USA > Michigan > History of Michigan, civil and topographical, in a compendious form; with a view of the surrounding lakes > Part 20
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The Niagara having before driven the Royal Charlotte out of line with grape and langrade, continued her course, and
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WAR OF 1812.
attacked the enemy's flag-ship with tremendous discharges of grape shot. The whole crew of the British ship was driven below. About this time Capt. Elliot came up, and took a raking position under the Detroit's stern, and by the first dis- charge killed and wounded sixty on board the enemy's flag- ship, which terminated the action. It appears that the flag of the Royal Charlotte had been nailed to the mast, and, as the crew was driven below from the severity of the fire, it was a matter of surprise, that the British flag should be flying while no resistance was made ; and, amid the confusion of battle, the Charlotte, which was abreast of the Detroit when she was grappled by the American fleet, and actually shot through the bulwarks .* At length a white garment was shaken from the end of a pike, both at the bough and stern, which indicated the surrender of the British fleet to the Americans. The number killed and wounded on board the American fleet was one hundred and twenty-three-twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded.t
The success of the American fleet on Lake Erie opened the way for the progress of General Harrison, who, on the 23d of September, advanced towards Malden. On his ar- rival at Amherstburgh, instead of finding the British arms ready to oppose him, he met the Canadians, with their wives and daughters, bearing in their hands the emblems of peace, who had there assembled to solicit his protection. General Proctor had evacuated Malden, after having burned the fort and public store-houses, and retired to the Moravian Towns on the Thames about eighty miles from Detroit. The Ame- rican force then took possession of Detroit. On the next day General Harrison marched in pursuit of Proctor; and the Battle of the Thames, in which Proctor was defeated together with an army of two thousand men, many of whom were Indians, concluded the brilliant campaign of General Harri- son upon the north-westeru frontier.
* For an account of this battle, the author is indebted to Capt. H. B. Brevoort, who is mentioned in terms of high commendation in the official despatches of Commodore Perry.
t Brannan's Official Letters.
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
But the most important battle of this section of the country affecting the prosperity of Michigan, was that of the Moravian Towns upon the Thames. Col. Proctor had been advised by the chief of the Indian forces, Tecumseh, to hazard an encounter at Malden, but neglecting this advice, he had pro- ceeded to the post which has been mentioned. His force at this time consisted of eight or nine hundred British troops, and fifteen hundred Indians, commanded by Tecumseh in person. The American army was composed of twenty-seven hundred, of whom one hundred and twenty were regulars, thirty were Indians, and the remainder were militia infantry and mounted volunteers, armed with rifles and muskets. Some of these, however, were constituted of the chivalry of Kentucky, men in the vigor of youth, who were burning with revenge at the dastardly massacre, which had been per- petrated by the agency of Proctor, of their brothers and friends at the River Raisin. The Indians were posted in a swamp. Extending in a line of unknown distance, they formed the right wing ; while the British troops, drawn up between the swamp and a river which was not fordable, formed the left. It was evident that the British wing was the weakest part of the position, and accordingly it was determined by Gen. Har- rison to attack the British with his right reinforced with all the disposable force of his left. The lines of the right wing were therefore increased to two or three, and presented a front as extensive as the British infantry, while a refused wing was thrown back in a line at right angles with the other troops, presenting a front parallel to the swamp. The regular troops formed a detachment to seize the enemy's artillery, and the few friendly Indians were ordered to attack his flank from their position under the bank.
While these arrangements were in operation, they were in front of the British troops, and, as they could not cross the river, they were directed to penetrate the swamp, and turn the right of the Indians. The American infantry were on the point of being set in motion, when Major Wood, who had been sent to reconnoitre the position of the enemy, returned, and informed the American General that
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HARRISON'S VICTORY ON THE THIAMES.
the British were in two lines, and being unable to occupy the whole space between the swamp and the river in close order, they had accomplished it by opening their files. At this instant a sudden thought flashed upon Gen. Har- rison,-" Instead of sending Johnson to the swanip, he shall charge upon the British lines. Although without sabres, and armed only with rifles and muskets, he will break through them." This was no sooner said than donc. A desperate charge was made, the enemy were routed and put to flight ; and Tecumseh, the leader of the savages, was killed, it is supposed, by the present Vice-President of the United States, Col. Richard M. Johnson. The army remained during the 6th upon the battle-field, to take care of the wounded, to bury the dead, and to provide for the transportation of stores which had been taken from the enemy. Having left the command of the army with Governor Shelby, Gen. Harrison set out on the morning of the 7th, accompanied by Commodore Perry and his aids-de-camp, and arrived at Detroit on the succeed- ing day .*
It was in anticipation to despatch a body of troops to re- duce Mackinaw. Certain vessels and troops were designated for that purpose, but it was prevented by the non-arrival of two schooners, the Chippeway and Ohio, which had been sent to Cleaveland and Bass Islands for provisions. They had arrived off Malden, but a storm from the westward drove them to the lower end of the lake, where they stranded. The supplies which they contained were found necessary for the expedition, and Commodore Perry was unwilling to hazard the vessels upon the Upper Lakes, unless they could depart immediately. This movement of Gen. Harrison thus effec- tually uprooted the British power from this part of the north- west, and General Cass was left with a brigade to protect the territory of Michigan.
Tecumseh, the Shawanese warrior, in connexion with his brother, was the grand instigator of the anglo-savage confe- deration. The most powerful chief since the age of Pon-
* See Dawson's Life of Harrison, p. 438.
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
tiac, he was distinguished alike for his bravery on the field and his eloquence in council. An alien from the tribes, he soon became their leader against the United States. With all the boldness, he had also all the nobleness of a lion. The spirit which burst forth like a meteor upon the shores of the Wa- bash was only quenched in death. At that period, like Han- nibal, he had sworn eternal war against the United States before the altar of the Great Spirit, and he died as he had lived, with the hatred of the white man on his lips. In the following October a treaty of peace was concluded by the General Government with the Indian tribes, constituted of the Ottawas, Chippewas, Miamis, and Pottawatamies ; in .which they agreed to " take hold of the same tomahawk with the Americans, and strike at the enemies of the United States, whether they be British or Indians." In the memo- rable defeat of Gen. Proctor at the Moravian Towns, six brass field-pieces were taken by the army of Gen. Harrison, which had been surrendered by Hull at Detroit, and on two of these were engraved the following words-SURRENDERED BY BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA. Gen. Harrison having effect- ed the object of his campaign, left Gen. Cass in command at Detroit, and moved down toward the Niagara frontier.
The only part of the territory then remaining in the hands of the British was the Island of Michillimackinac. This island is about three miles in diamer, and was then covered with a dense mass of forest, occasionally broken by a patch of cleared land. It was intersected by crooked trails and bridal paths. On the one side was the fort adjoining the vil- lage, and on the other this heavy mass of wilderness. Lieu- tenant Col. Croghan, a young man, who had with signal va- lor defended Sandusky during the early part of the war, had command of the land forces ; and Commodore Sinclair, of the fleet which was to transport the force sent out on an expedi- tion to capture that post. In 'the month of July, 1814, they started upon that enterprise, and without accident reached the island. The fleet, however, having reconnoitred the coast without attempting an attack, set sail in a few days for the Island of St. Joseph. At that point they destroyed several
-
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WAR OF 1812.
minor posts, and also a British fur establishment. This be- ing accomplished, they returned to the Island of Mackinaw. The British commandant had occupied the intermediate time in strengthening his works and calling in aid from the adja- cent country ; and he succeeded in collected as his associates a considerable body of savages from the surrounding tribes. It was proposed by Col. Croghan to attack the post near the village. That point was the least encumbered with the un- dergrowth, which furnishes a cover for the savage mode of warfare, and the banks were accessible. That proposition was objected to by Sinclair, on the ground that his fleet would then be subject to the fire of the fort. It was finally determined to land on the north-eastern side of the island, and the fleet was placed in the right position for that object. The landing was effected without difficulty, but the troops of Col. Croghan were obliged to traverse nearly the whole breadth of the island in order to reach the fort. The Americans were permitted to advance nearly to the centre, when they arrived at one of the clearings. They were im- mediately attacked by the Indians who were posted in the surrounding thickets. A firing commenced of an irregular character from the opening, which, however, did great execu- tion. Major Holmes, an accomplished and gallant officer, was ordered to charge upon the savages in the thicket, and while in the act of performing this order with great energy, he fell by a rifle ball from the Indians. The Americans re- treated upon the main body, and were obliged to return to their boats. Thus failed the enterprise, and the British held Michillimackinac until the peace.
The war of 1812, subsequent to the victory of Commodore Perry, raged more at the East beyond the bounds of Michi- gall, and by consequence it had but little intimate con- nexion with its social condition. In 1814, it languished only to be renewed with double vigor. The policy of the British cabinet was, doubtless, twofold in its operation ; first, to pro- tect the provinces of Canada, and so much of the adjoining territory as was necessary to its defence ; and secondly, to invade the sea-coast, and induce the northern States to join 28
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
their cause. For that object, fourteen thousand men, who had fought under the Duke of Wellington, were embarked , from Bordeaux for Canada, and a powerful naval force was despatched for the purpose of attacking the Atlantic frontier, to ravage the coasts and to maintain rigid blockades. The war, however, which had cost both governments so great an amount of blood and treasure, was soon brought to a peace- ful termination. On the 17th of February, 1815, a special commissioner arrived with a treaty of peace, which had been concluded at Ghent. That treaty, which was legally con- firmed, established that the boundaries between the territories of the United States and Great Britain should be revised, and that all the places which had been taken by the English dur- ing the war should be restored. Although America had failed, as the armed neutrality had before done, to compel Great Britain to renounce the arrogant claims which she had made during the commencement of the war, the causes of the war had ceased to operate. American seamen were no longer impressed, and the orders in council were repealed. Thus was peace declared. The reflections which naturally spring from that last war between the United States and a civilized power, is the immense magnitude of the sacrifices which have secured the independence of the country.
CHAPTER XII.
Col. Cass appointed Governor of Michigan-Condition of Michigan at that time- Public lands brought into market-Population in 1820-Exploring Expedition of the Lakes-Modifications of the Territorial Government-The New-York and Erie Canal-Mr. Porter appointed Governor-Controversy with Ohio- Mr. Mason elected Governor-State of Michigan erected.
IN October, 1813, Col. Lewis Cass, who had served with approbation during the war, and also as military commandant, was appointed Governor of the territory of Michigan. Dur- ing that disastrous period the country had sunk under the devastations of the British, aided by their numerous hordes of Indian allies on the Lakes, who had been encouraged to depredate upon the property of its citizens. Morals were cor- rupted, laws were disorganized ; and the families who had fled from the country, found, when they returned, their do- mestic establishments a scene of ruins. The territory was, in fact, left at one time in such a defenceless state subsequent to Hull's capitulation, that only one company of regulars, comprising twenty-one men and the local militia, were obliged to protect the country against the hostile Indians who hovered around Detroit. Little inducement had been held out for emigration from the east, because the lands were not surveyed and brought into market ; roads had not been con- structed through the interior ; access to the territory by land was only afforded through the Black Swamp and along the . Detroit River ; a military work, constructed by the general Government, almost impassable, and strewed with broken gun carriages, and the skeletons of oxen which had been em- ployed in dragging the munitions of war and army stores in Harrison's campaign. French Town and Detroit, the two drincipal settlements on the peninsula, had been nearly de- molished. The operations of Governor Cass were, therefore, first directed to the rebuilding the interests of the State, or-
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
ganizing a system of local policy, and forming amicable re- lations with the Indian tribes.
Since the erection of the territory in 1805, when Detroit was established as the seat of Government, the frame of its legislation was that prescribed by the ordinance of 1787 ; but in 1819, on the 16th of February, an act of Congress provid- ed for the election of a delegate to the Congress of the United States, and extended the right of suffrage to the citizens of the territory. This right of suffrage was limited to every free white male inhabitant over twenty-one years, who had resided within its bounds one year preceding its election, and who had paid a county or territorial tax. As early as 1807 Governor Hull had made a treaty at Detroit with the Ottawa, Pottawattamie, Chippewa, and Wyandot tribes ; and it ceded a wide belt of land on the eastern frontier, extending from the mouth of the Au Glaize to Lake Huron; and in 1819 a treaty was also made at Saginaw, which ceded a considerable portion of land, extending from a point nearly west from Detroit, in a line now known as the principal meridian, thence west sixty miles, thence to the head of Thunder Bay River, and along the bank of that river to Lake Huron. The interior of the country was as yet unsettled, because no motives were furnished for emigration, inasmuch as no solid title could be acquired to the land. One fact may be mentioned as evi- dence of the ignorance which at that time prevailed in regard to the actual quality of the land. By an act of Congress. passed on the 6th of May, 1812, two millions of acres were ordered to be surveyed in Michigan for the soldiers dur- ing the war of 1812; and commissioners were sent into this country for that object ; but in consequence of their represen- tations, which went to show that the land was low, sterile, and filled with swamps, the act was repealed, and the survey was directed to be made of the same quantity in Arkansas and Illinois. The population of the State continued to be chiefly French, together with Americans, who where engaged in the little commerce which was then carried on in the country ; while the energy of the people was directed in a great measure to the fur trade.
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MICHIGAN AFTER THE WAR.
In 1S18 a portion of the public lands of Michigan, which had been surveyed during the two preceding years, was brought into market ; and this produced a new epoch in its progress. Ineiting emigration and settlement by the price affixed, and the easy terms of payment, which was then based on the credit system, it soon brought into the country a large increase to the population. In 1820 this population had grown to 8,896. The fact of the representations of the sur- veyors who had been appointed to survey the bounty lands in this territory for the soldiers in the war of 1812, was doubt- less a fortunate circumstance for the country, as it would have subtracted that immense domain from the purchases of actual residents, who, by their individual exertion, would have developed the resources of the soil. But few public works had been constructed in western New-York, and a great portion of that country was as yet a wilderness. The sparse inhabitants who then resided in the country, were principally confined to the lake shores, with the exception of the few French habitans who had planted themselves on the banks of the more important streams. No vigorous system of pub- lic improvement was effected, because the population was small and scattered ; and the position of the territory then on the edge of civilization was cut off from the means and mo- tives of commerce.
Detroit, French Town, Mackinaw, and the Sault de St. Marie, in 1820, were the principal settlements in the present organized limits of Michigan. At that period Detroit con- sisted of about two hundred and fifty buildings, and contained a population of fourteen hundred and fifteen inhabitants, ex- clusive of the garrison ; and was then a point of considerable activity and business. The Island of Mackinaw, which was at that time a central mart of the fur trade, had a po- pulation of four hundred and fifty, which was augmented to two thousand at certain intervals by the accession of voya- geurs, Indians, and traders, on their return from their hunting and trading expeditions in the forests upon the Upper Lakes. These were accommodated, for the most part, in one hundred and fifty houses, which comprised the village. Fort Michili-
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
mackinac stood on a eminence above the town, and Fort Holmes was located on the highest point of the island. This was afterwards called Fort George. Sault de St. Marie con- tained a village of fifteen or twenty buildings, which were then occupied by five or six French and English families, and was then, as in previous times, a prominent point of the the Indian trade. It would seem that the principal ground of mercantile enterprise at that period was the fact, that a large amount of public money was here distributed in main- taining the garrisons connected with the public defence, which were then established at Detroit, Fort Gratiot, and Mackinaw.
The Walk-in-the. Water was the only steamboat which plied on the lakes, and this was deemed sufficient to transact the commercial business of the territory. This boat was named after the Wyandot chief, and in the summer of 1819 she made her first visit to the Island of Mackinaw.
During the year 1820 an important expedition was effect- ed in the exploration of the country, whose actual resources were then but little known. On the preceding year Gover- nor Cass had projected an enterprise for the purpose of ob- taining a more precise knowledge of the resources of the territory around the north-western lakes; its design was to examine the soil, the number, condition, character, and insti- tutions of the Indian tribes ; to investigate the mineralogical resources of the country, especially the copper mines along Lake Superior, and to collect the materials for a map ; to se- lect the site for a garrison at the foot of Lake Superior, and also to perfect treaties with the Indian tribes. For that ob- ject a memorial was forwarded to the Secretary of War, Mr. Calhoun, which was favorably received, and the expedition was encouraged. For this purpose an escort of soldiers was also provided ; the commandants of the garrisons along the lakes were ordered to facilitate its progress ; and a mineral- ogist, topographical engineer, and a physician, were appointed to carry out the work. The section of the republic along the north-western waters was then but little known, except by the gorgeous descriptions of the Indian traders and Jesuits,
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MICHIGAN AFTER THE WAR.
who mixed up their accounts with superstitious traditions, and the glowing spirit of poetry which belonged to their educa- tion and their church. On the 24th of May, 1820, the expe- dition under Governor Cass started in bark canoes, manned by Canadian voyageurs and Indians, and adventured into the inland seas of the north-west.
The objects of the expedition were fulfilled. They coursed along a track which, although as yet a wilderness, where the forests in an almost unbroken expanse met the waters of the lakes, had, nevertheless, been made classic ground by the in- stitutions and wars of savages, and the migrations of the carly traders, soldiers, and missionaries of the French government. The disaffection of the Indians on the Upper Lakes toward the United States continued to exist in a great degree, and their attachment to the English was fully shown in the expe- dition of Governor Cass. By the treaty of Greenville, made in 1795, the United States were entitled to all land in the north-west territory which had been granted by the Indians to the French and English governments ; and on that ground the American Government elaimed the concession which had formerly been made to the French at the Sault de St. Marie, through which it had been occupied as a military post. A council was accordingly held by the expedition, for the purpose of settling the bounds of this grant. The object of the council was distinctly stated by the interpre- ter. The savages were opposed to the proposition which was made by Governor Cass, and endeavored to evade it by deny- ing their knowledge of the original grant ; and when the fact was pressed upon their conviction, they exhibited great dissa- tisfaction, and gave a qualified refusal. Some of the chiefs were in favor of establishing the boundary, provided it should not be occupied as a garrison ; alleging, at the same time, that their young men might prove unruly, and kill the cattle which should stray from the post. This was intended and under- stood as a threat. Governor Cass, in an answer remarked, that as to the establishment of a garrison at the Sault, he would spare them all trouble; for, so sure as the rising sun should set in the west. there would be an American garrison
:
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established at that place, whatever might be their decision. This council was composed of chiefs dressed in costly broad- cloths, epaulets, medals, silver ornaments, and feathers of British manufacture ; by which it was understood that English agency was influencing their deliberations. It was then em- ployed several hours in animated discussion ; and the last chief who spoke, a brigadier in the British service, drew his war lance and stuck it furiously in the ground ; and when he left the marqué, where it had been held, he kicked away the pre- sents which had been placed before him, and the council was soon dispersed in that spirit. In a few moments the British flag was erected in the midst of the Indian encampment. Governor Cass immediately ordered the expedition under arms, and proceeded, with an interpreter, to the lodge of the chief who had raised it, and took down the insulting flag ; telling the Indian-the same who had manifested such rage in the council-that it was an indignity which they were not permitted to offer to the American soil ; that we were their guardians and friends, but that the flag was the emblem of national power ; that two standards could not float over the same land ; that they were forbidden to raise any but our own ; and if they should presume again to attempt it, "the United States would set a strong foot upon their necks, and crush them to the earth." The intrepidity of the Governor produced a powerful effect.
In ten minutes after the return of Governor Cass to the American encampment, the Indian lodges were cleared of every woman and child, and the river was covered with In- dian canoes. The expedition of the Americans was com- prised of about sixty-six men, thirty of whom were United States soldiers; and the savages could muster seventy or eighty well-armed warriors. The Indians occupied an eminence upon the site of the old French fort, while the American en- campment was stationed upon the banks of the river. The two parties were separated only by a small ravine, and by a distance of only five or six hundred yards. Some time hav- ing elapsed, in which the Indians exhibited no marks of hos- tile intention, the soldiers were dismissed to their tents. An -
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