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 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
37
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
the cold bayonet. Wayne had said to his men at the Falling Tim- bers, when the foe was still in the chaparral for two miles: "With- draw your charges from your guns. Fix your bayonets, and charge through the lines and drive them out." Harrison was there, and remembered what Mad Anthony Wayne had said. When the morn- ing had come they had held the line against the savage foe from 4 o'clock until 7 o'clock. Thirty-seven brave men had fallen asleep upon this field. Their bones are here today. Then it was that a gray-haired captain, whose name I cannot now recall, commanded his company to form in platoons, with fixed bayonets, and charged the foe. Said this old pioneer to me, "That was the sweetest talk I ever heard in my life. We knew then that the command would come, and I hugged my tree as closely as I could, and the com- mand was given, 'Forward,' and that gallant band moved along that front line, and the Indians would fire a volley knocking out a man here and there in front, and the command would come, 'Close up in the rear!' Above it all as we moved on I could hear the voice of the captain, 'Close up, men! Steady ! Steady ! Close up ! Steady ! Steady !' The men wanted to seek the refuge and protec- tion of the trees. The rattling of the deer hoofs and the shrieks of the Indians were like the shrieks of starved eagles. We went on and moved on in a steady line and when we reached the front, the Indians broke from the trees and from the bank and rocks and fled across the swamp, and a shout went up from the victors upon this field."
Thirty-seven brave men fell dead here, and one hundred and fifty-one wounded, averaging about one out of every five killed or wounded. One grand soldier who was shot through the body and mortally wounded went to the surgeon and the surgeon said to him, "Your wound is mortal." He bound himself up, went back to the front and was shot through the brain, and fell upon the firing line.
Such deeds of valor should be expounded in every school in this country. Instead of devoting one hundred and fifty pages to heathen mythology, and scarcely any space to the Battle of Tip- pecanoe, the reverse should be true. I believe this will not be so in the future. I believe the erection of this monument will awaken an interest in the young men of this country. Let me say that patriotism is the life blood of the people, and when these boys take charge of this government with all her greatness and grandeur and glory they will be filled with gratitude and patriotism toward the men who made the government, and for each man who defended the government.
38
Report of Commission.
Let us cultivate this spirit of patriotism. Let us do this and then we shall be able to look upon no land more free, more noble, more grand, more glorious than this, our own country. (Ap- plause. )
CHAIRMAN RESER : As Senator Wood has said, we have with us today a representative of the State of Kentucky. As is known to all of us the Battle of Tippecanoe was fought by regulars, by militia from the Territory of Indiana and by militia from Ken- tucky. Yonder is a tablet which marks the place where Joe Daviess fell. He was one of the leading citizens of Kentucky. He was United States District Attorney in that State. He was the leading officer in the Masonic fraternity in that State. A county in Ken- tucky, a county in Illinois and Daviess County, Indiana, were named after this man. Yonder is another tablet which marks the place where Col. Abram Owen fell. Col. Isaac White, and others from Kentucky, lost their lives in this battle. Our next speaker has written a splendid historical work concerning the Battle of Tippe- canoe, and it gives me pleasure to introduce to you Capt. Alfred Pirtle, of Louisville, Kentucky, who will now address you.
39
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
ADDRESS OF CAPT. ALFRED PIRTLE.
For three years I wore the blue, and there I learned, first, to obey. Yesterday morning at my desk there was a call for a long distance talk, and as such things as that are not unusual to us business men, I hastened to call up long distance and found it was from Governor Wilson at Frankfort, Kentucky, directing me to come here today and represent him on this important occasion. I said, "Governor, I will go, but what must I do. I cannot fill your place." "Yes, you go, and tell the people of Indiana some of the history of the Battle of Tippecanoe." I prepared myself and I am here with a little condensed statement made up for this purpose, and it is as follows :
By the summer of 1811, the Territory of Indiana was ten years old. The Governor of the Territory, William Henry Harrison, lived at Vincennes. The leading Indians of the day were Te- cumseh and the Prophet. Tecumseh was by far the more intelli- gent of the two, and his career showed that he was a born general and diplomat.
The Indians had for many years been using the point on the right bank of the Wabash River below the Tippecanoe as a camping ground, and here the Prophet made his home, where several hun- dred Indians were gathered and lived in comparative ease. Te- cumseh had a scheme for uniting all the Indians of the North and South in a great confederation, with the power of which he hoped to stem the tide of white men seeking to drive the Indians from their lands. He used the Prophet to keep up the spirit of war among the young men in the valley of the Wabash. The 1st of August, in furtherance of his plans for uniting the Indians, he left their town and floated down the Wabash to the Ohio and thence into the Mississippi, continuing his journey until he reached the Southern Indians.
There were many incursions made by the young Indian war- riors upon the thinly scattered white inhabitants of the southern portion of Indiana, which, of course, created sentiments of hatred between the whites and Indians.
In August General Harrison issued a call for a rendezvous of troops to assemble on the Wabash River with a view of an expedi- tion to punish the Indians for these raids. About 600 Indiana
40
Report of Commission.
CAPTAIN ALFRED PIRTLE.
41
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
militia assembled at Fort Harrison, which stood where now is the city of Terre Haute. These were joined by a detachment of United States Dragoons, and a large portion of the 4th Regiment of the United States Infantry, Col. John P. Boyd.
In August Harrison had made a call upon Governor Scott of Kentucky for volunteers to assist the Indianians, and two companies of mounted infantry, one under Capt. Peter Funk and the other under Capt. Frederick Geiger, were raised and marched to the encampment at Fort Harrison. There were in addition to the militia of Indiana, already mentioned, 103 from Kentucky and about 400 in the United States troops. They left the camp at Fort Harrison and marched slowly up the left bank of the Wabash until they came to Big Raccoon Creek, near where now stands Montezuma, where they crossed to the right bank, and marched up that two miles, where they erected a block house to protect the reserve of their provisions that had been brought to that point by flatboats. The rest of the march the provisions were carried in wagons. They were then about fifty miles below the Prophet's town. The route to the Prophet's town across the country on the left side of the Wabash would have been shorter than the route the expedition took, but spies had given Harrison information that it was dangerous for them to proceed by that route. The army marched slowly up the right bank of the river until November 5th, they first saw signs of Indian scouts, within a short day's march of the Prophet's town. The next morning, the 6th of November, the Indians were seen in front and on both sides, but the little com- mand of about 800, having been weakened by detachments left on the road, halted within a mile and a half of the town, where Har- rison said he was going into camp. The Indians came out in num- bers and through interpreters, insisted on their not going any nearer the camp, where the women and children were. Harrison listened to their request and under the guidance of Indians came to the spot now known as the Battle Field.
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon they went into camp. The lines of the camp were intended by Harison for the formation of the troops in case they were attacked, and the troops bivouacked in the following order. On the north side of the camp, that part of the battle-field where we now are, nearest to the town of Battle Ground, were the companies of Kentucky under Captain Geiger and Captain Funk, and a company of Indiana militia on the right of that line. Captain Parke's company of Indiana Cavalry were right behind the Kentuckians, supported by Daviess of Kentucky. Now
42
Report of Commission.
facing to where the railroad is, with your left to the town, the right end of the line on that side was held by Colonel Bartholomew with Indiana militia, the left of that line with regulars under Floyd. Down toward the south end, where the line was short, Spencer's Indiana militia stretched across the little neck of woods. That brings us back to Burnett's Creek, that still flows at the foot of the battle-field slopes, and facing the creek, the left of the line was held by Indiana militia under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker, and the right of the line connecting with the Kentuckians under Geiger, was held by the United States Regulars under Captain Barton. The wag- ons, horses and cattle were herded in the center of this space, formed by the troops. Harrison's headquarters were half way between the two detachments of regulars. The troops built great log piles and made huge fires to keep themselves warm, because the night was very cold. Harrison gave strict orders about what was to be done in case of alarm, and all men who were not on duty laid down in their appropriate lines with arms in their hands. He was expecting to be attacked, although the enemy was very friendly during the afternoon.
About 4 o'clock Harrison arose among the sleeping men, pulling on his boots before arousing his men for parade at their different posts, when a single shot was fired near the northwestern angle of the camp on the bank of Burnett's Creek. The man who thus opened this famous little battle was a Kentuckian named Stephen Mars, a corporal on the roll of Captain Geiger's company, raised in Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky. After delivering his fire, he ran toward the camp, but was shot before he reached it. The horrid yells of the savages awakened the camp and were fol- lowed by a rapid fire upon the ranks of the companies of Baen and Geiger that formed that angle of the camp. Their assault was furious and several of them penetrated between the lines, but never returned.
The whole camp was alarmed at once.
The officers with all possible speed put their different companies in line of battle as they had been directed the night before. The fires were now extinguished, as they were more useful to the enemy than to the troops. The great rush which the enemy made was to have been a surprise, but it failed, and after that the battle was a trial of skill, endurance and courage. It had to be fought out when the first dash had not been successful. Some of the enemy penetrated so far into the camp that Captain Geiger, going to his tent for a gun for one of his soldiers, found the Indians ransack-
43
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
ing its contents, when a brief struggle took place, which ended in the Indians' rapid retreat. The plan of battle on their part was to attack three sides of the camp at once, but the alarm was given be- fore those on the right flank of the whites were fully ready, though the entire line was finally assaulted. The Indians were now com- manded by the Prophet. The battle lasted two hours. Tradition says the Prophet stood on a large rock on the west side of the valley beyond the creek, encouraging the Indians by songs and promises of victory. At the spot where the attack began when Governor Har- rison reached there, he found that it had been somewhat broken up, and he reinforced it from the portion of the line not then en- gaged by the enemy. The attack shifted then to the northeast corner in the rear of which Maj. Jos. H. Daviess of Kentucky was forming his dragoons. The enemy was to the right on the slopes of the hill, which lead down to the fine level ground yonder to the east. Major Daviess sent several messages to General Harrison asking for permission to charge the enemy on foot. After the third request Harrison said: "Tell Major Daviess he has heard my opinion twice, that he shall have an honorable position before the battle is over. He may now use his discretion." The gallant Major, with only twenty picked men, instantly charged beyond the line on foot and was mortally wounded. He was a conspicuous mark in the gloom of the coming day, as he wore a white blanket coat. His party was driven back. The charge ended. Daviess made his way back to the line and "laid under the shade of a giant sycamore tree, his life ebbing slowly away, and he awaiting his last enemy, Death, with unquailing eye. His spirit passed out with the setting sun, and by the starlight his soldiers laid him in his rude grave, wrapped only in his soldier's blanket, and as the thud of the falling earth fell on their ears, they wept like children."
The enemy swept around to the rear and fell with great severity on Spencer's mounted riflemen and on Warrick at the angle. Cap- tain Warrick was mortally wounded; Spencer and his lieutenants were killed, and yet his men and Warrick's held their ground gal- lantly. They were reinforced at various times and held the line unbroken until daylight.
Spier Spencer, the captain of the line mentioned above, was the most heroic in the manner of his death of all the victims of this battle. Harrison said officially: "Spencer was wounded in the head ; he exhorted his men to fight valiantly. He was shot through both thighs and fell; still continuing to encourage them, he was raised up and received a ball through his body, which put
44
Report of Commission.
an immediate end to his existence." Could anything have displayed truer courage and manhood in a higher degree? The force of his example imbued his men so fully with his spirit that they not only stubbornly held their ground for two hours, but drove the enemy backward, defending the right flank of the field until the fight was ended.
Spencer is said to have come from Kentucky to Vincennes, and this seems very likely, as a brother who was seriously wounded in the battle died on his way home, bequeathing in his will on the way property to certain friends in Kentucky. Spencer's company being mounted, had yellow trimmings on the uniform, which gave them the campaign name of "Spencer's yellow jackets," and they favored this pugnacious insect by the way they stung the enemy.
The battle was ended about daybreak by a charge made upon the Indians in the direction of where now stands the town of Battle Ground, and the Indians disappeared.
One hundred and fifty-four privates were returned among the casualties, and 52 of them were killed or died of their wounds. The total loss was 188 men killed and wounded-no prisoners. The losses of the Indians were serious, but are variously reported. Ac- cording to one report they left 38 dead on the field ; 6 more dead were found in graves in their town. As was their almost invariable custom, they carried off all of their wounded. Major Wells, of Kentucky, said to a friend that after the battle he counted 49 new graves, and 54 Indians lying on the ground. An Indian woman who was captured said 197 Indians were missing.
The 7th day of November was spent in burying the dead, caring for the wounded and throwing up log breastworks to defend the camp. Rumors were circulated that Tecumseh was on the march to rescue his brother at the head of a thousand warriors.
"Night," says Captain Funk, "found every man mounting guard without food, fire or light and in a drizzling rain. The In- dian dogs during the dark hours produced frequent alarms by prowling in search of carrion about the sentinels."
They were evidently a good deal worked up and entirely on the defensive. By Harrison's own account he had with him on entering the battle only about 800 men. Of these about one-fourth had been the victims of death or wounds. He had very little flour and no meat, for the few beeves brought along by the column were either driven off by the Indians or stampeded by the noises of the battle, and Vincennes was over 150 miles away.
45
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
The mounted men had lost several of their horses in the stam- pede. Many of the cattle and most of the horses were recovered on the 8th and 9th. The adventures in this battle furnished fireside talks for many years in Indiana and Kentucky.
On the 8th the dragoons and other mounted men took posses- sion of the town. After getting all the copper kettles forsaken by their owners and as much beans and corn as they could transport, the army applied the torch, destroying all the huts and a consid- erable supply of corn, which the Indians had stored for the winter. Preparations were at once made for a rapid return march. The wounded were placed in the wagons, and with a train of 22 wagons, each having a load of the wounded, left camp and by night of the 9th passed the dangerous ground where a small force of Indians might have inflicted serious injury. Six days of uneventful march- ing brought them to Fort Harrison, from which point the wounded floated to Vincennes in boats. Captain Snelling and his company, from the Fourth United States Infantry, were left as a garrison there. The remainder of the command arrived at Vincennes on the 18th. By the end of the month the militia were mostly mustered out and sent to their homes. The people of Indiana spent a quiet winter. The hope of the confederacy among the Indians being entirely broken up, Tecumseh spent some months in the South, but returned during the winter and went over to the British to become the most prominent Indian character in the war of 1812. We must remem- ber that the following counties in Indiana perpetuate the names of participants in this battle: Harrison, Spencer, Tipton, Bar- tholomew, Daviess, Floyd, Parke, Randolph, Warrick, Dubois and White.
The result to Kentucky of this battle was the protection to the homes of the whole of the State, and during the war of 1812 Indi- ana territory proved to be a shield against the Indians for the peo- ple of Kentucky. Kentucky furnished the settlers of many of the southern counties of Indiana, making the bonds of kinship strong between the two States.
General Harrison lies upon the top of a commanding hill at what is called North Bend, in the State of Ohio, viewing the land- scape of Kentucky and the magnificent sweep of the Ohio River.
Captain Geiger, of Kentucky, sleeps in a modestly marked grave in Louisville, but most of the victims of the Battle of Tip- pecanoe sleep within the bounds of this enclosure. The night of the 8th of November, 1811, Harrison had great piles of logs placed
[4]
46
Report of Commission.
above the graves of his dead and they were fired during the night and the next morning, but the Indians returned to the camp im- mediately after the departure of the column on the 9th, scattered the fires and opened the graves for the purpose of plunder.
The next year General Hopkins visited the scene and replaced the scattered remains. In 1830 General Harrison, with other dis- tinguished persons, attended a great gathering of the survivors on the field. The bones of the dead on November 7, 1836, were placed in one grave in a tract deeded to the State on the above date, but who can tell where lie the remains of the gallant Joe Daviess.
CHAIRMAN RESER: I once heard Henry Ward Beecher say : "Families often travel in circles-the father traveling up one side, and his descendants down on the other." The Harrison family is an anomalous one in this respect. The family furnished two ยท Presidents within the short space of fifty years. We are honored today in having with us the great-grandson of Gen. William Henry Harrison, and it gives me pleasure to introduce to this vast audi- ence Col. Russell B. Harrison, who will now address you.
47
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
ADDRESS OF COL. RUSSELL B. HARRISON.
Chairman Reser and Fellow-Citizens of Indiana-I am sur- prised at the introduction just given me. Chairman Reser has given no intimation that he would call upon me to address you on this memorable occasion. The printed program of the unveiling ceremonies gives evidence of this surprise, as my name does not appear thereon. I assume the chairman desires, in introducing me, to call your attention to the fact that there is present with you on this occasion a great-grandson of Gen. William Henry Harrison, and I shall accede to his desire and address you.
I am embarrassed in addressing you during these unveiling ceremonies for the reason that this stately monument, erected on the only great battle-field in the State of Indiana, has been erected for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of Gen. William Henry Harrison-my ancestor-and the brave officers and soldiers who followed him here to protect the lives and homes of their loved ones, and the people who in 1811 constituted the citizens of the State of Indiana and our sister State of Kentucky. Being thus embarrassed I shall not make reference in my brief address to the character, experience and training, or services-civil and military- of Gen. William Henry Harrison, for it is better taste that all that is said here today should be expressed by others, not so closely and directly related to him by the ties of blood.
There is one feature of the situation incident to these unveiling ceremonies, however, upon which I can express myself without any embarrassment whatever, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to do so. It is to pay a grateful tribute, as a citizen and soldier, to the brave soldiers composing the United States army, and the citi- zen soldiers of the States of Indiana and Kentucky, who fought under my great-grandfather, Gen. William Henry Harrison, who by their hardships, sacrifices, suffering, and in many instances death, during the Tippecanoe Indian campaign and battle, con- tributed to the redemption of Indiana and our sister States, to the west and north of us, from the control of the savage Indians, thus making possible the great commonwealths of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and finally the acquisition of all the territory west of the Mississippi-now a part of the United States.
48
Report of Commission.
COLONEL RUSSELL B. HARRISON.
49
Tippecanoe Battle-field Monument.
As citizens of today you know nothing of the Indian problems and the privations, suffering and hardships endured by the pioneers of Indiana. You have enjoyed in this State peace and prosperity all of your lives. Your forefathers, who faced these dangers, and who bore so bravely the pioneer privations and hardships, have gone to their reward. Having spent fourteen years in the Territory of Montana immediately following the Custer massacre, face to face with acute Indian problems and the hardships of frontier life, I can appreciate better than most of you, what our forefathers en- dured and triumphed over in the early days of Indiana. Therefore, my heart throbs in gratitude to every man whose name is inscribed on this beautiful granite shaft, and all who survived this historic Indian battle.
As a soldier of the Spanish-American War of 1898, which made the United States the greatest world power, I can appreciate bet- ter than many who face me, the love and devotion of these soldiers to "Old Glory" and to their country, and their willingness to die, if necessary, in the worthy cause which in 1811 needed their serv- ices. It took greater courage than we can appreciate for the heroes of this battle to enlist in the military expedition up the Wabash, which had a triumphant termination on this spot, for they knew not only that they might never see their dear ones again, but if killed no honorable, permanent burial awaited them, but instead their dead bodies would be mutilated by the savage Indians and given to their dogs. They also knew if they were wounded there probably would be no surgical attendance at hand, and what was worse than death, if it was their lot to fall into the Indians' hands alive, they would be cruelly tortured and mutilated.
For this army there were no roads, no wagon trains, nor con- venient base of supplies ; neither were there any well-appointed military hospitals for the care of the sick and wounded, nor friendly neighbors to encourage them as they proceeded. Notwithstanding these unusual dangers and hardships, our forefathers started upon their expedition willingly and bravely. Many never returned. Those whose names are inscribed on this monument bravely met and triumphed over death on this battle-field. They and their surviv- ing comrades have since been the objects of the heartfelt gratitude of millions of people.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.