USA > Kentucky > A history of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 32
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"To this end, he, with much struggling, after the country became some little settled, laid out the chief of his little property, to procure land warrants, and having raised about twenty thousand dollars, in paper money, with which he intended to purchase them: on his way from this country to Richmond, he was robbed of the whole, and left destitute of the means of procuring more. The few lands he afterwards was enabled to locate, were, through his ignorance, generally swallowed up and lost by better claims."
Under these circumstances, about 1791, Boone migrated "to the Spanish province of Upper Louisiana, under an assurance from the Governor, who resided at St. Louis, that ample por- tions of land should be given to him and his family." "Ten thousand acres of choice land were marked out, and given to him for his own use, on the Missouri; though the title was not completed, because that could only be done at New Orleans, as he was Syndic, or chief of the district of St. Charles, and honored by the kindness of his superior; his actual residence on the land given him, which was a usual condition of a Span- ish grant, was dispensed with, in consequence of his public trust requiring his residence elsewhere." "When your memo- rialist came to lay his claim before the commissioners of land claims in that territory appointed by Congress, they were com- pelled, from the strict injunctions by which they were governed, to reject it. for want of cultivation and settlement. Thus your
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memorialist was left once more, at about the age of eighty, to be a wanderer in the world."
"Having no spot he can call his own, whereon to lay his bones; your memorialist has laid his case before Congress." He therefore prayed the legislature to support his application to Congress by their aid and influence.
This memorial was committed to Messrs. Y. Ewing, Hop- kins, Caldwell, Southgate, Bullock and Walker. The report submitted to the House and adopted by all the branches of the government of Kentucky, is too honorable to its sensibility, and too grateful to the moral feelings of every generous bosom, to be be omitted. It is as follows:
"The legislature of Kentucky, taking into view the many eminent services rendered by Colonel Daniel Boone, in explor- ing and settling the western country; from which great advan- tages have resulted, not only to this State, but to his country in general; and that from circumstances over which he had no control-he is now reduced to poverty, not having, so far as appears, an acre of land out of the vast territory, he has been a great instrument in peopling. Believing also, that it is as unjust as it is impolitic, that useful enterprise and eminent ser- vices, should go unrewarded by a government, wherein merit confers the only distinction; and having sufficient reason to believe, that a grant of ten thousand acres of land, which he claims in Upper Louisiana, would have been confirmed to him by the Spanish government, had not the said territory passed by cession into the hands of the general government, Therefore
"Resolved, By the general assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That our senators and representatives in Congress, be requested, to make use of their exertions to procure a grant of land in the said territory, to said Boone, either to the said ten thousand acres, to which he appears to have an equitable claim, from the grounds set forth to this legislature, by way of confirmation, or to such other quantity, and in such place as shall be deemed most advisable, by way of donation.
"Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be transmitted 2F*
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by the Governor, to our senators and representatives in Con- gress, together with copies of the memorial of said Boone, to this legislature for their further information."
This interposition, so eminently due from the gratitude of Kentucky, was attended with the success its unparalled merits demanded. Congress, by an act of February 10th, 1814, ful- filled the gratitude of the western country, if not of the whole republic, to the simple, guileless spirit, united to keen sagacity and generous bravery, who had been one of the first explorers, and among the principal defenders of the infant fortunes of Kentucky, by granting Boone a thousand arpens of land *- t.
The Indian difficulties on the Indiana frontier, which pro- duced the battle of Tippecanoe, just alluded to, were the pre- lude to the hostilities which were declared by the United States against Great Britain, on the 12th of June, 1812.
The Indians, as had ever been their practice in the wars be- tween the European nations in their neighborhood, engaged as parties; and generally in favor of the British.
Several considerations might naturally produce this result; The British, as the weaker power, numerically, on this conti- nent, and greatly more lavish in bounties to the Indians than the Americans, possessed a stronger hold upon their affections. The superior growth of the American settlements, and the long * Land Law, Coned Staus-612
T It is lamentable to relate, that Boone was obliged to surrender this late grant from the bounty of his country, to reimburse a Kentuckian who had purchased land of him. This had been lost in the mazes of Virginia !and law, and the loss fell upon Boone as the warrantor of the tuie.
It may be added, Buone declared, that all his lands in Kentucky had "proved an injury to him. rather than a teriet, owing to the uncertainty of, las locations," according to the rules of law. He abandoned Kentucky in despair of ever enjoying any land there, and declared, on the west side of the Marisapps, he would never recross it."
This early Intuter was a phin gentlemanly man, ut goed memory, mild and equable; nor did he possess any of the sloventy habits of the back woods character. He was indifferent in money mayers, and left att les land papers in the hands of Colonel J. Floyd; on whose death he never enquired intotiem agam. The love of the chase was "his ruling passion streng in der" he adhered to u. Fal be way too weak to encounter its privations and bardatos; when his friends had to resort to stratagems, to prevent an indulgence too. dangerous for tes advanced age and He fen Al debility. He lived and died with a favorite chud, passing his tone among all his chudtren who lived rear him. in the State of Missouri Brave, though an iner pel and sacartons pioneer, never was a leading chief in the conquest and settlement of kentucky. This is a popular mistake. George Rogers Clark was the great choice, by general contrat, and after him, Floyd; John, Levi, and Robert Todd: B. Tugan; Hardin; Christian and Whitby, were the military leaders. Colonei Chrisvan hud scarcely connected hunself with Kentucky, when be waa killed by the Indians: be had distinguished himself against the indians on the Tennessee.
I Letter from Judge David Todd, of Missouri, to the author.
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and recent hostilities waged with our people, necessarily made us obnoxious to their fears and to their hate.
Through the operation of these causes, shortly after the commencement of the war with Great Britain, the Indians, from the lakes to the Mississippi, spread their devastations along the whole north-western frontier of the United States.
Kentucky was herself beyond their reach ; she was covered by the panoply of her own children, who had emigrated to the new States on the north-west of the Ohio river. Her feelings, how- ever, were as keenly alive to the sufferings of the frontier peo- ple, as when her own soil had been the theatre of the bar- barous hostilities waged by the savages of North America.
The first efforts required of Kentucky in this second British war were, to detach fifteen hundred men from her quota of five thousand five hundred in the call of one hundred thousand from the confederacy. These, consisting of volunteers under Colonels John M. Scott, William Lewis, and John Allen; and with a regiment of regulars commanded by Samuel Wells, (the ancient friend of Colonel Floyd, in his defeat.) rendez- voused at Georgetown, on the 15th of August, 1812. Brigadier General John Payne took command of the brigade. The over- flowing ardor of the people of Kentucky, swelled this body of troops to two thousand men, a regiment beyond the number required. They were composed of the very elite of our popu- lation, embracing several of the brightest ornaments of pro- fessional men, as well as the fairest promise among the young; the very flower of life, and of Kentucky. The troops proceeded to Newport, burning to avenge the wrongs of their country; and ambitiously anticipating a junction with General Hull, who was supposed to be at Malden or Detroit. Bitter indeed was their disappointment, and distressing their mortifi- cation, when on reaching the Ohio river, they learned the das- tardly and disgraceful surrender of Detroit, and the Michigan Territory, by General Hull, to the British officer, General Brock. ..
With this surrender was coupled that of three fine Ohio regiments, under Colonels Findlay, McArthur, and Cass; who
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have since risen so high, and deservedly, in the honors of their country.
These regiments contained the same choice spirits of the solid and gallant people of Ohio, that had so eagerly rushed to the standard of their country in Kentucky. The loss of this fine corps of men crippled the military resources of the State, most materially, frontier as she was, in subsequent requisitions of the service.
The shock to the whole western country was electric indeed, the anticipation of Indian devastation was equalled by the mournful results. The western country put on its armor, the land bristled with the weapons of war, and military ardor animated all classes of people. The residue of the Ken- tucky quota was ordered into service. to be placed under General Harrison, who had command of all the troops in the Indiana and Illinois territories; and who now meditated a campaign against the Indians on the Illinois river.
This officer, a pupil of the energetic Wayne in '92, had distinguished himself gallantly and efficiently in the hard fought battle of Tippecanoe; he visited Frankfort, by desire of Governor Scott,* to make arrangements for the march of the Kentucky detachment. Letters were now received at the above mentioned place, as well as at Cincinnati, from the officers on duty under General Hull, expressive of their loss of confidence in their commander; and conveying "their apprehension of some fatal disaster from his miserable ar- rangements, and apparent imbecility and cowardice." These communications likewise conveyed the ardent wishes of the writers, that General Harrison should have the command; and it was equally the desire of the detachment marching to Detroit. Still there were considerable obstacles to regarding these recommendations; so strong in favor of an officer, who was to be placed over volunteers, at the opening of a war which was so popular in the west. Governor Harrison was not a citizen of Kentucky, much less an officer in her militia. The crisis, however, demanded energy; and Governor Scott,
· M'Afre, p. 197. Dawson's Life of Harrison, 272.
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though he had but two days of his gubernatorial term remain- ing, had been the veteran of too many fields, not to exert every resource required by the emergency.
In this embarrassment, he called upon his venerable fellow warrior and successor, Governor Shelby; his predecessor, Governor Greenup; Henry Clay, then Speaker of the House of Representatives; Judge Todd, of the Supreme court of the United States; Hon. R. M. Johnson, and General Samuel Hop- kins, with several other distinguished citizens, for their advice in this delicate exercise of authority. "It was unanimously resolved to recommend to Governor Scott to give Harrison a brevet commission of Major General in the militia of Kentucky, and authorize him to take command of the detachment now marching to Detroit."
The recommendation was complied with; and General Har- rison was appointed* to this important command, which he immediately assumed, to the most enthusiastic delight of the troops. In addition to this body of men, on the 25th of August, a corps of mounted men were called for, to march without delay. The Colonels Johnson, both Richard M. (since grown old in long, faithful, and honorable services to Kentucky and the United States,) and his elder brother. James, with Captain John Arnold, a veteran of '94, in a few days, raised overflowing companies of mounted riflemen; and joined the main army.
To provide for the defence of Indiana, a large corps of mounted men, under the command of General Hopkins,t of the revolutionary army, was ordered to "repair immediately to Vin- cennes."
At this time Kentucky had the proud number of more than "seven thousand of her citizens in the field;"; a fact evincing the military ardor of her people, more than volumes of narra- tion. She was, in fact, a State in arms. It was amidst this bright fire of military spirit in the western country, itself so detached from the observation and the orders of the general
* See Governor Scott's order, in Appendix.
This officer had been designated to command the whole detachment subsequently placed under General Harrison.
¡ M'Afee, 111.
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government; that Governor Shelby, who had now succeeded Governor Scott, urged on the war department the revival of a local board of war. This measure, it will be recollected, had been authorized under the administration of General Washing- ton. Governor Shelby's idea was,* "appointing a board of respectable characters, resident in the western country, respon- sible to the" President, "in any way it shall be his pleasure to direct, with power to call into service, under the laws of Con- gress, the militia which may be required;" "to direct their operations either of offence or defence; to require from the department of war, all the munitions of war necessary for the supply of the troops, and all necessary equipments; to have control over the subordinate agents of the war department within the district assigned them; and to make it the duty of the board to report to the department of war, from time to time, the measures by them adopted." This proposition does not seem to have been relished in the cabinet of President Madi- son; though it was not directly repelled. The Secretary at War adroitly remarkedt upon it, in his reply to the Governor, "that whether" such a board "could be clothed with the powers suggested, is a question requiring consideration." He added, that "it has been determined to vest the command of all the forces on the western and northwestern frontier in an officer, whose military character and knowledge of the country appear to be combined with the public confidence. General Harrison has accordingly been appointed to the chief command, with authority to employ officers, and to draw from the public, and every other practicable source, all the means of effecting the object of his command:" an extent of command and of discre- tion, which implied the most unreserved confidence of the administration in the skill and the zeal of General Harrison. It was most richly merited, and gallantly repaid; by this com- mand the General was replaced on a theatre which he had occupied twenty years before.
On the 3d of September, the troops arrived at Piqua; a town
+ Letter to Secretary Eustis, September 5th, 1812.
t Letter of Secretary Eustis to Governor Shelby, of the 17th September, 1812.
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eighty miles from Cincinnati, and only three miles from the extreme frontier. It is situated on the bank of the Great Miami, and had formerly constituted an object; now it was only a stage in the military operations of Kentucky. Here General Harrison, learning that Fort Wayne, was invested by the Indians; detached "Colonel Allen's regiment, with two companies from Lewis' and one from Scott's regiment, with instructions to make forced marches for its relief." A body of seven hundred mounted men, under command of Colonel Adams, of the Ohio militia, after their late exhaustion by the imbecility of Hull, advanced as far as the St. Mary's, with the same view. It embraced the first and most respectable charac- ters of the State and of Cincinnati: the fervor which animated Kentucky had its full counterpart in the feelings of the next eldest sister of the western family. "Such, indeed, was the ardor of the citizens to serve in this way, that every road to the frontiers was crowded with unsolicited volunteers." "On the evening of the 4th, General Harrison received further intelligence, that a British and Indian force had left Malden on the 18th of August, to join the Indians already" engaged in the siege of Fort Wayne.
On the 6th, after receiving a supply of flints, which had been utterly wanting, the troops made forced marches till, on the 8th, they overtock Colonel Allen's regiment at the St. Mary's At this point he had halted, by orders from the General, to build blockhouses for the security of provisions and the protection of the sick." From this time, the troops, including the corps of' mounted volunteers, now "two thousand two hundred strong," were placed on half rations.
While at Piqua, a Shawnee half blood by the name of Logan, (a former captive to General Logan, of Kentucky,) at the desire of the Indian agent, penetrated through the Indian force to Fort Wayne. He brought intelligence of the actual siege, and that the British reinforcement had not passed up the Maumee. The Indians had not been inattentive to ascertaining the movements of our troops: their scouts from Fort Wayne had not been able to get round our camp before daybreak. They
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returned to their fellow warriors with the exclamation, that "Kentuc was coming, as numerous as the trees!" The army now advanced at a slow rate; "scouts were placed from half a mile to a mile in front, and also beyond the right and left flanks." By the 11th instant, the fort was approached by our troops within twenty miles; and when the army had halted, the whole encampment was immediately "fortified with a breast- work of logs, and the brush cleared away for thirty paces on the outside." During the night, the alarms of Indians "attempt- ing to approach and examine the camp" were frequent.
Early the next morning, the troops were in motion, fully expecting to meet the Indians at a remarkable swamp, five miles on this side of Fort Wayne. As the army approached this critical passage, the horsemen under Adams and Johnson (the latter of whom had been elected Major) were ordered to march round it on the right and left; while the main army passed over. At this passage, the swamp was only one hundred yards wide; although generally it was three times this distance in breadth, and about one mile in length. Our troops passed without the least sign of an Indian, until they got through; where they found the marks of a recent Indian encampment. A single Indian was the only vestige of the late besieging army; most of whom had fled the previous even- ing, and some only a few minutes before the appearance of the army. Could confidence in their own military arts be exhibited more undauntedly, than by these facts? About two hours before sunset, the troops arrived at the fort, to the great relief of its harrassed garrison.
This spot, so remarkable in the history of the western country, richly deserves a brief description. It is delightfully situated below the junction of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's, on the south side. It was known to the French, as Ome*, and was the principal town of the Miamis, for more than a century; it had been the principal rendezvous for the Indians of the lakes, and of the Wabash and the Illinois. The
* A corrupt orthography and abridgment of the French term Au, or Aux Miamis; an Au Cas is a corruption of Au Kaskaskias, to Kaskaskia.
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French traders had frequented it before 1755. The conve- niences of navigation from this point, had no doubt, principally contributed to make it a resort to such extent. "The Miami," or Maumee, to distinguish it from the Miami rivers of the Ohio, "is navigable for boats from this place to the lake, and the portage to the nearest navigable branch of the Wabash, is but seven or eight miles, through a level, marshy prairie, from which the water runs both to the Wabash and St. Mary's."
The next day after the arrival of the army, it was deter- mined to divide it into two corps; and to proceed "in quest of the Indians and their towns. The first division was com- posed of the regiments of Lewis and Allen, and Captain Gar- rard's troop of horse, under General Payne, and accompanied by General Harrison."* The second was placed under Colonel Wells, with a battalion of his own regiment, under Major Davenport; Scott's regiment, the mounted battalion, under Johnson, and the mounted men from Ohio under Adams, com- posed the second detachment." The principal intention of these expeditions was, to destroy the provisions of the Indians, "so that they could not find the means of subsistence." "The party under General Payne having traversed a fine region of country, arrived on the 15th at the village in the forks," which had been abandoned by the Indians. They encamped in the town, and cut up the corn and other vegetables in the fields."
Merciless as these hostilities seem, what other blows could be struck against an enemy, so Parthian in its movements, and yet so ferocious in its warfare? Still they must have materially ex- asperated the minds of the Indians, and whetted their appetite for new and fiercer outrages upon the whites. It is the melan- choly character of retaliation, to know no termination to its horrors; and to increase its dreadful fury, by every additional gratification :. Other towns shared the same fate, without our having lost a man, or having seen a living Indian.
"The tomb of a chief, built of logs and daubed with clay, was found in one of these villages. He was laid on his blan-
. Mc.Afee, 127 2 G
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ket, with his gun and his pipe by his side, a small tin pan on his breast, containing a wooden spoon and a number of ear rings and broaches-all deemed necessary, no doubt, on his journey to the other world."
The party under Colonel Wells had to march about sixty miles to the town against which they were sent. On the 16th, having crossed the Elkhart, (a branch of the St. Joseph's, of Lake Michigan,) above the village, "the troops surrounded the town, but to their deep mortification, found it abandoned, with abundance of provisions in it. "This village was called Five Medals, from a chief of that name, who made it his residence. On a pole before the door of that chief's cabin, a red flag was hung, with a broom tied above it; and on another pole at the tomb of an old woman, a white flag was flying. The body of the old woman was placed upright, with her face to the east, and a basket beside her containing trinkets; such as owl and hawk bills, claws, and a variety of bones, and bunches of roots tied together; all of which indicated that she had been revered as a sorceress, and probably as a doctress." In proof of the intelli- gence which the enemy procured, it must be mentioned, that a Cincinnati newspaper, containing an account of General Har- rison's army, was found in one of the Indian huts. The vil- lage, with seventy acres of corn, was all destroyed. The troops returned to the fort by the 18th, "a few hours after the party under Gen. Payne."
By the 17th, Colonel Simrall, at the head of a regiment of three hundred and twenty dragoons, armed with muskets, and a company of mounted riflemen, under Colonel Farrow, of Montgomery county, Kentucky, arrived at Fort Wayne. This re-enforcement was immediately despatched against the town of Little Turtle, about twenty miles to the north-west, with orders to destroy it all except the buildings erected by the United States, for the chief of that name. This chief had shown a friendship for the Americans after the treaty of Green- ville, in 1795; which had contributed greatly to the preservation of peace. The orders of Colonel Simrall were executed "with
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promptness and despatch, and on the 19th he returned in the evening to the fort."
Brigadier General Winchester, of the United States Ar- my, now arrived to take command of the troops, by orders from the department of war ;* then uninformed of the sur- render of Hull, or the appointment of General Harrison. This collision in command, had a most unhappy effect upon the troops; for the character of militia above all others, re- quires their feelings and affections to be consulted in the appointment of their officers, in order to command their full exertions. It took all the influence of General Harrison and the field officers, to reconcile the men to this change in their commander. This may well be conceived from the following honorable testimony by General M'Afee,; himself an actor in these busy scenes. "He was affable and cour- teous in his manners, and indefatigable in his attention to every branch of business. His soldiers seemed to anticipate the wishes of their General. It was only necessary to be known, that he wished something done, and all were anx- ious to risk their lives in its accomplishment. His men would have fought better and suffered more with him, than with any other general in America."
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