USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 26
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The capture of Vincennes from the British furnishes one of the most brilliant chapters in American history. It is doubtful whether in the military annals of two continents there are to be met such acts of bravery, valor, heroism, self-sacrifice and devotion to country as were called forth by this achievement. When the conditions under which it was accom- plished are taken into consideration, the event becomes a marvel in either ancient or modern warfare. Well may historians, who have scanned bat-
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tlefields and traced with mental vision the historie highways over which have passed the greater soldiers of all times and all climes, call George Rogers Clark the Hannibal of the west. Whether in action or at rest Clark was always brave, courageous, daring, diplomatic, magnanimous, undaunted, and he accomplished brilliant results where other men would have met with dismal failures. His courage was often taken for rashness, but his fine mili- tary mind never permitted him to become so rash that he did not succeed in every undertaking he put on foot. He never was defeated, and never allowed himself to be outwitted by an enemy, whether dealing with the treacherous savages of the wilderness or the trained and disciplined soldiers from the advanced grades of the best military schools. Hamilton's morti- fication and humiliating defeat cannot be justified on the ground of the superority in numbers of Clark's forces. The British general was in pos- session of a strong fortress, heavily stockaded, protected by cannon and swivels, garrisoned by trained soldiers, officered by men of military educa- tion, with all the munitions of war and plenty of provisions, and would have certainly held the fort had it not been for the fact that he had a superior commander to deal with. There are plenty of instances where forts have been defended against much larger forces than Clark's. It was the boldness and skill with which Clark made the attack that baffled Ham- ilton and his followers and awed them into surrendering. The more one thinks of what Clark and his "little army" underwent for the sake of taking Fort Sackville the more memorable becomes that event. The hardships, suffering and perils of that dreadful march we have but faintly described form the most thrilling and important incidents in the story of Clark's con- quest of the Northwest Territory, of which the capture of Vincennes was the climax. All records of marching armies on the American continent are uneventful when compared with Clark's-when the difficulties which beset his half-clad, half-famished militiamen at every step, in a hostile and unknown country, for a distance of two hundred and forty miles, are taken into consideration. No greater generalship than Clark displayed in this campaign has ever been shown. The alacrity with which he trans- formed raw recruits into well-disciplined soldiers only serves to illustrate the power of a masterful military mind, and the man's wonderful influence over his men, all of whom are entitled to share in the glory of their com- mander's victory, which shall ever remain on the pages of American his- tory as one of the greatest military achievements of the Revolutionary war west of the Alleghany mountains, if not the greatest enterprize that has to do with the success of American arms during that memorable struggle.
But the results growing out of the capture of Vincennes from the British were greater than the event itself. They momentarily gave repose and safety to the western frontier settlements wherein the very name of Clark struck terror to the hearts of every savage nation that was wont to harrass the peaceful inhabitants. They deranged an elaborate plan of oper-
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ations on the part of the British designed for wiping out all the white settlements on the borders of the western frontiers, which was to be accomplished by an invasion of the combined Indian forces of the north and south. They temporarily stilled the war cry of the savage and made American allies of British Indians. They insured greater safety to every infant settlement in the western country, and opened new territory for homes of the people who came across the eastern mountains. They gave Kentucky new life by extending greater protection to her settlements and made that commonwealth the haven for early colonists from the south and east. They made it possible for Virginia to extend her laws and arms over a vast area of new territory. The capture of Vincennes from the British gave to the United States the great states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and a portion of Minnesota. It was an event that made possi- ble the purchase of Louisiana, paved the way for the annexation of Texas, brightened the galaxy of states by the addition of California, extended the dominion of Uncle Sam to the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands, un- furled the stars and stripes in every clime and gave sweeter tone to the glorious song of American freedom, on land and on sea, at home and abroad.
The gun boat Willing did not arrive until three days after the sur- render. The crew, whom Clark complimented for their diligence, were sorely disappointed in not being in time for the battle, in scenes of which they were anxious to participate and share with their comrades in arms the glory of that momentous siege. On its passage the Willing had picked up William Myres, express from the Virginia government, who brought despatches of an encouraging nature, setting forth that Clark's present bat- talion was to be completed and that an additional one was to be furnished in the spring. The despatches, with which their respective commissions were enclosed, announced that, for the splendid services both had rendered Virginia in the Illinois country, Colonel Clark had been appointed General and Captain Bowman, Major; and that the Legislature had given an offi- cial vote of thanks to all the soldiers, with assurance of more substantial awards for the future .*
On the day following the fall of Fort Sackville, General Clark had received intelligence that a fleet from Detroit, laden with provisions and reinforcements for the British, was hourly expected, and he sent a detach- ment of sixty men to intercept the flotilla. The detachment, under com- mand of Captain Helm, Major Busseron and Major Lagras, proceeded
*One hundred and fifty thousand acres of land opposite Louisville were finally al- lotted them. Some of the Piankeshaw Indians ceded Clark a tract of land for his own use, but the Virginia Legislature very properly disallowed the grant .- [ Theodore Roosevelt, The Winning of the West, p. 234.]
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up the Wabash in three armed boats a distance of about a hundred and fifty miles when the British boats, seven in number, were surprised and captured without firing a gun. The bateaux had on board goods and pro- visions of the value of about ten thousand pounds sterling and were manned by about forty men, among whom was Philip Dejean, a magistrate of Detroit. The captured fleet was sighted descending the river when a mile above town, on the evening of March 5th. Men, women and children, with jubilant shout and joyous song, gathered on the banks to witness the spectacle of Vincennes' naval expedition towing its captive vessels down the long stretch of river. The natives were completely beside them- selves with excitement. Frantic men waded and swam out into the river in their anxiety to reach the boats and be the first to learn of the details of capture. Bareheaded women, dressed in the gaudy colors of the rain- bow, their raven locks, unadorned, flying in the wind, rushed madly along the shore towards the incoming vessels to bear the conquering heroes com- pany on their triumphal entry into town. The landing was made near the fort, and the ranks of Clark's prisoners were augmented by an ad- dition of nearly fifty. With the exception of articles valued at £800, re- tained to clothe the expected reinforcements, the cargo was divided among Clark's faithful followers, "who got almost rich."t
The number of British prisoners had grown so large that Clark found it necessary to parole many who had been least offensive, which, of course, had no reference to any of the Indian partisans. The backwoodsmen mutually and bitterly hated Hamilton for pursuing the policy of reward- ing Indians for bringing in scalps of Americans, and lost no opportunity to impress the fact upon the mind of the distinguished prisoner. Clark would no doubt have entertained great admiration for Hamilton as a General had he not blighted his reputation as a soldier with the blood of innocent victims. Neck-iron fetters and handcuffs were the "decorations" which Clark proposed for the more distinguished of the British captives, and in giving orders for their design he was particular to announce in a tone of voice sufficiently loud for all to hear that they were intended "for those officers who had been employed as partisans with the Indians." Hamilton interposed, by taking Clark aside to remind him that by the articles of capitulation these men were recognized as prisoners of war and could not be subjected to such treatment. But Clark could not be disuaded, saying he had taken a solemn vow to spare neither man, woman or child of the Indians, or those who were employed with them.
On March 7 Captain Williams and Lieutenant Rogers, with a de- tachment of twenty-five soldiers, set off for the Falls of the Ohio, having
+Clark's Memoirs.
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the following prisoners in custody : Lieut .- Gov. Henry Hamilton, Major Jolın Hay, Captain William Lamothe, Monsieur Dejean, grand judge of Detroit, Lieutenant John Schieffelin, Doctor I. McBeth, Francis- Mason- ville, Mr. L. F. Bellefenille, French interpreter, and eighteen privates. The prisoners* were received at Louisville on March 31 by Captain William Harrod, who, with an escort, composed of Kentucky militiamen, con- ducted them to Williamsburg, Va. The route as followed from Vincennes to Williamsburg provided three hundred and sixty miles of water carriage and eight hundred and forty to march-quite a journey for the astute British officers to make, especially when they went in irons.
On the arrival of the prisoners at Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, fully cognizant of the Indian atrocities committed on the defenseless white settlers, for which Hamilton and his colleagues were solely responsible, and not unmindful that acts of kindness and gen- erosity towards the vanquished had been reciprocated on the enemy's part by persistent and wanton outrages, signalized by the most inhuman treat- ment of American prisoners, determined to make an example of these British captives. He accordingly issued an order, by advice from the coun- cil, directing that Hamilton, Lamothe and Dejean should be "put in irons, confined in the dungeon of the public jail, debarred the use of pen, ink and paper, and excluded from all converse except with the keeper." Sub- sequently an order was issued by the Governor to send the aforesaid prison- ers to Hanover Court House, there to remain on their parole within certain reasonable limits ; and, later, another order was issued to send Major Hay, tinder parole to the same place. The conditions of the parole were that the British trio should be inoffensive in word and deed. To this demand they objected, insisting on a privilege of abusing verbally the "rebels" to their heart's content. They were remanded to prison cells, but with their irons removed. Lamothe and Dejean shortly after lamented, and subscribed to the parole, but Hamilton, with characteristic stubbornness, remained obstinate, until informed by General Phillips, another British prisoner who had been exchanged, that his further confinement would be entirely gratuitous, he yielded with a great deal of reluctance.
*On taking charge of the prisoners Capt. Harrod gave a receipt for them. But, according to Mr. English, (in his Conquest of the Northwest, p. 608) there were other prisoners taken from Vincennes at the same time as those above mentioned and formed part of the deputation that arrived at Louisville. In addition to the names of the eight officers already given, Mr. English says "the list accompanying the receipt gives the names of Sergeant James Parkinson and Corporal Abel Leazenby, and sixteen privates, as follows: Robert Bryant, George Spittal, John Fraser, John Sutherland, Thomas Keppel, John Wall, Christ McCrow, John Brebonne, William Taylor, Patrick McKin- lie, Reuben Vesey, Amos Ainsley, Benjamin Pickering, John Horne, William Perry and Belser Givine."
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The drastic measures enforced against British prisoners in due time had the effect that Governor Jefferson anticipated. Where first applied they provoked considerable indignation on the part of the enemy, who talked of retaliatory methods of the severest character, and issued a pro- nouncemento "that no officers of the Virginia line should be exchanged until Hamilton's affair should be settled satisfactorily." After this was done Mr. Jefferson ordered the exchange of all British prisoners stopped, with a determination, expressed, to use them as pledges for the safety of American prisoners in the hands of the enemy. The practicability of Jefferson's course as here applied was shown in the subsequent progress of the war when the British, yielding to the admonitions of experience and the cries of their own countrymen, became less savage as captors and more amiable as captives. On April 18th, 1780, Lieutenant Schieffelin, in com- pany with Monsieur De Rochblave, make his escape, and the twain, after running many risks and encountering great difficulties, arrived safely in New York. On the first day of June, Masonville committed suicide while in jail. On the first day of August, Hamilton and Major Hay were trans- ferred from Williamsburg to the jail at Chesterfield, while Doctor Mc- Beth and Mr. Bellefenille were taken to King William Court House. Mr. Hamilton states that "while at Chesterfield our confinement was rendered very tolerable, and several of the military and others who were convinced of the injustice and illiberality of our treatment showed by their behavior what opinion they had of the executive power. In this jail Major Hay and I had a very severe, though short, attack of fever, which was pretty generally felt through the country. We were well attended. We had liberty to walk about in the neighborhood of the jail." He had stubbornly refused, until the fall of 1780, all proffered paroles, and only consented to accept when informed by the British authorities that unless he did so there was no likelihood of him being exchanged. By having signed the parole he gained the consent of Governor Jefferson a month later to go to New York and join his British comrades, "until he shall be exchanged or otherwise liberated with consent of the Governor of Virginia for the time being or until he shall be recalled by him." Major Hay was also al- lowed to go to New York under conditions similar to those provided in Hamilton's case. In March, 1781, through the medium of exchange of prisoners, Hamilton became an entirely free man, and on May 27th of that year sailed for England. He took up his abode in St. Jermyns street, London, from which place on the sixth day of July he indicted his famous letter, (of which a brief extract is published in a preceding chapter) at- tempting to justify himself for the overwhelming and humiliating defeat he sustained at the hands of Colonel George Rogers Clark, attributing the same largely to the treachery of his French, Canadian and Creole troops, but remaining silent as to his Indian allies. He highly compliments Clark and his devoted band of frontier soldiers for their courage, bravery and
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wonderful perseverance exhibited in the march from Kaskaskia to Vin- cennes, and on the heroic and miraculous manner in which they overcame difficulties seemingly unsurmountable. Clark, lie says, was more fortunate than he in not having traitors in camp, but whether on the whole the conqueror of the Northwest Territory was entitled to the success that crowned his efforts was not for him to decide.
Mr. English, in his Conquest of the Northwest, says: "The author tried in every direction to procure his (Hamilton's) portrait for this volume but was not successful in finding it. Knowing the thorough information of Mr. Douglas Brymner, the custodian of the Canadian archives, upon such subjects, a letter was addressed to him inquiring as to the existence of any portrait of Governor Hamilton, and as to his history after his return to Canada. Mr. Brymner promptly replied: 'I do not know of any portrait of Henry Hamilton. He was lieutenant-governor of Que- bec (Canada was then the province of Quebec) from the 14th of November, 1784, till the end of 1785, having only the civil authority, the civil and mili- tary having been separated in the retirement of his predecessor, General Haldimand. On the 13th of August, 1785, the secretary of state notified Hamilton that the king had no further need of his services. On the 20th Hope was informed that he was to succeed. Hope's first letter as lieu- tenant-governor is dated 12th October, 1785. Hamilton became lieutenant- governor of Bermuda on the 16th of September, 1788, and governor on the 11th of January, 1790; he was afterwards appointed governor of Dominica, the date of his appointment being the 23d of April, 1794: Henry Hamilton, Esq., to be captain-general and governor-in-chief of the Island of Dominica, vice Orde. He assumed the duties on the 30th of Novem- ber, 1794. The date of his death I have not ascertained.' From other sources the author ascertained that Hamilton died in Antigua in Septem- ber, 1796."
Hamilton's fame as a "remorseless destroyer of not only men, but innocent, unoffending women and children," will endure for a longer time than any laurels he may have won as soldier, statesman or diplomat; and the attempt of some historians to ameliorate the fiendishness of his acts or the brutality of his deeds on the ground that they were perpetrated by orders from his superiors, can never cleanse his hands of bloody stains. Under his own hand and seal he issued proclamations offering specified amounts for every American scalp brought to his headquarters, and not only encouraged, personally, the Indians to engage in the bloody business, but offered bribes to his own troops to become active along that line. He instigated and planned the murderous forays, and incited the savages to greater activity by paying rewards for scalps-not prisoners. He had the instincts and cunning of the most brutal savage, and planned incursions against peaceful white settlements, suggesting the commission of crimes of such a heinous nature against the settlers as to cause the less hostile
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Indians to hesitate in their perpetration. Not satisfied with the scalps of the frontiersmen, he sought the blood of their wives and children, and took a more fiendish delight in the wholesale slaughter of the helpless and in- nocent than the red demons he had incited to commit murder and rapine. He was the author of the methods, the designer of the plans, of the most revolting atrocities witnessed on the borders of the northern and western frontiers, and the fact that his superiors condoned his dark and bloody deeds does not lessen their criminality nor diminish their enormity or brutality.
CHAPTER XVII.
VIRGINIA EXTENDS CIVIL GOVERNMENT TO THE NORTH- WEST TERRITORY.
A FIGHT WITH TIIE DELAWARES-CLARK'S REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE-DEATH OF LABALME-ARRIVAL OF COL. TODD AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF ILLI- NOIS COUNTY-APPOINTS MR. LE GRAS TO ACT FOR HIM AT VINCENNES- QUEER CONDUCT OF COURT IN ISSUING LAND GRANTS-GOVERNOR HARRI- SON'S LETTER ON THE SUBJECT-IIIGII COST OF LIVING AT THE OLD POST- INDIAN HOSTILITIES-DEATII OF COL. TODD-TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND AMERICA-INDIANS MAKE WAR ON AMERICAN SETTLERS- CLARK'S POSITION IN THE SPAIN AFFAIR AND TREATMENT OF SPANISH MERCHANTS-LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF GENERAL CLARK-VIRGINIA CEDES THE NORTIIWEST TERRITORY TO THE UNITED STATES.
The news of the capture of Vincennes from the British spread rapidly to the western settlements and was not long in reaching the other side of the eastern mountains. Clark became the lion of the hour. His men fairly worshipped him. The French and Americans alike paid him every dis- tinction; and the Indians, thrilled by his daring and prowess, looked on him as a being to be respected and feared. On the 20th of March he set about putting his military and civil household in order by appointing Lieu- tenant Richard Brashear commandant of the garrison of Fort Patrick Henry, which consisted of Lieutenants Bayley and Chaplin and forty picked men ; Captain Leonard Helm, commandant of the town and super- intendent of Indian affairs; Moses Henry, Indian agent, and Patrick Ken- nedy quartermaster, with forty volunteers at his beck and call. Having imparted to his appointees necessary instructions for the fulfillment of their official trusts, he took his departure on the same day for Fort Clark at Kaskaskia, setting sail on the Willing, which had been subjected to a thorough overhauling. Beside the Willing, his flotilla consisted of five armed boats and seventy inen, who, with favoring winds and no important incidents to mark the progress of the voyage, landed a few days later at the harbor of Kaskaskia, where Capt. George, the successor of Dillard, greeted the crew "with great joy."
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A small party of Indians from the Delaware nation, feigning friend- ship for the whites, but in reality having murder in their hearts, estab- lished a settlement at the two forks of the White river, having their hunt- ing grounds along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. These red skins were as objectionable to the other tribes as they were to the whites as they were great hunters and generally reduced the quantity of game alarm- ingly in the localities they were wont to stop. Their patched peace did not deceive Clark in the least, for he knew, when augmented in numbers, they would be for an open fight, and he was only awaiting an excuse to make war on them in such a way that the horrible plight in which he left them would deter any other tribes from desiring to engage the Long Knives in conflict. The opportune time came on the first day of May when a party of traders who were going by land to the Falls were killed and plundered by the hostiles. Clark received this information by express from Capt. Helm. He immediately sent orders from Kaskaskia to Vincennes for the post to make relentless war on the Delawares-to destroy them by any means possible-to show the bucks no mercy whatever, but to spare the squaws and pappooses. The order was executed without delay. The camps of the Delawares were attacked in the night time, when the warriors lay in peaceful slumber, and the surprise was so complete that many of their number were killed, while others were captured, unharmed, and brought as prisoners to Fort Patrick Henry. They immediately sought a reconcilation, but were told by Helm that the war had been ordered by Clark, who had forbidden them to lay down the tomahawk without per- mission from him; but, if agreeable to the Indians, no more blood would be split until an express would go to Kaskaskia. The messenger went, and came back with the word from Clark that there would be no peace for the Delawares, who had violated their faith and were not to be trusted ; *"but that if they had a mind to be quiet, they might; and if they could get any of the neighboring Indians to be security for their good behavior, I would let them alone; but that I cared very little about it, etc .- privately directing Capt. Helm how to manage." Tobacco's son came to the rescue as surety for the Indians; bitterly arraigned them for the baseness of their conduct, and said they richly merited the punishment administered; that when he had given them permission to settle in the country where their latest outrage had been perpetrated it was with the implicit under- standing that neither the Long Knives or any of their white friends should be molested. The putting to death of quite a number of the Delawares had the effect of subduing that nation completely and temporarily stopping hostilities towards the whites on the part of all other tribes.
Several days after reaching Kaskaskia General Clark's long-looked-for reinforcements arrived at Vincennes, at which place four days later the General put in an appearance, having journeyed hither "with a party on
*Clark's Memoir.
.
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horse, where the whole safely arrived in a short time after." He was very much down-cast on ascertaining the reinforcements to be less than half the number he had anticipated, which necessitated the postponement of his cherished expedition against Detroit and caused him to lament the fact that he had not undertaken it immediately following the fall of Fort Sackville.
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