USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. I > Part 14
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always well stored with provisions, etc. That from the said number, a detachment generally might be spared of sufficient magnitude to chastise any of the neighboring villages or tribes separately who might have dared to commit depredations; or be a place to which mounted militia might suddenly repair, draw supplies and act in conjunction, in case of a combination of the several towns or tribes in acts of hostility."
(10) The conflict took place within the limits of the present city of Fort Recovery, Ohio.
(11) "It is worthy of note that Wil- liam Wells [son-in-law of Little Tur- tle] who was soon to become a leader of the whites, is said to have slain several Americans with his own hands."-Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," vol. iv, page 79.
(12) "Historic Highways of Amer- ica," vol. viii, page 157.
(13) "Historic Highways of Amer- ica," vol. viii, page 157.
(14) Caleb Atwater, "History of Ohio," page 142.
(15) Dilion's "History of Indiana," page 283. Of the women who es- caped, "Mrs. Catherine Miller, who died in Cincinnati about the year 1838, was so fleet of foot that she ran ahead of the army. She had a great quantity of red hair, that streamed behind as she ran, and formed the 'oriflamme" which the soldiers followed."-Loss- ing's "Pictorial Fieldbook of the War of 1812," page 48. The volume to which this and other references are made is the property of John C. Hel- ler, of Fort Wayne.
(16) Washington Irving's "Life of Washington," vol. iv; see also George P. Custis's "Personal Recollections of Washington," and Henry C. Lodge's "Life of Washington."
1
CHAPTER XIII-1792-1794.
"Mad Anthony" Wayne, Savior of the West-"Fallen Timber."
Disheartening conditions in the west-Washington's problems-General Anthony Wayne chosen to lead the third expedition against the Indians -Washington's opinion of Wayne-Death of Colonel Hardin-Peace messengers tortured to death-Wayne trains his army and proceeds to Fort Washington (Cincinnati)-Joined by Harrison, Whistler, Lewis and Clark-The army at Greenville-Little Turtle leads in the attack on the builders of Fort Recovery-British build two forts on American soil- Captain William Wells joins Wayne The army reaches the Maumee -- How Wayne deceived the savages-Fort Defiance erected-Blue Jacket leads the savages-The death of William May-Wayne's story of the battle of Fallen Timber-Sharp correspondence between Wayne and Major Campbell, commander of the British Post Miami-The Americans destroy British property and vast acreage of corn-The result of Wayne's victory.
W E NOW HAVE a clear conception of the conditions in the west which rendered most difficult and hazardous any further attempt by the United States to transform the frontier into an inhabitable region for the pioneer who gazed with longing eyes upon the opportunities which nature had provided for the tiller of the soil and the maker of the home.
But there were other conditions which multiplied the difficul- ties and rendered the task of Washington most disheartening. So, before entering upon the review of the story of the invasion of the west by the "Legion of the United States," under the leadership of General Anthony Wayne,1 it may be well to look with impartial eyes upon the situation.
The student of American history will recall that at this time "Citizen" Genet, the Frenchman, appeared in America with demands upon the new republic which Washington, with superior wisdom, declined to grant. Before the angered representative of France was recalled, there was every indication that if the United States had joined with France in a campaign to drive the Spaniard from the lower portion of the country, a war of gigantic proportions must have followed, with the United States and France engaged on the one side, against the Spanish, the British and the Indians on the other. At this critical time Washington chose "Mad Anthony" Wayne to proceed to the west with two great tasks in view-the pacification of the Indians and their separation from British control, and the protection of the Kentucky frontier against any demon- stration of hostilities by the Spaniards of the south.2
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
Wayne was at this time forty-seven years of age. While his choice gave general satisfaction, the friends of Richard Henry Lee,8 of Virginia, a warm friend of Washington, expressed keen disap- pointment that Lee had failed to win the favor of the president. When the discussion had reached its height, Washington explained his position in a clean-cut letter to Lee, in which he said :
"How far the appointment of General Wayne is a popular or unpopular measure is not for me to decide. It was not the deter- mination of a moment, nor was it the effect of partiality or influ- ence ; for no application (if that in any instance could have warped my judgment) was ever made in his behalf by anyone who could have thrown the weight of a feather into his scale; but because under a full view of all circumstances, he appeared to be the most eligible.
"To a person of your observation and intelligence, it is un- necessary to remark that an appointment which may be popular in one place, and with one set of men, may not be so in another place with another set of men, and vice versa, and that to attempt to please everybody is to please nobody ; because the attempt would be as idle as the exertion would be impracticable. G. W. [General Wayne] has many good points as an officer, and it is to be hoped that time, reflection, good advice and, above all, a due sense of the importance of the trust which is committed to him, will correct his foibles or cast a shade over them."4
A memorandum in Washington's handwriting, preserved in the New York State Library, dealing with the qualifications of many who had been suggested as leaders of the new western army, thus meas- ures the ability of Wayne to command the expedition : "More active and enterprising than judicious and cautious, no economist, it is feared; open to flattery-vain-easily imposed upon and liable to be drawn into scrapes; too indulgent (the effect, perhaps, of some of the causes just mentioned) to his officers; whether sober or a little addicted to the bottle. I know not.""5
Taking his "legion of 'boys and miscreants,' gathered from the slums of the coast cities," Wayne "trained them until their skill equaled, if it did not surpass, that of the most noted backwoods Indian fighters."6
Before the arrival of Wayne's "Legion of the United States" at Cincinnati, a series of tragedies had occurred on the frontier. Col- onel John Hardin, while acting as a messenger of peace to the savages, was murdered; Major Alexander Trueman, and two other messengers, Freeman and Girard, sent to the head of the Maumee, never returned. William May, captured on the site of Fort Wayne, was sold by Simon Girty to Matthew Elliott. After serving several months as a sailor on Lake Erie, May escaped and made his way to Wayne's headquarters. Later, in 1794, before the battle of Fallen
r
123
WAYNE AND "FALLEN TIMBER"
1792 1794
Timber, May was taken by the Indians and tortured to his death. Reuben Reynolds, another messenger, escaped, made his way to Montreal, and returned to the United States in safety.
After several weeks of hard training on the ground south of Pittsburgh, Wayne took his army into camp twenty-two miles from that city, down the Ohio river, "out of reach of whiskey, which baneful poison is prohibited from entering the camp," as Wayne explained to Secretary Knox. In April the army floated down the Ohio to Fort Washington (Cincinnati) where the legion went into camp.
Among the noted men who joined Wayne was William Henry Harrison, the coming military leader and statesman; William Clark (brother of George Rogers Clark), and Meriwether Lewis, who were to gain fame as the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition to the northwest in 1803, and Lieutenant John Whistler (grandfather of James McNeill Whistler, the artist) and future commandant of Fort Wayne.
On October 6, Wayne's army moved northward from Fort Washington. A band of savages attacked a convoy of twenty wagons loaded with grain and stores with the re- sult that fifteen of the men lost their lives, and the savages se- cured seventy of the horses.
REVOLUTIONARY PORTRAIT OF GENERAL WAYNE
"One act of heroism (the storming of Stony Point) made his name famous for all time; and yet Wayne's exploits, each inspired by the same dauntless valor, seem almost forgotten by his coun- trymen. Wolfe, it is said, gave Canada to England; but Wayne gave the whole territory between the Ohio and the Mississippi, comprising four states, to that peaceful immigration of a noble civilization. His whole life was given ungrudgingly to his country."-Charles J. Stille, in his "Life of Major General Anthony Wayne."
An epidemic of influenza- the modern "la grippe"-seized upon the troops, and many of the officers and men, including General Wilkinson, were left at Forts Hamilton and Jefferson, when the army moved.7
"Wayne Trace," the northern terminus of which is within the city of Fort Wayne, had its beginning with the northward move- ment of Wayne's army.
Ending the first march of six days at the site of Greenville,
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
Ohio, where Wayne erected a fort named in honor of General Nathaniel Greene, the troops went into winter quarters and the Kentucky militia was dismissed for the season.
FALLEN TIMBER SITE OF TOLE
LAKE ERIE
FORT MIAMI
COL. M'KEE'S (BRITISH) FARM
106. 27
FORT
J
794)
MA
FORT
DEFIANCE (ARRIVED AUG. 8-LEFT. AUG. 16, 1794)
R
MAUMEE
EFORT
ST
WAYNE (ARRIVED SEPT. 17. 1794; FORT FINISHED OCT. 22 ; DEPART- MAR ED FOR GREEN- VILLE OCT.
1
BY MARY'S SOFORT ADAMS (AUG. 1,1794). 1
FORT
RECOVERY
( AT THIS POINT . 1
THE SITE OF ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT. A FORT WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE WINTER OF 1793-4. UN- SUCCESSFULLY ASSAULTED BY
THE INDIANSI JUNE 30,1794).
FORT GREENVILLE (WAYNE'S ARMY, MARCHING NORTHWARD, REACHED HERE OCT. 13, 1793, AND CAMPEO FOR THE WINTER . LEFT JULY 28. 1794, WITH RECRUITS OF 1.600 MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS. FORT JEFFERSON AFTER THE BUILDING OF FORT WAYNE, THE VICTORIOUS ARMY RETURNED HERE NO. 2. 1794. AND THE PEACE TREATY WAS SIGNED AUG. ID. 1795)
Si STATE LINE
PRESENTO, ANA
FORT KNOX
FORT HAMILTON
OHIO
RIVER
R.
EE
DEPOSIT (AUG. 19.1794)
1
(SEPT. 14
JOSE
ST .
28).
1
FORT WASHINGTON (WAYNE'S ARMY MARCHED NORTH- ( CINCINNATI) WARD OCT. 7. 1793, WITH 2.600 REGULARS AND '400 AUXILIARIES)
MAP SHOWING THE MOVEMENT OF GENERAL WAYNE'S ARMY FROM THE TIME OF ITS DEPARTURE FROM FORT WASHINGTON TO THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE.
1
BATTLE OF AUG. 20.
125
WAYNE AND "FALLEN TIMBER"
1792 1794
During the winter of 1793-1794 a detachment of the army, under Major Henry Burbeck, erected a strong fort on the site of St. Clair's defeat, twenty-three miles distant. It was named Fort Recovery. Six hundred skulls littered the ground, the grim evi- dences of the slaughter of the Americans the year before.8
On June 30, 1794, while the troops under Major McMahon were engaged in working on the fort, the savages, under Little Turtle, made a fierce assault on the builders. The watchful Amer- icans drove them off, but they returned the following day to renew the attack. Wayne reported to the secretary of war that the savages "were ultimately compelled to retreat with loss and dis- grace, from the very field where they had, on a former occasion [the defeat of St. Clair], been proudly victorious."9
The American loss was twenty-two killed and thirty wounded. Six American scalps were carried to the British headquarters and presented to Colonel Alexander McKee at his farm on the Maumee river near the newly established British fort.
Throughout the spring of 1794, Wayne's army had undergone such a continuous round of training that, according to General Posey, "never in the Revolutionary war had he [Wayne] com- manded such well-disciplined troops."1º Wayne's record as a drill- master is unexcelled in the military annals of America.
That the representatives of Great Britain in America still firmly believed that they could withhold the west from the posses- sion of the Americans by keeping the Indians well armed and filled with hatred of the citizens of the United States, is clearly proven by a bold move undertaken while Wayne held his army at Green- ville.
Lord Dorchester, governor general of Canada, had announced at a council with the savages that he would not be surprised "if we are at war with them [the Americans] in the course of the present year." The first step taken by the British to provoke such a result was the erection of a strong post on American soil, called Fort Miami, near the site of the present city of Maumee City, Ohio, just west of Toledo, on the north bank of the Maumee river. This post was given a garrison of four hundred and fifty men, com- manded at the first by Colonel Alexander McKee, and, later by Major William Campbell. Its equipment consisted of ten pieces of artillery. Another fort was erected on Presque Isle, an island within the mouth of the Maumee river, and belonging to the United States.
President Washington, when he heard of the establishment of these forts on soil belonging to America, protested without effect
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
against the unfriendly conduct of the British whom a treaty of peace, signed at the close of the Revolution, should have barred from such a questionable move.
Wayne knew of the existence of these forts and had already received his instructions from the secretary of war to "dislodge the party" if he thought best to undertake to do it. We shall see how wisely Wayne conducted himself when the moment of decision came.
Major General Scott, with 1,600 mounted volunteers from Ken- tucky, joined the troops at Greenville July 16; the army now con-
BATTLEFIELD OF
BRITISH , FORT MIAMI
\ INDIANS' CAMA
TOLEDO
LAKE
ERIS
COL.
MCKEE'S FARM
SY
MAUI
FORT DE
Por
XFORT WAYNE 1794
VILL
TO GRE
WAYNE'S ROUTE ALONG THE MAUMEE.
The map shows the route of General Wayne's army from the time of its ar- rival at the Maumee river at the site of Defiance, Ohio, until the building of the fort at the site of Fort Wayne, and the departure for Greenville. The draw- ing is from a copy of the original by Dr. Belknap. The map is reprinted by permission from "Historic Highways of America," Vol. VIII, copyrighted 1904, by the Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, Ohio.
sisted of 2,000 regulars and this strong contingent from Kentucky, all eager to enter upon the campaign and to recover the ground lost by Harmar and St. Clair. The northward movement on July 28, 1794, filled the watching savages with dismay, for the feints of Wayne at road-building, with no intention of following any of the routes thus mapped out, caused a confusion of reports which routed any attempt at a satisfactory arrangement of battle. The rapid movement of Wayne's troops also left little time for the savages to design a plan of attack. As Little Turtle said, during the final council, on the eve of the battle of Fallen Timber, "Not- withstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him."
FALLEN TIMBER
+AUG. 20, 1794
127
WAYNE AND "FALLEN TIMBER"
1792 1794
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WELLS JOINS WAYNE.
Among the noted men of the frontier who now joined the forces of Wayne and became of great assistance to him was Captain William Wells,11 son-in-law of Chief Little Turtle, whose name will figure prominently in the further narrative of Fort Wayne.
Frontier history furnishes no more interesting picture than that of the parting of Captain Wells and Little Turtle, when the former left the savages to join the Americans. The story as handed down by the Wells family is to the effect that Wells and Little Turtle were in entire accord in their views of the situation, and especially as to the necessity of bringing amicable relations between the Indians and the United States.
"For this reason," says Jacob P. Dunn in his "True Indian Stories," "it was agreed that Wells should join Wayne and use his influence with the whites, while Little Turtle tried to bring about a more pacific frame of mind among the Indians. The two parted at a point some two miles east of Fort Wayne, long known as 'The Big Elm.' With clasped hands, and both men visibly affected, Wells said: 'Father, when the sun reaches the noon mark I shall leave you and go to my people. We have always been friends and always will be friends. Upon the field of battle we may meet again. Let the result be what it may, the purity of the motives prompting us, and our common love for the wronged Indians, must be our warrant; and we may well trust the Great Spirit for results that will vindicate our action this day.' Wells then made his way to the army of General Wayne."
As the army moved northward, a brief stop was made on the banks of the St. Mary's river where Fort Adams was built. While urging haste upon the men who were taking from the forest the material to be used in the construction of the fort, Wayne was caught under a falling tree and pinioned to the ground. The acci- dent "nearly put an end to his existence," but his injuries were not found to be of a serious nature. He was in condition to proceed when the work was completed.
On the 8th of August, Wayne's army arrived at the Maumee, near the mouth of the Auglaize river, the site of the present Defi- ance, Ohio.12 Writing from this point, Wayne said :
"I have the honor to inform you that the army under my command took possession of this important post on the morning of the 8th instant-the enemy, on the preceding evening, having abandoned all their settlements, towns and villages, with such apparent marks of surprise and precipitation, as to amount to a positive proof that our approach was not discovered by them until the arrival of a Mr. Newman, of the Quartermaster General's de-
,
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
partment, who deserted from the army near the St. Mary and gave them every information in his power as to our force, the object of our destination, state of provision, number and size of the artillery, &c., &c., circumstances and facts that he had too good an opportunity of knowing, from acting as a field quartermaster on the march, and at the moment of his desertion. Hence I have good grounds to conclude that the defection of this villain pre- vented the enemy from receiving a fatal blow at this place, when least expected."1
Wayne adds that he "made such demonstrations, for a length of time previously to taking up our line of march, as to induce the savages to expect our advance by the route of the Miami vil- lages [site of Fort Wayne] to the left, or towards Roche de Bout ["point of rock," at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, near the site of Wayne's Fort Deposit] by the right, which feints ap- pear to have produced the desired effect by drawing the attention of the enemy to those points, and gave the opening for the army to approach undiscovered by a devious route, i. e., in a central direction, which would be impracticable for an army, except in a dry season such as then presented. Thus, sir," he continues, "we have gained possession of the grand emporium of the hostile Indians of the west without loss of blood. The very extensive and highly cultivated fields and gardens show the work of many hands."
Here Wayne directed the building of Fort Defiance.
The savages were still in a confused state of mind, unable to discover Wayne's plans of campaign, and, in the absence of a united purpose, they decided to assemble their forces at a point on the north bank of the Maumee river almost within range of the guns of the newly established British Fort Miami, and to draw the enemy into a battlefield of their own choosing-a section of woods in which a great many trees had been felled by a tornado some time before. Wayne could not have chosen a better field for this pur- pose, for he had determined to introduce to the savages a method of warfare with which they were unfamiliar-the bayonet charge.
Wayne's character stands out clearly in the words written to the secretary of war to the effect that "the safety of the western frontiers, the reputation of the legion, the dignity and interest of the nation, all forbid a retrograde manœuvre or giving up one inch of ground we now possess, until the enemy are compelled to sue for peace."14 "Yet, I have thought proper to offer the enemy a last overture of peace," he wrote, on August 11, "and, as they have everything that is dear and interesting at stake, I have reason to expect that they will listen to the proposition mentioned in the enclosed copy of an address despatched yesterday by a special flag, who I sent under circumstances that will ensure his safe return,
129
WAYNE AND "FALLEN TIMBER"
1792 1794
and which may eventually spare the effusion of much human blood. But should war be their choice, that blood be upon their own heads. America shall no longer be insulted with impunity. To an all-powerful and just God I therefore commit myself and gal- lant army."
The daredevil methods of Wayne, which had drawn upon him the title of "Mad Anthony" during the Revolution, were displaced during the present campaign and the utmost caution characterized every movement.
At this time the region of Fort Defiance was surrounded by vast fields of corn, the largest, according to Wayne's report, that he had seen "in any part of America from Canada to Flor- ida. "15
Before proceeding on his FA LLEN march down the Maumee to TIMBER HIGH BLUFF attack the Indians in their for- RETREAT E INDIANS est stronghold, Wayne waited FY MIAMI ( BRITISH) long enough to send to the MAUMEE RIVER camp of the savages two mes- sengers of peace, an old Indian HIGH BLUFF and a squaw, neither of whom returned. It is of interest to observe at this point that at a council of war on the 19th, a THE BATTLEFIELD OF FALLEN TIM- BER. plan of battle presented by The map shows the plan of the field of battle known as Fallen Timber. The British fort-Post Miami-occupied a spot in the present city of Maumee, Ohio, a short distance west of Toledo. William Henry Harrison, then a young man of twenty-one, "was adopted by the veteran officers the moment it was submitted-an homage to skill and talent rarely awarded to a subaltern.''16
THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBER.
On the night before the memorable battle, the chiefs held a final council to determine whether or not to make peace with Wayne. They confidently expected the warm support of their British friends, near whose fort they were assembled, and who had supported their earlier campaigns. Little Turtle, in a speech before the assembled chiefs, playing well his part in the compact with Wells, is credited with saying: "We have beaten the enemy twice under separate commanders [Harmar and St. Clair] ; we cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps;17 the night and the day are alike to him, and during all the time he has been marching upon our vil-
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
lages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers to me, it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace."
The counsel of Little Turtle was scornfully rejected. His words had forever deposed him as the war chief of the savages. A new leader of the host, Blue Jacket, the Shawnee, rallied the tribes, numbering about two thousand fighting men, and prepara- tions at once were made to meet the "chief who never sleeps."
Wayne's army, thrilled with the prospect of an early and deci- sive encounter with the savages, advanced on the 16th of August, and followed the north bank of the Maumee for sixteen miles to the eastward. The army at the close of the day, went into camp at the site of the city of Napoleon, Ohio. Christopher Miller, a spy, returning from a conference with the enemy, brought the response that "if the commander-in-chief would remain at Grand Oglaize [site of Defiance] ten days, they would let him know whether they were for peace or war."
Ten days! A strong British force from Detroit could reach the scene before the expiration of that period of time !18 The proposition was promptly rejected.
The next day, William May, the faithful American spy, was captured by the Indians and tortured to his death.
When the army reached a distance of forty-one miles from Fort Defiance, works were thrown up in which to store the heavy baggage of the troops to allow the men more freedom of action in the impending conflict. It was called Fort Deposit.
The story of the battle of Fallen Timber is best told in the language of General Wayne, from whose official report the account is quoted :
"It is with infinite pleasure that I now announce to you the brilliant success of the federal army under my command, in a gen- eral action with the combined forces of the hostile Indians and a considerable number of the volunteers and militia of Detroit, on the 20th instant [August, 1794], on the banks of the Miami [Mau- mee] in the vicinity of the British post and garrison at the foot of the rapids. * *
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