USA > Kentucky > The history of Kentucky, from its earliest discovery and settlement, to the present date, V. 2 > Part 8
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General Harrison at once made all preparation to invade Canada. On the 27th of September, the whole army, embarked on the now ample fleet of Commodore Perry, was landed four miles below Malden, in array of battle, as it was expected that General Proctor would aim to meet it at once with his equal army of British and savage allies. Advancing in sight of Malden, the Americans found it but a mass of smoking ruins. The British had burned the fort and navy yard, and retreated up the rivers Detroit and Thames. General Harrison at once followed as far as Sandwich and camped.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Major Chas. S. Todd was sent across the river to intercept the mounted regiment of Colonel Johnson, and to order it over with the main body. 1
A consultation of generals determined on a vigorous pursuit of Proctor, and to force him to battle. Following the retreating army up the valleys of the two rivers for several days, with occasional skirmishing, and the capture of some boats and stores, Proctor was finally brought to bay at a point on the river Thames near the Moravian town, and eighty miles above Sandwich. On the morning of the 5th of October, information was had that the British army were in line of battle but a short distance ahead. The British regulars were formed in two lines, with their left on the river, and their right extend- ing to a swamp some three hundred yards distant from the river. Beyond the swamp the Indians formed the right wing under the immediate command of Tecumseh, their lines stretching across an isthmus of dry ground, to another swamp some hundreds of yards from the first. With the forest of trees and some undergrowth, the position was a strong one. The British regulars were between eight and nine hundred, and their savage allies near two thousand. The American forces had been much reduced by detach- ments left to garrison and guard the posts, the property and horses, and the defenseless in the rear. The respective numbers of the two armies were nearly equal.
General Harrison disposed his front infantry line of Trotter's brigade, with King's and Chiles' commands. all forming the right wing, under Gen- eral Henry. General Desha. with the commands of Allen, Caldwell, and Simrall, formed the left wing facing the Indians. Colonel Richard M. Johnson's splendid mounted regiment, of over eight hundred Kentuckians present, was ordered to take a position in front of the right wing, and at the given signal, to charge through the ranks of the British reg- ulars, wheel upon their rear, and deliver their volleys into their ranks from that posi- tion. They had no swords, but simply their rifles and muskets. Among the Kentuck- ians the cry was given, " Remember Raisin!" Like an electric fire, it was repeated along the lines, "Remember Raisin!"
Colonel Johnson very soon found that the ground was too narrow between the swamp and river to operate all his regiment against the regulars. Placing his gallant brother, COLONEL RICHARD M JOHNSON. Lieutenant-Colonel James Johnson, at the head of one-half the regiment for this purpose, he led the other half to the left, to charge Tecumseh's Indians. The signal was given, and the cry went down the lines of the two battalions, "Remember Raisin!" With resistless
1 McAfee, p. 362.
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483
TECUMSEH SLAIN.
impetuosity, in the face of a musketry volley from the British line, the cav- alry of the right division charged through the swaying ranks of the regulars, wheeled to the right and left, and poured a destructive fire upon the rear of the disordered columns. In a few minutes the contest was over. Almost bodily the British threw down their arms and surren- dered, over eight hundred strong, to one-half their number, before the front line of infantry had ap. proached near enough to deliver a single volley. General Proctor, however, made his escape, es- corted by a party of dragoons and mounted Indians, who were vainly pursued as far as the Moravian town by a mounted party.
The position of the Indians on the right was more difficult to approach. They re- served their fire until Col. Johnson's mounted battalion, followed close in the rear by the front line of infantry, had approached within a few paces of their position. A deadly volley cut TECUMSEH. down many of the advanced guard, and wounded severely the colonel him- self. Finding the ground unfavorable for the movement of the horses, he dismounted his columns, and advanced them in line before the enemy. A fierce conflict ensued for ten minutes at close quarters, when the savages gave way before the destructive fire, and fled through the brush into the outer swamp. Among their slain was the great chieftain and warrior, Te- cumseh, whose military sagacity and prowess gave an inspiration of courage to the savage allies. The news of his death spread a panic among them, which completed the signal defeat of the British army. As soon as the fighting was forced by Johnson's second battalion, Governor Shelby ordered a portion of Donelson's regiment to their support. They promptly obeyed, and in time to deliver their effective volleys into the ranks of the Indians. This was the only portion of the infantry which had an opportunity of par- ticipating in the battle, so sweeping were the onsets of the impetuous dra- goons.
The dead body of Tecumseh was found at the point where Colonel John- son had charged the enemy in person; and the testimony goes strongly to confirm the belief of many, that the mighty warrior fell by the hand of the brave and dauntless hero who led his Kentuckians into the battle. Of this tragic scene, Colonel Johnson says that the Indians lay behind an appar- ently impassable swamp, in ambush. A narrow passway to them was found, over which he pushed forward at the head of twenty men to draw their fire, and enable the remainder of the battalion to charge with more effect. Mounted on a white mare, he was a conspicuous mark for the guns of the enemy. The little band in front received the whole Indian fire, and nine- teen of the twenty were killed or wounded. The brave leader . received
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
four wounds, and his faithful mare fifteen. Though she staggered and fell to her knees, she recovered at the touch of the rein. The remainder of the troops coming up, he led them forward and drove back the Indians. He noticed a daring chief, who rallied the foe three several times. Advancing singly upon him, the chief took a tree, and from its shelter deliberately fired on Colonel Johnson. The bullet striking one of the fingers, passed through his left hand. Disabled from holding the rein with his hand. he let it fall over his wrist and thus guided his mare. The Indian, supposing that he had given a fatal wound, came out from behind the tree and advanced on him with uplifted tomahawk. With his right arm yet free, Colonel Johnson drew his pistol and instantly fired at him at a distance of ten feet. The chieftain fell dead, when the Indians at once retreated into the swamps and brush.
Though Tecumseh's body was found at the spot. other slain Indians lay near; and as Colonel Johnson was borne from the field desperately wounded. the chieftain's body could not be certainly identified as the one slain by him. In the language of McAfee, the Indians "had lost by the fall of Tecumseh a chief in whom were united the powers of Achilles and the authority of Agamemnon." The entire losses on the part of the Americans were some seventy killed and wounded; that of the British and Indians were seven hundred prisoners, and over two hundred killed and wounded. The Ken- tuckians lamented the death of the veteran pioneer. Colonel William Whitley, who fell fighting bravely in the front; and some days after, Captain Craig and Lieutenant Logan died of their wounds. It is worthy of mention that the faithful white mare of Colonel Johnson sank down and expired in the midst of the carnage, where she had nobly borne her heroic master.
Many yet living will remember the brothers, Richard M., James, and John T. Johnson, residents formerly of Scott county. They were the imper- sonation of the heroic in character. For their country, patriotism knew no sacrifice they were not ever ready to offer up. For their neighbors and friends in need, no bounds were ever set to the generous disposal of their services and possessions. Wherever duty called, all idea of self was ob- scured in the devotions of performance. Not Percy nor Richard were more impetuous and daring on the field of battle, where the front of peril was the point they ever sought, to make of themselves an example and a shield for their devoted followers, The first-named was honored by his countrymen with a seat in Congress, and finally with the vice-presidency of the United States. The last-named also. John T. Johnson, left the halls of Congress under a sense of duty and loyalty to an authority higher than human, to devote his life services to the ministry of religion, in which he gave the same impassioned and self-denying consecration that had distinguished the trio of brothers in other spheres of duty.
Of Johnson's mounted regiment, General Harrison says, in his report to the secretary of war : " It would be useless to pass encomiums on Colonel
485
KENTUCKY VOLUNTEERS DISCHARGED.
Johnson and his regiment. Veterans could not have manifested more firm- ness. The colonel's wounds prove him to have been at the post of danger. Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson and Majors Payne and Thompson were equally active."
After mentioning that Captain Charles S. Todd had rendered him most important services throughout the campaign, very gratefully to the feelings of affection and admiration which the Kentuckians bore to their venerated governor, General Harrison continues: " I am at a loss how to mention the merits of Governor Shelby, being convinced that no eulogium of mine can do them justice. The governor of an independent State, and greatly my superior in years, in experience, and in military fame, he placed himself under my command, and was not more remarkable for his zeal and activity, than for the promptitude and cheerfulness with which he obeyed my orders. Major-Generals Henry and Desha, and Brigadiers Allen, Caldwell, King, Chiles, and Trotter, all of the Kentucky volunteers, manifested great zeal and activity. Of Governor Shelby's staff, Adjutant-General McDowell and Quartermaster-General Walker rendered great services, as did his aids, General Adair and Majors Barry and Crittenden."
The Indians, under shelter of swamp and forest, were routed and driven by not exceeding one-third their number of Kentuckians, as the British regulars had far more easily been by a force one-half their own. Over half the American troops failed of an opportunity to fire a volley.
The power of the British in the North-west being thus shattered, the hos- tile tribes were nearly all solicitous to make terms of peace, which were satisfactory to General Harrison. He had recently before, in necessary self- protection, employed some of the Indians in the campaign against the British. He now engaged more of the warriors in the same service, but under rigid restrictions against the indiscriminate murder of non-combatants, and other barbarities to which they were commonly instigated by British officers. The successful restraints put upon the Indians by American offi- cers, by an exceptional few of the British officers, and by Tecumseh him- self, and which were mainly effectual, prove conclusively that General Proctor, and others of his class, were personally guilty of the innocent blood which drenched the land under the ruthless tomahawk of the red bar- barian, through so many painful and suffering years of war. No less did that guilt of superlative crime stain the honor and integrity of the British throne.
The Kentucky volunteers returned home, and, on the 4th of November, were mainly discharged by Major Trigg, at Limestone. The subsequent events of the war in the North-west were without interest or importance worthy of mention in Kentucky history, with a single exception. Under an order of Secretary Armstrong, of the war department, General McAr- thur was authorized to call for one thousand mounted men for an expedition against the Potawatamies, who had shown a disposition to continue in the
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
service of the British. A call was made on the governors of Ohio and Kentucky for five hundred men, each. In a few weeks seven volunteer companies from Kentucky were ready, and at the point of rendezvous in time, under the command of Major Peter Dudley. Changing the plan of campaign to create a diversion for the relief of Fort Erie, which was seri- ously threatened, General McArthur marched up by Detroit and crossed St. Clair river into Canada. Advancing some two hundred miles by way of Oxford and Burford; with frequent skirmishes, a sharp fight was had with a force of the enemy over five hundred strong. The result was a com- plete rout of the latter, with a loss to them of one hundred and sixty in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The expedition having accomplished a very desirable success, General McArthur returned to Sandwich, where the enlisted men were honorably discharged. For gallant conduct during this campaign, Majors Todd and Dudley and Captain Bradford were honorably mentioned in McArthur's report.
The field of the South-west becomes next the object of attractive interest, as the theater of the dramatic military events which culminated in the mem- orable battle of New Orleans, and closed the war with signal disaster to the British arms. The decisive battle of Waterloo on the 18th of June, 1814, gave victory to Lord Wellington, and completed the downfall of Napoleon upon the continent of Europe. A general pacification followed; and the veteran troops, who had won victories and borne defeats in the campaigns against the greatest general of history, were released from active hostilities. A large armament of ships of war and thirteen thousand veteran troops were to sail for the Mexican gulf in September. The armament which had captured and burned Washington City was to join this. 1 In view of this for- midable demonstration on the part of England. the war department ordered twenty- five hundred of the detached militia of Kentucky to join the recruits from Georgia and Tennessee, as re-enforcements for the army of General Jack- son quartered at Mobile. These, with the regulars and volunteers from Louis- iana and Mississippi Territory, would place at the disposal of the general a combined force of some fourteen thousand men, for operations on the lower Mississippi and the gulf.
Before we detail the immediate operations of the contending armies. in the attempt of the enemy to get possession of New Orleans and subdue the State of Louisiana, it would be proper to take a preliminary view of the preceding situation of our affairs in that quarter, and of the preparations on foot both to make and to meet the invasion.
According to the advices from our commissioners in Europe, a large armament was to sail from Great Britain in September, carrying out from twelve to fifteen thousand troops for the intended conquest. The armament which had captured Washington City was, also, now directing its course to the South, where its rapacious commanders were allured by the spoil of a
1 McAfee, p. 500.
487
LOUISIANA IN A STATE OF DEFENSE.
rich and luxurious city, and favored in their designs by the climate, the sea- son, and the situation of our affairs. We had no army of veterans led by long experienced generals to oppose them in that quarter. The indispensable munitions of war, and the militiamen destined to use them, were still in the arsenals and at their houses, more than a thousand miles distant, on the route they had to traverse to the scene of action.
It, hence, became the duty of our Government and its military function- aries to make the most active preparations for a vigorous defense. Nor was the pressure of this duty in the least alleviated by adverting to the internal condition of Louisiana, both in regard of its population and the facility with which it could be invaded from the ocean. Its situation in the Union was remote in the extreme. Its coasts were intersected by numerous bays. lakes, rivers, and bayous, through which the enemy could penetrate to the interior in his small vessels. The banks of those avenues being marshy and unin- habited, they could not, with facility, be guarded by our militia. The popu- lation in general was composed of Frenchmen and Spaniards, who had, whether foreigners or natives, been bred under the most despotic forms of government. They had not yet become familiar with our institutions, and were much antagonized in their sentiments and views to the American people. The militia of the country had, on a late occasion, refused to comply with the requisitions of the governor, and a great many European Frenchmen had entered their adhesions to Louis XVIII., and through the medium of the French consul claimed exemption from military service. Local jealousies, national prejudices, and political factions, dividing and distracting the people, prevented that union and zeal in the common cause, which the safety of the country demanded. Hence, there was a general despondency and want of preparation for the approaching crisis. The disaffected and traitorous, how- ever, were on the alert, carefully communicating the earliest intelligence, and every species of useful information respecting the country to the British. The Legislature was protracting its session to an unusual length without adopting such measures as the alarming situation of the State required. It was represented as being politically rotten ; and particularly, that in the House of Representatives the idea had been advanced, advocated, and favorably heard, that a considerable portion of the State belonged of right to the Span- ish Government. That, too, at a time when the co-operation of the Span- iards with the British in the expected invasion was the prevailing opinion.
Such was the character of the population and the situation of our affairs at New Orleans, as represented by the highest authority, to the government and the commander of the district. A vast majority of the people, however, consisting of the natives of that country and emigrants to it from other parts of the Union, were well disposed to our cause, and willing to acquiesce and co-operate in the necessary measures of defense. By these General Jackson was hailed, on his arrival at New Orleans, with acclamations of unbounded joy, as a deliverer sent to save their country from approaching ruin.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
In the meantime, the militia from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia were in motion. The orders of the war department were received by the respective governors about the 20th of October, and about one month after- ward the militia of Kentucky and Tennessee were embarked in flats, and ready to descend to New Orleans. The Kentucky detachment of twenty- five hundred men was commanded by General John Thomas, who was ac- companied by General John Adair, as adjutant-general to the division, an officer of tried valor and known military talents. Three thousand of the Tennessee militia were sent down the river, under the command of Gen- eral William Carroll and Brigadier-General Byrd Smith. The former had recently been elected to succeed General Jackson in the militia, when he was transferred into the regular service. The other two thousand of the Ten- nessee draft were sent toward Mobile, under the command of General Taylor; and the Georgia detachment was ordered for the same place, under the com- mand of General John McIntosh and General Blackshear. Artillery, mus- ketry, and ammunition were also embarked at Pittsburgh and other points on the Ohio, for the use of these troops and the fortifications at New Orleans; the greater portion of which did not arrive until the conflict terminated.
Before General Jackson left Mobile, he made arrangements for transfer- ring nearly the whole of his troops in that quarter to New Orleans. The corps of the army brought from that quarter were the mounted brigade of Tennessee volunteers, two companies of the Forty-fourth United States regiment, and Hind's squadron of dragoons. About the Ist of December, General Jackson arrived with his infantry at the city, and immediately com- menced the most active preparations for defense. His lofty character as an energetic, intrepid, and skillful general had gone before him; and having secured him the unbounded confidence of the people, enabled him to ex- ercise an unlimited influence over them. The governor had ordered the militia of his State en masse to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning, and several corps were already in active service.
To guard the different avenues through which the enemy could approach the city, so as to prevent a surprise, and be ready at every point to meet them, was an object of primary importance. The general, hence, immedi- ately reconnoitered the country in person, to ascertain the places at which it was most necessary that guards should be posted. He accordingly sta- tioned a detachment of regulars on the bayou Bienvenue, which led from Lake Borgne into the plantation of General Villere, upon the bank of the Mississippi, about six miles below the city. A guard was also posted upon the Chef Mentiere, a bayou which leads from Lake Borgne into Lake Pout- chartrain. The enemy would be able to come up these natural canals in their boats, and upon foot along their banks, which would greatly facilitate their approach; all the country around Orleans, except where there is a pass of this description, being an impenetrable morass. Strong batteries and a garrison were at the mouth of the bayou St. John, which forms the chief
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THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
communication and common highway from the city into Lake Pontchartrain. Between the latter and Lake Borgne, which lies below it, there is a com- munication called the Rigolets, through which vessels of some burden can pass, upon which was a fortification on an island called the Petit Coquille. The general also visited and strengthened the old fortress on the Mississippi below New Orleans, called Fort Plaquemine, or St. Philip. A flotilla com- manded by Lieutenant Jones, and consisting of five gunboats, a schooner, and a sloop, was stationed at Bay St. Louis, about fifty miles. east of New Orleans.
On the 12th of December, intelligence was received at the city that the hostile fleet had made its appearance in the gulf, between the Balize and Mobile point, to the number of forty sail. Having selected Ship Island, off the bay of St. Louis, as a place of rendezvous. they began to concen- trate at that place ; and on the 12th they had arrived there in such force that Lieutenant Jones thought it most prudent to retire from their vicinity to the Malheureux islands, at the entrance of Lake Borgne; from which he could again retire, if necessary, to the Petit Coquille, and dispute the passage into Lake Pontchartrain. On the morning of the 13th, he discovered a large flotilla of barges leaving the fleet and steering westward, obviously with the intention of attacking his gun-vessels. He had that morning sent the schooner into the bay of St. Louis, to bring away the public stores from the position he had evacuated. The enemy, having discovered her, sent three barges against her, which were driven back by a few discharges of grapeshot, until they were joined by four others. A sharp contest was then maintained for half an hour, when they were again forced to withdraw, with considerable loss. But the commander of the schooner. Mr. Johnson, find- ing it impossible to escape with his vessel. now blew her up, set fire to the storehouse on shore, and escaped with his crew by land.
Lieutenant Jones, in the meantime, had got under sail, with the intention of retiring to the Petit Coquille ; but the water being unusually low in those shallow bays, lakes, and passes, and the wind and tide being unfavorable, neither the pursuers nor the pursued could make much progress. At mid- night the gunboats came to anchor at the west end of the Malheureux pass ; and in the morning of the 14th. the enemy's barges were discovered within a few miles of them. A calm, with a strong current against him. now com- pelled Lieutenant Jones to prepare for action, though the force of the enemy was vastly superior. They had forty-two launches and barges, with three gigs, carrying forty-two carronades, twelve eighteen and twenty-four pound- ers. and twelve hundred men, all commanded by Captain Lockyer, the ex- minister at the court of Barataria. Our five gun-vessels carried twenty guns and one hundred and eighty-two men; the sloop carried only one four- pounder and eight men.
The enemy came up in line of battle, and at eleven o'clock the action had become general, warm, and destructive on both sides. Three barges
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