History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 13

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772

USA > Michigan > Eaton County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 13
USA > Michigan > Ingham County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 13

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).

In October of the same year, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, a native of Scotland, who had come to America with Gen. Abercrombie in 1758, and a veteran officer of the Revo- lution, was appointed Governor of the new territory.t

This extensive territory, covering not less than 240,000 square miles, and containing at this writing nearly 12,000,- 000 people, was then substantially a wilderness, with a few scattered posts here and there, and contained, all told,-per- manent inhabitants, soldiers, traders, and trappers (exclusive of Indians),-probably not more than 10,000 people. Its Indian population was perhaps from 30,000 to 50,000. It had been formerly claimed by the original province of Vir- ginia, by virtue of English grants, but that commonwealth had ceded the entire region to the United States in 1784.

Several other States also claimed proprietary rights in lands lying to the westward of New York and Pennsyl-

¿ St. Clair was one of the leaders of the colony which settled Mari- etta, Ohio, in 1788. This was mostly composed of New England people under the lead of Gen. Rufus Putnam, Returo J. Meigs, and others. Gen. St. Clair had, previous to the Revolution, lived in Westmoreland Co., Pa.

HISTORY OF INGHAM AND EATON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

vania. Of these New York had ceded her elaims to the general government in 1781, Massachusetts in 1785, and Connecticut in 1786.

Troubles with the Indians had broken out in open hos- tility at various times, and in 1790 occurred the defeat of Gen. Harmer near the site of the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., followed in November, 1791, by the still more disastrous defeat of Gen. St. Clair on the head- streams of the Wabash, in what is now Mercer Co., Ohio.

Subsequently many attempts were made to negotiate a lasting peace with the savages, but the encouragement of the British authorities and traders around the lakes had prevented, and it became apparent that nothing short of a successful and decisive military campaign would bring about the desired result.

In 1792, Gen. Anthony Wayne was appointed to the command of the Western forces. He raised a large body of recruits, and went into camp at a point- about eighteen miles below Pittsburgh, on the Ohio River, which he named Legionville, from the fact that he organized his army there something upon the plan of the ancient Roman armies, calling it " The Legion."

This force was thoroughly disciplined and equipped, and when it took the field against the enemy it demon- strated in a very brief, active campaign its superiority over the undisciplined three months' militia, which had brought such disgrace upon the American arms under Harmer and St. Clair. On the 20th of August the army encountered a horde of about 2000 Indians under their ablest leaders, and reinforced by a considerable body of Canadian militia under British officers, strongly intrenched in a position of their own choosing at a place called the " Fallen Timbers," near the rapids of the Maumee, and after a brief but des- perate conflict, completely routed them with severe loss, pursuing them to the very walls of the British Fort Miami, and destroying all the corn-fields and growing erops for miles around.

This battle brought all the savages in the Northwest to terms, and in December following the various nations sent deputies to Col. Hamtramck, commanding at Fort Wayne, to ask for peace.

The British agents, McKee, Elliott, and Girty, used every argument to prevent a treaty, but the Indians were satisfied with fighting, and in June, 1795, the principal chiefs of the Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawattomies, Miamis, Wyandots, Shawanoes, Ojibwas, Kickapoos, and the In- dians of the Wabash Valley, met Gen. Wayne in council at Greenville, Ohio, and concluded a treaty with the United States, which remained unbroken until the machinations of the Shawanoe Prophet and his brother, Tecumseh, brought about a collision with the army under Gen. Harrison at Tippecanoe, in November, 1811, a period of more than six- teen years. By this treaty the Indians ceded a large terri- tory. It was ratified by the United States Senate, Dec. 22, 1795 .*

SURRENDER OF DETROIT.

On the 12th of July, 1796, under the provisions of the Jay treaty, Capt. Moses Porter, at the head of a company

of sixty-five American troops, took possession of Detroit, and for the first time unfurled the starry emblem of the Republie from its ramparts. In September of the same year Winthrop Sargent, secretary of the Northwest Terri- tory, proceeded to Detroit and organized the county of Wayne, named in honor of Gen. Wayne, which included within its limits all of the lower peninsula and portions of what are now the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, with Detroit as the capital. The new county was entitled to three members of the Territorial Legisla- . ture, which held its sessions at Chillicothe. This was the first civil organization within what is now the State of Michigan. Detroit, according to Weld, then contained about 300 houses, and probably 1500 resident inhabitants.

Secretary Sargent was succeeded in office, in 1798, by William Henry Harrison, who had been on the staff of Gen. Wayne in the campaign of 1794, and was popular with the Western people. He held the position until Oct. 3, 1799, when he was elected by the Territorial Legislature a delegate to Congress.

INDIANA TERRITORY.

On the 7th day of May, 1800, Congress passed an aet dividing the Northwest Territory on a line a part of which now constitutes the boundary between Ohio and Indiana, and extending thence north until it interseeted the national boundary between Canada and the United States. This line, as may be seen by examining a good map of the State, divided the lower peninsula very nearly in the centre, erossing the Strait of Mackinac and intersecting the na- tional boundary in White Fish Bay of Lake Superior. It divided what is now the county of Eaton nearly in the eentre, leaving about eight Congressional townships in the old Northwest Territory and the county of Wayne, which latter, as then organized, was also bisceted by it, and the remainder, a little more than eight townships, as a part of Indiana Territory. Ingham County was wholly in the Northwest Territory.

The capital or seat of justice for the Territory was fixed at St. Vincennes, now Vincennes, Ind., and William Henry Harrison was appointed Governor.

Ohio was admitted into the Federal Union as a sov- ereign State Nov. 29, 1802, and from that date the whole of Michigan became a part of Indiana Territory, and so re- mained until it was erected into a separate Territory.

TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN.

The act erecting the Territory of Michigan was passed by Congress on the 11th of January, 1805, and took effect from and after June 30th of the same year. The Governor and judges were appointed by the President of the United States, and endowed with legislative power. The Territorial officers were nominated by the President on the 26th of February, 1805. Gen. William Hull, an officer of the Revolution, was nominated for Governor, and Hon. A. B. Woodward for presiding judge. The nominations were confirmed by the Senate, and Judge Woodward arrived at Detroit on tho 29th of June, and Governor Hull on the first day of July.

On the 11th of June, preceding their arrival, the town

* Sce Chapter VIII., Indian Treaties.

TERRITORIAL.

of Detroit had been totally destroyed by fire, with the ex- ception of two buildings. An idea of the little French vil- lage may be obtained by reading the following extract from a report made to Congress by the Governor and judges in October following touching the calamity :

" The place which bore the appellation of the town of Detroit was a spot of about two acres of ground, com- pletely covered with buildings and combustible materials, the narrow intervals of fourteen or fifteen feet, used as streets or lanes, excepted; and the whole was environed with a very strong and secure defense of tall and solid pickets." *

In answer to a petition of the distressed inhabitants, Congress passed an act granting them the old site and 10,000 additional acres lying immediately around it, in- cluding the old French " Commons." The town was sub- sequently laid out upon a greatly enlarged and improved plan.

The Territorial government of Michigan went into active operation on the 2d of July, 1805. It included then only the lower peninsula, the remaining portions being attached to Indiana and Illinois Territories, respectively, until the latter was erected into a State, in 1818, when the region now constituting the State of Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan was attached to Michigan Terri- tory; and in 1834 the territory now constituting the States of Iowa and Minnesota was annexed for temporary purposes.

WAR OF 1812-15.

The difficulties with the various tribes of Indians inhab- iting the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, which cul- minated in the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, did not seri- ously disturb the people of Michigan. Between the date of the battle of Tippecanoe and the breaking out of the war between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, Tecumseh did not commit any overt acts of hostility, but contented himself with scolding Governor Harrison and fermenting the various tribes of the West.

On the 19th of June, 1812, war was declared by the United States against Great Britain. At this time the whole Northwest was in an almost defenseless condition, while the British had a formidable fleet under way on Lake Erie, and possessed a very respectable force of regulars and volunteer militia.

Governor Hull, of Michigan, was appointed commander- in-chief of the forces destined to operate in the Northwest, whose numbers were fixed by Gen. Armstrong, Secretary of War, at 2000 men, that number being deemed sufficient for the conquest of Upper Canada.

On the 1st of June, preceding the declaration of war, Gen. Hull had taken command of the army in person at Dayton, Ohio, from which place he commenced his march towards the Maumee, with his ultimate destination Detroit, constructing roads, bridges, and block-houses by the way. He was not apprised of the declaration of war until the 2d of July. From the Maumee Rapids he had previously sent forward his own and most of the baggage of the offi-

cers, in a small sloop, under command of Lieut. Goodwin, who had on board about thirty men and several ladies. The vessel was captured at Malden by the British.

The force under Gen. IIull consisted of four regiments, commanded by Cols. McArthur, Findlay, Cass, and Miller. The army arrived at Detroit on the 7th of July, and on the 12th crossed the river and occupied Sandwich. The gen- eral issued a proclamation to the Canadians, but he made no offensive or forward movement, though Col. Cass and the other subordinate officers strongly urged him to move at once upon Malden, which was then comparatively unde- fended. He remained inactive for nearly a month, when, learniog that the British commanders were gathering a strong force to attack him, he, on the 7th of August, with- drew across the river to Detroit.

Col. Proctor, commanding the advance of the English forces, arrived at Malden on the 29th of July, and without delay begun operations for the purpose of cutting Ilull's line of communications with Ohio, in order to isolate his army. The English commander-in-chief, Gen. Brock, a most able and active officer, arrived on the 13th of August, and made preparations not only for the defense of Canada, but also for the conquest of Detroit, and the capture or de- struction of Hull's army.t

In the mean time, Gen. Henry Dearborn, in order to prevent a concentration of forces against Hull, had been or- dered to make a diversion at Niagara ; but instead of obey- ing his orders, he did the very thing which enabled the enemy to put all their forces in motion towards Detroit: he concluded an armistice with the British commander for thirty days.

Proctor threw a strong force across the river and inter- cepted Hull's supply trains and kept him busy until the arrival of Brock, who immediately erected batteries oppo- site Detroit without being in the least molested by the American army, whose commander would not fire a gun. Brock had correctly estimated the character of Hull, and boldly pushing across the river demanded the surrender of Detroit, at the same time opening a heavy fire from his batteries at Sandwich.

The following paragraphs are from a paper read by Gen. John E. Hunt, of Toledo, Ohio, recently deceased, before the Maumee Valley Pioneer Association at Perrysburg. The general was a brother-in-law of Gen. Cass, and was present at the surrender of Detroit. Ile was the son of Col. Thomas Hunt, who for a long time commanded the First Regiment United States Infantry. He was born at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1798, and was consequently at the time of the surrender a boy of fourteen years. In speaking of the armistice, he says: " This gave time for the ' Queen Cbar- lotte' (a British ship of war afterwards captured by Perry) to sail from Malden to the lower end of Lake Erie and re- turn with himself (Brock ) and force, which captured De- troit. Soon after Hull crossed back (from Canada), Brock moved the 'Queen Charlotte' up the river and anchored her off Sandwich, covering with her guns the crossing to Detroit. While the ship was stationed there, Capt. Snell-

# Annals of the West. The fort at the time of the conflagration was outside the town, and escaped destruction.

+ Gen. Brock was killed at the battle of Queenstown, near the Falls of Niagara, in the following year.

HISTORY OF INGHAM AND EATON COUNTIES, MICIIIGAN.

ing asked Gen. Hull, in my presence, liberty to take two twelve-pounder guns down to Spring Wells and sink her or start her from her position. Hull said ' No, sir ; you can't do it.' "

Gen. Hunt continues :

" Brock had built a battery on the Canada side opposite Fort Shelby." As soon as it was finished, when the sun was ahout an hour high, he opened fire on us. During the night shells were thrown at ntervals. At the dawn of the next day a heavy fire of bombs and solid shot was opened. I was taking a drink of water at the door of one of the officer's quarters, in company with a hoy of my age, who afterwards became Muj. Washington Whistler, United States Army, and died in Russia of cholera many years after.

" At the next door to us, and about twelve feet from us, four of our officers were standing together. They were Capt. Hanks, Lieut. Sih- ley, Dr. Blood, and Dr. Reynolds, of Columbus. A thirty-two pound shot came from the enemy's battery, killing IIanks, Sibley, and Rey- nolds, and wounding Dr. Blood. They were knocked into a heap in a little narrow entry-way,-a narrow, confined space. Their mangled remains were a terrible sight. Capt. Hanks was lying on top, his eyes rolling in his head. Directly came along Gen. IIull, who looked in upon them and turned very pale, the tobacco juice running from the coruers of his mouth on to the frills of his shirt. In a short time after the white flag was hoisted. That hall seemed to unman him.

" After these men were killed I left the fort to recoonoitre. On the street in front of Maj. Whipple's house, a quarter of a mile in front of Fort Shelby, I found two thirty-two pound guns in position. Capt. Bryson, of the artillery, had placed them there to rake the British column of 1500 men, who had made a landing and were approach- ing the eity hy way of Judge May's long lane.

"They had lauded at Spring Wells and were marching up the lane to reach a ravine which crossed it, and through which they could file and be protected from any battery we had.

"They were marching in elose column, in full-dress uniform of scarlet, in perfeet order, at a steady, regular pace, without music. As they came on, followed by their Indian allies, and some twenty whites dressed as Indians, my boyish fancy was struck with their appear- ance, as I expected every moment to sce them torn to pieces by those thirty-two pounders, double charged with canister and grape.

" My brother Thomas stood ready nt the guos. In his hand a lighted match was held up in the air. He was in the very aet of firing when Col. Wallace, the aid of Gen. Hull, came up and said, 'Don't fire; the white flag is up.' At that instant Capt. IIull, who had been across the river with a flag of truce, fell in with us on his return. Col. Wallace said to him, ' It's all up; your father has surrendered.' Capt. Ilull exelaimed, ' My God, is it possible ?'

" Capt. IIull afterwards showed great bravery on the Niagara fron- lier, where he was killed.

" During the British occupation of Detroit the following incident occurred between the British officers and myself, at the house of Mr. Me Intosh, in Sandwich.

" MleIntosh was the agent of the Northwest Fur Company in Canada and my brother had married a sister of bis. I had been in the habit of going over to spend Sunday and go to church in Sandwich.

"The church was the only Protestant church in that part of the land at that time. There were also some nico young ladies there, the daughters of Mr. MeIntosh. On the Sunday after the surrender I went over with my brother. To my surprise I found Gen. Brock, with his staff officers, dining with McIntosh.

"The host ealled an all the officers present for toasts, beginning with Gen. Brock. Towards tea-time the old gentleman called on me, putting his hand on my shoulder, and saying in his broad Scotch, " Coom, me lad, gie us a toast.' I had become much attached to Capt llull, soa of the general. On the trip to Detroit he had shown mo much attention on account of my family connections. So I shoved my chair back, stood up, and gave them 'Capt. Ilull.' Whereupon Brock rlapped his hand on the table, saying, " By Gicorge, that's & good one.' ' Well, gentlemen, we will drink to a brave man if he is an enemy.' Ile had heard the day before of Capt. Itull, in the frigato 'Constitution,' taking the British frignte 'Guerrière.' The joko was,

I meant Capt. Ifull, of the army. They drank the toast to Capt, Hull of the navy. I did not disabuse their minds, because I thought the taking of the ' Guerrière' a pretty good offset to our surrender of Detroit. "McIntosh elapped me on the shoulder and said, ' That's right, my boy ; always stick to your country.'"

IIull surrendered on the 16th of August, granting Brock his own terms, which included the whole Territory of Mich- igan and 1400 good troops. Brock's force was composed of 300 English regulars, 400 Canadian militia, and a few hundred Indians under Tecumseh.

For this cowardly transaction Gen. IIull was tried by court-martial, found guilty of cowardice and neglect of duty, and sentenced to be shot. In consequence of his advanced age and his services in the war of the Revolution he was pardoncd by the President, but his name was ordered to be stricken from the rolls of the army.

On the 17th of July, preceding the surrender of Detroit, the garrison of Mackinac, consisting of fifty-seven men, under command of Lieut. Hanks, who had not heard of the declaration of war, was surprised and captured by a mixed force of British, Canadians, and Indians amounting to upwards of 1000 men.

Fort Dearborn, at Chicago, erected in 1804, garrisoned by about eighty men under Capt. Robert Heald, was aban- doned on the 15th of August by the foolhardy commander, and the entire garrison killed or captured on the same day by the Pottawattomie Indians. The total number massacred was fifty-five.

It was the design of the government to organize three ex- peditions against the enemy : one under Gen. Winchester, a Revolutionary soldier then living in Tennessee and but little known, to operate towards Fort Wayne; a second under Gen. Harrison, on the Wabash River; and a third under Governor Edwards, of Illinois, to operate against the Indians on the Illinois River.

But the people anticipated these movements and clam- ored loudly for Gen. Harrison, who had been extremely popular since the battle of Tippecanoe in November pre- vions, to command the army. He was accordingly ap- pointed to command the Kentucky troops, at the head of which he relieved Fort Wayne and made a reconnois- sance of the Maumee Valley in September, returning to Fort Wayne on the 20th of the month. On the 17th of the same month he was appointed to the chief command of the Western Army, and received notice of his appoint- ment on the 24th, after his return to Fort Wayne.

On his arrival at Fort Wayne he found there Gen. Win- chester with a considerable force of Ohio and Kentucky troops, and supposing Winchester had been appointed to the chief command he decided to retire, and started on his return to Indiana Territory, of which he was then Governor, but was brought back by a messenger, who informed him of his appointment.

In the mean time Gen. Winchester had moved down the Maumee as far as Fort Defiance, at the mouth of the Auglaize River. His force amounted to about 2000 men. IIc remained at this point for some time, during which his numbers were materially diminished by the expiration of the terms of service of many of the men. At the begin- ning of 1813 he had not above 800 men left.

" The fort was then probably called Fort Lernoult, though it is possible that the name had been changed.

TERRITORIAL.

About the last of September, Gen. Harrison established his headquarters at Franklinton, on the Scioto River. Hav- ing secured the line of the Maumee he proposed the re- covery of Michigan, and designed moving against the enemy in three columns, converging at the Rapids of the Maumee, but the winter set in before sufficient supplies had been procured and arrangements completed, and active operations were deferred until the country should be frozen up and the roads become solid.

Late in November a strong detachment of 600 men was dispatched, under Lieut .- Col. John B. Campbell of the Nine- teenth United States Regiment, against tlie Miami Indians living along the Mississinnewa River, a tributary of the Wabash, in Indiana. The movement was entirely success- ful; many Indian towns were destroyed, a large number of warriors slain, and their villages broken up. But the command suffered severely from the inclemency of the weather, no less than 180 men being badly frost-bitten. The loss on the field was twelve men killed and thirty wounded.

Gen. Winchester reached the Maumee Rapids on the 10th of January, 1813, and on the 17th, at the urgent request of the inhabitants of Frenchtown,* on the river Raisin, he dispatched 550 men, under Col. Lewis, to that point, sending forward immediately after 110 more under Col. Allen. On the 18th the enemy were routed and driven from the village.

Winchester joined the advance with the remainder of his force on the 19th. But instead of intrenching his position and securing himself from surprise he took no efficient measures, and the consequence was that on the night of the 21st a strong British force, under the in- famous Col. Proctor, approached on the ice from Malden, and erected a battery within 300 yards of the American camps, which opened upon then at daylight on the 22d.

The whole force under Proctor, which included a very large number of Indians, soon moved to the attack, and though a portion of the Americans made a most gallant defense, the whole command finally surrendered, upon the express stipulation that they should be protected from the Indians. But this pledge Col. Proctor most shamefully violated by marching most of his regular troops to Canada, and leaving the prisoners at the mercy of the Indians, who fell upon them and committed a most dreadful massacre.

For these and similar brutalities the name of Proctor has been held accursed by the American people. Less than forty out of 800 men escaped from the enemy's hands. Nearly 300 were killed in the engagement and the massacre which followed. It is due the memory of Tecumseh to state that he was not present on this occasion.

In the mean time, as soon as he heard of Winchester's advance, Gen. Harrison put as many troops in motion for bis support as he could muster, but they were met by the fugitives flying from the rout, and his force not being deemed sufficient to encounter the enemy single-handed, Harrison fell back to the Rapids, where he soon after con- structed the famous Fort Meigs.t

At this place, on the 28th of April, 1813, Harrison was attacked by a strong British and Indian force, consisting of about 2200 men, including nearly 1000 Indians under Tecumseh. Proctor erected gun- and mortar-batteries on the high bluff where Maumee City now stands, opposite Fort Meigs, and on the south side of the river in the sub- urbs of what is now Perrysburg.

From these he opened a heavy fire, without, however, producing any serious effect upon Harrison's position, which was really more of an intrenched camp than otherwise.

This campaign was remarkable for serious losses and dis- asters upon both sides. Col. Dudley, at the head of a re- inforcement of 800 Kentuckians, captured the British bat- teries on the northern bank of the river, together with quite a number of prisoners, and spiked the guns; but instead of obeying Harrison's orders and falling back under cover of the fort, Dudley pursued the broken troops and Indians into the woods, where he fell into an ambuscade laid by Tecumseh, and lost nearly his whole command, and was himself killed on the field.

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History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 13

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co. Number of Pages: 772

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772