USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnston County, Indiana. From the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana territory, and the state of Indiana > Part 5
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"Our situation was now critical. No possibility of retreat in case of defeat, and in full view of a town containing at this time more than 600 men, troops, inhabitants and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not 50 men, would have been now a re-enforcement of immense magnitude to our little army, if I may so call it, but we would not think of them. We were now in the situation that I had labored to get ourselves in. The idea of being made prisoner was foreign to almost every man, as they expected nothing but tor- ture from the savages if they fell into their hands. Our fate was
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now to be determined, probably in a few hours; we knew that nothing but the most daring conduct would insure success; I knew also that a number of the inhabitants wished us well. This was a favorable circumstance; and as there was but little prooability of our remaining until dark undiscovered, I determined to begin opera- tions immediately, and therefore wrote the following placard to the inhabitants:
To the Inhabitants of Post Vincennes:
Gentlemen :- Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are true citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses; and those, if any there be, that are friends to the king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the hair-buyer general and fight like men; and if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered afterward, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated; and I once more request them to keep out of the streets; for every one I find in arms on my arrival I shall treat as an enemy.
[Signed]
G. R. CLARK.
" I had various ideas on the results of this letter. I knew it could do us no damage, but that it would eause the lukewarm to be decided, and encourage our friends and astonish our enemies. We anxiously viewed this messenger until he entered the town, and in a few minutes we discovered by our glasses some stir in every street we could penetrate, and great numbers running or riding out into the commons, we supposed to view us, which was the ease. But what surprised us was that nothing had yet happened that had the appearance of the garrison being alarmed,-neither gun nor drum. We began to suppose that the information we got from our prisoners was false, and that the enemy had already knew of us and were prepared. A little before sunset we displayed ourselves in full view of the town, -crowds gazing at us. We were plunging ourselves into certain destruction or success ; there was no midway thought of. We had but little to say to our men, except inculcat- ing an idea of the necessity of obedience, etc. We moved on slowly in full view of the town; but as it was a point of some eon- sequence to us to make ourselves appear formidable, we, in leaving the covert we were in, marched and counter-marched in such a manner that we appeared numerons. Our colors were displayed to the best advantage; and as the low plain we marched through was
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not a perfect level, but had frequent risings in it, of 7 or 8' higher than the common level, which was covered with water; and as these risings generally run in an oblique direction to the town, we took the advantage of one of them, marching through the water by it, which completely prevented our being numbered. We gained the heights back of the town. As there were as yet no hostile appearance, we were impatient to have the cause unriddled. Lieut. Bayley was ordered with 14 men to march and fire on the fort; the main body moved in a different direction and took possession of the strongest part of the town."
Clark then sent a writter. order to Hamilton commanding him to surrender immediately or he would be treated as a murderer; Hamilton replied that he and his garrison were not disposed to be awed into any action unworthy of British sub- jects. After one hour more of fighting, Hamilton proposed a truce of three days for conference, on condition that each side cease all defensive work; Clark rejoined that he would "not agree to any terms other than Mr. Hamilton surrendering himself and garrison prisoners at discretion," and added that if he, Hamil- ton, wished to talk with him he could meet him immediately at the church with Capt. Helm. In less than an hour Clark dictated the terms of surrender, Feb. 24, 1779. Hamilton agreed to the total surrender because, as he there claimed in writing, he was too far from aid from his own government, and because of the "unanimity" of his officers in the surrender, and his "confidence in a generous enemy."
"Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, of the merits of those engaged in it, of their bravery, their skill, of their prudence, of their success, a volume would not more than suffice for the details. Suffice it to say that in my opinion, and I have accurately and criti- , cally weighed and examined all the results produced by the con- tests in which we were engaged during the Revolutionary war, that for bravery, for hardships endured, for skill and consummate tact and prudence on the part of the commander, obedience, dis- cipline and love of country on the part of his followers, for the immense benefits acquired, and signal advantages obtained by it for the whole union, it was second to no enterprise undertaken dur- ing that struggle. I might add, second to no undertaking in an- cient or modern warfare. The whole credit of this conquest be- longs to two men; Gen. George Rogers Clark and Col. Francis Vigo. And when we consider that by it the whole territory now
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covered by the three great states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan was added to the nnion, and so admitted to be by the British commis- sioners at the preliminaries to the treaty of peace in 1783; (and but for this very conquest, the boundaries of our territories west would have been the Ohio instead of the Mississippi, and so acknowledged by both our commissioners and the British at that conference;) a territory embracing upward of 2,000,000 people, the human mind is lost in the contemplation of its effects; and we can but wonder that a force of 170 men, the whole number of Clark's troops, should by this single action liave produced such important results." [John Law.
The next day Clark sent a detachment of 60 men up the river Wabash to intercept some boats which were laden with provisions and goods from Detroit. This force was placed under command of Capt. Helm, Major Bosseron and Major Legras, and they proceeded up the river, in three armed boats, about 120 miles, when the British boats, about seven in number, were surprised and captured without firing a gun. These boats, which had on board abont $50,000 worth of goods and provisions, were manned by about 40 men, among whom was Philip Dejean, a magistrate of Detroit. The provisions were taken for the public, and distributed among the soldiery.
Having organized a military government at Vincennes and appointed Capt. Helm commandant of the town, Col. Clark return- ed in the vessel to Kaskaskia, where he was joined by reinforce- ments from Kentucky under Capt. George. Meanwhile, a party of traders who were going to the falls, were killed and plundered by the Delawares of White River; the news of this disaster having reached Clark, he sent a dispatch to Capt. Helm ordering him to make war on the Delawares and use every means in his power to destroy them; to show no mercy to the men, but to save the women and children. This order was executed withiont delay. Their camps were attacked in every quarter where they could be found. Many fell, and others were carried to Post Vincennes and pnt to death. The surviving Delawares at once pleaded for mercy and appeared anxious to make some atonement for their bad con- duct. To these overtures Capt. Helm replied that Col. Clark, the " Big Knife," had ordered the war, and that he had no power to lay down the hatchet, but that he would suspend hostilities until a messenger could be sent to Kaskaskia. This was donc, and the crafty Colonel, well understanding the Indian character, sent a
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message to the Delawares, telling them that he would not accept their friendship or treat with them for peace; but that if they could get some of the neighboring tribes to become responsible for their future conduct, he would discontinue the war and spare their lives; otherwise they must all perish.
Accordingly a council was called of all the Indians in the neigh- borhood, and Clark's answer was read to the assembly. After due deliberation the Piankeshaws took on themselves to answer for the future good eondnet of the Delawares, and the " Grand Door " in a long speech denounced their base conduet. This ended the war with the Delawares and secured the respeet of the neighboring tribes
Ciark's attention was next turned to the British post at Detroit, but being unable to obtain sufficient troops he abandoned the en- terprise.
CLARK'S INGENIOUS RUSE AGAINST THE INDIANS.
Tradition says that when Clark captured Hamilton and his gar- rison at Fort Sackville, he took possession of the fort and kept the British flag flying, dressed his sentinels with the uniform of the British soldiery, and let everything about the premises remain as they were, so that when the Indians sympathizing with the British arrived they would walk right into the citadel, into the jaws of death. His success was perfeet. Sullen and silent, with the scalp- lock of his vietims hanging at his girdle, and in full expectation of his reward from Hamilton, the unwary savage, unconscious of danger and wholly ignorant of the change that had just been effected in his absence, passed the supposed British sentry at the gate of the fort unmolested and unchallenged; but as soon as in, a volley from the rifles of a platoon of Clark's men, drawn up and awaiting his coming, piereed their hearts and sent the unconscious savage, reek- ing with murder, to that tribunal to which he had so frequently, by order of the hair-buyer general, sent his Ameriean eaptives, from the infant in the cradle to the grandfather of the family, tot- tering with age and infirmity. It was a just retribution, and few men but Clark would have planned such a ruse or carried it out successfully. It is reported that fifty Indians met this fate within the fort; and probably Hamilton, a prisoner there, witnessed it all
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF HAMILTON.
Henry Hamilton, who had acted as Lieutenant and Governor of the British possessions nuder Sir George Carleton, was sent for-
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ward, with two other prisoners of war, Dejean and LaMothe, to Williamsburg, Va., early in June following, 1779. Proclamations, in his own handwriting, were found, in which he had offered a specific sum for every American sealp bronght into the eamp, either by his own troops or his allies, the Indians; and from this he was denominated the "hair-buyer General." This and much other tes- timony of living witnesses at the time, all showed what a savage he was. Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, being made aware of the inhumanity of this wreteh, coneluded to resort to a little retaliation by way of eloser confinement. Accordingly he ordered that these three prisoners be put in irons, confined in a dungeon, deprived of the use of pen, ink and paper, and be ex- cluded from all conversation except with their keeper. Major General Phillips, a British officer out on parole in the vicinity of Charlottesville, where the prisoners now were, in eloser confine- ment, remonstrated, and President Washington, while approving of Jefferson's course, requested a mitigation of the severe order, lest the British be goaded to desperate measures.
Soon afterward Hamilton was released on parole, and he subse- quently appeared in Canada, still acting as if he had jurisdiction in the United States.
GIBAULT.
The faithful, self-sacrifieing and patriotic services of Father Pierre Gibault in behalf of the Americans require a special notice of him in this connection. He was the parish priest at Vincennes, as well as at Kaskaskia. He was, at an early period, a Jesuit mis- sionary to the Illinois. Had it not been for the influence of this man, Clark could not have obtained the influence of the citizens at either place. He gave all his property, to the value of 1,500 Spanish milled dollars, to the support of Col. Clark's troops, and never re- ceived a single dollar in return. So far as the records inform us, he was given 1,500 Continental paper dollars, which proved in the end entirely valueless. He modestly petitioned from the Govern- ment a small allowance of land at Cahokia, but we find no account of his ever receiving it. IIe was dependent upon the publie in his older days, and in 1790 Winthrop Sargent "conceded" to him a lot of about "14 toises, one side to Mr. Millet, another to Mr. Vandrey, and to two streets,"-a vague description of land.
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VIGO.
Col. Francis Vigo was born in Mondovi, in the kingdom of Sar- dinia, in 1747. He left his parents and guardians at a very early age, and enlisted in a Spanish regiment as a soldier. The regiment was ordered to Havana, and a detachment of it subsequently to New Orleans, then a Spanish post; Col. Vigo accompanied this de- tachment. But he left the army and engaged in trading with the Indians on the Arkansas and its tributaries. Next he settled at St. Louis, also a Spanish post, where he became closely connected, both in friendship and business, with the Governor of Upper Louisiana, then residing at the same place. This friendship he enjoyed, though he could only write his name; and we have many eireumstantial evidences that he was a man of high intelligence, honor, purity of heart, and ability. Here he was living when Clark captured Kas- kaskia, and was extensively engaged in trading up the Missouri.
A Spaniard by birth and allegiance, he was under no obligation to assist the Americans. Spain was at peace with Great Britain, and any interference by her citizens was a breach of neutrality, and subjected an individual, especially one of the high character and standing of Col. Vigo, to all the eontumely, loss and vengeance which British power eould infliet. But Col. Vigo did not falter. With an innate love of liberty, an attachment to Republican prin- eiples, and an ardent sympathy for an oppressed people struggling for their rights, he overlooked all personal consequences, and as soon as he learned of Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia, he crossed the line and went to Clark and tendered him his means and influence, both of which were joyfully accepted.
Knowing Col. Vigo's influence with the ancient inhabitants of the country, and desirous of obtaining some information from Vincennes, from which he had not heard for several months, Col. Clark proposed to him that he might go to that place and learn the actual state of affairs. Vigo went without hesitation, but on the Embarrass river he was seized by a party of Indians, plundered of all he possessed, and brought a prisoner before Hamilton, then in pos- session of the post, which he had a short time previously captured, holding Capt. Helm a prisoner of war. Being a Spanish subject, and consequently a non-combatant, Gov. Hamilton, although he strongly suspected the motives of the visit, dared not confine him, but admitted him to parole, on the single condition that he should daily report himself at the fort. But Hamilton was embar-
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rassed by his detention, being besieged by the inhabitants of the town, who loved Vigo and threatened to withdraw their support from the garrison if he would not release him. Father Gibault was the chief pleader for Vigo's release. Hamilton finally yielded, on con- dition that he, Vigo, would do no injury to the British interests on his way to St. Louis. He went to St. Louis, sure enough, doing no injury to British interests, but immediately returned to Kaskaskia and reported to Clark in detail all he had learned at Vincennes, without which knowledge Clark would have been unable to ac- complish his famous expedition to that post with final triumph. The redemption of this country from the British is due as much, probably, to Col. Vigo as Col. Clark.
GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST.
Col. John Todd, Lieutenant for the county of Illinois, in the spring of 1779 visited the old settlements at Vincennes and Kas- kaskia, and organized temporary civil governments in nearly all the settlements west of the Ohio. Previous to this, however, Clark had established a military government at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, appointed commandants in both places and taken up his headquar- ters at the falls of the Ohio, where he could watch the operations of the enemy and save the frontier settlements from the depreda- tions of Indian warfare. On reaching the settlements, Col. Todd issued a proclamation regulating the settlement of unoccupied lands and requiring the presentation of all claims to the lands set- tled, as the number of adventurers who would shortly overrun the country would be serious. He also organized a Court of civil and criminal jurisdiction at Vincennes, in the month of June, 1779. This Court was composed of several magistrates and presided over by Col. J. M. P. Legras, who had been appointed commandant at Vincennes. Aeting from the precedents established by the early French commandants in the West, this Court began to grant tracts of land to the French and American inhabitants; and to the year 1783, it had granted to different parties abont 26,000 acres of land; 22,000 more was granted in this manner by 1787, when the practice was prohibited by Gen. Harmer. These tracts varied in size from a house lot to 500 acres. Besides this loose business, the Court entered into a stupendous speculation, one not altogether creditable to its honor and dignity. The commandant and the magistrates under him suddenly adopted the opinion that they were invested
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with the authority to dispose of the whole of that large region which in 1842 had been granted by the Piankeshaws to the French inhabitants of Vincennes. , Accordingly a very convenient arrange- ment was entered into by which the whole tract of country men- tioned was to be divided between the members of the honorable Court. A record was made to that effeet, and in order to gloss over the steal, each member took pains to be absent from Court ou the day that the order was made in his favor.
In the fall of 1780 La Balme, a Frenchinan, made an attempt to capture the British garrison of Detroit by leading an expedition against it from Kaskaskia. At the head of 30 men he marched to Vincennes, where his force was slightly increased. From this place he proceeded to the British trading post at the head of the Maumee, where Fort Wayne now stands, plundered the British traders and Indians and then retired. While encamped on the bank of a small stream on his retreat, he was attacked by a band of Miamis, a number of his men were killed, and his expedition against Detroit was ruined.
In this manner border war continned between Americans and their enemies, with varying vietory, until 1783, when the treaty of Paris was concluded, resulting in the establishment of the inde- pendence of the United States. Up to this time the territory now included in Indiana belonged by conquest to the State of Virginia; but in January, 1783, the General Assembly of that State resolved to cede to the Congress of the United States all the territory north- west of the Ohio. The conditions offered by Virginia were accepted by Congress Dec. 20, that year, and early in 1784 the transfer was completed. In 1783 Virginia had platted the town of Clarksville, at the falls of the Ohio. The deed of cession provided that the territory should be laid out into States, containing a suita- ble extent of territory not less than 100 nor more than 150 miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances would permit; and that the States so formed shall be distinct Republican States and admitted members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other States. The other conditions of the deed were as follows: That the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by Virginia in subdning any British posts, or in maintaining forts and garrisons within and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by the United States; that the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of the Kas-
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kaskia, Post Vincennes and the neighboring villages who have pro- fessed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their titles and possessions confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and privileges; that a quantity not exceeding 150,- 000 acres of land, promised by Virginia, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, now General, George Rogers Clark, and to the officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when the posts and of Kaskaskia and Vincennes were reduced, and to the officers and soldiers that have been since incorporated ยท into the said regiment, to be laid off in one tract, the length of which not.to exceed double the breadth, in such a place on the northwest side of the Ohio as a majority of the officers shall choose, and to be afterward divided among the officers and soldiers in due proportion according to the laws of Virginia; that in case the quantity of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of Cumberland river, and between Green river and Ten. nessee river, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon Continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the defi- ciency shall be made up to the said troops in good lands to be laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the river Oliio, in such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia; that all the lands within the ter- ritory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for or appro- priated to any of the before-mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bonnties to the officers and soldiers of the American army, shall be considered as a common fund for the nse and benefit of snch of the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia included, according to their usual respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide dis- posed of for that purpose and for no other use or purpose whatever.
After the above deed of cession had been accepted by Congress, in the spring of 1784, the matter of the future government of the territory was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Jeffer- son of Virginia, Chase of Maryland and Howell of Rhode Island, which committee reported an ordinance for its government, provid- ing, among other things, that slavery should not exist in said terri- tory after 1800, except as punishment of criminals; but this article of the ordinance was rejected. and an ordinance for the temporary
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government of the county was adopted. In 1785 laws were passed by Congress for the disposition of lands in the territory and pro- hibiting the settlement of unappropriated lands by reckless speeu- lators. But human passion is ever strong enough to evade the law to some extent, and large associations, representing considerable means, were formed for the purpose of monopolizing the land busi- ness. Millions of acres were sold at one time by Congress to asso- ciations on the installment plan, and so far as the Indian titles could be extinguished, the work of settling and improving the lands was pushed rapidly forward.
ORDINANCE OF 1787.
This ordinance has a marvelous and interesting history. Con- siderable controversy has been indulged in as to who is entitled to the credit for framing it. This belongs, undoubtedly, to Nathan Dane; and to Rufus King and Timothy Pickering belong the credit for suggesting the proviso contained in it against slavery, and also for aids to religion and knowledge, and for assuring for- ever the common use, without charge, of the great national high- ways of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence and their tributaries to all the citizens of the United States. To Thomas Jefferson is also due much eredit, as some features of this ordinance were embraced in his ordinance of 1784. But the part taken by each in the long, laborious and eventful struggle which had so glorious a consum- mation in the ordinance, consecrating forever, by one imprescript- ible and unchangeable mouument, the very heart of our country to Freedom, Knowledge, and Union, will forever honor the names of those illustrious statesmen.
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