USA > Michigan > History of Michigan, civil and topographical, in a compendious form; with a view of the surrounding lakes > Part 11
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The savages soon stationed themselves behind the buildings which were scattered outside of the pickets, and from these buildings, as well as the pickets, they commenced a constant firing upon the British ; which, however, did but little da- mage. So weak did the commandant consider his own posi- tion, that he had nearly determined to evacuate the fort, em- bark in the armed schooner on the river, and retire to Niagara, as he feared a direct assault ; but he was assured by the French inhabitants, that such a course would not be underta- ken by the Indians, and he gave up the project.# Measures
* Mrs. Turnbell, to whom Major Gladwyn had granted a plantation.
t In another account it is stated that James Fisher and his wife, and also four soldiers who were with him, were murdered, and that his children and servant- maid were taken prisoners .- Thatcher.
# Cass's Discourse.
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SIEGE OF DETROIT.
were immediately taken to burn the buildings which could furnish covert to the Indians, by hot shot and occasional sor- ties made from the fort. Shells were discharged, and the In- dians practised running toward these shells, and blowing out the matches before they had exploded, with exulting yells. The wilderness poured forth its ferocious bands of savages like vultures around the dead. Pontiac, although he was the chief actor in this siege, was aided by several Chippewa and Ottawa warriors, who maintained a subordinate part. Among these were Mahigam the Wolf; Wabanamy the White Stur- geon ; Kittacoinsi, he that climbs ; Agouchiois, a friend to the French, all of the Ottawa tribe; and also Gayashque, Wasson Macataywasson, and Pashquior, Chippewa chiefs .* When the buildings around the fort had been demolished, the Indians approached a low ridge which overlooked the pickets, and from this they kept up a fire upon the garrison.
During the Pontiac war Detroit was stored with a large quantity of valuable goods, alleged to amount to the value of five hundred thousand pounds ; and in addition to that, its demolition would unite the chain of operation among the In- dians, which was broken by the establishment of the English at that post. Its actual position during the siege may be in- ferred from the following letter, dated Detroit, July 6th, 1763 : " We have been besieged here two months, by six hundred Indians. We have been upon the watch night and day, from the commanding officer to the lowest soldier, from the 8th of May ; and have not had our cloaks off, nor slept all night since it began, and shall continue so till we have a reinforcement up. We then hope to give a good account of the savages. Their camp lies about a mile and a half from the fort ; and that is the nearest they choose to come now. For the first two or three days we were attacked by three or four hundred of them, but we gave them so warm a reception, that they don't care for coming to see us ; though they now and then get behind a house or garden, and fire at us about three or four hundred yards distance. The day before yesterday we
* Manuscript documents from John R. Williams. .
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
killed a chief and three others, and wounded some more. Yesterday went up with our sloop, and battered their cabins in such a manner that they are glad to keep farther off."
The letter here affixed, is dated the 9th :-
" You have long ago heard of our pleasant situation, but the storm is blown over, Was it not very agreeable to hear every day of their cutting, carving, boiling and eating our companions ? To see every day dead bodies floating down the river, mangled and disfigured. But Britons, you know, never shrink. We always appeared gay, to spite the rascals. They boiled and eat Sir Robert Devers ; and we are informed by Mr. Pauli, who escaped the other day from one of the sta. tions surprised at the breaking out of the war, and command- ed by himself, that he had seen an Indian have the skin of Captain Robertson's arm for a tobacco-ponch.
" Three days ago, a party of us went to demolish a breast- work they had made. We finished our work, and were re- turning home ; but the fort espying a party of Indians coming up as if they intended to fight, we were ordered back, made our dispositions and advanced briskly. Our front was fired upon warmly, and returned the fire for about five minutes. In the meantime Captain Hopkins, with about twenty men, filed off to the left, and about twenty French volunteers filed off to the right, and got between them and their fires. The villains immediately fled, and we returned, as was prudent ; for a sentry, whom I had placed, informed me he saw a body of them coming down from the woods ; and our party being but about eighty, was not able to cope with their united bands. In short, we beat them handsomely, and yet did not much hurt to them, for they ran extremely well. We only killed their leader and wounded three others. One of them fired at mne at the distance of fifteen or twenty paces, but I suppose my terrible visage made him tremble. I think I shot him."*
* In order to show the power of Pontiac over the tribes, it is stated in the D .. troit Diary, a somewhat garbled account of the Pontiac war, " that a Mr. Ruther- ford fell into the hands of the savages, and that a Frenchman was employed by one of the garrison to redeem him. Eighty pounds' worth of goods were given for that object. He had scarcely been released, when Pontiac sent a band of fifty
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SIEGE OF DETROIT.
The position of Pontiac had long been prominent as the principal chief of the Indian tribes upon the borders of the lakes. He had before fought with great success ; and as early as 1746 he commanded a body of Indians, mainly Ottawas, in the defence of Detroit against the combined northern tribes under Mackinac the Turtle .* The Ottawas had, in fact, ever since the year 1705, been strong allies of the French ; and their friendship was of great assistance in facilitating the colonial establishments on the lakes. The French, in return, were warm in their attachment to the lake tribes, and it is well known that a part of them instigated the action of Poll- tiac. This was only attributable, however, to individuals ; the body of the French people preserved their faitlı, and a num- ber of the French also volunteered for the English against the Pontiac confederacy at the siege of Detroit. The basis of their attachment is exhibited in the subjoined extraet of an Indian speech made in 1646 :- " When the French arrived at these falls," said a Chippewa chief, " they came and kissed us. They called us children, and we found them fathers. We lived like brethren in the same lodge, and we always had where- withal to clothe us. They never mocked our ceremonies, and they never molested the places of our dead. Seven gene- rations of men have passed away, but we have not forgotten it. Just, very just, were they towards us."*
All the means which the savage mind could suggest, were employed by Pontiac to demolish the settlement of Detroit, and a desultory war was carried on. Blazing arrows were shot into the chapel by his warriors, for the purpose of burn- ing it ; and this would have been effected, had not a French Jesuit convinced Pontiac that its conflagration would call down the judgments of the Great Spirit. During the siege, the savages endeavored to make a breach in the piekets, and, aided by Gladwyn, who, as a stratagem, had ordered his men to cut also on the inside, this was soon accomplished, and the
Indians, to carry him back by force. " No nation," said he, " should have liber- ty to sell their prisoners till the war was over."
* Were not these " Northern tribes" the Iroquois ?
t Consult Schoolcraft's Discourse.
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
breach was soon filled with Indians. At this instant a brass four-pounder was discharged upon the advancing savages, which made a destructive havoc. After that period the fort was merely invested ; supplies were cut off, and the English were reduced to great distress from the diminution of their rations.
Major Rogers had given the command of the fort of De- troit to Major Campbell, and he had held it since the surren- der of the country, although he had been once superseded. This officer was well known to the Indians, and was esteemed for his kindness both by the French and savages. It was made a point of policy by Pontiac to get this officer into his possession, as a pledge for the surrender of the fort ; and for that object he requested some of the principal French inhabit- ants to seek an interview with Major Campbell, and inform him that Pontiac wished him to come to his camp, in order that that they might terminate the war and smoke the pipe of peace. Godfroy and Chapoton, two estimable French citi- zens, advised this interview, on the solemn promise by Pontiac that he should return to the fort in safety. In order to bring the war to a peaceful termination if possible, he consented ; and, accompanied by Lieut. McDougall, he repaired to the In- dian quarters, and was, at first, well received. The crafty chief, however, did not comply with his promise, and the English officers were at length detained at the house of M. Melvehi, near Bloody Bridge. Campbell was offered his life for the surrender of the fort; but the unprincipled conduct which Pontiac had before manifested, weakened all confi- dence in his word. The prisoners were permitted to walk out from time to time, but little chance seemed offered for es- · cape, as they were surrounded by Indians. Lieut. McDou- gall proposed to attempt it, but as his sight was somewhat affected, he declined the proposition. McDougall, however, afterwards made his escape, and reached the fort of Detroit without injury. The fate of Major Campbell was of unfortu- nate termination. An Ottawa chief of note had been killed at Michilimackinac, and his nephew, who was in that siege, had hastened for revenge to Bloody Bridge. Here he found Ma-
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jor Campbell, and immediately despatched him with his toma- hawk ; and the savage then fled to Saginaw, to escape the ven- geance of Pontiac, who was justly indignant at this act.
While the siege was in progress, and on the 21st of May, the smaller vessel, which had been anchored in the river, was despatched to Niagara to hasten the arrival of a reinforcement with arms and provisions, which had been expected. Twen- ty batteaux, which had been sent from that place with a detachment of troops and army stores, arrived at Pont Pelee, apprehending no danger, and there they encamped. The de- tachment consisted of Green's Rangers, amounting to ninety- seven men, with Lieut. Cuyler. The Indians who were station- ed at that place, had watched their movements, and had mark- ed their place of encampment, and about the dawn of day they were attacked and massacred. All the men in this expedition wereeither taken or killed, excepting one officer, who rushed to a boat with thirty men, and crossed Lake Erie to Sandusky Bay. These barges were guarded by the Indians, who com- pelled the British prisoners to navigate the boats, while they were escorted toward Detroit by the Indians on the Canadian bank of the river. When they arrived near the fort, four British soldiers in the first batteau determined to effect their liberation or die in the attempt ; and by suddenly changing the course of the boat, they made their intentions known to the crew of the armed schooner near the shore by loud cries .* The Indian guards on board this boat leaped overboard ; and one of them dragged a soldier with him into the water, where they were both drowned. The fugitives in their escape, were fired upon by the Indians in the other boats, and also by those on the bank ; but no injury was done, excepting the wounding of one soldier, as the Indians were soon dispersed by the fire from the armed schooner on the Detroit side. The other sol- diers escaped to the shore in the boat, which soon reached the vessel. In order to prevent their escape, the remaining prisoners were immediately landed and marched up to Hog Island, where they were massacred and scalped. On the 30th
* Cass.
112.
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
instant, the sentinel had first announced that the fleet of boats was coming round the point of the Huron Church, and the En- glish had assembled on the ramparts to witness the arrival of their friends ; but they were only greeted by the deatlı-song of the savages, which announced their death. The light of hope flickered on their countenance only to be clouded with the thick darkness of despair. It was these barges ; but they were in possession of the savages, and filled with the scalps and prisoners of the English detachment.
During the siege, the body of the French people maintained a neutral relation toward the Indians and the English, although a few Canadians had aided their cause, who were held in contempt by their countrymen. They had taken the oath of allegiance, and were prisoners of war under capitulation. This neutrality was necessary to be preserved unless they chose to place themselves in the attitude of revolution, The fact that they did not take side with the Indians, roused a feeling of disaffection in the minds of the savages ; and their doors were broken open, their provisions plundered, and their cattle killed by the forces of Pontiac. Some remuneration was, however, subsequently made by the Ottawa in levying upon the French for his supplies. He appointed a commis- sary, and issued bills of credit made of bark, with an otter, the totem of his tribe, drawn upon them, and delivered these to the French people. These bills, when payable, were faith- fully redeemed.
But the Indians soon discovered that their power was insuf- ficient for the reduction of the fort of Detroit ; and they were anxious to form a league with the French for that object. Pontiac therefore called a council of his warriors and the prin- cipal French inhabitants near Detroit, on the 23d of May, 1763, and addressed to them the following speech :-
" My Brothers," these were his words, " I have no doubt but this war is very troublesome to you ; and that my warriors, who are continually passing and repassing through your set- tlements, frequently kill your cattle and injure your property. I am sorry for it ; and hope you do not think I am pleased with this conduct of my young men. And as a proof of my
113
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PONTIAC'S SPEECH TO THE FRENCH.
friendship, recollect the war you had seventeen years ago (1746), and the part I took in it. The northern nations com- bined together, and came to destroy you. Who defended you ? Was it not myself and my young men ? The great chief Mackinac (the Turtle) said in council, that he would carry to his native village the head of your chief warrior, and that he would eat his heart and drink his blood. Did I not then join you, and go to his camp and say to him, if he wished to kill the French, he must pass over my body and the bodies of my young men ? Did I not take hold of the tomahawk with you, aid you in fighting your battles with Mackinac, and driv- ing him home to his country ? Why do you think I would turn my arms against you ? Am I not the same French Pon- tiac who assisted you seventeen years ago? I am a French- man, and I wish to die a Frenchman.
" My brothers," said Pontiac, throwing a war belt into the midst of the council, " I begin to grow tired of this bad meat which is upon our lands. I begin to see that this is not your case ; for, instead of assisting us in our war with the English, you are actually assisting them. I have already told you, and I now tell you again, that when I undertook this war, it was only your interest I sought, and that I knew what I was about. I yet know what I am about. This year they must all perish. The Master of Life so orders it. His will is known to us; and we must do as he says. And you, my breth- ren, who know him better than we do, wish to oppose his will ! Until now, I have avoided urging you upon this sub- ject, in the hope that if you could not aid, you would not in- jure us. I did not wish to ask you to fight with us against the English, and I did not believe you would take part with them. You will say you are not with them. I know it ; but your conduct amounts to the same thing. You will tell them all we do and say. You carry our counsels and plans to them. Now, take your choice. You must be entirely French like ourselves, or entirely English. If you are French, take this belt for yourselves and your young men, and join HIS. If you are English, we declare war against you."
His solicitations, however did not prevail ; and the French
15
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
continued steadfast in their neutrality. Many were, how- ever, in the confidence of the Indians, and a French citizen, M. Beaufait, had been shown the shortened rifle, and informed of the plot on the morning in which it was to be executed, by one of the warriors, the last in the party of Pontiac, and a particular friend whom he had met with the band during that morning upon Bloody Bridge. But the news arrived on the 3d of June of the treaty of peace of 1763, by which the coun- try was ceded to England, and thus furnished a double bond to maintain their neutrality. When, therefore, Pontiac solieit- ed them to join his cause against the English, one of the prin- cipal citizens was authorized to speak in the name of that people. Exhibiting the articles of peace between the French and the British governments, he replied, "My brother, you see that our arms are tied by our great father, the king ; untie this knot, and we will join you. Till that is done, we shall sit quietly upon our mats."
About this time the vessel which had been despatched to Niagara, arrived at the mouth of the Detroit River, with sixty troops, and supplied with provisions and arms. The Indians had made every attempt to capture this vessel, which had been impeded from sailing up the river by the course of the wind. For the purpose of boarding her as she ascended, the forces of Pontiac left the siege of Detroit, and repaired to Fighting Island, which is just below the city. At the month of the river the Indians had annoyed her in their canoes, but she soon left under a brisk wind, and reached the point of that island, where it failed, andshe was there obliged to anchor. For the purpose of concealing the strength of the vessel, the Captain had concealed his men in the hold ; and as soon as evening came on, the Indians proceeded in silence to board the vessel from their canoes, while the men on board were secretly ordered up to take their stations at the guns. The Indians approached near the side, when the signal for a dis- charge was given by a blow upon the mast with a. hammer. The power of the discharge killed and wounded many, the rest escaped in their canoes ; and on the next morning the ves- sel dropped down the river, and remained six days waiting
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SIEGE OF DETROIT.
for a fair wind. On the 30th she arrived without accident at Detroit .*
It now became an important object with Pontiac to destroy the vessels which were anchored before the town of Detroit ; because they tended to protect the shore, and also furnished means of communication by water to the other English posts on the lakes. For that purpose the barns of many of the in- habitants were torn down, and the materials made into a raft, filled with pitch and other combustibles, which should burn with great rapidity and intenseness. The whole mass was then towed up the river, and fire was added under the suppo- sition that the stream would carry it down in contact, and set fire to the vessels. The attempt was made, but without suc- cess. The English, aware of this attempt, had anchored boats above the vessels connected by chains so as to ward off this blazing mass. The plan was successful, and the burning rafts floated down the river without doing any damage.
On the 29th of July, a fleet of gun boats sailed up the De- troit River, each containing four swivels, two mortars ; and the whole a detachment of three hundred regular troops, under the command of Captain Dalyell, an aid-de-camp of Sir Jef- frey Amherst, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in Canada. When this fleet appeared in sight, a gun was fired from the fort, and it was answered from the boats. They soon arrived in safety. Supposing that Pontiac might be surprised in his camp, a plan was concerted on that evening to march against him for that object. Accordingly, on the morning of the 31st of July, about two o'clock, Capt. Dalyell, with a force of about 247 men, marched up two deep along the Detroit River, toward Pontiac's camp: while two gun-boats in the river were pushed against the stream to cover the retreat and take off the wounded and dead. Information of this contem- plated attack had been in some mode communicated to the In- dians, and they removed their women and children, and pre- pared for the reception of the British troops. A party of war-
* The current account, connected with the order of the captain to blow up this vessel when she was attacked and the Indians were ascending her deck, does not appear to be well authenticated.
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN,
riors was stationed behind the pickets upon a neighboring farm,* and another at Bloody Bridge, which is about a mile and a half from Detroit on the main road. Here they were concealed in the high grass behind pickets and heaps of cord wood.t The British party had reached the bridge, when a sudden and destructive fire was poured upon them from the cord wood and the grass. This threw them into the utmost confusion. The attack in the darkness from an invisible force was critical. At the first fire Capt. Dalyell fell. The British fought with desperation, but were attacked on all sides, and a vigorous charge was made by the bayonet upon the positions of the Indians ; but a scattering fire was kept up by the savages from every place that could furnish them a cover. At length, finding that their situation was perilous, the British were ordered to retire, which was effected without serious loss in this manœuvre, under the direction of Captain Grant, aided by that energetic and patriotic officer, Major Ro- gers.# This retreat was covered on the shore of the Detroit River by the armed gun-boats ; and the whole party arrived at the fort about 8 o'clock. It was only effected, however, by driving the Indians from house to house and field to field, until a line of defence could be made toward the fort. In this action, according to the official returns, there were 19 killed and 42 wounded. The place of its occurrence is called Bloody Bridge.
* That of Mr. Dequindre,
t Consult Cass, Drake, and Thatcl.er.
1 Major Rogers deserves a passing notiee. One of those iron men of early times, which called forth the strongest powers of the mind and the firmest endur- ance of the body. He was cqually successful in wielding the sword and the pen. After he had cut his way through the forests against the Indians and the French, he published a journal of his travels. He was a contemporary and rival of Gen. Putnam ; and he is obnoxious to no charge but that of having turned Tory, and leaving this country for England. Cæsar and Napoleon have made conquests,
" And fame, which all hunt after 'n their lives, Lives registered upon their brazen tombs ;"
while the reputation of those men who have borne the brunt of battle in a subor- dinate character, is overshadowed. The name of Rogers should live as long as the records of the English government in this country.
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MICHILIMACKINAC.
"Her lake a sheet of silver, and her plain, Rent by no ravage save the gentle plough ; Her aged trees rise thick, as once the slain Lay where their roots are ; but a brook hath ta'en, A little rill, of scanty stream and bed,
A name of blood from that day's sanguine rain,"
While these events were passing at Detroit, occurrences of no less interest and more destructive in their consequences, were transpiring at Michilimackinac, in the northern part of the peninsula of Michigan. They were set in motion by Pontiac, the same master-mind which had plotted the over- throw of the other posts on the lakes. At that time the fort of Michilimackinac enclosed an area of two acres. It was surrounded by pickets of cedar, was situated near the water, and when the wind was at the west the waves broke against the foot of the stockade. On the bastions there were two small pieces of brass cannon, taken some years before by a party of Canadians, in an expedition against the trading posts of Hudson's Bay. The stockade contained about thirty houses of commodious form ; and also a chapel, in which mass was regularly said by a Jesuit missionary. The inha- bitants at that time derived their principal support from the In- dian traders, who congregated at that point in their voyages to and from Montreal. Here the furs were collected for trans- portation from the upper lakes, and the outfits were prepared for Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, the Mississippi, and the re- mote north-west. It contained, in 1763, about thirty families. The garrison at that time was composed of ninety privates, two subalterns, and the commandant ; and there were then only four English merchants at the fort. Alexander Henry, an English trader, who was invested with the right of traffic- ing with the natives, owing to the prejudices which at that time existed against the English, was obliged to disguise him- self as a Canadian on his passage to Michilimackinac. After he arrived at that place, he was visited by a body of Chippe- was, sixty in number, each with his blanket thrown over his shoulder, his tomahawk in one hand and his scalping-knife in the other ; with feathers thrust through their noses, their faces painted with grease and charcoal; and their bodies, which
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