griffith advanced to meet him, intending to kill him for his con- duct in deserting ; but the boy declaring that it was the only way he could save himself, and at the same time appearing quite sorry for having been obliged to act as he did, he was permitted to come for- ward. He said the Indians proposed to spare the lives of the Americans, if they would surrender. But the surviving soldiers all rejected it. Conveying their determination to the Indians, he soon returned, saying the Indians were very numerous, and strongly urged Mr. Griffith to use his endeavors to bring about a sur- render, which was at lengthi consented to, and the men having laid down their arms, the Indians at once came forward to receive them ; when, in the face of their promise, they tomahawked three or four of the men ; and one Indian, it is stated, with the fury of a demon, approached Mrs. Heald, with his tomahawk raised to strike her. Much accustomed to danger, and being well acquainted with In- dian character, with remarkable presence of mind, she looked him earnestly in the face, and, smiling, said ; "Surely you will not kill a squaw." Her " action, suited to the word," had the desired effect. The Indian's arm fell ; his savage resolution was broken; and a moment more saw the heroic and thoughtful Mrs. Heald under the protection of the barbarous hand that was about to rob her of life. Mrs. Heald was the daughter of General Samuel Wells, of Ken- tucky, who fought most valliantly at the battle of Tippecanoe against *" Early Day in the North west," pages 224 and 225. (14)
.
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the followers of the Prophet. Captain Wells' head was cut off and his heart taken out and eaten by the Indians."*
In accordance with their ancient custom, the Indians now de- vided the prisoners. Captain Heald, Mrs. Heald, and Mr. Griffith being selected by the Ottawas, were taken by this band on the lake, beyond the mouth of the river St. Joseph. Having been se- verely wounded, they considered their fate as inevitably sealed ; but some angelic arm seem to have been stretched forth to aid them when least expected ; and one day, Griffith's eye accidently fell upon a canoe, at a convenient point, sufficiently large to hold them all ; and one night, soon after, they succeeded in making their es- cape, traversing the lake in this frail bark some two hundred miles to Mackinaw, where the British commandant enabled them to reach the United States in safety.
* As the character of Wells was unequalled for bravery, after his death the Indians took his heart from his body, cooked it, and divided it among themselves in very small pieces. They religiously belived, that each one who ate of it, would thereby become as brave as he from whom it was taken .- Stickney.
1
CHAPTER XVII.
What heroism ! what perils then ! How true of heart and strong of hand ; How earnest, resolute those pioneer MEN ! *
The Indians greatly emboldened by their success at Chicago-The followers of Tecum- sehi threaten to exterminate the tribes refusing to aid their cause-Tecumseh's use- fulness to the British-Teeumseh's scheme of the siege and massaere of Forts Wayne and Harrison-Renewal of the war-Ohio and Kentucky aroused-Col. John Al- len-The Pottawattamies after the evaluation of Fort Dearborn-Preparations for the siege of Forts Wayne and Harrison-Antonie Bondie-The secret of the in- tended siege and massaere of Fort Wayne diselosed-Doubts as to its correctness- Major Stickney dispatches a messenger to Gov. Harrison-Active preparation for defense-Illness of Major Stickney-Indians prowling about the fort-Death of Stephen Johnston-A period of great peril-The siege begun-A stratagem-The Indians desire to gain an entrance into the fort-They ask for a signal-Thirteen of them admitted-Their plot frustrated-Winnemac and Captain Rhea-Two soldiers shot by the Indians-Perilous adventure of Wm. Oliver and some In- dian guides-The garrison learns of the movements of Gov. Harrison-The army on its march for the relief of Fort Wayne-Gov. Harrison elected a Major-general -Ducking a soldier-The army at St. Mary's-Richard M. Johnson leads a corps of mounted volunteers to the relief of Fort Wayne -- Logan, the half-breed, accepted as a spy-Incidents on the route of the army down the St. Mary-A court-martial -The halloos of the Indians taken asa signal of the approach of the army-Great rejoicing in the Fort-The " Key of the West" again unlocks the door of success.
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HE SUCCESS of the Indians at Chicago, gave them great courage, and emboldened them for still greater efforts for the overthrow of the whites, or driving them beyond the Ohio. With few exceptions, the tribes were now, from the disasters at Detroit, in the capture there of the large army under Hull, and the previous surrender of Mackinaw, determined in their course, and were every where more or less inclined to the British interest. The few tribes continuing friendly to the United States, were soon threatened by the followers of Tecumseh with extermination, who was now fast bringing his great scheme to an issue, by the aid of the English. Possessing a most excellent memory, and being well acquainted with every important position in the northwest, he was readily enabled to point out to the British many important advan- tages. Before crossing to Detroit, at the time of Hull's surrender
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE. 1
General Brock took occasion to enquire of Tecumseh what sort of a country he should have to pass over, should he conclude to go beyond. Taking a roll of elm bark, and extending it on the ground by means of four stones, Tecumseh drew his scalping-knife, and at once began to etch upon the bark the position of the country, em- bracing its hills, roads, rivers, morasses, and woods, which, being 2. demonstration of talent quite unexpected in Tecumseh, had the, ef- fect to please General Brock very much, and readily won for him the confidence of the commanding-general. His position and in- fluence-strengthened by the British, and joined by a numerous ally of his own blood-were now formidable, and he was de- termined to render them as potent as his strength and advantages would permit, destined, however, at last to fall.
His great plan was now the siege and massacre of Forts Wayne and Harrison. The Pottawattamies and Ottawas, as at Chicago, aided by the British, under Major Muir, were to be the leading spirits in the movement upon Fort Wayne, while the Winneba- goes, and a portion of the Miamies, who had been persuaded to join the Tecumseh party, were to surprise and capture Fort Harri- son ; and had appointed the first of September as the earliest pe- riod of attack.
The government, in the meantime, had begun most active measures for the renewal and prosecution of the war. From the first, the President had disapproved the armistice at Detroit, and the thought of an invasion of Canada, by the strait of Niagara, was soon upon the breeze of public expectation, and the British com- mander, General Brock, had early heard the rumor.
Ohio and Kentucky, upon the receipt of the news of Hull's sit- uation at Detroit, were soon aroused to the highest sense of patri- otic determination. The governor of Ohio at once ordered the' re- maining portion of the detached militia of his State, numbering some twelve hundred men, to be formed and marched to Urbana, under command of brigadier-general Tupper; while the Secretary of War had previously called on Governor Scott, of Kentucky, for a body of fifteen hundred men, embracing also the regulars previ- ously enlisted in that State. In the early part of May, the governor of Kentucky, in accordance with instructions from the war depart- ment, had organized ten regiments, of some five thousand five hun- dred men, as the quota of that State. Among the many patriotic men who so eagerly joined the standard of their country, in Ken- tucky, was Colonel JOHN ALLEN, who took command of a rifle regi- ment. He was a lawyer of much distinction at the Kentucky bar, and combined many eminent and endearing qualities as a private citizen of that State. Allen county was so. named after him.
After the massacre of Chicago, those Pottawattamies engaged in it spent some weeks about Fort Dearborn, and divided the spoils which had been given them at the time it was forsaken. They then retired to their villages on the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, where
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THE SCHEME FOR THE MASSACRE OF FORT WAYNE.
they were assembled in council by British emissaries, and at their instigation determined upon a simultaneous movement to lay siege to Forts Wayne and Harrison. The British agents promised, that in case the Indians would besiege those forts, and prevent their evac- uation by the garrisons, they should be joined, in one moon, by a large British force from Malden and Detroit, with artilery, who would be able to demolish the stockades, and would give up the garrison to massacre and spoil. Their success in these enterprises, it was but too evident, would have exposed the whole frontier to devastation, and the plans of Tecumseh were all looking to the consummation of this end. The siege was to be commenced in twenty days after the council adjourned.
At this time, there was an Indian trader residing near Fort Wayne, of French extraction, by the name of Antonie Bondie. He was about fifty years of age, and had lived among the Indians from the time he was twelve years old. He was an extraordinary character. At one time he would appear to be brave and generous, at another meanly selfish. He was recognized by the Miamies as one of their tribe-married one of their squaws, and conformed to their habits and mode of life. The hostile Pottawattamies, desirous of saving him from the destruction which they contemplated for the garrison,, sent Metea, chief of their tribe, to inform him of their intentions and his danger. Metea went to his cabin in the night, and under an injunction of great secrecy, informed him of all that had transpired in relation to the contemplated siege of the two forts. He offered to come for Bondie and his family, before the siege was com- menced, with a sufficient number of pack horses to remove them and their moveable property to a place of safety. Bondie did not decline the offer.
The morning after Metea had made this revelation, Bondie, ac- companied by Charles Peltier, a French interpreter, went to the agent (Stickney) very early, and with many injunctions of secrecy, informed him of it all. "The agent was thankful for their informa- tion ; but doubtful whether to credit or reject it, as any mistake in a matter of so much importance, either way, would prove ruinous to his character, and cause his disgraceful ejection from the import- ant office which he held. He had been but three months in office or in the country, and was acquainted with but few persons. The , character of Bondie was not known to him, and the nature of his communication such as to require great secrecy, and if true, imme- diate preparation for the defence of the fort. Stickney sent a note to Rhea, the commanding officer of the garrison, desiring a meet- ing with him in the open esplanade of the fort, where there could be no one to overhear what might be said. This officer having been long in the country, had every opportunity of knowing Bondie. He met the agent, heard his communication, and dismissed it, by ob- serving that Bondie was a trifling fellow, and no reliance could be placed upon what he said. This increased the perplexity of the
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
agent. He sent for Bondie and his interpreter, to have a cross ex- amination. This being completed, it remained for the agent either to pass the matter without notice, and incur the chances of the siege of the Indians against the two posts, to be followed by a reg- ular force of British troops, with artillery, without any preparation ยท for defence or relief from abroad, or to report the information, without attaching to it his official belief in its correctness, which would have no effect. In weighing and comparing chances and consequences, he determined that it was better that he should be ruined in his reputation, and the government suffer all sacrifices, consequent upon the falsity of the report, than that they should both suffer if it proved true. He, therefore, sent a second time to Capt. Rhea, and declared his intention to make the report, and give it the sanction of his belief in its correctness. He informed him that he had just received a dispatch from Governor Harrison, from Vincennes, saying that he was going to Cincinnati, where he must be addressed, if necessary, and that he should send an express, to him, directed to that city, and another to Captain Taylor, the com- manding officer at Fort Harrison. He then returned to his office and commenced making immediate preparations for acquainting Gov. Harrison with the information he had received regarding the contemplated siege of the fort. When nearly ready to dispatch his messenger, Capt. Rhea sent a note to him requesting that he would delay his express to Cincinnati, until he could write a letter to the governor of Ohio, informing him of the report. Stickney complied with this request, and the express was sent with letters to Governor Harrison and Governor Meigs. Active preparations were now commenced for defence. Such men as could be spared with teams were employed to send off ladies who were there, with children, to the frontier; and it was subsequently ascertained that within a few hours after the messengers had started, the Indians drew their lines of guard around the fort.
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