USA > Indiana > Marshall County > Tippecanoe in Marshall County > The Tippecanoe battle-field monument; a history of the association formed to promote the enterprise, the action of Congress and the Indiana legislature, the work of the commission and the ceremonies at the dedication of the monument > Part 10
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This is a rich land, and we would be without honor to ourselves, and without any conscientiousness of having done our duty, if we were to let this matter go by, and be indifferent to the fact that those who fought here gave to us and to civilization this rich land. If I am correct in my statement General Tipton, one who was here as an ensign-a young man in the battle-whose captain fell, whose lieutenant also fell, and when General Harrison met him and said, "Where is your captain?" he said, "He is dead, sir." "Where is your lieutenant?" "He is dead, sir." "And who are you?" "I am the ensign holding the company, and I was put in command." It was no wonder his heart turned back to this place, and that he bought this land, and that he gave this land to the State of Indiana
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to be preserved as a battle-field belonging to the State, and that it should be kept perpetually. We received this land from General Tipton, and we owe it to him and to ourselves to care for it.
In looking over the messages of President Madison, is a mes- sage to Congress on the 5th of November, 1811, two days before the battle was fought, in which he called attention to this confed- eracy, and the possibility of trouble here in the West under General Harrison. It was a time, of course, of slow communication, and I was surprised to find that on the 18th, I think, of December, of the same year, he sent a special message to Congress, calling atten- tion to his former message in November; and he said then: "The battle has been fought and the victory has been won, and the men who fell in the battle are deserving, and their families are deserv- ing of special recognition and care by the government."
If President Madison felt at that time that the families of these men were deserving of special care, how much more, and in a larger sense, ought we to feel that these men and the memory of them, and a regard for them, should be deserving of a special attention on our part. It seems to me there is only one argument for this great purpose of erecting here a monument that shall suitably express the conflict and the consequences of that battle that has been so memorable in the making of the history of the civilization in the Mississippi Valley. We are living so close to the past that we have not yet reached the time when we can appreciate the memorial or the monument, and of what it may speak. If we start at the foot of Bunker Hill monument, and climb to its top, and look out over the battle-field of that great conflict, it seems to me no American can do that without feeling an eloquence and inspiration. It makes for character; it makes for reputation ; it makes for patriotism ; it makes for devotion to country.
I stood time and again for a few weeks looking upon that great monument to Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square, London. That great statue of Nelson, chiseled out of stone, is elevated high upon its pedestal so that it can be seen from every part almost of that great city. Upon that stone there is chiseled the immortal words, "England expects every man to do his duty." The monument to Nelson prevents him and what he did from being forgotten. It is an eloquent plea to England's present and coming generations, and no doubt that monument is largely influential in producing that characteristic that makes every Britisher so loyal, to his heart's core, to his country.
Our monument at Indianapolis, beautiful, artistic, graceful, in-
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viting, stands there in that circle. We have not begun to feel the power of it yet. It means more than those who fell. It means the cause ; it means the consequences. It stands there as a monument to Indiana's part in the great conflict of the sixties ; as a monument to the fact that there was scarcely a battle in all that great conflict of more than four years but what Indiana men participated in; that there was scarcely a battle in which there was a great loss of life, or any loss of life, that Indiana's men were not nearer the ranks of the enemy than the men of any other State of the Union. (Ap- plause. ) That is history. We are proud of it. (Renewed ap- plause.) We can not afford to dispense with it. If we were to pay over one hundred times all it cost, we could not afford to be without it. We could not afford to dispense with its eloquent silence. We could not afford to let our old Hoosier State do with- out this tribute to the patriotism of its soldiers. It means more than Indiana ; it means more than Kentucky also. It means the whole Mississippi Valley. It means more than that. It means our whole nation.
These men who fell here, and who fought here, made their march through a wilderness, part of the time transporting their provision barges on the Wabash, part of the time hauling them in wagons through the forests, without roads ; making their way fearlessly and bravely into the heart of this country, knowing the territory and knowing the dangers-they came here, if possible, without bloodshed, to have a solution and settlement of the conflict, · but if bloodshed must come to meet it bravely, and bravely they did meet it.
The amount asked for this monument is but a pittance out of the treasury of our land. We can not afford not to do it. So I come this afternoon speaking these words for this cause. I trust that tomorrow morning when the good people of Battle Ground and Lafayette will entertain the three hundred editors who will be here, and who will stand here on the battle-field and see the decora- tions and the flowers and flags, and who will then scatter to their homes in three hundred different places-I hope they will carry with them a fire of enthusiasm that shall be poured into the hearts and consciences of their congressmen until that bill shall be brought for- ward and receive not a dissenting vote and be passed, and that a tribute so deserving shall stand here within a few years to mark this historic spot. (Applause. ) I go past here on the Monon fre- quently ; and seldom do I pass here on a through train, when we pass this battle-field, that I do not see more than one in every
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car looking at this historic ground and talking about it. It is a place that is known. The other day I came here with an ambassa- dor, a diplomat, a scholar and a statesman, and when on the battle- field I gave him one of these little pamphlets, and he sat down to look it over, and familiarize himself with the details, although he was familiar with the general history of the conflict. It interested him very much. So we want to disseminate and scatter these details and the history of this conflict, and the results, and thus we shall soon find a rising tide coming to bear this great cause on to a suc- cessful issue.
I plead for the men who have organized and stood back of this project, the men who have pushed it forward, the men who have a determination to stand for this great cause until the end has been accomplished.
This is a great time in our civilization. We may be at a pecu liar epoch. We do not know. But it is a time not for crimination and recrimination. It is a time for hope. It is a time for optimism. It is a time to have confidence in our State and in our government. It is a time when we should be watchful and careful as to our sol- diers in time of war. It is a time to be broad and generous ; a time to make such a record as will lift our State and our country through this period up into a clearer atmosphere, up into a holier life, and into a broader citizenship; a time for our statesmanship to rise so far above the demagogue that there will be no chance whatever for him who has only his own glory, to get a burning passion in his soul for the welfare of our flag and all it represents.
Now, my friends, I have spoken as long as I ought to speak, and perhaps longer. One thing I noticed in regard to all the speeches I saw, and that was their brevity, and I am reminded I must not detain you. I am glad so many are here today. Not to hear me have you come, but you have come to hear a brother man who comes today to help us in the inspiration of this noble cause. You have come because there is a growing interest in this great cause. So I commit to you the personal interest, the personal en- thusiasm, the personal influence, so far as it can come, that every- where you may go shall be toward this end, that a monument may be erected here that shall stand and speak to the centuries to follow, a lesson of our struggle and the victory which we shall win. I thank you.
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THOMAS J. WILSON.
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ADDRESS BY THOMAS J. WILSON, (Delivered at Tippecanoe Battle-Ground, Sunday, June 16, 1907.)
. [Mr. Thomas J. Wilson is a Great Grandson of Captain Spier Spencer, Killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe.]
Ladies and Gentlemen-It is significant of the unsettled condi- tions in this country in the early part of the last century, and a striking proof of how little attention was paid to facts that would be welcomed by the historians of today, that men whose deeds of daring and patriotism made our State and its early development possible, came, did their duty, and died; and today, fewer than one hundred years later, the vast majority of their descendants can not tell the date of their birth, nor the place from whence they came to settle in this State.
Spier Spencer was acting as sheriff of Harrison County prior to 1811, when General Harrison was organizing his army with which to meet the coming attempt of the great chieftain, Tecum- seh, and his brother, the Prophet, to organize the Indians and drive the white man from the Northwest. Tradition has it that he came to the little village of Corydon, which after his death was to be the State as well as the territorial capital, about the year 1809, from Vincennes. It is also said that he was one of Mad Anthony Wayne's seasoned veterans, and the fact that his wife was Delilah Polk, of Kentucky, who was herself when a child held captive by the Indians for eleven months, would indicate that his life was spent on the frontier, and a strong probability that he was born in Ken- tucky himself, a probability strengthened by the fact that his brother George, who was with him in his last battle, was living at one time in that State.
It was natural that he should organize from the brave and spir- ited pioneers who were settling southern Indiana a company to serve under Harrison in the defense of their homes and little ones. Knowing the dangers and hardships of a long Indian campaign as he did, proof of the desperate need for more men and of the man's intense patriotism is shown by the taking with him of his son, Ed- ward, a child of but fourteen years of age, but well grown and able to carry a rifle. His brother, George Spencer, was in the company of forty-seven men, exclusive of the officers, and we hear of John M. Tuell, Zachariah Ingram, William Hurst, Elijah Hurst, James Hubbard, Elijah Hubbard, Samuel Pfrimmer, Daniel Cline, John
[10]
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Cline, James Watts, Abraham Walk, Samuel Flanagan, Jacob Zenor, a McMahon, a Buskirk and a Bogard. The company was called the Yellow Jackets.
Purposely or accidentally, his company was the one placed where the most bloody fighting in all that bloody fight was done.
The Indians were in hand to hand combat with our men at times, and Spier Spencer, in the front rank, was soon shot down.
Samuel Pfrimmer and Bogard lifted him in their arms and started to carry him to a protected place, but a second bullet struck him in his shoulder, and, ranging lengthwise through his body, killed him almost instantly. Harrison seeing the critical condition of affairs, rode up, as related by one of his staff, and asked of Ensign Tipton, "Where is your captain?" "Dead, sir," was the reply. "Where is your first lieutenant?" "Dead, sir." "Where is your second-lieutenant?" Dead, sir." "Where is your ensign?" "He stands before you." "Hold your position a little longer, my brave lad, and I will send you assistance," the General replied.
The battle lasted two hours and twenty minutes, and in addi- tion to Captain Spencer, Lieutenant McMahan and Captain Berry attached to the company, there were five others killed and fifteen wounded, a total of twenty-three out of forty-seven, or fifty per cent. of dead and wounded.
Among the wounded was George Spencer, the brother, who was so badly injured that he died when they reached the Wabash on their way home.
General Harrison, with the kindness of the truly great, took the fatherless boy, Edward, under his care for the remainder of the campaign, and then secured his admission into West Point, assign- ing as a reason, bravery shown on the field of battle; and later he secured admission of a younger son to the same institution. And from that time on, there has always been in the army of the United States some descendant of Spier Spencer, trying to live up to the standard of bravery and patriotism set for them by him who has slept so long beneath this soil.
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ADDRESS BY GABRIEL GODFROY. (At Tippecanoe Battle-ground, Sunday, June 16, 1907.)
My Kind Friends-I have got no learning. I have no educa- tion. I cannot talk to you like the white man. I can only tell you of things I have seen and that have been told me. My father lived near Peru. I was born there. I cannot read or write. When a little boy I passed through Lafayette on my way to a Catholic school at Vincennes. I could only use the Miami language. We went from Lafayette to Vincennes on a packet boat. I was only six months there when my mother got homesick for me and I went home on a sleigh. I went home and went to hunting squirrels, and never went to school any more. My people, the Miamis, made peace with the whites in Washington's time and we never violated it. My people did not take part in the battle of Tippecanoe. If they had, the result would have been different, for it was very close anyhow. The red men made their treaties and kept them, but the white men did not. Whenever they were dissatisfied they would give us a little money and then make a new treaty. I am a Miami. My father was half Indian and half French, and his name was Francis Godfroy. I was born in 1834. The Miamis were the stoutest and swiftest of all the Indians. Indian always keeps his word; white man don't. White man mighty uncertain. (Laughter.) I used to own a good deal of land. I have only forty-eight acres now. I was cheated out of my property by the white man. I have had nineteen children and three wives. Indian believe in big families like President Roosevelt. (Laughter.) My second wife was a granddaughter of Frances Slocum. I often saw Frances Slocum. She looked like a squaw, not like a white woman. She was a pretty large woman but not very tall. Her picture looks like her. I married the granddaughter of Frances Slocum in 1858. The Miamis, all except three families, were sent across the Mississippi in 1846, to Kansas, and afterwards to the Territory. Frances grieved when her people were sent away, and soon died, in 1847. Her daughter died the same month. Frances was stolen by a Dela- ware Indian and lived near Niagara Falls. This Delaware Indian would never stay where there were many Indians, but would move way off to himself for fear some one would steal the child. Frances was a very stout young girl. She could break ponies, and could jump on ponies when they were running. One day when she was
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GABRIEL GODFROY.
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living with her Delaware. father, she found a wounded Indian leaning against a tree. She and her Delaware Indian father took this Indian, who was a Miami, and nursed him back to health. When he got well he hunted for the Delaware, who was getting old, to pay him for taking care of him. When the Delaware came to die, he said to the man, "You have been good to me. You shall have this white woman for a wife." So, after the death of the Delaware, this Miami, who was deaf, took Frances as his wife, and went back among the Miamis, where he had been chief soldier, and became chief, and lived at Deaf Man's Village, on the Mississinewa. He died in 1833, when Frances was quite a young woman. I have sold the relics of Frances Slocum for three hundred dollars, and they have gone to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, and to Detroit. I had to have the money. I used to run races when I was young. One time I ran a race with a white man. In the first race the white man beat me ; but I saw he was short-winded ; so in the next race, I doubled the distance, and beat him easily. The word Wabash means White Stone River ; Tippecanoe means Buffalo Fish; Mississinewa means Falling Water. I am glad you put up monument to white man, for white man was brave. So was Indian.
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JUDGE ISAAC NAYLOR'S DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. (From a Lately Discovered Manuscript.)
I became a volunteer member of a company of riflemen, and on the 12th of September, 1811, we commenced our march toward Vin- cennes, and arrived there in about six days, marching about 120 miles. We remained there about a week and took up the march to a point on the Wabash River sixty miles above, on the east bank of the river, where we erected a stockade fort, which we named Fort Harrison. . This was three miles above where the city of Terre Haute now stands. Col. Joseph H. Daviess, who ccm- manded the dragoons, named the fort. The glorious defense of this fort nine months after by Captain Zachary Taylor was the first step in his brilliant career that afterwards made him President of the United States. A few days later we took up the march again for the seat of Indian warfare, where we arrived on the even- ing of November 6, 1811.
When the army arrived in view of the Prophet's town, an Indian was seen coming toward General Harrison with a white flag suspended on a pole. Here the army halted, and a parley was had between General Harrison and an Indian delegation, who assured the General that they desired peace, and solemnly promised to meet him next day in council, to settle the terms of peace and friendship between them and the United States.
Gen. Marston G. Clark, who was then brigade major, and Waller Taylor, one of the judges of the General Court of the Ter- ritory of Indiana, and afterwards a Senator of the United States from Indiana (one of the General's aides ), were ordered to select a place for the encampment, which they did. The army then marched to the ground selected about sunset. A strong guard was placed around the encampment, commanded by Capt. James Bigger and three lieutenants. The troops were ordered to sleep on their arms. The night being cold, large fires were made along the lines of encampment and each soldier retired to rest, sleeping on his arms.
Having seen a number of squaws and children at the town I thought the Indians were not disposed to fight. About ten o'clock at night Joseph Warnock and myself retired to rest, he taking one side of the fire and I the other, the other members of our company being all asleep. My friend Warnock had dreamed, the night be-
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fore, a bad dream which foreboded something fatal to him or to some of his family, as he told me. Having myself no confidence in dreams, I thought but little about the matter, although I observed that he never smiled afterwards.
I awoke about four o'clock the next morning, after a sound and refreshing sleep, having heard in a dream the firing of guns and the whistling of bullets just before I awoke from my slumber. A drizzling rain was falling and all things were still and quiet throughout the camp. I was engaged in making a calculation when I should arrive home.
In a few moments I heard the crack of a rifle in the direction of the point where now stands the Battle Ground House, which is oc- cupied by Captain DuTiel as a tavern* I had just time to think that some sentinel was alarmed and fired his rifle without a real cause, when I heard the crack of another rifle, followed by an awful Indian yell all around the encampment. In less than a minute I saw the Indians charging our line most furiously and shooting a great many rifle balls into our camp fires, throwing the live coals into the air three or four feet high.
At this moment my friend Warnock was shot by a rifle ball through his body. He ran a few yards and fell dead on the ground. Our lines were broken and a few Indians were found on the inside of the encampment. In a few moments they were all killed. Our lines closed up and our men in their proper places. One Indian was killed in the back part of Captain Geiger's tent, while he was at- tempting to tomahawk the Captain.
The sentinels, closely pursued by the Indians, came to the lines of the encampment in haste and confusion. My brother, William Naylor, was on guard. He was pursued so rapidly and furiously that he ran to the nearest point on the left flank, where he remained with a company of regular soldiers until the battle was near its termination. A young man, whose name was Daniel Pettit, was pursued so closely and furiously by an Indian as he was run- ning from the guard line to our lines, that to save his life he cocked his rifle as he ran and turning suddenly around, placed the muzzle of his gun against the body of the Indian and shot an ounce ball through him. The Indian fired his gun at the same instant, but it being longer than Pettit's the muzzle passed by him and set fire to a handkerchief which he had tied around his head. The Indians made four or five most fierce charges on our lines, yelling and screaming
* The DuTiel Tavern was just north of the camp-meeting grounds and along the line of the Monon Railroad .- Alva O. Reser.
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as they advanced, shooting balls and arrows into our ranks. At each charge they were driven back in confusion, carrying off their dead and wounded as they retreated.
Colonel Owen, of Shelby County, Kentucky, one of General Harrison's volunteer aides, fell early in action by the side of the General. He was a member of the legislature at the time of his death. Colonel Daviess was mortally wounded early in the battle, gallantly charging the Indians on foot with his sword and pistols, according to his own request. He made this request three times of General Harrison, before he was permitted to make the charge. This charge was made by himself and eight dragoons on foot near the angle formed by the left flank and front line of the encampment. Colonel Daviess lived about thirty-six hours after he was wounded, manifesting his ruling passions in life-ambition, patriotism and an ardent love of military glory. During the last hours of his life he said to his friends around him that he had but one thing to regret- that he had military talents ; that he was about to be cut down in the meridian of life without having an opportunity of displaying them for his own honor, and the good of his country. He was buried alone with the honors of war near the right flank of the army, inside of the lines of the encampment, between two trees. On one of these trees the letter "D" is now visible. Nothing but the stump of the other remains. His grave was made here, to conceal it from the Indians. It was filled up to the top with earth and then covered with oak leaves. I presume the Indians never found it. This precautionary act was performed as a mark of peculiar respect for a distinguished hero and patriot of Kentucky.
Captain Spencer's company of mounted riflemen composed the right flank of the army. Captain Spencer and both his lieutenants were killed. John Tipton was elected and commissioned as captain of this company in one hour after the battle, as a reward for his cool and deliberate heroism displayed during the action. He died at Logansport in 1839, having been twice elected Senator of the United States from the State of Indiana.
The clear, calm voice of General Harrison was heard in words of heroism in every part of the encampment during the action. Colonel Boyd behaved very bravely after repeating these words : "Huzza! My sons of gold, a few more fires and victory will be ours ! "
Just after daylight the Indians retreated across the prairie to- ward their town, carrying off their wounded. This retreat was from the right flank of the encampment, commanded by Captains
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Spencer and Robb, having retreated from the other portions of the encampment a few minutes before. As their retreat became visible, an almost deafening and universal shout was raised by our men. "Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!" This shout was almost equal to that of the savages at the commencement of the battle; ours was the shout of victory, theirs was the shout of ferocious but disappointed hope.
The morning light disclosed the fact that the killed and wounded of our army, numbering between eight and nine hundred men, amounted to one hundred and eight. Thirty-six Indians were found near our lines. Many of their dead were carried off during the battle. This fact was proved by the discovery of many Indian graves recently made near their town. Ours was a bloody victory, theirs a bloody defeat.
Soon after breakfast an Indian chief was discovered on the prairie, about eighty yards from our front line, wrapped in a piece of white cloth. He was found by a soldier by the name of Miller, a resident of Jeffersonville, Indiana. The Indian was wounded in one of his legs, the ball having penetrated his knee and passed down his leg, breaking the bone as it passed. Miller put his foot against him and he raised up his head and said: "Don't kill me, don't kill me." At the same time five or six regular soldiers tried to shoot him, but their muskets snapped and missed fire. Major Davis Floyd came riding toward him with dragoon sword and pistols and said he would show them how to kill Indians, when a messenger came from General Harrison commanding that he should be taken prisoner. He was taken into camp, where the sur- geons dressed his wounds. Here he refused to speak a word of English or tell a word of truth. Through the medium of an inter- preter he said that he was a friend to the white people and that the Indians shot him while he was coming to the camp to tell General Harrison that they were about to attack the army. He refused to have his leg amputated, though he was told that amputation was the only means of saving his life. One dogma of Indian supersti- tion is that all good and brave Indians, when they die, go to a delightful region, abounding with deer and other game, and to be a successful hunter he should have all his limbs, his gun and his dog. He therefore preferred death with all his limbs to life with- out them. In accordance with his request he was left to die, in company with an old squaw, who was found in the Indian town the next day after he was taken prisoner. They were left in one of our tents.
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At the time this Indian was taken prisoner, another Indian, who was wounded in the body, rose to his feet in the middle of the prairie and began to walk towards the woods on the opposite side. A num- ber of regular soldiers shot at him but missed him. A man who was a member of the same company with me, Henry Huckleberry, ran a few steps into the prairie and shot an ounce ball through his body and he fell dead near the margin of the woods. Some Ken- tucky volunteers went across the prairie immediately and scalped, him, dividing his scalp into four pieces, each one cutting a hole in each piece, putting the ramrod through the hole, and placing his part of the scalp just behind the first thimble of his gun, near its muzzle. Such was the fate of nearly all of the Indians found dead on the battle-ground, and such was the disposition of their scalps.
The death of Owen, and the fact that Daviess was mortally wounded, with the remembrance also that a large portion of Ken- tucky's best blood had been shed by the Indians, must be their apology for this barbarous conduct. Such conduct will be excused by all who witnessed the treachery of the Indians, and saw the bloody scenes of this battle.
Tecumseh being absent at the time of the battle, a chief called White Loon was the chief commander of the Indians. He was seen in the morning after the battle, riding a large white horse in the woods across the prairie, where he was shot at by a volunteer named Montgomery, who is now living in the southwest part of this State. At the crack of his rifle the horse jumped as if the ball had hit him. The Indian rode off toward the town and we saw him no more. During the battle the Prophet was safely located on a hill, beyond the reach of our balls, praying to the Great Spirit to give victory to the Indians, having previously assured them that the Great Spirit would change our powder into ashes and sand.
We had about forty head of beef cattle when we came to the battle. They all ran off the night of the battle, or they were driven off by the Indians, so that they were all lost. We received rations for two days on the morning after the action. We received no more rations until the next Tuesday evening, being six days afterwards. The Indians having retreated to their town, we performed the solemn duty of consigning to their graves our dead soldiers, with- out shrouds or coffins. They were placed in graves about two feet deep, from five to ten in each grave.
General Harrison having learned that Tecumseh was expected to return from the south with a number of Indians whom he had en-
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listed in his cause, called a council of his officers, who advised him to remain on the battle-field and fortify his camp by a breastwork of logs, about four feet high. This work was completed during the day and all the troops were placed immediately behind each line of the work when they were ordered to pass the watchword from right to left every five minutes, so that no man was permitted to sleep during the night. The watchword on the night before the battle was "Wide awake, Wide awake." To me it was a long, cold, cheer- less night.
On the next day the dragoons went to Prophet's Town, which they found deserted by all the Indians, except an old squaw, whom they brought into the camp and left her with the wounded chief before mentioned. The dragoons set fire to the town and it was all consumed, casting up a brilliant light amid the darkness of the ensuing night. I arrived at the town when it was about half on fire. I found large quantities of corn, beans and peas. I filled my knapsack with these articles and carried them to the camp and divided them with the members of our mess, consisting of six men. Having these articles of food, we declined eating horse flesh, which was eaten by a large portion of our men.
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Report of Federal Commissioners.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., November 23, 1908.
To The Honorable, The Secretary of War:
SIR-The Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument Commission re- spectfully reports that it has completed the service for which it was appointed, and submits the following account of its proceed- ings :
Under the Federal statute authorizing the construction of a monument on the Tippecanoe battle-field, and appropriating $12,500 therefor, J. Frank Hanly, Governor of the State of Indi- ana, Mr. Job S. Sims, President of the Tippecanoe Battle-field Memorial Association, and Mr. Albert A. Jones, were appointed commissioners on behalf of the Federal Government. Under the statute of the State of Indiana authorizing the construction of such monument and appropriating a like amount, Mr. Sims, Mr. Jones and Mr. Wesley E. Wells were appointed commissioners on behalf of the State.
The Federal Commission organized by electing J. Frank Hanly, chairman, and Mr. Albert A. Jones as secretary. The State Com- mission elected Mr. Job S. Sims, chairman, and Mr. Albert A. Jones as secretary. By the terms of the Federal statute the fund appropriated by the State was required to be paid into the hands of the Federal authorities before a contract for the erection of the monument could be let. This was done by the Indiana Commission. Its work therefore closed, but Mr. Wells continued to co-operate with the Federal Commission and rendered valuable services until the completion and dedication of the monument.
Plans, specifications and contract for the proposed monument were submitted to your honorable predecessor and by him approved. The contract was let to McDonnell & Sons, of Buffalo, New York, for the sum of $24,500, and was by them completed November 6th, 1908, and the monument immediately thereafter accepted by the Commission. It is constructed of white Barre granite, all inscrip- tion plates being in Montello granite. It is beautiful, dignified and imposing in character, and constitutes a fitting memorial to
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the brave men whose valor it commemorates. It was unveiled with impressive ceremonies, November 7th, 1908, on the ninety-seventh anniversary of the battle.
A statement of receipts and expenditures, showing disburse- ments in detail, is submitted herewith.
Very respectfully submitted, J. FRANK HANLY, JOB S. SIMS, ALBERT A. JONES, Federal Commissioners.
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Financial Statement.
RECEIPTS.
From Federal Appropriation . $12,500 00
From State Appropriation . 12,500 00
$25,000 00
EXPENDITURES.
McDonnell & Sons, contractors, as per contract
$24,500 00
Job S. Sims, expenses as commissioner . 21 00
Wesley E. Wells, expenses as commis- sioner .
19 15
Albert A. Jones, expenses as commis- sioner 80 02
General E. A. Carmen, representing the Secretary of War, expenses. 53 95
Secretary of War, expense of telegrams. 2 00
Expenses incidental and unveiling .
221 75
Transportation of State troops for un- veiling 102 03
$24,999 90
Unexpended balance
10
$25,000 00
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خصمه
berichy
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