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 34
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At this point an express arrived from the main army, which the messenger had left on the Island of the Middle Sister on the morn- ing of the 26th. He had been sent, while General Harrison was reconnoitering off Malden, by the attentive and watchful Gover- nor of Kentucky, to apprize Colonel Johnson of the progress and
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PURSUIT OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
prospects of the army, that he might regulate his march accord- ingly. Next morning, before the regiment marched, their faithful guide, Anthony Shane, the Shawanoe half-breed, observed that he knew the spot where Captain Simpson had been killed. The Colonels, with Captain M'Afee and Dr. Ewing, went with Shane to the place, and found the bones, which they buried. The frame of Captain Simpson was easily known from the others, by its length, the Captain having been upwards of six feet and a half high .*
On the 30th of September, the whole regiment under Colonel Johnson, had safely reached Detroit, where they soon crossed the river to Sandwich.
It was now concluded, in a council between General Harrison and Governor Shelby, that Proctor might be overtaken in three or four days' rapid marching ; and the Governor was accordingly re- quested to collect his general officers at headquarters, with a view to arrangements for the plan of pursuit. Two courses were sug- gested-one, to follow up the Strait by land-the other, to embark and sail down Lake Erie to Long Point, then to move rapidly across by land, some twelve miles, to the road, and intercept the course of the enemy's retreat. Governor Shelby was of the opin- ion that the route by land, up the Strait, would be the best; which was unanimously agreed upon ; and on the morning of the 2d of October, at sunrise, the army was in motion, the vessel troops mov- ing some hours in advance of the brigade of General Cass, which was detained on account of their blankets and knapsacks having been left at the Island of the Middle Sister. The mounted regi- ments were also detained a short time in drawing provisions. But after a march of some twelve miles, the mounted troops over- took the advance corps.
It having been ascertained that the Indian chiefs, Five Medals and Mai-pock, with other chiefs, in connection with the Miamies, Pottawattamies, and other tribes, had remained on the west side of the Detroit river, General M'Arthur's brigade was left at Detroit to hold them in check.
Upon the arrival of the army at the mouth of the Thames, a small body of British dragoons was discovered by the spies, under Major Sugget, just below that point, who were pursued and captured, just after an effort, on their part, to destroy a bridge over a small stream near the place of capture. "This little affair, the first fruits of the pursuit," says Captain M'Afee, " had a very great effect in animating the pursuers."
As the army drew up at the mouth of the Thames, all eyes were turned upward. An omen of victory was hovering over the scene in the form of the glorious bird of Liberty-the American eagle ! " A presage of success !" remarked General Harrison ; "as. it is our tutelary bird." A similar event had occurred to the fleet of Commodore Perry, before his victory, on the morning of the 10th of September.
*M' Afte.
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
And it may be remarked just here that another somewhat singu- lar manifestation was presented for the thoughtful consideration and amusement of the army just prior to the appearance of the eagle at the mouth of the Thames. A sow-shoat had followed a company of mounted volunteers from the interior of Kentucky to the point where the army drew np for further orders at Lake Erie. Keeping " constantly with the army, she became generally known to the soldiers, who called her the governor's pig, and were care- ful to protect her, as they deemed her conduct an auspicious omen. At the margin of the lake," runs the account, " she embarked with the troops and went as far as Bass island." Being offered a pas- sage into Canada from this point, she "obstinately refused to em- bark the second time;" and though her conduct was jocosely attributed " to constitutional scruples "-some of the men of the army humerously suggesting that "it was contrary to the consti- tution 'to force a militia pig over the line," yet she could not by any means be pursuaded to cross over to Canada, and was accor- dingly permitted to "return to the regiment at Portage."
Early on the morning of the 5th of October, the army was again in motion, and continued its march, without special interruption, until within a short distance of the Moravian Towns, some ninety miles northeast of Detroit, where, capturing a British wagoner, the army received the intelligence that " the enemy were lying in order of battle about three hundred yards before them," awaiting the approach of the American forces. Colonel Johnson, with Major Sugget and his spies, now advanced within view of the British lines, for the purpose of obtaining as much information as possible as to the position, &c., of the enemy, which was readily communicated to General Harrison.
The great hour that was to decide the triumph of American arms in the full establishment and maintenance of political rule over the vast territory of the Great West was now at hand; and the forces under General Harrison were halted and formed for the conflict !
The British commander had selected a formidable position for the prosecution of his plan of attack. The ground upon which the British forces had halted extended along near the margin of the river Thames, the ground being covered principally with beech, sugar-tree, and oak timber, with but little underbrush. "Running nearly parallel with the river, for about two miles, was a somewhat extensive marsh, which grew narrower as one advanc- ed up the stream. Where the British forces were stationed, there was a narrow swamp, some three hundred yards from the Thames, lying between which and the main swamp extending up the river, there appeared a spot of solid ground. In two lines, their left resting on the river, and their right extending to the first swamp, the British regulars were ranged, with their artillery planted in the road, near the bank of the river. The Indians, all ranged along
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BATTLE OF THE THAMES.
the first swamp, their left at a point where Tecumseh commanded, occupying " the isthmus between the swamps, on which the un- dergrowth was tolerably thick; and their right extending a con- siderable distance down the main marsh, the margin of which, at this place, receding very fast from the river, formed a very obtuse angle with the lines " of the American forces.
At the out-set, in the order of arrangement for battle, the mount- ted regiment under Colonel Johnson occupied the space between the river and the first swamp. On approaching this regiment and learning of the discovery of the enemy, as well as satisfying himself as to the situation of the British forces, by personal obser- vation, General. Harrison at once directed Colonel Johnson, on the approach of the infantry, to assume a position at the left, from thence, if possible, to turn the right of the Indians.
The British regulars were drawn up in open order. A daring plan was now readily conceived by Colonel Johnson, and as quick -. ly agreed upon. It was for the mounted infantry to make a sud- den dash upon the British lines, confusing and breaking them at once ; and the two mounted regiments were accordingly ordered to be formed "in two charging columns, in short lines, and, on re- ceiving the enemy's fire, to charge through his ranks, form in his rear, and act as circumstances might require."
The rear and flanks being well secured against attacks, the foot troops, embracing five brigades, averaging some three hundred men each, were well arranged along the rear, the river, the swamp, the road, near the river, &c., and Governor Shelby was ordered to take his position-a very important one-at the angle between the swamps, while General Harrison took his position at the head of the front line, in order the better to observe the charge, and ren- der ready and efficient support to the horsemen.
All was now readiness for the charge; and "the whole army advanced in the order " already presented, " until the front of the first battalion received a distant fire from the British lines," which " somewhat frightened the horses, and caused a little confusion at the heads of the columns ; thus retarding the charge, and giving the enemy time to prepare for a second fire, which soon followed the first." But in a moment, the American columns "were com- pletely in motion, and rushed upon the British with irresistable impetuosity," causing their front line to precipitately break away in every direction, and their second, also, some thirty paces in the rear of the front line, after a single fire, "was broken and thrown into confusion." The grand idea of the onset of the mounted troops under Colonel Johnson had now consummated its pur- pose ; and sure victory at every point was already perching upon the American banner. The bird of Liberty had indeed proved "a presage of success ; " and he had not yet ceased to spread his glorious pinions over the region of the scene of conflict ! Such was the patriotic fervor and heroism of that eventful hour of our
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country's history-such the fierce contest between the reced- ing monarchial element of the time, seeking dominion and control over the northwest, with a view to the overthrow of Republicanism, and the supplanting upon the ruins thereof the power and rule of of the British crown, on one hand, and the valiant pioneer soldiery and patriots of the West, striving to widen the avenues of free institutions, free government-to open the broad domain of the Great West for the cultivation of a boundles unity of goodness, order, truth, industry, and all the conditions and elements then and thereafter germanly pertaining to the welfare, general well- being, progressive education, and safety of a free people-the protection and perpetuation of a generous and progressive govern - ment, on the other. And the powerful will of the latter, intensi - fied and impelled by a broad and glorious spirit and sense of free- dom and hope of future governmental unity, charged upon the enemy with an undaunted and even reckless determination to achieve the end sought to be attained, viz : an unconditional victory over a common foe to republican institutions and a free, un- trammeled government !
At this stage of the conflict, the American columns, having now passed through the broken lines of the enemy, " wheeled to the right and left, and began to pour a destructive fire on the rear of their disordered ranks ; " but the contest was only momentary-for, says the narration of the very truthful and intelligent Captain M'Afee, a participant in this eventful struggle, " No sooner had our horsemen charged through their lines and gained their rear, than they began to surrender as fast as they could throw down their arms. And thus, in a moment, the whole British force, upwards of eight hundred strong, was totally vanquished, and the greater part of it captured by the first battalion of the mounted regiment under lieutenant-colonel James Johnson, before the front line of our infantry had got fairly in view of them. General Proctor, however, made his escape, escorted by a small party of dragoons and mounted Indians, who were immediately pursued as far as the Moravian town, by a party of the mounted regiment, consisting chiefly of officers.
"The contest with the Indians on the left," continues the narra- tion of M'Afee, " was more obstinate. They reserved their fire till the heads of the columns and the front line on foot had approach- ed within a few paces of their position. A very destructive fire was then commenced by them, about the time the firing ceased between the British and the first battalion. Colonel Johnson, finding his advanced guard, composing the head of his column, nearly all cut down by the first fire, and himself severely wound- ed, immediately ordered his column to dismount and come up in line before the enemy, the ground which they occupied being un- favorable for operations on horseback. The line was promptly formed on foot, and a fierce conflict was then maintained for seven
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BATTLE OF THE THAMES-FLIGHT OF PROCTOR.
or eight minutes, with considerable execution on both sides ; but the Indians had not sufficient firmness to sustain very long a fire which was close and warm, and severely destructive. They gave way and fled through the brush into the outer swamp, not, how- ever, before they had learnt the total disconfiture of their allies, and had lost, by the fall of Tecumseh, a chief in whom were unit- ed the prowess of Achilles and authority of Agamemnon.
" As soon as the firing commenced between the Indians and the second battalion, Governor Shelby, who was posted at the crotchet in its rear, immediately ordered that part of the front line of in- fantry which lay between the first swamp and the crotchet, being a part of Colonel Donelson's regiment, to march up briskly to the aid of the mounted men. They rushed up accordingly into Colo- nel Johnson's lines, and participated in the contest at that point. This was the only portion of the infantry which had an opportunity of engaging in any part of the battle. The Governor also dis- patched General Adair, his aid-de-camp, to bring up the brigade of General King to the front line ; but before this could be accom- plished the enemy had fled from Colonel Johnson, and a scattering, running fire had commenced along the swamp, in front of General Desha's division, between the retiring Indians and the mounted men in pursuit, who were now commanded by Major Thompson alone, Colonel Johnson having retired in consequence of his wounds. This firing in the swamp continued, with occasional remissions, for nearly half an hour, during which time the contest was gallantly maintained by Major Thompson and his men, who were still pressing forward on the Indians. Governor Shelby in the meantime had rode down to the left of General Desha's divis- ion, and ordered the regiment of Colonel Simrall, which was post- ed on the extreme left, to march up on the right flank of the enemy in aid of Major Thompson ; but before this reinforcement could reach the scene of action, the Indians had given up the contest.
" Soon after the British force had surrendered, and it was discov- ered that the Indians were yielding on the left, General Harrison ordered Major Payne to pursue General Proctor with a part of his battalion ; which was promptly done, and the pursuit continued, by the greater part of the detachment, to the distance of six miles beyond the Moravian town, some Indians being killed, and a con- siderable number of prisoners, with a large quantity of plunder, captured in their progress. Majors Payne, Wood, Todd, and and Chambers; Captain Langham, and Lieutenants Scorgin Bell, with three privates, continued the pursuit several miles furth- er, till night came upon them-but Proctor was not to be taken.
The pursuers, however, at last pressed him so closely, that he was obliged to abandon the road, and his carriage and sword were cap- tured by the gallant Major Wood. The prisoners, about 50 in number, were brought back to the Moravian town, where they
(18)
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
were left in charge of Captain M'Afee, with 100 mounted men, until Major Gano arrived, about midnight, with a reinforcement of 150 infantry. At the head of the town, six pieces of brass artillery were taken, three of which had been captured in the revolution, at Saratoga and York, and surrendered again by Hull in Detroit. " The exact loss which either side sustained in this battle," con- tinues Captain M'Afee, " has never been correctly known. Accord- ing to the best information, however, which has been received, the total loss of the mounted regiment on that day, was 17 killed and 30 wounded. The loss of the infantry was much less, though con- siderable also, at the point where they reinforced Colonel Johnson, which was the principal theatre of our losses. The Indians left thirty-three dead on the battle ground, and had ten or twelve killed in different places by their pursuers. The British had 18 killed and 26 wounded, besides 600 prisoners captured, including 25 officers. Among our killed was Colonel Whitley, a veteran who had been a distinguished soldier in former Indian wars, and had been no less conspicuous and serviceable in the present campaign, in wheih the accompanied Colonel Johnson. Captain Craig and Lieutenant Logan died of their wounds a few days after the battle. Col. Johnson and Captains Davidson and Short were also wound- ed severely, but recovered. The Colonel was shot through his thigh and in his hip, by the first fire of the Indians ; and shortly afterwards he was shot through his left hand, by a ball which rang- ed up his arm, but did not enter his body. He continued, howev- er, in front of his men, gallantly fighting the enemy as long as the action lasted at that place. The white mare on which he rode was also shot so severely that she fell and expired soon after she had carried her rider within the lines of the infantry.
" Tecumseh was found among the dead at the point where Col. Johnson had charged upon the enemy in person ; and it is gener- ally believed that this celebrated chief fell by the hand of the Colonel .* It is certain that the latter killed the Indian with his pistol who shot him through his hand, at the very spot where Te- cumseh lay ; but another dead body lay at the same place, and Mr. King, a soldier in Captain Davidson's company, had the honor of killing one of them.
"From the best information that has been received, it appears that there was no material difference in the strength of the two armies in this battle. The troops under Harrison had been great- ly reduced in number by detachments left as guards and for other purposes, and by those who were sick and otherwise unable to
* The question as to who killed Tecumseh ? has never been decided. Drake, in his interesting life of this noted chief, devotes some twenty pages to the solution of this long unanswered question, but only to arrive at the sage conclusion, that somebody killed the Shawanoe Chieftain at the battle of the Thames.
While making a political speech at St. Louis, some years subsequent to the struggles of 1812-14, a voice in the crowd asked " who killed Tecumseh ? " To which Col. John- son replied : "I pannot tel'; it is probable that I did it, but equally probable that I did'es." One of our Westera poets, sue late Charles A. Jones, Esq .; of Cincinnati, Ohio
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TRIBUTE TO TECUMSEH.
keep up on forced marches. The distance from Sandwich to the Moravian town is upwards of eighty miles, which our army march- ed in three days and a half, though frequently harrassed by skir- mishing and forming in order of battle, and delayed by repairing bridges and procuring supplies. A body of undisciplined militia, urged along and regulated alone by their patriotism and military ardor, would necessarily be much reduced by such a journey. The whole of the regulars had been left behind, except the small frag- ment of a regiment under Colonel Paul. The brigade of General M'Arthur had been left at Detroit to protect the inhabitants against the Indians ; and that of General Cass had been left at Sandwich, waiting for the baggage of the men, which delayed them so long that they were unable to come up with the army before the battle had been fought. The whole way from Sandwich to the battle ground was filled with scattering parties of the militia. Hence, our force at the place of action was believed to be less than 2500 men, which was very little more than the force actually engaged on the part of the enemy. The British part of that force appears to have been about 845 strong. Its loss in killed, wounded, and captured, was 645 ; and the adjutant-general of the British forces some years ago, in the columns of the " HESPERIAN," paid the following beautiful tribute to the great warrior :
" TECUMSEH, THE LAST KING OF THE OHIO.
" Where rolls the dark and turbid Thames, " Art thou a soldier ?- dost thou not His consecrated wave along,
Sleeps one, than whose, few are the names More worthy of the lyre and song ; Yet o'er whose spot of lone repose No pilgrim eyes are seen to weep ; And no memorial marble throws Its shadow where his ashes sleep. -
Stop, Stranger, there Tecumseh lies ; Behold the lowly resting place Of all that of the hero dies ; The Cæsar-Tully-of his race, Whose arm of strength and firey tongue, Have won him an immortal name, And from the mouths of millions wrung Reluctant tribute to his fame.
". Stop-for 'tis glory elaims thy tear, True worth belongs to all mankind, And he whose ashes slumber here, Though man in form, was God in mind; What matter he was not like thee, In race or color ? - 'tis the soul That marks man's true divinity- Then let not shame they tears control.
" Art thou a patriot ?- so was he- His breast was Freedom's holiest shrine; And as thou bendest there thy knee, His spirit will unite with thine; All that a man ean give, he gave- His life-the country of his sires From the oppressor's grasp to save- In vain-quenched are his nation's fires.
O'er deeds chivalrie love to muse ?
Here stay thy steps-what holier spot Couldst thou for contemplation choose The earth bereith is holy ground, It holds a thousand valiant braves ; Tread lightly o'er each little mound, For they are no ignoble graves.
" Thermopyla and Marathon, Though classic earth, ean boast no more Of deeds heroic than yon sun Once saw upon this lonely shore, When in a gallant nation's last And deadliest struggle, for its own,
Teeum e i's fiery spirit passed Inbo ,d, and sought his father's throne. 1
" Oh, softly fall the summer dew, The tears of Heaven upon his sod, For he in life and death was true, Both to his country and his god ; For oh, if God to man has given, From his bright home beyond the skies One feeling that's akin to lleaven, . 'Tis his who for his country dies.
Rest, warrior, rest-though not a dirgo Is thine beside the wailing blast ; Time eannot in obliviou merge
The light thy star of glory cast ; While heave yon high hills to the sky, While rolls yon dark and turbid river, Thy name and fame can never die-
Whom Freedom loves will live forever.
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soon afterwards officially acknowledged that 204 of those who escaped had assembled at Ancaster on the 17th of October. This calculation is also confirmed by the official return of the troops at Malden on the 10th of September, which made them 944 in num - ber-affording an excess of 100 above our estimate to meet the losses experienced on the retreat before the battle. As for the amount of their Indian force, when it is shown by their own offi- cial papers, captured with the army, that 15,000 rations were issu- cd daily to the Indians before the retreat, and that the greater part of them accompanied Proctor up the Thames, it is certainly a reasonable calculation to estimate them at 15, 18, or even 20 hun- dred warriors in the battle. The whole force of the allies must hence have been at least considerably above 2000-yet a large portion of that force was captured, and the balance entirely driv- en off by the single regiment under Johnson, aided at one point only by a portion of the infantry, and making altogether, it is be- lieved, much less than half the army. But had our force been greatly superior, the nature of the ground, and position of the enemy, would have rendered its superiority useless ; for a larger force than his could not have been brought efficiently into action, had his resistance been so great as to render it necessary. The mounted regiment had but 950 men in the battle-hence the force of the battalion, which was led into action by Lieutenant-Colonel James Johnson, could not have been much more than half as great as the British force, which it shattered in a moment by its impetu- ous charge.
"Our important and glorious victory, it is evident, was princi- pally achieved by the novel expedient of charging through the British lines with mounted infantry. 'The measure,' says General Harrison, who conceived it at the moment for its execution, ' was not sanctioned by anything I had seen or heard, but I was fully convinced that it would succeed. The American backwoodsmen ride better in the woods than any other people. A musket or rifle is no impediment to them, being accustomed to carry it on horse- back from their earliest youth. I was pursuaded, too, that the enemy would be quite unprepared for the shock, and that they could not resist it.' The shock was indeed so unexpected and im- petuous that all the resistance they were able to make amounted to nothing. Two or three killed, and a few more wounded, was all the execution done by upwards of eight hundred veterans, many of whom surrendered without giving a second fire. 'It is really a novel thing,' says Colonel Wood, 'that raw militia, stuck upon horses, with muskets in their hands, instead of sabres, should be able to pierce British lines with such complete effect, as did John- son's men in the affair upon the Thames ; and perhaps the only circumstance which could justify that deviation from the long established rules of the art military, is the complete success of the result. Great generals are authorized to step aside occasionally ---
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