USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
"At the request of a Seneca chief, I hereby send to your excellency, under care of James Hoyd, eight packages of scalps, cured, dried, hooped and painted with all the tri- umphal marks, and of which consignment this is an invoice and explanation. Package number 143, scalps of Congress soldiers, inside painted red with a small black dot to show that they were killed by bullets; those painted brown and marked with a hoe, denote that the soldiers were killed while at their farms; those marked with a black ring denote that the persons were surprised by night; those marked with a black hatchet denote that the persons were killed with the tomahawk. Package number 2, 98 farmers' scalps; a white circle denotes that they were surprised in the day time; those with a red foot denote that the men stood their ground and fought in the defense of their wives and families. Number 3, 97 farmers' scalps; the green hoops denote that they were killed in the fields. Number 4, 102 farmers' scalps; eighteen are marked with a yellow flame to show that they died by torture; the one with the black hand attached belonged to a clergyman. Number 5, 88 scalps of women; those with the braided hair were mothers. Number 6, 193 boys' scalps. Number 7, 211 girls' scalps. Number 8, 122 scalps of all sorts; among them are twenty-nine infant scalps, and those marked with the small white hoops denote that the child was unborn at the time the mother was killed. The chief of the Senecas sends this message : 'Father, we send you here these many scalps that you may see that we are not idle friends. We wish you to send these scalps to the great king that he may regard them and be refreshed; and that he may see our faithfulness in destroying his enemies and be convinced that his presents are appreciated.'"
21
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
Thus labored the allies that a Christian king might be "refreshed"; thus did defense- less women and unborn babes become the price of rum and gaudy trinkets; thus were the arms of an empire, the honor of a people, dragged in the mire of shame and lust, to be smeared with a disgrace that will endure until the end of time.
Chief of Hamilton's lieutenants in leading the raiding parties against the settlements were Simon Girty; his two brothers, James and George; Alexander McKee and Mathew Elliott. The mention of either of these names struck terror to the hearts of the defense- less during the early Revolutionary days, and it is probable that no country was ever cursed with the presence of a more unscrupulous set of men. The last two were deserters from the colonial forces under General Lewis at Fort Pitt, but the Girtys were avowedly Tories. Major William Caldwell, Captains Henry Bird and John Butler, of the British regulars, and officers from the French militia at Detroit, were also directed to the occasional joint command of the allies.
The number of expeditions setting out from Detroit and the number of unwarranted and merciless murders committed under British rule, from 1777 to the termination of the Revolution and beyond are impossible of enumeration here. Raids were made into Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and were generally successful. The demand for men in the defense of the country against the regular British forces in the east left the western settlements but poorly guarded. Many a block house fell after a siege in which women fought side by side with a handful of men in heroic resistance to a host of yelling savages reinforced by England's trained soldiery. The pioneers not only suffered hardship and pri- vation but also endured unspeakable tortures and finally sacrificed their lives that the fron- tier might not be pushed further eastward. The fledgeling colonial government, with a war on its hands in the east, was powerless to send relief to the west. Such an attempt meant the traversing of hundreds of miles of savage-infested wilderness, through which it was impossible to transport artillery or military supplies. Advance by water also was impossible. By the summer of 1777 the British had established the beginnings of a navy on the Great Lakes. The schooner "Gladwin" was supplemented by the building of several craft, and a regular rate of pay for officers and sailors quickly recruited adequate crews. Though the ships were comparatively small they were sufficiently formidable to be capable of maintaining an efficient police service. They were mostly used, however, in continuing communication with Mackinac and in transporting troops and supplies to Detroit. All vessels navigating waters west of Lake Ontario were required to register at the latter port.
Few victories of importance fell to the allied arms until 1778. By this time the settlers had become thoroughly aroused to the necessity of offering some armed resistance to Ham- ilton's plans. Counter raiding parties advanced into Ohio and Indiana from Kentucky and at Fort Pitt an attack was planned on Detroit. Two forts, Fort McIntosh and Fort Laurens, were built on Beaver creek and the Tuscarawas river respectively, both being located in southern Ohio. Colonial General Gibson was detailed to the western service by George Washington and at once occupied Fort Laurens. It was planned that he advance on Detroit after wintering at the fort.
Just at this time Hamilton's former plan for the esablishment of an Indian confed- eracy stood him in good stead. He had sent Simon Girty, who was well versed in Indian customs and dialects, to nearly every savage village of consequence. Girty's influence with the Indians was phenomenal; as a result of his activities the British relationship with almost every tribe was considerably strengthened. News of the erection of the Ohio forts was quickly brought to Detroit by Girty's converts and even Gibson's intention of advanc-
22
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
ing northward was made known to Hamilton. Girty, who was an old-time enemy of Gibson, was given command of between seven hundred and eight hundred Indians and ordered to capture Fort Laurens. He set out with alacrity on this quest for more scalps, but the intervention of an unexpected circumstance partially thwarted his plans. Prior to this time a religious sect, the Moravians, or as they styled themselves, "The United Brethren in Christ," had gained a secure foothold in Ohio. The order, which had originally settled in the south, in 1735, had later moved to Pennsylvania. Coming from that state, missionaries, who sought the conversion of the Indians, had established a branch church and settlement at Gnadenhutten, near Fort Laurens. Always seeking the promotion of peace, the Moravian belief held to the principle of "turning the other cheek" when attacked and discountenanced resistance, either in the defense of property or life.
Through some of the converted Indians news of Girty's advance reached David Zeis- berger, the missionary at Gnadenhutten. Zeisberger immediately informed Gibson of the impending attack and advised him to keep his men within the walls of the Laurens stockade. Gibson at once dispatched a portion of his force to Fort McIntosh, in quest of reinforce- ments and supplies. The relief party was attacked on its return, several men were killed and scalped in plain sight of Gibson's redoubt, and letters to the commander were taken by Girty's men. The captured letters contained complete details of the planned attack of the Americans on the Detroit post. Gibson now realized the value of his missionary friend's advice and kept so closely within the fort that Girty's men withdrew after a short siege. Captain Bird arrived from Detroit with a strong force of Indians shortly after- ward. He in turn besieged the fort, but was unsuccessful save for the killing in ambush of a small party of wagoners from the fort. Though Gibson succeeded in holding Fort Laurens, the enemy were in possession of his plans and this, coupled with the losses he had sustained, necessitated the abandonment of the Detroit attack.
In the same year Captain Bird, of the British forces, fell victim to a disappointment in love. Apparently, save American scalps, nothing could divert his mind from the tortures of his heart. He accordingly set out from Detroit with John Butler and a party of rangers and Indians. The object of the expedition was an attack upon Butler's former neighbors in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania. Butler was originally from Connecticut. Nearly every man of the Americans was absent with the colonial army and the allies found the valley but poorly defended. The settlers, fearing a savage butchery in case they surrendered, retired within a small fort. Butler followed the usual trick of showing only a portion of his force and then retreating, in order to invite pursuit. His main body of savages remained hidden in ambush. The settlers advanced, only to be surrounded and tomahawked in their tracks. Nearly two hundred scalps were taken to assuage Captain Bird's tortured mind. Meanwhile the fort was fired and nearly all the settlers perished in the flames rather than submit to the tortures they knew were certain once they asked for mercy. Few escaped. The neighboring Cherry Valley was also attacked successfully and more Americans were tortured, killed and scalped. For this service to his gracious majesty, Butler was given a grant of some five thousand acres of land and a substantial annuity.
Similar raids were organized and sent into Ohio during 1778, from the posts at Vin- cennes, Indiana, and Kaskaskia, Illinois. These were ostensibly launched in furtherance of a treaty agreement between England and Spain, to the effect that the settlements must not encroach on territory claimed by the latter power east of the Alleghanies.
23
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
Every such raid was but a replica of its predecessor and but helped to swell the list of outright murders and tortures for which the then greatest government in the world must ever be held directly responsible.
Toward the close of 1778 a second attempt was made by the Americans to administer some punishment for these depredations. General Brodhead, of the colonial regulars, was sent into Ohio with a force of between two thousand and three thousand men. Indian runners promptly bore news of the advance to Hamilton. The whole settlement at Detroit was immediately thrown into consternation by the conclusion that Brodhead's objective point could be none other than the Detroit post. Though the garrison had been kept in fighting order since the beginning of the Revolution, Captain Lernoult, now a major, suddenly realized that the fort was not sufficiently strong to withstand well directed artil- lery fire. Strategically it occupied a poor position, because of higher ground to the north. The only recourse was the erection of a second fort on the elevation. Accordingly what became known as Fort Lernoult was hastily built on the present site of the Detroit federal building. ' It was rectangular in shape and was flanked by effective bastions at the four corners. Brodhead's advance, however, terminated at a point in the Maumee valley, nearly one hundred miles from Detroit.
Fortunately for the settlers, one man, Colonel George Rogers Clark, of Kentucky, not only saw the advantage to the colonial government of the capture of Detroit, but was undismayed by the difficulties of a wilderness campaign. Again and again he besought the American leaders for an army. Though he was known to be an intrepid fighter, his personal habits were such as to discredit his requests at a time when the government was so hard pressed for men and stores; in addition to this he had numerous and powerful enemies. Not discouraged by repeated refusals of a command, the capture of Detroit became his life ambition. He believed that if he could but succeed in taking the posts in Indiana and Illinois the colonial government would then give him command of a force adequate for the more serious undertaking.
With such a plan in view, Clark set out in the fall of 1778 with something more than five hundred rangers and woodsmen, for the posts at Kaskaskia, Kahokia and Vincennes. Though his followers were poorly equipped and were unversed in the approved military tactics, they were Indian fighters, every man of them. Inured to hardship and want, they fought largely for the love of fighting; they needed no direction in the handling of their long, brown rifles; they lacked nothing of courage and dash; they knew how to move quickly and quietly.
The garrison at Kaskaskia was completly surprised. Every village in Illinois was in terror of the "Long Knives," as the Kentuckians were called. Both the settlers and the British soldiers had heard of and feared the vengeance of the southerners. Many of the inhabitants were French. They sent a deputation to Clark offering themselves as his slaves if he would but protect them from his men. The British were informed that they would come to no harm if the post was surrendered peacefully, and great rejoicing and expressions of allegiance to the American cause followed Clark's announcement to the French that they might remain in their homes in perfect security. The post was surren- dered, as was later Kahokia, without the firing of a shot. The French at Vincennes were informed by the Kaskaskians of the latter's treatment at the hands of Clark, and Vincennes was also surrendered without resistance. The Wyoming Valley massacre, under Bird, and the capture of Kaskaskia, under George Rogers Clark, took place on the same day,- July 3, 1778.
24
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
The advance northward had continuously tended to deplete the ranks of his little army, and now Clark found himself unable to hold the posts he had taken. Believing in the expressions of loyalty as voiced by the French, he decided to retire to Kaskaskia to await reinforcements. He left but two men in charge of the fort at Vincennes. The expected reinforcements consisted of one hundred men under command of Colonel Archibald Lochry, who attempted to advance from Pennsylvania. Unknown to Clark, Lochry's entire party were ambushed and killed near the Ohio by a large force of Indians under George Girty and Joseph Brant, of Detroit.
Day after day Clark awaited assistance which never came. Meanwhile refugees from Vincennes had reached Detroit with news of the American success, and Hamilton set about organizing an expedition for the recapture of the British posts. The French refusing to fight, Vincennes was easily retaken. The situation of the Americans became desperate. They were hundreds of miles from a base of supplies and could not successfully retreat before an enemy well equipped for pursuit. Hamilton's force, which consisted of a portion of a regiment of English regulars, a detachment of French militia and nearly two hundred Indians, had established itself within the retaken fort at Vincennes. There was nothing for Clark to do but attack. This he did. With unparalleled boldness he planned to surprise Hamilton in his fort. The melting of a heavy snow practically flooded the country and Hamilton had delayed proceeding against Clark until the waters subsided. This afforded Clark his opportunity.
Placing his supplies and a few men in canoes, he led the main body of his army of one hundred and fifty men toward Vincennes, by a circuitous route, keeping clear of the trails in order to avoid sentinels and outposts. For four days his men advanced, submerged to their shoulders in the icy water and carrying their knapsacks on their heads. Marshes and swamps were crossed and at times the hardships seemed almost unbearable, but they were Kentuckians and they had started for Vincennes to fight the British.
Arrived before Vincennes, Clark issued a proclamation warning British sympathizers to retire within the fort and offering enlistment in his own ranks to those who espoused the American cause. He kept his little army carefully secluded, that Hamilton might not become aware of its limited strength. Hamilton, always a coward, quite mistook the real situation and remained carefully behind the redoubts with his forces. The Kentuckians fought in true frontier style. The showing of a head above the stockade meant the crack of a rifle directed with deadly aim. Every available bit of cover near the fort concealed a merciless agent of destruction. Finally Clark resorted to a time-worn ruse. Hamilton's garrison awoke one morning to find two cannon trained on the gate of their fort. Their provisions were extremely low, and this new danger not only threw the commander into a state of abject terror but also completely demoralized his entire force. Clark was imme- diately asked for terms of surrender. He sent word that surrender must be unconditional and that the British must evacuate the territory and turn over all arms and supplies. Hamilton dared not strike his flag under such conditions and the siege was continued. He afterward learned, much to his chagrin, that the two "cannon" were nothing more formidable than logs painted black and mounted on gun carriages.
Philip Dejean, who had accompanied Hamilton on the expedition to Vincennes, had been, upon the arrival of Clark's forces before that place, ordered to return to Detroit for supplies and reinforcements. Word of this reached Clark. The Americans were also informed that Dejean's relief expedition had set out for Vincennes in canoes and bateaux, with some fifty thousand dollars' worth of stores. This was a prize worth taking. Clark
25
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
sent half his force to intercept Dejean on the Wabash. The British were successfully sur- prised and the stores, together with several soldiers and Indians, were captured. A few of the savages were scalped before the redoubt at Vincennes, for Hamilton's benefit, and a few whites were allowed to escape to the fort to tell its commander of the disaster. On the following day, March 5, 1779, Vincennes was surrendered on Clark's terms and Ham- ilton, Dejean and officers of the British regulars were dispatched under escort to Fort Pitt as prisoners of war.
For this magnificent service to the colonial cause Clark was voted a resolution of "thanks" by the legislature of Virginia; some time later he was grudgingly given the rather empty title of general. Though his ultimate object throughout the Vincennes cam- paign had been the storming of Detroit and the termination of the outrages perpetrated by the British and Indians, he now found his force inadequate for further advance into the enemy's country. Vainly he besought the colonial authorities for reinforcements. This man, who had mustered his own army and led them to victory; this "general" who had accomplished, without even the knowledge of Washington, more than any other soldier sent into the northwest up to that time, was completely ignored. Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and General George Washington indicates that the former at least appre- ciated Clark's abilities as a fighter. Jefferson repeatedly attempted to have Clark provided with a respectable command, but Brodhead, of the colonial forces, who had been given one opportunity and had failed, was still ambitious. Extreme jealousy between that officer and Clark ultimately defeated the Detroit expedition. In spite of promises of assistance, Clark was finally refused troops with which to follow up his achievement and was left to extri- cate his little command from its precarious position as best he might. The vantage point gained by the suffering and bravery of the Kentuckians and by the courage and dash of their commander was abandoned with the thanks of Virginia.
Clark returned to the Ohio river to renew his pleadings for an army. He led several successful attacks against the Indians in the Ohio country during 1783, but was obliged to see the ambition of his life-the command of a real military force-given to a less capable man than himself. Finally he was allowed to die in loneliness and neglect in Ken- tucky, heartbroken because his powerful enemies in the east remembered that he was high tempered and occasionally intemperate.
CHAPTER IV.
Strengthening of the Detroit Post Under DePeyster-Expedition Against the Moravian Villages in Ohio.
Shortly after the capture of Hamilton, Colonel DePeyster, formerly stationed at Macki- nac, was dispatched to Detroit. The British, realizing that the Detroit post would be sub- jected to constant danger of capture so long as Clark remained in the field, strengthened their forces at Detroit by sending west a considerable force from Niagara.
With the evident purpose of discouraging any further expeditions north, Captain Bird was sent from Detroit to carry the war into the enemy's country. In the spring of 1780 he set out for Kentucky with a force of some six hundred Indians and rangers. Arrived before Ruddle's Station, Captain Bird accepted the surrender of the settlers on the understanding that the latter were to be prisoners of the British and not of the Indians. He was unable to control the allies, however, and the usual Indian massacre took place. Following the attack and capture of two other small settlements, it became apparent to Captain Bird that his Indians intended to pay no heed to his commands. On this account he returned to Detroit, accomplishing only in part the objects of his mission.
During these years the Moravians had kept steadily at the task of Christianizing the Indians. David Zeisberger, chief of the missionaries, had accomplished such results with the Delawares that that tribe refused to ally itself with the British and remained neutral. These Indians devoted themselves to agricultural pursuits and established permanent settle- ments on the Muskingum. The British had long felt that in Zeisberger's zeal for the suc- cess of the American cause was to be found an explanation of the readiness with which colonial officers gained information of British affairs. Colonel DePeyster therefore directed Alexander McKee, Indian agent, to eliminate the Moravians from what was becoming an embarrassing situation. McKee attempted to incite both the Iroquois and Chip- pewas against the Moravian villages in southern Ohio, but neither would consent to take the warpath against the Delawares. Finally Colonel Mathew Elliott, of Detroit, proceeded to the Moravian villages and sent the missionaries, their women and children, to Detroit. Their unharvested crops were abandoned in the fields. After remaining at Detroit for sev- eral months the missionaries, with their converted Indian followers, were sent to Ohio, under command of a Wyandotte chief. Their supplies running short, a considerable body of converts were sent to the Muskingum settlements for the unharvested grain. While there, they were attacked by a body of Pennsylvania militia under Colonel Williamson and were mercilessly slaughtered. This unfortunate occurrence seems to have been due to a misunderstanding on the part of the Pennsylvanians. The latter mistook the innocent vic- tims for a party of hostile Delawares, against whom a campaign was in progress. The neutral Delawares refused to ally themselves with the American cause and later joined the British, the incident of the slaughter by the Pennsylvanians probably influencing them strongly in this decision.
The Pennsylvanians paid dearly for their mistake when Colonel Crawford's command was met, in the spring of 1782, by a party of Delawares under Simon Girty. The most
26
27
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
extreme cruelties the savages could invent were visited upon Crawford, who had become separated with several others from his fleeing command. Captain Pipe, chief of the Dela- wares and formerly a friend of the Americans, led in the tortures.
During the same year Simon Girty, Elliott and McKee were sent as lieutenants under Major William Caldwell to visit the settlements of the Delawares and Miamis in Ohio. Caldwell established camp at a point near the present site of Piqua and from there set out on a raid against Bryan's Station in Kentucky. Failing in this, he met a force under Colonel John Todd, of Kentucky. Todd's men were led into ambush and nearly eighty were either killed, scalped or taken prisoners. Girty felt that the Moravians were again giving information to the Americans. He sent eight missionaries, among whom was Ziesberger, to Detroit. Upon their arrival, DePeyster gave them the option of returning to their congregations in Pennsylvania or settling in Michigan near Detroit. Deciding on the latter course, land belonging to the Chippewas, near the present city of Mount Clemens, was allotted to them. The Moravians christened the new settlement New Gnadenhutten, and though they erected some forty houses, they were soon destined to be forced to move again. When the Revolution was terminated, during the next year, the Chippewas claimed the land and Zeisberger and his followers were allowed to return to the former Gnaden- hutten in Ohio. Some went to Canada. In general the missionaries and their followers were treated with kindness and courtesy by the Detroit authorities. Upon their final departure from the post they were paid between two hundred and three hundred dollars for their houses and cleared lands at Mount Clemens. They left Detroit on board two sail- ing vessels. A Moravian settlement was established six years later on the banks of the Thames river in Canada.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.