USA > Kentucky > The history of Kentucky, from its earliest discovery and settlement, to the present date, V. 1 > Part 16
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IOI
UNDERMINING THE FORT.
the nine white men, and sought to take his hand and instantly grapple him, .with intent to drag him off a prisoner. On this occasion the defensive instinct required not the aid of deliberation, but each man by an instan- taneous effort extricated himself and sought his safety in the fort. The Indians, recovering from the surprise consequent on their disappointment, discharged a heavy fire on the fugitives, who all escaped unhurt except one wounded. Having failed in this stratagem, the enemy commenced the pre- meditated fire upon the fort, which was kept up with little intermission for nine days, and which was briskly returned by the garrison, directed by Boone. In the meantime, the besiegers began to undermine -the fort, stand- ing on the bank, about sixty yards from the margin of the river. This new mode of attack in Indian warfare may, without doubt. be ascribed to the Frenchmen who were with them. The mine alluded to was begun in the bank of the river, above the water, and came to be discovered by the contrast of the waters below with those above the fort, indicating the solution of new earth. The fact once ascertained, the object could not be mistaken, and, to counteract it, a deep trench was ordered to be opened inside of the fort, and as the earth was taken up it was thrown over the fort wall. By these means the enemy were apprised that their design was detected and would be defeated, whence they desisted from their mining project. Being now con- vinced that they could not conquer the place by either force or fraud, and their stock of provisions being nearly exhausted, they, on the 20th of August, raised the siege and abandoned the object of their grand expedition, and with it the last hopes of the campaign. During this siege, the most formid- able that had ever taken place in Kentucky, from the number of Indians, the skill of the commanders, the fierce countenances, and savage disposition of the warriors, made even more dreadful by art than by nature, the effect of which was augmented tenfold by the yell and the war-whoop, there were only two men killed and four wounded in the fort. On the part of the sav- ages there were thirty-seven killed in sight of the walls and many wounded, who were immediately removed.
From an unpublished manuscript of General Robert B. McAfee we have been permitted to copy another account of this siege of Boonesborough and the romantic incidents attending it. This relation will have a peculiar inter- est, as the facts are derived from those whom General McAfee knew to be present at the siege :
"Accordingly, as expected, on Monday morning, August 8th, by sunrise, about four hundred and forty-four Indians appeared on the hill facing the fort, commanded by Captain Duquesne, a Frenchman. They paraded with colors flying, in two lines, so as to show their whole strength and terrify the fort into submission. The Indians were at particular pains to appear in as frightful a manner as possible, as they had all painted themselves in various colors, streaked with red. After showing themselves for some time, they set up a most hideous yell and brandished their guns. Only twenty-nine men
IO2
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
were in the station, who, though fine soldiers, felt a chill of horror at the sight of an enemy so numerous and so powerful. Soon after, a large negro man who could speak English stepped about forty yards in front of the Indian line toward the fort, and called three times as loudly as he could for 'Captain Boone!' to which no answer was given. He then returned and called again and said he 'wanted to see Captain Boone, and if he would come out they would not hurt him.' The men in the fort held counsel upon the proposition, a number opposing his going out. He put an end to the debate by deter- mining to go; prepared himself with a pipe and flag, and went out alone, leaving directions that if they saw the Indians imprison him they should shut the fort and defend it to the utmost. For a sign to his men he would strike his flag if danger presented itself. After a conference of an hour he returned safely into the fort, and related to his men the result and their immi- nent danger. The Indians wished him to surrender the fort. and they would permit him and his connection to escape unhurt. To this proposition he seemed to assent, in order to amuse the Indians, well knowing that in the then situation of the fort they could easily take it by storm. Boone, pre- tending to accede to their terms, promised to-return next day and inform them the result of the conference, saying he had no doubt the fort would be given up.
" During the night the men spent their time in fortifying the place, by fastening the gate with bars; but for which the Indians might easily have forced the gate. Next day Boone returned to the Indian camp, and informed them that all his men but a few were willing to surrender, and he believed they would soon assent, seeing they had no means of escape; but that if they did not give up, he himself would provide for its surrender. He left them, promising to return next day, first agreeing to have a feast then, at which the Indian chiefs were to be present and most of the principal men of the fort. The time thus gained was diligently improved in the fort by making every preparation possible. Things were made ready for the feast, in a hollow in sight of the fort, whither both parties were to repair. Ac- cordingly, Boone and five or six of his men went out.
"After eating, the Indians began the conference for a surrender, which Boone seemed to agree to; but either suspecting his sincerity. or desirous of drawing the men out of the fort, in order to massacre them as soon as the conference was over, it was proposed and agreed that two Indians should shake hands with one man. They accordingly rose up, and one Indian took hold of the hand on one side, and another on the other side. The first that got hold, being impatient, tried to throw Boone down. But the whites, sus- pecting all things were not right, broke their hold, threw down some of the Indians, and ran toward the fort, while they were fired upon by a party of Indians in ambuscade, who killed one white man and wounded two others. The balance of the whites got safely into the fort. having considerable diffi- culty to run through the Indians in several places, they having planted
103
RAISING OF THE SIEGE.
themselves all around, and as soon as the first gun fired, come pouring in from all directions with the most hideous yells. Of the two wounded men, one was supposed to be killed; but he laid still until dark, and then made out to crawl to the gate and get in. The Indians kept up a constant fire until night, firing sometimes after dark. Next morning, they began again, using every plan to capture the place. The whites kept up a steady and well-directed fire, proving unusually fatal.
"When the Indians found they could not take the fort by storm, they secreted a chosen band under the bank of the Kentucky river, and then appeared and made battle in great numbers on the opposite side; then affected to retreat, in great disorder, so as to induce the whites to follow. The latter, suspecting the ruse. kept close to the fort; for Boone, in all his conferences with the Indians, represented the number of his men five times greater than he really had. When the Indians found their affected retreat would not do, they all returned, and attempted to undermine the houses by beginning under the bank of the river and digging toward the fort. In this they had not the success they expected; for a drizzling rain set in, which lasted for two or three days. They mined to within fifteen or twenty steps of the houses, to where a large log lay, behind which they endeavored to hide. The men in the station frequently killed Indians as they came to, and returned from, the mine. After all. the Indians would have captured the fort, but for the constant rain for several days. The Indians took advantage of the night to make their advances. One night, about the seventh after they came, they pitched several torches of cane and hickory bark against and upon the fort, which would inevitably have consumed the whole place had the fire caught readily; but the logs being wet, no impres- sion was made before it was discovered by the whites, and extinguished with considerable trouble. The night being extremely dark, the Indians made every possible exertion to reduce the fort and set it on fire.
"They continued to undermine during the next day, but finding they were discovered and countermined, they gave over, and next day paraded and withdrew. having already slain all the cattle they could find and de- stroyed all the property they could reach. They retreated leisurely, the whites being too weak to pursue.
"After the siege was raised. the people picked up near the fort walls one hundred and twenty-five pounds of leaden bullets which had fallen, besides those which stuck in the logs and palisades. This seems to have been the last effort ever made by the Indians against Boonesborough. It exhibits a striking instance of the imbecility of physical force, destitute of knowledge and the arts. For what military enterprise could have been easier, to men only knowing how to make ladders, than scaling a wall of stockades twelve fet high, or mounting on cabin roofs, not even so high, when their num- bers were six times greater than those within; and when, as the case was, the assailants were armed with similar weapons, and especially with the
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
tomahawk in their hands, and, face to face, a most formidable weapon? That no attempt was made to take the place. by storm, or escalade, seems the more astonishing, on considering that the commander, Duquesne, must have possessed some of the arts of civilized warfare, and was apparently desirous of conquest. Was it that he had not the requisite tools and artifi- cers; or was he unwilling that his host of myrmidons should be let loose among the helpless women and children, that he did not point out to them the certain road to victory, and to an indiscriminate massacre as the conse- quence? History could gain but little, while humanity might lose much, by a solution of this inquiry.
"During Boone's captivity among the Shawanees, his family, supposing he had been killed, had left the station and returned to their relatives and friends in North Carolina; and as early in the autumn as he could leave, the brave and hardy warrior started to move them out again to Kentucky. He returned to the settlement with them early the next season, and set a good example to his companions by industriously cultivating his farm, and volun- teering his assistance, whenever it seemed needed, to the many immigrants who were now pouring into the country, and erecting new stations in the neighborhood of Boonesborough.
"As some adverse criticisms had been made on the surrender of the salt-making party by Boone, by an agreed arrangement, and with Boone's approval, a court-martial was called for an investigation of charges exhibited by Colonels Richard Callaway and Benjamin Logan. The result was an honorable acquittal, and the increase of Boone in the esteem and affections of the people."
Allusion was made in the previous chapter to the action of Colonel Clark in sending spies into Illinois, and the return of these in early autumn. They reported great activity upon the part of the military, as well as constant encouragement to the Indians in their barbarous depredations upon the Kentucky frontier. Though the English used every art of misrepresenta- tion to prejudice the old French residents against the Virginians, by telling them that the frontier people were as barbarous and cruel as the Indians themselves, yet there were strong traces of dislike to English rule, and of affection for the Americans with many. The information gained by Colonel George Rogers Clark, with his sagacious and comprehensive mind, discov- ered to him very plainly that the British posts of Niagara, Detroit. Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and the supporting stations on the Wabash and the Mississippi, formed an offensive salient line reaching from Canada, south westwardly, almost to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and commanding the extremest western frontiers of the colonies as low down as the southern boundary of Virginia. Taking in all at a glance, it was evident that these irruptions and devastations by the Indians had their source in this salient line of British outposts. These must be captured, and this insidious left arm of British power broken, before there could be any immunity from the
105
CLARK'S PLANS OF CAMPAIGN APPROVED.
heartrending barbarities which were being continuously practiced. If these could be successfully assaulted and taken, it would also establish a counter influence to deter and overawe the savages in future.
With matured views Colonel Clark set out for Virginia in October. previous. He says: "At this time every eye was turned toward me, as if expecting some stroke in their favor. Some doubted my return, thinking I would join the army in Virginia. I left them with reluctance, promising them I would certainly return to their assistance, which I had determined to do." It was just after the victory of Saratoga when he reached Williams- burg, and the Virginians were participating in the general rejoicing. Early in December, Clark opened the plan of a north-west campaign against the British forts to Governor Patrick Henry, who was at first captivated with the brilliancy of the scheme and the vastness of the results, if successful; yet on more serious consideration a detachment on so distant a service appeared hazardous and daring to an alarming degree, especially as the secrecy neces- gary to such an expedition forbade the communication of the plan to the Legislature.
Governor Henry invited several gentlemen of high character to private conferences, who questioned Colonel Clark minutely as to his plans of march and assault, and particularly about his views as to a refuge of retreat in case of failure. Clark answered readily as to the march and attack. As for the refuge, he stated that, if compelled, he intended to retreat to the Spanish possessions on the west side of the Mississippi. The result was a full appro- bation of the scheme, and the worthy sons of Virginia present-among them George Wythe, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson-pledged in writing, in the same presence, to exert their influence to obtain from the Legislature a bounty of three hundred acres of land for every man in the expedition. All was now hastened, and on the 2d of January Clark received two orders- an open one to proceed to Kentucky, and a private one to attack the British at Kaskaskia. Twelve hundred pounds were advanced the commander to meet the wants of the little army, with orders suitable on the Virginia officer at Fort Pitt for ammunition, boats, and other needed equipments. Major William B. Smith was despatched to the Holston settlement to recruit, and Captains Leonard Helm, Joseph Bowman, and William Harrod in other quar- ters. It was desired that the forces should be raised west of the Blue Ridge, so as not to weaken the Atlantic side.
The spring of 1778 was far advanced before the recruits were enlisted and equipped and all ready for the little fleet of flats and pirogues to descend the Ohio. The departure was with three companies of troops and a consid- erable number of families and private adventurers. Dropping down to the mouth of the Kentucky river. Clark thought of fortifying a post there; but his destination being so far west. he abandoned it for a more desirable posi- tion at the falls, where he could better prepare his craft at leisure for the
[ Clark's Memoirs ; Butler, P 46; Collins, Vol. II., p. 135.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
descent of the rapids. Reaching the latter place, Colonel Clark landed his forces on Corn Island, May 27, 1778, and, after fortifying the place, com- menced drilling his raw troops. The drilling continued until the 26th of June, when the expedition was ready. Re-enforced from interior Kentucky by Bowman's volunteers and others, on the eve of departure he disclosed to his men for the first time his intention to lead them against the British forts in the north-west. On the next day, in the midst of a total eclipse of the sun, variously prognosticated by the men, the little, frail fleet passed down the falls with but four companies, in command, respectively, of Captains Joseph Montgomery, Leonard Helm, Joseph Bowman, and William Harrod, and consisting in all of one hundred and thirty-five fighting men.
A number of families and persons who had come down with the troops were left at the post on Corn Island. to abide the result of what might have seemed to many this Quixotic adventure. It was a fortunate incident that Clark learned of the French alliance treaty from Colonel John Campbell, of Fort Pitt, which proved of the utmost importance in its bearing on subse- quent events. Drifting down the Ohio to some fifty miles or more above its mouth, the command disembarked at a point near Fort Massacre, or Massac, nearly opposite the mouth of Tennessee river, an abandoned place constructed some years before by the French to control the navigation of the Ohio. Here they intercepted and held a party of hunters, led by John Duff, who, though originally from the colonial settlements. had recently come from Kaskaskia, and who communicated the important intelligence that this fort was commanded by M. Rocheblave, that the militia were kept in good order, that spies were stationed on the Mississippi, and that all Indians and hunters were instructed to keep a sharp lookout for the rebel Virginians, as the Ken- tuckians were called. It was learned that the fort was not regularly garri- soned, as no danger of attack was anticipated, and the parade of the militia troops was more a show than for serious defense, though a good stock of arms and munitions was within and ready always for use. This party very readily consented to guide the command of Clark to Kaskaskia, and volun- teered the opinion that if they could surprise the place it could be captured.
Concealing the boats at the point of disembarkation, they plunged into the forests and across the prairies for the point of destination. John San- ders, the principal guide, got bewildered and seemed to have forgotten the features of the country. This excited suspicion, and he was told that any treachery on his part would be visited with death. He solicited to go with a guard over a large prairie and to further try and recover the route. This was granted, and. fortunately for both sides, the familiar signs of the route were discovered and confidence restored. The march resumed, the com- mand halted on the evening of July 4th within a few miles of the town, and lay until dark, when it was continued to the suburbs. A house was taken possession of some three-quarters of a mile above the town. All was quiet, and no cause of alarm given. A sufficient number of boats was soon pro-
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107
CAPTURE OF KASKASKIA.
cured, and two divisions crossed the river with orders to repair to different parts of the town, while Colonel Clark with a third took possession of the fort, afterward called Fort Clark, on the south-east side of the river and opposite the town. It proved to be almost empty and unguarded, so secure were the authorities in the sense of the safety of their location. It was understood that if Clark's division met with no resistance, upon a signal given, the other two parties were to enter the town on either side and to send persons to warn the inhabitants in French that any one appearing out of their houses would be shot. The fort was entered by a postern gate left open on the river side, shown by a soldier captured the day before while hunting. The town of two hundred and fifty houses was surrounded. every avenue guarded, and all communication cut off, and in two hours the whole was in the hands of the invaders without the loss of one drop of blood. M. Rocheblave, the British commandant, was taken in his chamber, and written instructions seized, inciting the Indians to murder the whites, and rewarding them for scalps. Many other valuable papers and documents would have been captured with him; but his wife, presuming on the gallantry of the Virginians, concealed them in her trunk, which, with woman's tact, she locked and sealed with the assumed prerogative and rights of female deli- cacy, more effectual than iron lock and key, with the high-spirited frontiers- men. Not for all England's secrets and treasure could the lid of that trunk have been lifted in that presence.
These credulous people were taught by the English to believe that the backwoodsmen were as barbarous and bloodthirsty as the Indians, and Clark thought it policy to take advantage of such impressions, better to overawe and silence all resistance through terrors. During the night the men were to patrol the town with a tumult of whoops and yells, after the Indian fash- ion, while all were suppressed in silence. However alarming, it proved an innocent stratagem of war.
1 At the same hours, scouts and spies were put out to obtain intelligence. Little could be had, however, except that a considerable body of Indians lay near Cahokia, a post some sixty miles up the Mississippi. On the next day the troops were withdrawn to positions near and commanding the town, while all communication was forbidden between the citizens and soldiers. Even those citizens who were sent for by Clark were enjoined to be silent. The people were purposely left in painful suspense. Though, after the with- drawal of the troops, they were permitted to walk the streets freely, when they were seen in busy conversation, a few of the principal militia were arrested by order and put in irons, without any reason being assigned for the procedure. There was a purpose in all this yet to be disclosed: it was not from inhumanity, and Colonel Clark, as gentle as he was brave, says that he keenly felt these hardships which he thought necessity required. After some time, M. Gibault, the village priest, got permission to wait upon the
i Butler, pp 52-54 ; Clark's Memoirs.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
commander, with a delegation of five or six citizens. As they entered the headquarters, they beheld, with amazement, the group of officers dressed in buckskin or homespun hunting-shirts and breeches, all soiled and torn with their rugged march, and with unshaven faces, presenting to the Frenchmen, so noted for their delicacy and refinement, an appearance as frightful and forbidding as that of savages themselves. They gazed in silence, not know- ing whom to address as chief. The silence was broken by a demand to know what was the object of their visit. They asked which was the com- mander. Aware that they suspected their religion was obnoxious, Clark carelessly mentioned that the Virginians did not interfere in religious mat- ters, and that they could assemble for worship as they pleased, but not to venture out of town. They were then dismissed without further satisfaction, that the suspense might continue. After an assemblage at the church, the deputation again waited on the commander, and thanked him for his indul- gence. They recognized that their situation was the fate of war, but begged that they might not be separated from their wives and children, and that some clothes and provisions might be left for their further support; their conduct had hitherto been influenced by those in authority, whom they could but obey; nor were they sure that they understood the nature of the contest between England and the Americans, so remote were they from the centers of intelligence.
The dread and terror of the people were now wrought to as high a pitch as was desired, and Clark determined to change his relentless mien toward them, and to begin the policy of conciliation. "You must mistake us for savages, from your demeanor and language. Do you think that Americans would strip the clothing from women and children, separate them from hus- bands and fathers, and take the bread out of their mouths? We do not wage war with such atrocities. It was to prevent our own women and children from horrid butchery by Indians, that we have taken up arms and penetrated this distant stronghold of British and Indian barbarity, and not the contemptible prospect of plunder. I bear to you a message of surprise, that I hope may be pleasing to all. You have not lost your love for your native France, whose dominion over this territory you reluctantly exchanged for that of England by the treaty of Paris, in 1763. That France, which was your first patriotic love, and for which there must ever remain a linger- ing pride and affection in the breast of every Frenchman, native born and true, has now, by another treaty with the Americans, made herself an ally with us in this cruel war that England wages against us. The French king has now united his powerful arms with those of America, and the war, in all probability, will soon be terminated in our favor. You are at liberty to choose whichever side you please. and we will not molest you nor inter- tere with your religion, for it is the religion of many Americans. I am convinced that you have been misled by the statements of British officers, and prejudiced against us ; and, satisfied that we should be friends, and not
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