Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 6

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858

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CHAPTER V.

Problems in Northwest After Close of Revolution-Extravagant Demands of the English- Report of Ephraim Douglass-Washington Demands Surrender of Forts in Dis- puted Territory-Missions of Baron Steuben-Lieutenant Colonel Hull-English Refuse Demands and Regain Indian Prestige-Harmar's Disastrous Expedition- Commissioners Appointed to Effect Treaties with the Indians-Fruitless Results- General Anthony Wayne Advanced Into the West-President Washington's Mes- sage-Conflict at Fort Recovery-Wayne's Subsequent Movements-Battle of Fallen Timber-Wayne's Treaty with the Indians.

Of the events following the treaty terminating the Revolution, the question of the occu- pancy of the northwest was one of the most embarrassing. The embryonic colonial govern- ment claimed the territory between the Ohio river and the lakes, in accordance with the terms of the new agreement. The British refused to evacuate the disputed country under a double pretext. They claimed that their commissioners had not rightly understood the conditions of the agreement that gave the colonies this territory. Likewise they asserted that the colonies had forfeited any right they might have had in the matter through their failure to carry out certain terms of the treaty. These terms had to do with the payment of obliga- tions owed to English traders by American merchants. The already unpopular court party in England found itself in a position to yield gracefully to the demands of the combined English and Canadian financial interests in establishing a policy quite in accord with its own desires-a policy of delay. Smarting under its defeat at arms, and realizing the extent to which the Indian situation in the west would handicap the fledgling states, the crown apparently determined to bully the colonies into yielding.

Repeated demands for possession of the forts at Niagara, Mackinac and Detroit met first with evasions, then with persistent refusals. But congress determined to ignore the possibility of any such misunderstanding. It proceeded with the business of effecting treaties with the Indians very much as though no dispute existed. Obviously it was England's play to attempt to forestall this process. In this her relationship with the savages was a decided advantage.

Perhaps the best idea of the British attitude is gained from the report of Ephraim Douglass, who was sent by the secretary of war to counsel with the Indians. Of his expe- rience with British officers he reported in August, 1784:

Sir :-

In obedience to the instructions you honored me with on the 5th of May last, I have used every endeavor in my power to execute in the fullest manner your orders. * * * Captain Pipe, who is the principal man of the nation (Delawares), received me with every demonstration of joy, *

* * but told me as his nation was not the principal one, nor had voluntarily engaged in the war, it would be proper for me first to communicate my business to the Hurons and Shawnese, and afterwards to the Delawares. That he had announced my arrival to the Hurons and expected such of them as were at home would very shortly be over to see and welcome me. This soon happened as he had expected, but as none of their chiefs were present, I declined speaking publicly to them, knowing that I could receive no authentic answer, and unwilling to expend unnecessarily the wampum I

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had prepared for this occasion. I informed them for their satisfaction of the peace with England, and told them that the United States were disposed to be in friendship with Indians also,-desired them to send for their head men, particularly for the Half King, chief of the Wyandottes at Brownstown, who was gone to Detroit. * * * The Hurons, neverthe- less, failed sending to Detroit, partly through the want of authority in the old men present and partly through the assurance of the wife of the Half King, who was confident her hus- band would be home in two days, and therefore a journey which would require six or seven was altogether unnecessary. On the evening of the 18th a runner arrived from the Miami with the intelligence that Mr. Elliott had received dispatches from Detroit announcing the arrival of Sir John Johnson at that place; that in consequence the chiefs and warriors were * desired to repair thither in a few days, where the council would be held with them. * *

Pipe pressed me to accompany him to Detroit, assuring me that it would be useless to wait the coming of the Indians from the Miami, that they would spend their time in useless counciling there till the treaty of Detroit would come on, and that if I even could assemble them I could obtain nothing from the interview. That if the Half King was present he would not undertake to give me an answer without consulting the chiefs of the Huron tribe at Detroit, and that these would determine nothing without first asking the advice of their Father the Commandant. When I arrived at Detroit, where I was received with much politeness and treated with great civility by the commandant, to whom I delivered your letters, showed your instructions and pressed for an opportunity of communicating them to the Indians as soon as might be. He professed the strongest desire of bringing about a reconciliation between the United States and the several Indian nations; declared that he would willingly promote it all in his power; but that until he was authorized by his superiors in command, he could not consent that anything should be said to the Indians relative to the boundary of the United States; for though he knew from the king's procla- mation that the war with America was at an end, he had no official information to justify his supposing the states extended to this place, and therefore could not consent to the Indians being told so; especially as he had uniformly declared to them that he did not know these posts were to be evacuated by the English. He had no objection, he said, to com- municating the friendly offers of the United States, and would cheerfully make known to them the substance of your letter to him. In the morning of the 5th I received an inti- mation from Colonel DePeyster, through Captain McKee, that it was his wish that I would go on to Niagara as soon as I had recovered from the fatigue of my journey. In conse- quence of this I waited on him in the afternoon and pressed with greater warmth than yesterday the necessity of my speaking with the Indians and receiving an answer from them. I pressed him to suffer me to proceed on my business without his interference, and offered him my word that I would say nothing to them respecting the limits of the states, but con- fine myself to the offer of peace or choice of war, and the invitation to treaty. He would not retract his resolution without further orders from the commander in chief, and I was obliged to submit, however unwillingly; but must do him the justice to acknowledge that he made every offer of civility and service except that which he considered inconsistent with his duty. On the 6th I attended the council which Colonel DePeyster held with the Indians, to which he had yesterday invited me. After delivering his business of calling them together, he published to them your letter and pressed them to continue in the strictest amity with the subjects of the United States, representing to them the folly of continuing hostilities and assured them that he could by no means give them any further assistance against the people of America. *

* On the morning of the 7th I took my leave of Colonel DePeyster, after having received more civilities from him than the limits of this report will suffer me to enumerate ; *

* * I arrived at Niagara on the IIth, was introduced to General Mac- Lean, who was prepared for my coming, delivered him Colonel DePeyster's letter, and was received with every mark of attention, but he declined entering upon any business this day. On the evening of the 13th I received a note from the general requesting a copy of my instructions to send to the commander in chief to facilitate business. I sent him word that he should be obeyed, and early in the morning began to execute my promise, but before

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I had finished copying them I received a verbal message that he wished to see me at his * quarters. * * He informed me that he had sent for me to show me the copy of a letter he was writing to Colonel DePeyster. It contained instructions to that gentleman in consequence of my representations of the murders committed by the western Indians in course of the last spring and since; by his account they had been positively forbidden to be guilty of any such outrage. He pressed Colonel DePeyster very earnestly to examine minutely into this affair; to forbid the Indians in the most positive manner to be guilty of such future misconduct; to order them to deliver up immediately such prisoners as they had captured through the spring, into the hands of himself or his officers; and further to tell them that if they did not desist from these practices the British troops would join the Americans to punish them.

Though the attitude of the British officers at Detroit and Niagara prevented the com- plete success of Douglass' mission in the west, his visit resulted in greatly weakening English influence with the Indians. DePeyster felt a difference in the attitude of the allies almost immediately and wrote Governor Haldimand's office requesting that Sir John Johnson be sent to Detroit. Sir John had, as Indian agent, inspired the respect of the savages and was probably more influential in Indian councils than any other Englishman in the colonies.

Congress being left much in doubt as to England's real intentions, Washington sent Baron Steuben to make formal demand of Governor Haldimand for the surrender of the forts in the disputed territory. Douglass reported that Sir John Johnson had assembled the Indians at Sandusky in the fall of 1783, had given them many presents and had ad- dressed them declaring: "That the king, his and their common father, had made peace with the Americans, and had given them the country they possessed on this continent; but that the report of his having given them any part of the Indian lands was false, and fabricated by the Americans for the purpose of provoking the Indians against their father; that they should therefore shut their ears against it. So far the contrary was proved that the great river Ohio was to be the line between the Indians in this quarter and the Americans; over which the latter ought not to pass and return in safety. That, however, as the war be- tween Britain and America was now at an end, and as the Indians had engaged in it from their attachment to the crown, and not from any quarrel of their own, he would, as was usual at the end of a war, take the tomahawk out of their hand; though he would not remove it out of sight or far from them, but lay it down carefully by their side that they might have it convenient to use in defense of their rights and property, if they were in- vaded or molested by the Americans."

Baron Steuben's mission to Quebec was no more successful than was that of Doug- lass. Governor Haldimand replied to Washington's demands in a letter which he entrusted to the Baron, declaring that the treaty was but a temporary one. He further advised that no commands had been received by him relative to surrendering the lake posts to the co- lonial government. A year later (May, 1784) Secretary of War Knox induced congress to send Lieutenant Colonel William Hull, he who was later governor of Michigan Terri- tory, to Quebec on a similar errand. Again Haldimand refused to surrender the forts. In 1786 John Adams, minister to England, reported to congress that the British government had refused his formal demand for the territory, claiming violation by Americans of the treaty provisions relative to the payment of debts.

During these continued delays, the English made rapid headway in regaining their former prestige with the savages. The inability of congress to bring the dispute to a definite conclusion, together with the change in Indian sentiment, encouraged the Canadian merchants to urge that no concessions be made by the crown. Repeated memorials were

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addressed to the English government by these merchants, insisting that Americans had forfeited any rights that made the treaties of permanent effect. This no doubt had much to do with continuing the policy of delay and with the failure of the British officers to fulfill the promises made to Douglass relative to promoting peace between the Indians and the settlers. The Indians, always eager to fight, were quick to comprehend the situation and began again their raids on the weaker settlements. This finally drove congress to action.

General Harmar was placed in command of a punitive expedition against the savages, but before the departure of his force, the secretary of war notified the commandant at Detroit of Harmar's plans, stating that the latter were directed solely against the Indians. As might have been anticipated, the British were prompt to come to the aid of the savages. Harmar suffered a disastrous defeat on October 19, 1790, and again on the 20th, at the Miami villages in Ohio. Again American scalps dangled from poles carried through the streets of Detroit; again the returning warriors were greeted at the post as conquerors.

After the defeat of a second force under St. Clair, who was worsted in an engage- ment taking place in November, 1791, the Indians had practically free rein for a period of nearly two years. In 1793 three commissioners were named to meet the savages at San- dusky. Their purpose was to effect treaties with the warring tribes. The Indians re- ferred the proposals of the commissioners to British officials and upon the advice of the latter finally refused to consent to the establishment of any boundary other than the Ohio river, between the setlers and themselves. Though the attempts of the commissioners were fruitless, certain of the tribes again began to doubt the ability of England to hold out against the Americans. It was only by means of a generous disposition of gifts by the British officers that the savages were induced to continue their allegiance. To supplement the gifts and to further strengthen Indian faith in his government, Lieutenant Governor Simcoe of Canada decided to establish a new fort on the Miami river. This was done in spite of British protestations of neutrality so far as their attitude concerned the relationship between the federal government and the Indians. Subsequently this same fort was even garrisoned by a detachment of troops under command of Captain Caldwell, of Detroit, in flagrant contradiction to the former assurances made to Ephraim Douglass by Colonel De- Peyster and other British officers.

After such an act, congress no longer had ground for doubt as to England's exact position. Indian arrogance, always encouraged by the English, finally became so unbearable that congress' only hope of relief from continuous raids against the western settlers lay in administering swift and severe punishment.

Accordingly it was decided to advance General Anthony Wayne into the west with a sufficient force to cope with the Indians and even with the British, should need arise. The advisability of such a course had been previously made clear by a message from the presi- dent, George Washington, delivered to the senate on February 14, 1791. Washington said :

"Conceiving that in the possible event of a refusal of justice on the part of Great Britain, we should stand less committed should it be made to a private rather than a public person, I employed Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who was on the spot, and without giving him any definite character, to enter informally into the conferences before mentioned. For your more particular information I lay before you the instructions I gave him and those parts of his communications wherein the British ministers appear, either in conversation or by letter. These are two letters from the Duke of Leeds to Mr. Morris and three letters of Mr.

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Morris giving an account of two conferences with the Duke of Leeds and one with him and Mr. Pitt. The sum of these is that they declare without scruple they do not mean to fulfill what remains of the treaty of peace to be fulfilled on their part (by which we are to understand the delivery of the posts and payment of property carried off) till perform- ance on our part, and compensation where the delay has rendered the performance now im- practicable; that on the subject of a treaty of commerce they avoided direct answers, so as to satisfy Mr. Morris they did not mean to enter into one unless it could be extended to a treaty of alliance offensive and defensive, or unless in the event of a rupture with Spain."

In compliance with the orders of Secretary of War Knox, General Wayne, commander in chief of the American army, proceeded to Pittsburg in 1792, for the purpose of re- cruiting and drilling a force for his western expedition. During this year additional over- tures of peace were made to the Indians who refused to council for a treaty. The effect of this refusal on the secretary of war was such that he strongly opposed any advance of American forces into the northwest, but, regardless of this, Wayne led his army westward the next year, as far as the present site of Cincinnati. There he was joined by a considerable force of Kentuckians and with them he advanced in November to Greenville, in Ohio, where he spent the winter of 1793-4.

From the camp at Greenville, Wayne sent a detachment of men to the spot of St. Clair's defeat. The detachment arrived on Christmas day and began the work of burying the American dead who had fallen in the savage butchery of two years before. This done, the troops began the erection of a fort called Fort Recovery, in commemoration of the re- covery of that immediate territory from the Indians. Always exposed to the possibility of a savage surprise, this experience schooled the troops in being ever on the alert. Upon its completion the fort was garrisoned by one company of artillery and one of infantry, while the remainder of the force was returned to Greenville. At the latter place Fort Greenville, a formidable redoubt covering the larger portion of the town, was then built. Here Wayne remained until July, when he advanced to the Maumee rapids.

Though the fact that the English were giving the savages at least their moral support against the Americans, was by this time generally known, it was not thought that Ameri- ca's late antagonist would take up arms without formally declaring war. The British took part in an attack, however, against the Americans, in a sharp battle fought before Fort Recovery. Wayne was at this time with his troops at Greenville. Of this sortie Burnet's notes say: "On the 30th of June, a very severe and bloody battle was fought under the walls of Fort Recovery, between a detachment of American troops, consisting of ninety riflemen and fifty dragoons, commanded by Major McMahon, and a very numerous body of Indians and British who at the same instant rushed on the detachment and assailed the fort on every side with great fury. They were repulsed with heavy loss but again rallied and renewed the attack, keeping up a heavy and constant fire during the whole day, which was

returned with spirit and effect, by the garrison. * * * On the next morning, Mc- Mahon's detachment having entered the fort, the enemy renewed the attack, and continued it with great desperation during the day, but were ultimately compelled to retreat from the same field, on which they had been proudly victorious on the 4th of November, 1791 (St. Clair's defeat). * * From the official return of Major Mills, adjutant general of the army, it appears that twenty-two officers and non-commissioned officers were killed and thirty wounded. *

* * Immediately after the enemy had retreated it was ascertained that their loss had been very heavy, but the full extent of it was not known till it was dis- closed at the treaty of Greenville. References were made to that battle by several of the

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chiefs in council, from which it was manifest that they had not even then ceased to mourn the distressing losses sustained on that occasion. *

* From the facts afterward communicated to the general it was satisfactorily ascertained that there were a consider- able number of British soldiers and Detroit militia engaged with the savages on that oc- casion. A few days previous to that affair the general had sent out three small parties of Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians to take prisoners for the purpose of obtaining information. One of those parties returned to Greenville on the 28th and reported that they had fallen in with a large body of Indians at Girtystown and that there were a great many white men with them. The other two parties followed the trail of the hostile Indians and were in sight when the assault on the post commenced. They affirmed, one and all, that there were a large number of armed white men, with painted faces, whom they frequently heard con- versing in English and encouraging the Indians to persevere; and that there were also three British officers dressed in scarlet who appeared to be men of distinction from the general attention and respect which was paid to them. These persons kept at a distance in the rear of the assailants. Another strong corroborating proof that there were British soldiers and militia in the assault is that a number of ounce balls and buckshot were found lodged in the block houses and stockades of the fort."

Jonathan Alder, who was then living with the Indians, gives in his manuscript auto- biography an account of the attack on the fort. He states that Simon Girty was in the action and that one of the American officers was killed by Thomas McKee, a son of the British agent, Colonel Aleck McKee.

Wayne's advance from Greenville to the rapids of the Maumee immediately followed the juncture with his force of sixteen hundred Kentuckians under General Scott. Henry Howe, in his historical collections of Ohio, gives the following account of Wayne's subse- quent movements :

"By the 8th of August the army had arrived near the junction of the Auglaize with that stream (Maumee) and commenced the erection of Fort Defiance at that point. The Indians, having learned from a deserter of the approach of Wayne's army, hastily aban- doned their headquarters at Auglaize and thus defeated the plan of Wayne to surprise them, for which object he had cut two roads, intending to march by neither. At Fort Defiance, Wayne received full information of the Indians and the assistance they were to derive from the volunteers at Detroit and vicinity. On the 13th of August, true to the spirit of peace advised by Washington, he sent Christian Miller, who had been naturalized among the Shawanese, as a special messenger to offer terms of friendship. Impatient of delay, he moved forward on the 16th, met Miller on his return with the message that if the Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize (Fort Defiance) they-the Indians- would decide for peace or war. On the 18th the army arrived at Roche de Boeuf, just south of the site of Waterville, where they erected some light works as a place of deposit for their heavy baggage, which was named Fort Deposit."

The building of these new forts and the swiftness with which the American forces were moved through the wilderness were circumstances that well fulfilled Wayne's intention,- that of impressing the savages with a wholesome respect for American maneuvering. In addition to this the Indians had just suffered severely at Fort Recovery and had come to look upon "The Black-snake," as Wayne was called, with undisguised dread and fear. They had never seen any such fighting on the part of the British as that exhibited by the Amer- icans. Never before had they been compelled to face a well commanded, fairly equipped American army. Now they were enabled to compare their protectors with the Americans

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on a reasonably fair basis. The result of this process was speedy cooling of any yearning for additional fighting. Quick of comprehension, the allies soon lost confidence in the British. At this point the English officers had recourse to the old practice of bolstering up the savage courage by another presentation of gifts and by shaming the Indians into continued activity by accusations of cowardice.

After hurriedly completing earthworks at Fort Deposit, Wayne moved his army for- ward on August 20 for a decisive engagement with the Indians who were encamped on the Maumee near Presque Isle. The following account is taken from Wayne's report of the encounter :

"The legion was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee; one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left under Brigadier General Todd and the other in the rear under Brigadier General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war.

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 6

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932 Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 858

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858