USA > Indiana > Pioneer history of Indiana : including stories, incidents, and customs of the early settlers > Part 21
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Upon receiving from the Secretary of War the instruc- tions which have been mentioned, the governor sent by special messengers, written speeches, addressed to the several Indian tribes of the Indiana Territory, requesting these tribes to fulfill the conditions of their treaties with the United States, to avoid all acts of hostility toward the white settlers and to make an absolute disavowal of union or con- nection with the Shawnee Prophet.
About the twenty-fifth of September, 1811, when the mil- itary expedition that had been organized by Governor Harri- son was nearly ready to move on its way toward the Proph- et's town, a deputation of Indians from that town arrived at Vincennes. These deputies made strong professions of peace and declared that the Indians would comply with the de- mands of the Governor. A few days after these messengers
arrived at Vincennes, six horses were stolen from white peo- ple by small bands of Indians. Three men following the trail of the horses to an Indian camp reported that after they had obtained possession of the horses they were pursued by the Indians, fired upon and compelled to abandon their horses and run for their lives.
MILITARY ORDERS.
"Headquarters of the Army of Indiana Territory,
Vincennes, Sept. 16, 1811.
"The governor of Indiana Territory and com- mander-in chief of the militia, being charged by the President of the United States with a military expedition, takes command to the troops assigned, viz: The detachment of regular troops under the command of Col. John P. Boyd, consisting of the Fourth U. S. Regiment of Infantry and a company of the Rifle Regiment, the present garrison at Ft. Knox and the various detachments of Militia, In-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
fantry and Dragoons which have been ordered for the service. As the present garrison of Ft. Knox is to form a part of Colonel Boyd's command. the officers commanding that post will receive the Col- onel's orders. Capt. Piatt of the Second U. S. Reg -. iment has been appointed Quartermaster for all the troops on the expedition and is to be obeyed and respected as such. Captain Robert Buntin has been appointed quartermaster for the militia and is. to be respected and obeyed accordingly. Henry Hurst, Esq. and the Honorable Waller Taylor, Esq. have been appointed aide-de-camps to the Com- mander in Chief, having the rank of Majors and are announced as such. All orders coming from them in his name, whether in writing or verbally, are to be respected and obeyed as if delivered by the Commander in Chief in person. Captain Piatt is to have the superintendency of persons apper- taining to the quartermasters or military agents department and the direction of all stores for the use of the expedition."
"Headquarters, Vincennes, September 22, 1811. "All of the infantry regulars and militia are to be considered as one brigade under the command of Col. John P. Boyd, acting Brigadier General. Lieutenant Colonel Miller will command the first line, composed of the regular troops; Lieutenant Colonel Barthalemew the second line, composed of Militia Infantry. These two officers will report to and receive their orders from Acting General John P. Boyd. The Cavalry will be under the com- mand of Major Joseph H. Davis, who will report to and receive orders from the Commander in Chief. Captain Spire Spencer's company of mounted vol- unteers will act as a detached corps and report to and receive orders from the Commander in Chief. The whole army will parade tomorrow at one o'clock. The troops of infantry in two columns. The regular troops will form the leading battalion of each column; the militia infantry the rear col- umn. Major Davis will place his largest troop of dragoons in squadron at open order. one hundred and fifty yards in rear of the columns. The third troop will be placed in a single line on the right
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
flank at one hundred and fifty yards from the In- fantry and parallel thereto. Captain Spire Spencer's company will be formed on the left flank in single rank and in line parallel to the Infantry at a dis- tance of one hundred and fifty yards from the col- umn. The army thus formed will be in marching order. The columns will take care to keep their distances and their head dressed. When in the woods the movements will be regulated by signal from the drums. When in open they will be gov- erned by sight. This is to be the order in the line of march."
"Headquarters, Vincennes, September 22, 1811.
"AFTER ORDERS:
"The army being formed in the order of march prescribed by general order of this date, if an at- tack should be made on the right flank, the whole will face to the right and it will then be in two lines parallel to the line of march, the right col- umn forming the front line and the left the rear. Should the attack be made on the left flank, the reverse to what is here directed will take place; the whole army will face to the left, the left column acting as a front line. the right column as a rear line. If an attack is made on both flanks at the same time, both columns will face outward. To resist an attack in the rear, the same maneuver will be performed as is directed for an attack in front with this difference only, that the leading grand division of each battalion will form by the filing up of each man in succession and the second grand division by doubling around its front guide and displaying to the left. To resist an attack in front and rear, the two leading battalions will per- form the maneuvre directed for the front attack and the two others that which has been last des- cribed.
"In all cases where there is an attack, other than a front one, the dragoons and riflemen will consider themselves as front, rear, or flank guards according to the situation they may be placed in relative to the rest of the army and will perform the duties which those situations respectively re- quire as heretofore directed."
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
THE ARMY STARTS FOR THE PROPHET'S TOWN.
The army under the command of Governor Harrison moved from Vincennes on the 26th of September, 1811 and on the third of October, without having encountered any ma- terial difficulties on its march, encamped at a point where they erected Ft. Harrison. This place of encampment was on the eastern bank of the Wabash river, about two miles above an old Wea Indian village which stood about two miles above where the city of Terre Haute now stands. According to Indian tradition a desperate battle was fought at that place a long time ago, between three hundred Illinois warriors and an equal number of a tribe belonging to the Iroquois Confed- eracy.
While the army was engaged in building the fort, Gov- ernor Harrison received from friendly Indians of the Dela- ware and Miami tribes, several accounts of the increasing hostility of the Shawnee Prophet and his confederates. Four Delawares attended by Mr. Conner as interpreter, vis- ited the Governor and reported that a war speech had been sent from the Prophet to some of the Delaware chiefs who were on their way to meet Governor Harrison, in compliance with a request which they had received from one of his mes- sengers. In this speech, according to reports of the Delaware chiefs, the Prophet declared that his tomahawk was up against the whites and nothing should induce him to take it down unless the wrongs of the Indians were redressed-the Delawares might do as they pleased, Some of the Delaware chiefs visited the Prophet to endeavor to dissuade him from adopting such measures of active hostility against the people of the United States.
On the night of October the tenth, a few Indians fired on the Sentinels and wounded one. The army was drawn up in line of battle and detachments were sent out in all direc- tions but the darkness of the night enabled the Indians to to get away. The new fort was finished on the twenty- eighth of October and by unanimous petition of the officers it was named Ft. Harrison. The fort was garrisoned with a
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
small number of men under the command of Lieutenant Col- onel James Miller, who afterward at the battle of Niagara, won great renown. (The British artillery had taken a posi- tion on a commanding eminence at the head of Lundy's Lane, supported by a line of Infantry out of reach of the American batteries. This was the key to the whole position and thence they poured a most deadly fire on the American ranks. It became necessary either to leave the ground or to carry this position and seize the height. The latter desperate task was assigned to Colonel Miller. On receiving the order from General Brown he calmly surveyed the position and answered -"I will try, Sir." He did try and captured the battery and position and his expression "I will try, Sir" afterward be- came the motto of his Regiment.)
Everything being in readiness, Governor Harrison's army moved from the new fort on October the twenty-ninth, to- ward the Prophet's town. On the thirty-first of October, soon after passing Big Raccoon creek, the army crossed the Wabash river at a point near the place where the town of Montezuma in Park county, now stands. At this time the force of the expedition amounted to nine hundred men, com- posed of two hundred and fifty regular troops, about one hundred volunteers from Kentucky and six hundred citizens of the Indiana Territory. The troops on horse back consist- ed of light dragoons, amounting to two hundred and seventy- five men; but few of the men had ever been in battle. .
On the second of November the army was encamped at a point about two miles below the mouth of the Big Vermilion river. A block house twenty-five feet square was built on the western bank of the Wabash on a small prairie. A Ser- geant and eight men were stationed in the block house to protect the boats, which up to this point nad been used in the transportation of supplies for the expedition. The Delaware chiefs which Harrison had sent to the Prophet's town came into this camp and reported that they were badly treated and insulted and finally dismissed with the most contemptuous remarks upon them and the white people. The party that fired on the sentinels arrived at the Prophet's town while the
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Tipp
cande
0
River
WABASH
(Monon A R. 1852) ....
--
Prophet's Town
Tippecanoe Battle Fields
Swamp
Prophet's Rock
Troops.
72 p.m. Nov.6)
Ford
(Electric
ยท Cr.
Wild Car
Cr.
Tecumseh Trail .**
0
1.
2
-..
Ry. 1905)
Scale of Miles.
W.D.P
Map of Vicinity of Tippecanoe Battle Field Showing Line of March on November 6, 1811.
COSTIJOH TO 45 NOW, TO SUIT
.
RIVER
Burnett
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Delaware chiefs were there-they were Shawnees and the Prophet's nearest friends.
On the third of November the army resumed its march and keeping its course through the prairie at some distance from the Wabash river it came in view of the Prophet's town on the afternoon of the sixth of November. During the march all this day small parties of Indians were seen hover- ing about the army and the interpreters made several unsuc- cessful attempts to have a conference with them. On reach- ing a point about one mile and a half from the town, the army halted. Governor Harrison directed Captain Dubois of the spies to go forward with an interpreter and request a con- ference with the Prophet.
As Captain Dubois proceeded to execute his orders, he met several Indians to whom he spoke in a friendly manner. They refused to speak to him but by motion urged him to go forward and seemed to be endeavoring to cut him off from the main army.
On being informed of this apparently hostile manifesta- tion on the part of the Indians, Governor Harrison dispatch- ed a messenger to recall Captain Dubois. Soon after the re- turn of that officer the whole army in order of battle began to move toward the town, the interpreters having been placed in front with orders to invite a conference with the Indians. The following particulars concerning the actions of the In- dians as the army was approaching the Prophet's town are taken from a letter Governor Harrison wrote to the Secretary of War, November 18, 1811:
"We had not advanced more than four hun- dred yards when I was informed that three Indians had approached the advance guards and had ex- pressed a wish to speak to me. I found upon their arrival that one of them was a man in great esti- mation with the Prophet. He informed me that the chiefs were much surprised at my advance upon them so rapidly; that they were given to under- stand by the Delawares and Miamis, whom I had sent to them a few days before that I would not advance to their town until I had received an ans-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
wer to my demands made through them; that this answer had been dispatched by the Pottawattamie chief, Winamac, who had accompanied the Miamis and Delawares on their return; that they had left the Prophet's town two days before with a design to meet me but unfortunately they had taken the road on the southeastern side of the Wabash.
"I answered that I had no intention of attack- ing them until I discovered they would not comply with the demands which I had made; that I would go on and encamp at the Wabash and in the morn- ing would have an interview with the Prophet and his chiefs and explain to. them the determination of the President and that in the meantime no hos- tilities should be committed. He seemed much pleased with this and promised that it should be observed on their part. I then resumed my march.
"We struck the cultivated grounds about five hundred yards above the town but as this extended to the bank of the Wabash there was no possibility of getting an encampment which was provided with both water and wood. My guides and inter- preters being still with the advance guard and tak- ing the directions of the town, the army followed and had advanced within about one hundred and fifty yards, when fifty or sixty Indians sallied out and with loud exclamations, called to the cavalry and to the militia Infantry which were on the right flank. to halt.
"I immediately advanced to the front, caused the army to halt and directed an interpreter to re- quest some of the chiefs to come to me. In a few moments the man who had been with me before made his appearance. I informed him that my object for the present was to procure a good piece of ground to camp on, where we could get wood and water. He informed me that there was a creek to the northwest which he thought would suit our purpose. I immediately dispatched two officers, Major Maston G. Glark and Major Waller Taylor to examine it. They reported the situation as excellent. I then took leave of the chief and mutual promises were again made for the suspen- sion of hostilities until we could have an interview on the following day.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
"I found the ground destined for the encamp- ment not altogether such as I could wish it. It was indeed admirably calculated for the encamp- ment of regular troops that were opposed to regu- lars but it afforded a great facility to the approach of Savages. It was a piece of dry oak land, rising about ten feet above the level of a marshy prairie in front toward the Prophet's town and nearly twice that high above a similar prairie in the rear, through which and near to this bank ran a small stream, clothed with willows and other brushwood. Toward the left flank this bench of land widened consider- ably but became gradually narrower in the opposite direction and at a distance of one hundred and fifty yards from the right flank terminated in an abrupt point.
"Owing to the conditions surrounding this en- campment it was possibly not as suitable as desired but in all the regions surrounding it there was no other place so good. The nights at that season of the year were cold and only the Regulars had tents. Large fires had to be made to procure any degree of comfort. These fires were built in front of the line occupied by each portion of the command, as it lay in camp. The light of the fires, at the outbreak of the battle, caused some loss among the soldiers but this risk had to be taken for without the fires there would have been much suffering. They were ex- tinguished at the first onset."
Some military writers want to criticize Governor Harri- son for not having breast-works. He meets this charge by the statement that he had all the axes it was possible to get in the Territory, and then had less than enough for the men to prepare wood for the fires that evening. The army en- camped in order of battle. The men were instructed to sleep with their clothes and accountrements on, with their fire arms loaded and bayonets fixed and each company that form- ed the interior line of the encampment was ordered, in case of an attack, to hold its own ground until relieved.
Two columns of infantry occupied the front and rear of the encampment ground, at the distance of about one hun-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
SWAMP
BRER
Ind. Muritla
cook
LARRABEE BARTON HAWKINS
WARRICK NORRIS HARGROVE WILKINS
PETERS
(WHITNEY)
LT COL. DECKER
U. S. INFANTRY UNDER BAEN.
GUIGER
N
S
-E
FUNKS
BEGGS
ROBB
( GOODING )
BURTON BROWN PRESCOTT SNELLING
BAEN
POSEY
BIGGER
(ALLBRIGHT) Ind. Militia
TOWN
PROPHET'S
SPENCER'S RIFLEMEN.
LT. BERRY
( Yellow Jackets)
GEN. W. H. HARRISON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF COL. JOHN P. BOYD, BRIGADE COMMANDER
DAVIESS' DRAGOONS.
PARKE
MAJ. GEN. WELLS' RIFLEMEN
COL. BARTHOLOMEW. WILSON SCOTT Ind. Militia
U. S. INFANTRY UNDER FLOYD
SWAMP
Map of Tippecanoe Battle Field Showing Harrison's Camp on Evening of November 6.
(From Beard's "Battle of Tippecanoe.")
WENTWORTH
.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
dred and fifty yards from each other on the left flank and something more than half that distance on the right flank. The left flank was filled up with two companies of mounted riflemen amounting to about one hundred and twenty men under the command of Major General Wells of the Kentucky Militia. The right flank was filled up by Captain Spire Spencer's company of mounted riflemen consisting of about eighty men. The front line was composed of one battalion of U. S. Infantry under the command of Major Floyd flanked on the right by two companies of Militia and on the left by one company. The rear line was composed of a battalion of United States troops under the command of Captain Bean, acting as Major and four companies of Militia Infantry un- der the command of Lieutenant Colonel Decker.
The regular troops on the rear line joined the mounted riflemen under General Wells on the left flank and Colonel Decker's Battalion formed an angle with Captain Spire Spencer's company on the right flank. Two troops of dragoons amounting to about sixty men, were encamped in the rear of the left flank and Captain Park's troop of dragoons, which was larger than the other two, was encamped in rear of the front line. The Dragoons were directed, in case of an attack, to parade dismounted with their pistols in their belts and act as a corps-de-reserve.
THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.
Governor Harrison was perfectly convined of the hostility of the Prophet. He believed that the Indians intended to attack him by treachery after first lulling his suspicions by a pretended treaty, which had indeed been the original inten- tion. No one anticipated an attack that night, yet every precaution was taken to resist one if made. All the guards that could be used in such a situation and such precautions as was used by General Wayne were employed on this occa- sion; that is, camp guards furnishing a chain of sentinels around the whole camp, were placed at such distances as to give notice of the approach of an enemy in time for the troops to take their position and yet not far enough away to prevent
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PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA.
the sentinels from retreating to the main body if overpower- ed. The usual mode of civilized warfare of stationing picket guards at a considerable distance in advance of the army, would be useless in Indian warfare as they did not require roads to march upon and such guards would always have been cut off. Orders were given in the event of an attack for each corps to maintain its position at all hazards until re- lieved or further orders were given to it. The whole army was kept during the night "'lying on their arms." The re- gular troops lay in their tents with their accoutrements and their arms by their side. The militia had no tents but slept with their clothes and pouches on and their guns under them to keep them dry.
The order of the encampment was the order of battle for a night attack and as every man slept opposite his post in the line there was nothing for the troops to do in case of an assault, but rise and take position a few steps in rear of the line of fire, around which they had reposed. The guards of the night consisted of two Captain's commands of forty-two men and four non-commissioned officers each and two subalt- ern guards of twenty men and non-commissioned officers each; the whole amounting to about one hundred and thirty men under the command of a field officer of the day.
The night was dark and cloudy and after midnight there was a drizzling rain. At four o'clock in the morning of the seventh, Governor Harrison, according to practice had risen preparatory to the calling up of the troops and was engaged, while drawing on his boots by the fire, in conversation with General Wells, Col. Owen and Majors Taylor and Hurst. The orderly drummer had been roused for the purpose of giving the signal for the troops to turn out, when the attack of the Indians suddenly commenced upon the left flank of the camp. The whole army was instantly on its feet and the camp fires extinguished. The Governor mounted his horse and proceeded to the point of attack. Several of the com- panies had taken their places in line within forty seconds from the report of the first gun and the entire army was pre- pared for action in less than two minutes, a fact as creditable
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PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA.
to their own activity and bravery as to the skill and energy of their officers. The battle soon became general and was maintained on both sides with bravery and even desperate valor. The Indians advanced and retreated by the aid of a rattling noise made with dried deer hoofs and preserved in their treacherous attack an apparent determination to con- quer or die upon the spot. The battle raged with unabat- ing fury and mutual slaughter until daylight when a gallant and successful charge of the troops drove the Indians into the swamp and put an end to the conflict.
"Governor Harrison says in his official report-
"In the course of a few minutes after the com- mencement of the attack, the fire extended along the left flank, the whole of the front, the right flank and the rear line.
Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen and the right of Warrick's company which was posted on the right of the rear line it was excessively severe, Captain Spire Spencer and his first and second Lieutenants were killed and Captain Warrick mort- ally wounded. These companies, however, bravely maintained their post, but Spencer having suffered so severely and having originally too much ground to occupy, I reinforced them with Captain Robb's company of riflemen which had been ordered by mistake from their position in the left flank and filled the vacancy which had been occupied by Robb, with Prescott's company of the Fourth U. S. Regiment. My great object was to keep the lines entire to prevent the enemy from breaking into camp until daylight should enable me to make a general and effectual charge. With this view I had reinforced every part of the line that had suf- fered much and as soon as the approach of morn- ing discovered itself, I withdrew from the front line Snelling's, Posey's (under Lieut. Albright) and Scott's companies and from the rear line Wilson's companies and drew them up on the left flank. At the same time I ordered Cook and Bean's companies, the former from the rear line and the latter from the front line, to reinforce the right flank, foresee-
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ing that at this point the enemy would make their last stand.
Major Wells, who commanded on the left flank, not knowing my intentions had taken command of these companies and charged the enemy before I had formed the body of Dragoons with which I meant to support the Infantry. A small detach- ment of these were ready, however, and proved amply sufficient for the purpose. The Indians were driven by the Infantry at the point of the bayonet and the Dragoons pursued and forced them into a marsh where they could not follow. Captain Cook and Lieutenant Larrabee had, agreeable to my orders, marched their companies by the right flank and formed them under the fire of the enemy and being then joined by the riflemen of that flank, had charged the Indians, killed a number, and put the rest to precipitate flight.
All of the Infantry formed a small brigade un- der the immediate orders of Colonel Boyd. The Colonel throughout the action, manifested equal zeal and bravery in carrying into execution my orders; in keeping the men to their post and ex- horting them to fight with valor. His Brigade Major, Clark and his aide-de-camp George Croghan were also very serviceably employed.
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