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 33
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General Clay now took care to acquaint General Harrison with *M'Afee.
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258 4/ 1 1.
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
the movement of the British, and on the 29th of July, the messen- ger from Fort Meigs having reached him, he immediately called a council of war, consisting of M'Arthur, Cass, Ball, Paul, Wood, Hukill, Holmes, and Graham, which resulted in a determination to evacuate and destroy Fort Stephenson, if necessary.
By the 31st of July, the enemy had approached so near this fort as to be able to throw their shells about it ; and a flag was soon seen approaching the garrison, which was promptly met by En- sign Shipp, by command of Major Croghan. The bearer of the flag had been instructed by Gen. Proctor, who accompanied the fleet, to demand a surrender of the fort, which was positively re- fused, Shipp replying that it was the determination of the com- mandant of the garrison to defend it to the last extremity, and to disappear amid the conflagration that should destroy it.
The Indians, as on former occasions, were not to be restrained, and the bearer of the flag thought it " a great pity that so fine a young man should fall into the hands of the savages."
" An Indian," says Captain M'Afee, " at this moment came out of an adjoining ravine, and advancing to the ensign, took hold of his sword and attempted to wrest it from him. Dickson interfer- . ed, and having restrained the Indian, affected great anxiety to get him safe into the fort.
"The enemy now," continues M'Atee, " opened their fire from their 6-pounders in the gunboats and the howitzer on shore, which they continued through the night with but little intermission, and with very little effect. The forces of the enemy consisted of 500 regulars, and about 800 Indians, commanded by Dickson, the whole being commanded by General Proctor in person. Tecum- sehi was stationed on the road to fort Meigs with a body of 2000 Indians, expecting to intercept a reinforcement on that route."
The enemy had directed their fire against the northwestern angle of the fort, which induced the commandant to believe that an attempt to storm his works would be made at that point. In the night Captain Hunter was directed to remove the six-pounder to a blockhouse from which it would rake that angle. By great industry and personal exertion, Captain Hunter soon accomplished this object in secrecy. The embrasure was masked, and the piece loaded with a half charge of powder, and double charge of slugs and grape shot.
Early on the morning of the 2d, the enemy opened their fire from their howitzer and three six-pounders, which they landed in the night and planted in a point of woods about two hundred and fifty yards from the fort. About 4 o'clock, p. m., that day, they concentrated the fire of all their guns on the northwest angle, which convinced Major Croghan that they would endeavor to make a breach and storm the works at that point.
Late in the evening, when the smoke of the firing had com- pletely enveloped the fort, the enemy proceeded to make the
ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON -- VALOR OF MAJ. CROGHAN. 259
assault. Two feints were made towards the southern angle, where Captain Hunter's lines were formed; and at the same time a column of 350 men were discovered advancing through the smoke within twenty paces of the northwestern angle. A heavy, galling fire of musketry was now opened upon them from the fort, which threw them into some confusion. Colonel Short, who headed the principal column, soon rallied his men, and led them with great bravery to the brink of a ditch near. After a momentary pause, he leaped into the ditch, calling to his men to follow him, and in a few minutes it was full. The masked port-hole was now opened, and the six-pounder, at the distance of thirty feet, poured such destruction among them, that but few who had entered the ditch were fortunate enough to escape. A precipitate and confused retreat was the immediate consequence, although some of the officers attempted to rally their men. The other column, which was led by Colonel Warburton and Major Chambers, was also routed in confusion by a destructive fire from the line commanded by Captain Hunter. The whole of them fled into the adjoining wood, beyond the reach of the small arms of the fort. During the assault, which lasted half an hour, the enemy kept up an inces- sant fire from their howitzer and five six-pounders. They left Colonel Short, a lieutenant, and twenty-five privates dead in the ditch; and the total number of prisoners taken, was twenty-six, most of them badly wounded. Major Muir was knocked down in the ditch, and lay among the dead till the darkness of the night enabled him to escape in safety. The loss of the garrison was one killed and one slightly wounded. The total loss of the enemy was calculated at about one hundred and fifty killed and wounded.
When night came on, which was soon after the assault, the wounded in the ditch were found to be in a desperate situation. Complete relief could not be brought to them by either side with any degree of safety. Major Croghan, however, relieved them as much as possible-conveying them water over the picketing in buckets, and a ditch was also opened under the picketing, by means of which, those who were able and willing, were encouraged to crawl into the fort .*
About 3 o'clock, on the morning of the 3d, the whole British and Indian force commenced a disorderly retreat. So great was their precipitation, says M'Atee's narration, that they left a sail boat behind, containing some clothing and a considerable quantity of military stores ; and on the next day seventy stand of arms and some braces of pistols were picked up round the fort. Their hurry and confusion was caused by the apprehension of an attack from General Harrison, of whose position and force they had probably received an exagerated account.
At the council held with M'Arthur, Cass, and others, about the 1st of August, it was determined that Major Croghan should abandon Fort Stephenson as "untenable against heavy artillery ;"
* M'Afee.
260
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
and as this fort was considered as of but little value as a military post, it was also concluded to destroy it at the moment of evacua- tion. To this end General Harrison immediately dispatched an order to Major Croghan, but which, owing to the messenger and his Indian guides having lost their way, failed to reach him in time, and deeming it then unsafe, in view of the near approach of the enemy, to attempt an evacuation and retreat, after a council with his officers, the most of whom readily coincided with him, Major Croghan at once started the messenger on his return to General Harrison with the following note :
" Sir, I have just received yours of yesterday, 10 o'clock P. M., ordering me to destroy this place and make good my retreat, which was received too late to be carried into execution. We have de- termined to maintain this place, and by heaevns we can."
His main reason for writing thus positively was, that he feared that the messenger might be captured, and the note fall into the hands of the British ; and when received by General Harrison, without knowing fully the motive of Croghan in thus replying to his order of evacuation and retreat, presuming it to indicate a disobeyal of orders, on the following morning, Colonel Wells, with an escort, was sent to take his place, and Croghan at once order- ed to repair to the post of General Harrison. Arriving at the headquarters of General Harrison, Major Croghan readily gave a satisfactory explanation of his course and the meaning of his note, which received the ready approval of Harrison, and Croghan was at once ordered to return to his post and resume its command, " with written orders similar to those he had received before."
In an official report of Croghan's course in this siege, General Harrison said : " It will not be among the least of General Proc- tor's mortifications, to find that he has been baffled by a youth, who has just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, George R. Clarke."
All under his command at this siege were highly praised by Ma- jor Croghan. " Never was there," said General Harrison, " a set of finer young fellows, viz : Lieutenants Johnson and Baylor of the 17th, Anthony of the 24th, Meeks of the 7th, and ensigns Shipp and Duncan of the 17th." Lieutenant Anderson, of the 24th, was also commended for marked good conduct on this memorable occasion ; and soon after the siege of Fort Stephenson, Major Croghan was breveted a Lieutenant-Colonel by President Madi- son, then President of the United States ; while the ladies of Chili- cothe, Ohio, presented him with a splendid sword, accompanied by an appropriate address.
A little party of Wyandott Indians, after the retreat of the British from Fort Stephenson, were sent down the bay, with other scouts, for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the enemy. Succeeding in capturing a few British soldiers, who had been left in the general retreat, the Indians "brought them to the camp, ,
261
INDIAN SCOUTS AND BRITISH PRISONERS.
without doing them any injury ; and, conscious," says M'Afee, " that they had done their duty, they were frequently seen telling the story to their brother warriors, and laughing at the terror which had been manifested by the soldiers, who, no doubt, expec- ted to be massacred or carried off and destroyed by torture."
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CHAPTER XXII.
" Come thou, old Erie, worthy of thy name, Bearing the trophy of thy hero's fame --. * # * * *
Perry the young, Perry the bold and brave."
Ohio and Kentucky again aroused-Heavy reinforcements --- Operations on the Lake ---- Commodore Perry in command of the Lake fleet --- Activity of the British --- Move- ment of troops from Ohio and Kentucky --- Heavy engagement on the Lake, and vietory of Commodore Perry --- The British commander sends out a reconnoitering party --- Evacuation and destruction of Malden --- Arrival of the American forces at Malden --- Retreat of the British towards Sandwich --- Restless feeling of the In- dians --- Tecumseh proposes an abandonment of efforts against the Americans --- He sees ruin ahead --- His speech.
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OTH Ohio and Kentucky, from which points, at that time, and during some years previous, was derived the main support oof' the West in a military point of view, were now again aroused, and a large number of volunteers came forward at the call of Governors Meigs and Shelby.
The general attention of the country was now turned to opera-, tions on the Lake, of which the British then had the main con- trol, with a considerable fleet afloat ; and it became most impor- tant that the American government should begin to exercise the largest industry in naval affairs.
Two brigs and several schooners had been laid at Erie early in the month of March of this year, (1813) and Commodore Perry had been sent to superintend their construction and equipment. The enemy had also been most active in this relation, and had built a twenty-gun brig at Malden.
About the 2d of August, having completed his equipments and gotten his heaviest vessels over the bar at the mouth of the har- bor, Perry "crossed the Lake to Long Point, and then proceeded up the British shore some distance without discovering their fleet, which had, in fact, returned to Malden for their new brig and addi- tional reinforcements on discovering the force which Perry was able to bring against them."
About the 9th of September, volunteers began to quit Urbana,
263
PERRY'S VICTORY ON THE LAKE.
Ohio, where they had assembled from different parts of that State and Kentucky, for Upper Sandusky-the Kentuckians headed by the venerable Governor Shelby.
In the meantime, (on the 10th) the vessels on the Lake had come to close quarters ; and after an engagement of four hours, during which time it was most difficult to determine which would succeed, the British vessel at length surrendered, and very soon after, much as if the heroic spirit of Wayne had momentarily hovered about the mind of Perry, the following laconic note was addressed to General. Harrison :
" Dear General-We have met the enemy and they are ours- two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and a sloop.
"Yours, with great respect and esteem,
" OLIVER HAZARD PERRY."
Immediately upon the receipt of the news of the loss of the British vessels, Proctor had sent spies to reconnoiter the forces of General Harrison ; who soon obtained a distant view of the Kentuckians while encamped on the plains of Sandusky, at once reporting their number to the British commander at from ten to fifteen thousand.
Upon the receipt of this information, Proctor at once determined to burn Malden, and make good his retreat up the Detroit and Thames rivers, then to make his way to the lower parts of the province. Accordingly, on the 26th, Malden was evacuated and destroyed.
On the following day, (27th) agreeble to previous orders, the American army set sail from the Middle Sister Island for Malden, where the whole arrived in good order about three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, only to behold the ruins of the place. Proctor had retreated to Sandwich, " under the impression that there were at least ten thousand Kentuckians coming against him."
The Indians in the service of the British had now become very restless and uneasy. General Harrison had some time before these events sent some friendly Wyandotts among the Indians allied to the British with a view to neutrality with them. Tecumseh had previously urged an abandonment of the efforts of the 'Indians against the Americans, but without success; and the efforts of the. friendly Wyandotts, sent by the General, had met with no better success. Some 15,000 rations had been daily issned to the In- dians-warriors, women and children-by the British, for some time before the retreat of General Proctor, which was quite a weight upon the British government-too heavy to be borne long.
The impressive mind of Tecumseh saw ruin ahead. He did not like or approve of the course pursued by General Proctor in the destruction and evacuation of Malden. As early as the 18th of September, he had delivered a stirring speech to the British com- mander, in the name of all the chiefs and warriors in the employ
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264
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
of the British, which, by order of General Proctor, was written down and preserved by him until the defeat of the British at the battle of the Thames, when, among other papers left behind by the British in their retreat from the scene of the conflict there, it was found and brought away by the Americans. As the repre- sentative of their British father, the. King of Great Britain, Te- cumseh, in this speech, had appealed to General Proctor, who, doubtless, in view of the momentary approach upon his quarters at Malden of the American forces, was too much disturbed to hear the words of Tecumseh fully explained by the interpreter, or to read the speech himself, when written down. Said the Shawanoe chieftain :
" FATHER, listen to your children! You have them now all be- fore you.
" The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In the war, our father was thrown on his back by the Americans, and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge ; and we are afraid that our father will do so again at this time.
" Summer before last, when I came forward with my red breth- ren, and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that he had not yet de- termined to fight the Americans.
" Listen ! When war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans ; that he wanted our assistance ; and that he would certainly get us our lands back, which the Americans had taken from us.
" Listen ! You told us, at that time, to bring forward our families to this place ; and we did so ; and you promised to take care of them, and they should want for nothing; while the men would go and fight the enemy ; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons ; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to that part of the business. You also told your red children that you would take good care of your garri- son here, which made our hearts glad.
" Listen ! When we were last at the Rapids it is true we gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like groundhogs.
" Father, listen ! Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought ; we have heard the great guns ; but we know nothing of what has happened to our father with that arm. Our ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to run away the other, without let- ting his red children know what his intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands ; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king,
265
SPEECH OF TECUMSEH TO THE BRITISH COMMANDER.
is the head, and you represent him. You always told us that you would never draw your foot off British ground ; but now father, we see you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father doing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our fath- er's conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail upon its back, but when afrighted, it drops it between its legs and runs off.
" Father, listen ! 'The Americans have not yet defeated us by land ; neither are we sure that they have done so by water; we therefore wish to remain here and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father
" At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated us; and when we retreated to our father's fort at that place the gates were shut against us. We were afraid that it would now be the case ; but instead of that, we now see our British father preparing to march out of his garrison.
" Father ! You have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his red children. If you have an idea of go- ing away, give them to us, and you may go and welcome for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determin- ed to defend our lands, and if it be his will, we' wish to leave our bones upon them."
CHAPTER XXIII.
" The victory's lost and won "-
" The battle's o'er ! the din is past ; Night's mantle on the field is cast." Long live those honored names- The valiant conquerors of the Thames.
Pursuit of the British from Malden --- Harrison's letter to the War Department --- Fright and flight of the Canadians --- Capture of Tecumseh's chief counselor --- His account to Colonel Johnson --- Discovery of the bones of the massaered men of Frenchtown --- Excited feelings of the Kentuckians --- Movement of the army in the pursuit of the British --- Arrival at the inouth of the Thames --- Capture of British dragoons --- Anomen of victory --- The bird of Liberty hovering over the army of Harrison --- A sow-shoat follows the army from Kentucky to Bass Island --- The army near the Moravian Towns --- Capture of a British wagoner --- The British army near, in order of battle, lying in wait --- Near approach of Colonel Johnson to the British lines --- The great hour of defeat or vietory at hand --- Formidable position of the British and Indians --- Preparations for an attack --- Daring plan of Colonel Johnson --- A sudden dash to be made upon the British lines --- Advance of the American army Distant fire of the British --- Intrepid charge of the cavalry under Johnson --- Confu- sion and flight of the British --- Contest with the Indians --- Pursuit of Proctor --- His sword and carriage captured --- Loss sustained --- Death of Tecumseh --- Who killed him ?--- Estimates of the forces of the armies --- The charge of the mounted infantry won the victory of the Thames --- Order for the return of the troops --- Manly and cheering address of Governor Shelby.
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HE American forces having encamped about the ruins of Malden on the night of the 27th of September, with a view of pursuing the retreating army of Proctor the following morning, General Harrison, on the evening of the arrival of the army, in a letter to the war department, said: "I will pursue the enemy to-morrow, although there is no probability of overtaking him, as he has upwards of 1000 horses, and we have not one in the army. I shall think myself fortunate to collect a sufficiency to mount the general officers. It is supposed here, that general Proctor will establish himself upon the river Trench, or Thames, 40 miles from Malden."
Proctor had pressed into his service all the horses of the inhabi- tants, which they had not effectually concealed. One only, and that a very indifferent one, could be procured. On it the vener- able Governor of Kentucky was mounted, and proceeded with the
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267
FLIGHT OF THE CANADIANS.
army towards Sandwich, where they arrived on the 29th, without meeting any obstruction from the enemy ; except that the bridge over the Aux Canada river had been torn up, but was soon re- paired again. There had been considerable expectation among the commanding officers that a formidable resistance would be made at this bridge, but no enemy was to be seen; and on arriv- ing at Sandwich it was ascertained that General Proctor had re- treated from that place early on the preceding day. The Indians, however, were in considerable force in the suburbs of Detroit, the inhabitants of which, who had already been very much plundered, were in great apprehension of an immediate massacre; but a few discharges of grape shot from the fleet, which had come up the river, soon compelled them to fly to the woods for safety. General M'Arthur went over with his brigade and took possession of the town ; and on the same evening General Harrison issued his proc- lamation for re-establishing the civil government of the territory. All persons who had been in office at the time of the capitulation, were directed to resume their functions, and administer the laws which had then been in force .*
The Canadians, like the Kaskaskians, at the time of Clark's movement upon Kaskaskia, in 1778, had heard terrible accounts of the barbarity and ferocity of the Kentuckians, and on the approach of the American forces, had fled in the wildest conster- nation and fear, expecting to be massacred and plundered by the Long Knives, (the Kentuckians) but in this, they were destined to -
meet with agreeable disappointment.
On the 20th of September. Lieutenant Griffith having returned with a scouting party from the river Raisin, brought with him an Indian by the name of Misselewetaw, a chief counsellor to Tecum- seh, and uncle to the famous Logan .. He had led the Pigeon Roost massacre, as detailed in a former chapter. When captured, he was asleep in a house at the river Raisin. He told Col. Johnson, says M'Afee, that the Indians had been watching the movements of his army; had examined his encampments, and seen him arrive at fort Meigs ; and that they estimated his forces to be at least 2400. He further stated that the Indians about Brownstown, amounting to 1750 warriors, had determined to give him battle at the river Hu- ron-and that they were still ignorant of the fate of the British fleet. He was an Indian of excellent information, and had been the con- stant companion and friend of Tecumseh. Being under an impres- sion that he would now certainly have to die, he gave Col. Johnson a long and apparently very candid account of past transactions, since the treaty of Greenville to that time. He said the British had supplied the Prophet's party with arms and amunition before the battle of Tippecanoe; that Tecumseh's plan for a common property in their lands had been strongly recommended and praised by Col. Elliott ; and that the British had used every means in their power, since the year 1809, to secure the friendship and aid of the *M'Afee.
268
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
Indians, in the event of a war with the United States-having often invited them to Malden and made them presents for that pur- pose; and having also represented to them that they should re- ceive British aid to drive the Americans over the Ohio river, after which they should live in the houses of the inhabitants and have their daughters for wives. He said he was now convinced that the British had again deceived them, and that the Great Spirit had forsaken him in his old age for his cruelty and wickedness.
Since the massacre of the river Raisin, the bones of the Ken- tuckians had remained exposed until sometime in June, 1813, when Colonel R. M. Johnson had collected and buried a large num- ber of them, which, after his departure, had again been dug up and scattered over the fields. On the evening of the 25th of Sep- tember, orders having been received at Fort Meigs for the regi- ment under Colonel Johnson to march again for the river Raisin, on the following morning, after due preparation, the regiment mov- ed forward, and on the second day after starting, reached the scene of massacre, where the bones of the slain were to be seen scatter- ed about in every direction. Frenchtown was now generally de- serted, and " the fine orchards of peach and apple trees were load- ed with excellent fruit." "The sight of the bones," says Captain M'Afee, " had a powerful effect on the feelings of the men. The wounds inflicted by that barbarous transaction, were again torn open. The bleaching bones still appealed to heaven and called on Kentucky to avenge this outrage on humanity. We had heard the scene described before," says he, -" we now witnessed it in these impressive memorials. The feelings they excited cannot be described by me-but they will never be forgotten-nor while there is a recording angel in heaven, or a historian upon earth, will the tragedy of the river Raisin be suffered to sink into obliv- ion. Future generations will often ponder on this fatal field of blood ; and the future inhabitants of Frenchtown will long point out to the curious traveler the garden where the intrepid Madison for several hours maintained the unequal contest of four to one, and repulsed the bloody Proctor in every charge. Yonder is the wood, where the gallant ALLEN fell ! Here the accomplished Hart and Woolfolk were butchered! There the brave Hickman was tomahawked and thrown into the flames! That is the spot where the lofty Simpson breathed his last! And a little farther doctors Montgomery, Davis and M'Ilvain, amiable in their manners and profound in science, fell in youth and left the sick to mourn their loss ! The gallant Meade fell on the bank in battle, but his mag- nanimous lieutenant, Graves, was reserved for massacre !"
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