USA > Michigan > A discourse : delivered at the first meeting of the Historical Society of Michigan, September 18, 1829 > Part 3
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they had passed the gate, they gave the yell, and fired upon the garrison. They then proceeded to the com- mons, where was living an aged English woman with her two sons. These, they murdered, and then repaired to HIog Island, where a discharged serjeant resided with his family, who were all but one, immediately massacred. . Thus was the war commenced.
There were several buildings surrounding the Fort, and but a short distance from it. Behind these, and the picket fences, the Indians stationed themselves, and commenced a violent fire upon the British. This was returned ; but such was the situation of both parties, that little injury was done. The firing however was contin- ued for some days, the Indians anticipating much more serious effects from these attacks, than were actually experienced by their enemies. The British commander was ignorant of the system of tactics, which teaches the Indians to consider the sacrifice of human life as dishon- orable, and the weakness of his defences led him to fear an assault. Believing his position in such an event would be untenable, preparations were made for an immediate embarkation on board the vessels, and a retreat to Nia- gara. The positive assurances, however, of the principal French inhabitants, that so hazardous a measure would never be adopted by the Indians, re-assured him, and in the course of a few days, all the erections without the Fort, which could afford security to the besiegers, were burned, either by hot shot, or by sorties, which were made by the garrison. The Indians could then only annoy the Fort, by approaching the summit of the low ridge, which overlooked the pickets, where they continu- ed their fire from time to time.
Major Campbell, who had been superseded by Major
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Gladwyn, still remained in the Fort. He had held the command since the surrender of the country, and was well known to the Indians. IIe seems to have exercised his authority moderately and wisely, and was esteemed both by them and the Canadians. Pontiac conceived the design of getting this officer into his possession, and holding him as a pledge for the surrender of the Fort. For this purpose, he requested some of the French inhabitants, who were the means of communication be- tween the British and the Indians, to inform Major Campbell he wished an interview with him at his camp, that they might terminate the present difficulties, and smoke the pipe of peace together. IIe promised solemn- ly, that Major Campbell should be permitted to go and come in perfect safety. Messrs. Godfroy and Chapoton, who had visited him upon this occasion, were deceived by his professions and promises, and advised Major Campbell to meet him. Such was the anxiety of all to bring to a conclusion this irksome warfare, that this officer, accompanied by Lieut. McDougall, repaired to Pontiac's camp, in the hope of making a satisfactory ar- rangement with him. They were at first well received ; but without entering into the details of the story, it is sufficient to observe, that they were ultimately detained, and held as hostages. Pontiac offered Major Campbell's life for the surrender of the Fort, apparently not aware, that one violation of good faith must destroy all confi- dence between contending parties, and that in this case, any sudden impulse might lead to the massacre of the garrison, as easily as it had led to the detention of Major Campbell.
The melancholy fate of this self-devoted officer adds another to the many proofs, which our intercourse with
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the Indians has furnished, of the little confidence to be placed in their promises, made in the excitement of war. Major Campbell and Lieut. McDougall were detained at the house of Mr. Meloche at Bloody-bridge. They were allowed occasionally to walk out, but the Indians were so numerous around, that escape was difficult and hazardous. Lieut. McDougall, however, proposed to his fellow-prisoner to make the attempt, but as his vision was very imperfect, he declined, that he might not impede the flight of his friend. McDougall reached the Fort in safety. During one of the sorties made by the British, an Ottawa Chief, of some distinction, from Michillimackinac, was killed. His nephew, who was present, determined upon revenge, hastened instantly to Bloody-bridge, where he found Major Campbell walking in the road. He approached, and struck him dead with his tomahawk. He then fled to Saginaw, apprehensive of the vengeance of Pontiac ; and it is but justice to the memory of that Chief to say, that he was indignant at this atrocious act, and used every exertion to apprehend the murderer, who would, no doubt, have paid with his life, for his temerity.
On the 21st of May, the small vessel was despatched to Niagara, to hasten the arrival of the reinforcement, and the provisions and ammunition which were expected for the place ; and on the 30th, the sentinel on duty announced, that a fleet of boats was coming round the point, at the Huron church. The whole garrison flocked to the bastions, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their friends. But they were greeted with no sounds of joy. The death-cry of the Indians, that harbinger of misery, alone broke upon the ear. The fate of the detachment was at once known. The Indians had ascertained their
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approach, and had stationed a party of warriors at Point Pelée. Twenty-three batteaux, laden with all the stores necessary for the defence of the town, and the subsistence of the garrison, and manned by a detachment of troops, landed at this place in the evening, ignorant of danger, and unsuspicious of attack. The enemy watched all their movements, and about the dawn of day, rushed upon them. An officer, with thirty men, threw himself into a boat, and crossed the lake, to Sandusky Bay. All the others were killed or taken. The line of barges ascended the river on the opposite shore, escorted by the Indians upon the bank, and guarded by detachments in each boat, in full view of the garrison, and of the whole French settlement. The prisoners were compel- led to navigate the boats. As the first batteaux arrived opposite to the town, four British soldiers determined to effect their liberation, or to perish in the attempt. They suddenly changed the course of the boat, and by loud cries made known their intention to the crew of the vessel. The Indians in the other boats, and the es- cort upon the bank, fired upon the fugitives, but they were soon driven from their positions by a cannonade from the armed schooner. The guard on board this boat leaped overboard, and one of them dragged a sol- dier with him into the water, where both were drowned. The others escaped to the shore, and the boat reached the vessel, with another soldier wounded. Lest the other prisoners might escape, they were immediately landed, and marched up the shore, to the lower point of Hog Island, where they crossed the river, and were immediately put to death, with all the horrible accompa- niments of savage cruelty.
On the third of June, the important information of a
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peace between France and England, and of the cession of the country to the latter, reached the Fort. It was immediately communicated to the French inhabitants, who found their position essentially changed by this measure. Until now, they were prisoners upon capitu- lation ; a neutral party between the belligerents. They had conducted with the most exemplary fidelity, and during the whole siege, very few Canadians were known to have connected themselves with the Indians, and these were held in abhorrence by their countrymen, and were compelled by their indignation, eventually to flee, and seek shelter in Illinois. The operations of the war had pressed heavily upon them. At first, their cattle were killed and provisions taken, whenever a hungry or drunken party chose to distress them. Pontiac soon became satisfied, that this indiscriminate plunder would leave the French people, as well as his own, without the means of support, and contributions were afterwards regularly levied, and supplies furnished, through a com- missariat department, instituted by him. Finding, how- ever, that his means were inadequate to the reduction of the Fort, he assembled the principal French inhabitants in Council, and in the presence of all his warriors, presented them with a war-belt, and told them, if they were French, they would accept it, if they were English, he would make war upon them. One of the principal inhabitants was appointed by the others to speak for them, and he exhibited the articles of peace between the French and British governments, and said to Pontiac- " My brother ; you see that our arms are tied by your great Father, the King : untie this knot, and we will join you. Till that is done, we shall sit quietly upon our mats." After much discussion, the assembly dis-
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persed, without any satisfactory arrangement. And the French inhabitants resisted all the efforts of the Indians to induce them to unite with them. At this time, the vessel, which had been despatched to Niagara, arrived at the mouth of the river, with about sixty troops on board, and a supply of provisions and ammunition. The wind was light and baffling, and the Indians made every effort to capture her. The warriors quit the siege, and repair- ed to Fighting Island, determined to board the vessel, as she ascended the river. I find no authority for the account usually given, of the circumstances attending the attack of this vessel, or of the order given by her captain to blow her up, when the Indians were about to ascend her deck. She left the mouth of the river, where the Indians had annoyed her in their canoes, with a favorable breeze, which however failed, as she reached the point of Fighting Island, where she was compelled to anchor. The captain had concealed his men in the hold, so that the Indians were not aware of the strength of the crew. Soon after dark, they embarked in their canoes, and proceeded to board the vessel. The men were silently ordered up, and took their stations at the guns. The Indians were suffered to approach close to the vessel, when the captain, by the stroke of a hammer upon the mast, which had been previously concerted, gave the signal for action. An immediate discharge took place, and the Indians precipitately fled, with many killed and wounded. The next morning, the vessel dropped down to the mouth of the river, where she remained six days, waiting for a wind. On the thirtieth, she succeeded in ascending the river, and reaching the Fort in safety.
Pontiac felt the necessity of destroying these vessels,
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and he therefore constructed rafts for that purpose .- The barns of some of the inhabitants were demolished, and the materials employed in this work. Pitch and other combustibles were added, and the whole so formed, as to burn with rapidity and intensity. They were of considerable length, and were towed to a proper posi- tion, above the vessels, when fire was applied, and they were left to the stream, in the expectation, that they would be carried into contact with the vessels, and immediately set fire to them. Twice the attempt was made, and unsuccessfully. The British were aware of the design, and took their measures accordingly. Boats were constructed, and anchored with chains above the vessels, and every precaution was used to ward off the blow. The blazing rafts passed harmlessly by, and other incidents soon occurred to engage the attention of the Indians. On the 29th of July, a fleet of boats was descried, ascending the river. Anxious to ascertain, whether they had escaped the attacks of the Indians, a gun was fired from the Fort, which was immediately answered by the boats, each of which carried four swiv- els, and two mortars, and on board the whole, was a detachment of 300 regular troops, under the command of Capt. Dalyell, an Aid-de-camp of Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the British Commander-in-Chief.
That evening, arrangements were made for an attack upon the Indian camp. Unfortunately, these were not so secretly conducted, but that information was convey- ed to the Indians. Their women and children were immediately removed, and their plan of operations con- certed. A party of warriors was stationed behind the pickets upon the farm now owned by Mr. Dequindre, and another party upon the farm at Bloody-bridge,
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protected by pickets and cord-wood, and concealed in the high grass. A detachment of three hundred men left the Fort, about an hour before day, and marched rapidly up the bank, expecting to surprize the Indians. They were suffered to reach the bridge over Bloody-run, and to proceed about half way across it, before a gun was fired, or the slightest movement indicated, that the enemy was aware of their approach. Suddenly a volley was poured upon the troops, who were thrown into instant confusion. They fought with the characteristic bravery of British soldiers, but the darkness of the night, the nature of an Indian attack, and the unfavorable position they occupied, rendered their fate critical and perilous. Capt. Dalyell fell at the first discharge, when the command devolved upon Captain Grant. The de- tachment was attacked upon the left flank, and upon the front and rear. Thus nearly surrounded, it was instantly perceived, that nothing but the most vigorous efforts could rescue them. It was necessary to drive the enemy from their positions, before a retreat could be undertaken. A charge was ordered, and it was prompt- ly and vigorously effected. The Indians fell back before the bayonet, and were repulsed in every direction. The detachment extricated themselves from their perilous situation, and at length reached the Fort. They lost, in this disastrous affair, seventy men killed, and forty wounded.
From this period, nothing important occurred in the prosecution of the siege. Pontiac, whether satisfied with the success he had gained, or discouraged by the defence of the place, relaxed in his efforts, and the Indians soon began to depart for their wintering grounds. All was quiet during the winter, and in the spring, the
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various bands, as they arrived, professed their desire for peace. In the course of the season, Gen. Bradstreet reached Detroit, with a well appointed army of three thousand men. Tradition says, that in passing the iron bound coast, west of Cleaveland, he encountered a vio- lent storm, in which he lost a number of boats and many men. Certainly the imagination cannot conceive a more awful situation, than that of an army enclosed by a ra- ging sea on one side, and an eternal rampart of rocks on the other. Low and feeble would be the sound of its cannon amid the roar of the elements around it. Mean and humble its proud banners, upon the crest of the billows. Nothing, and less than nothing, its strength before the power of the Almighty. Well may we ex- claim in the language of Scripture, ' Lord, what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou regardest him ?'
General Bradstreet landed at Sandusky, and at the Maumee, and dispersed the Indians, whom he found there, burning their villages, and destroying their corn fields. He reached Detroit without opposition. All the tribes in this region immediately visited him, and peace was firmly established. Pontiac, either distrusting the professions of the British, or too much exasperated to live cordially with them, declined any intercourse with their troops, and took no part in the pending negocia- tions. He abandoned the country, and repaired to the Illinois. Here, owing to some cause, which has not been explained, he was assassinated by a Peoria Indian. Such was the respect inspired by his talents and services, that the Ottawas, Potawatamies and Chippewas consid- ered his death as a public misfortune, and its atonement, a sacred duty. They commenced a war upon the Peo-
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rias, in which that tribe was almost exterminated, and from which they never recovered. But a few families are now left to tell the tale of their misfortunes. The memory of the great Ottawa Chief is yet held in reve- rence aniong his countrymen, and whatever is the fate, which may await them, his name and deeds will live in their traditionary narratives, increasing in interest, as they increase in years.
A few years of tranquility succeeded these stormy events. They were employed by the British authorities in extending and consolidating their power, and by their citizens in a vigorous and profitable prosecution of the fur trade. The remote boundary of French enterprise was soon passed. The energy and activity of commerce and competition carried the adventurers to the arctic circle, seeking amid the ice and snows of a polar winter, those rich peltries, which nature has bestowed upon the north. It may be doubted, however, whether this traffic was permanently beneficial. Its products were subject to great fluctuations of value, depending not less upon the uncertain supply, than upon the caprice of fashion. And it withdrew, from the sober and safer pursuits of agriculture, the youth of the country-exchanging habits of steady industry, for those alternations of exertion and relaxation, which are equally pernicious to their constitution and their morals. No effort was made by the British government to promote the settlement of the country. A system of conciliation towards the Indians was adopted and persevered in : and in a few years, that bitter animosity, which was the fruit of a century of hostilities, gradually gave way, and they became firmly attached to the British interests.
But that great event was now approaching, which has
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produced, and is yet destined to produce, such important changes in the moral and political state of the world. The contest between the mother country and her colo- nies soon absorbed all questions of minor interest, upon the continent ; and the active employment of the Indian force became a favorite object in the British policy. Detroit, from its position, and from the associations of the Indians, was the controlling point of influence, where parties were organised and equipped, and whence they were despatched to lay waste our frontier, and to do the other nameless deeds of horror, which I am as unable to describe, as you would be unwilling to hear. It was a warfare to distress, not to subdue. He, who has seen his family murdered in the darkness of the night, and by the light of his own dwelling, while he feels the pressure of his woe, feels, also, the desire of revenge, and the hope of attaining it.
I shall not dwell upon these atrocious scenes. War parties were going and returning, during the whole pro- gress of the revolution. They went with presents and promises, and they returned with scalps and blood.
Two expeditions, however, were undertaken, more important in their character and results, than the ordi- nary marauding enterprises, to which we have alluded. One of these was led by Capt. Byrd, whose force was composed of a detachment of regular troops, some mili- tia, and a numerous body of Indian warriors. They left here in boats, well provided with provisions, and inunitions of war. They ascended the Maumee, and descended the Miami river to the Ohio. The first ob- ject of the expedition was an attack upon Louisville, but the unusually wet season, and consequent high state of the water, induced him to ascend the Licking, and strike
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at the posts in the interior of Kentucky. With this view he appeared suddenly before Ruddle's station, and as he was supplied with cannon, and led a well appointed force, all hope of resistance was desperate, and the gar- rison surrendered upon promise of safety and protection from the Indians. It is needless to add, that the promise was utterly disregarded. Byrd proceeded a few miles further, and captured another small stockade, called Martin's station. His progress spread consternation through the country, and efforts were made to collect a force to oppose him. Before this could be organised, he suddenly abandoned his enterprise, and precipitately withdrew. His motives for this procedure are unknown. Whatever they may have been, Kentucky was relieved from the most imminent danger, to which she had ever been exposed.
George Rogers Clarke was one of those men, who seemed born to conduct our country, through the troub- led and dangerous scenes of the revolution. He possessed that quick perception, that instant decision, that fruitful resource, that power over others, and that confidence in himself, which constitute the great military leader .- Whether the theatre of operations be great or small, an empire or an Indian frontier, the genius of such a man, must lead him to command, as surely as it will lead him to success.
Gen. Clark had been despatched by the Virginia government to defend the Kentucky frontier, then feeble and exposed. He soon became satisfied, that the most effectual means of attaining this object, was by capturing the British posts in the Illinois country. He accordingly descended the Ohio, and reduced Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the small establishments in that quarter. When
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information of his success reached Detroit, Governor Hamilton resolved to dislodge him, and, for this purpose, collected all the regular troops, militia and Indians, who could be spared from the defence of this frontier. Hc proceeded to Vincennes and there halted, determined to attack his enemy, as soon as the season for field opera- tions should commence. His plan was to regain the lost posts, and to destroy Clark's detachment ; then to cross the Ohio, and sweep the infant settlements of Kentucky before him, giving up, to murder and devastation, the inhabitants and their property. But his design was anticipated and frustrated, by one of those bold and de- cisive movements, which marks the character of a gen- eral, and determines the fate of nations. Clark received information from a Spanish merchant, that his enemy was careless and secure, and had detached a part of his force to watch the Ohio river, and to harrass the front- iers. He immediately prepared a small armed boat, and put on board the supplies for his troops. He order. ed her to proceed to the Wabash, and, taking post a few miles below Vincennes, to permit nothing to ascend or descend the river. He then, in the depth of winter, set out for that place, with his whole disposable force, amounting to only one hundred and thirty men. He was sixteen days crossing the country, and during five of these, he was employed in wading through the inundated prai- ries of the Wabash. For five miles, his detachment marched with the water to their breasts. After sur- mounting these obstacles, he suddenly appeared before Vincennes, and by the stratagem of presenting a tree, shaped like a cannon. he persuaded Hamilton, that he had brought artillery with him. His decisive movement, and the surpize and consternation of the enemy, led to the
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surrender of the Fort upon the first summons. Hamilton himself, and a few of those counsellors who had been most active in promoting his system of savage barbari- ties, were sent to Virginia in irons. The militia from this quarter were permitted to return.
The revolution terminated with the recognition of our independence. The subsequent events, in the history of the Territory are familiar to all of us. Difficulties soon arose respecting the surrender of the posts. An Indian war was the consequence, and the campaigns of Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne were successively prosecuted before peace was established. The part taken by the British au- thorities here, to encourage the Indians in hostilities, and to aid their operations, are matters of history; and General Wayne, in the official report of his victory at the Mau- mee, states, that a company of militia from Detroit was associated with the Indians, and fought in their ranks. 'It is well known to the old inhabitants, that the clerk of the court, one Smith, was at the head of this company, and was killed in the action.
I have no pleasure in the retrospective view of these revolting scenes. But history is not the panegyric of human actions. It is our destiny to nieet good and evil, in the chequered scenes of life. And it is our duty to draw lessons of instruction from the vices, as well as the virtues of our nature.
In the beginning of June, 1796, Capt. Porter, with a detachment of American troops, entered the Fort, which had been previously evacuated by the British. The American flag was displayed, and the dominion of the country peaceably transferred.
. Without indulging in any presumptuous anticipations, we may hope. that the last change in our political condi-
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tion has occurred, except that, which is to terminate our colonial situation, and to admit us, as an independent member of that great confederacy of republics, whose sway now extends, from the Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Wiser shall we be than the Roman people, and happier in our destiny, if we realize the truth so beautifully ex- pressed by the greatest of their poets, and which is not less applicable to us, than to the Italian husbandmen,-
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