History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 35

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882

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Permit me, General, to lay before you a plan of attack for the opening of the campaign, and be assured at the same time that the reason why I do it does not originate in a supercilious pride, but that I consider it an imperious duty on my part, thereby to show myself worthy the command wherewith I have been entrusted, and add the experience which during twelve years' active service I may have acquired in the art of war and military combinations to the talents with which you have surrounded yourself; and further, that if the service of the detached regiment is a difficult and bloody one, I will regard it as a particular favor to have my regiment ordered to execute it. The plan is the following :

Twenty-four hours before you open hostili- ties with the main army from Detroit or its neighborhood, a regiment will be detached and sent around by water to Waterloo. There it lands and proceeds immediately to Fort Eric, which is stormed and carried ; a small garrison and the wounded are left there. The regiment will proceed the same night, without repose, toward Queenston (twenty-four miles), where

it arrives the following day; attacks, storms, and carries the fortifications and the town. Leaves a garrison and proceeds to Fort George ; storms and carries it ; leaves a garrison, wheels to the left and occupies Port Dalhousie; organ- izes that town for defense by throwing up two strong redoubts, and abides there the move- ments of your main army, which will have proceeded in the following manner :

Twenty-four hours after the departure of the detachment, the army is put in motion, storms and carries Fort Malden ; leaves a garrison and proceeds in ordinary marches on the London road leading toward Toronto. Arrived at An- caster, an express is dispatched to the com- mander of the detachment at Dalhousie (who will send scouts and reconnoitering parties so far), informing him of the very hour you in- tend to make the attack on Toronto. The commander of the detachment will in the meantime have arranged means for crossing the lake, and shall at the fixed hour land his forces at Toronto, thereby operating on the flank of the enemy, and force him to divide bis troops. I have no doubt the place will thus be carried. The benefits resulting from this plan are the following : Fort Erie, situated opposite and near Buffalo, enables the patriots there to send their supplies of arms, etc., to a fortified place, and voluntaires can there be taken up, drilled and forwarded; the same it is with other fortified places. In the meantime, the enemy at Toronto dares not venture to advance against the main army, because he would be taken in the rear by the detachment. Conse- quently, you can advance undisturbed with your whole force, incorporating all the Patriot forces on your way onward. Your troops will be enlivened and confident of success by the information of the victories of the detachment, thus raising a moral impulse among the sol- diers. . The Patriots will more readily hasten round your standard, knowing that you have places where, in a movement, they can be in security and near the frontiers ; finally, in case of any reverse, the army can rally round the fortresses, which thus constitute a sure basis of operation and contain excellent depots. Free communications cast and west with the United States are also opened.

It is with great anxiety I await your answer, which I beg you to send on to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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I have the honor to be, General, very respect- fully, your obedient servant,

SHOLTEWSKY VON SCHOULTZ, Colonel.

During the following winter, von Schoultz and his command made the famous attack on Prescott, Upper Canada, in which he at first succeeded so far as to entrench himself at Wind- mill Point, but was overcome, captured, and excented by hanging. Many other prisoners were taken by the British authorities, some of whom were discharged, and others banished to the penal colonies of Great Britain. Most of the latter died there, while a very few were permitted, after long years of confinement, to return.

Volunteer organizations for political pur- poses had been formed in many of the districts of Canada, having secret affiliated societies on this side of the line. These took the name of " Hunters' Lodges," and were scattered along the frontier from Michigan to Vermont. They were more or less influential, according to the characters of the men in publie or private life who belonged to them. It was the duty of the Federal Government to preserve the neutral relations of the country with Great Britain, and it was more especially the duty of the Federal officers on the frontier to see that this business of the Government was performed in good faith. And while it was true that the judges of the Federal courts and marshals and deputy marshals of the United States engaged ostensibly in the work of keeping the publie peace, yet it was well known that many of the persons who held these influential and public stations were members of the "Hunters' Lodge," and that some of them, not excepting judges, were eloquent and vehement orators in the lodges, and were among the most active of those who sought a revolution in Canada and the establishment of a free and independent government there.

The " Eagle Tavern " now stands on Wood- bridge street, Detroit. Many will remember it as it was kept more than forty years ago by Mr. Heath, a warm-hearted and generous man, an enthusiastic and liberal " Patriot," who literally flung open the doors of his spacious hotel and freely spread his well-loaded table to his " Hunters," wishing only what they were able and willing to pay, and who thus spent a handsome fortune and reduced himself to pov-

erty. His house was the headquarters for the " Hunters" in Detroit, and its halls rang nightly with inflammatory harangues and with addresses, some of which would have done credit to the palmniest days of the era of seventy- six. This was the summer of 1838, and in the fall and winter of 1838-39, a period which will not soon be forgotten by those who were there at the time. It was a time when rumor with her thousand tongues kept the whole people in a state of suspense and anxiety, and when first causes, big with the fate of nations, were in active operation, depending of course on the chances, in this case fully realized, of ultimate failure.

Many generous men, even in Detroit, were engaged openly in the enterprise, among whom we may name Dr. E. A. Theller and General E. J. Roberts, both now no more, but who left behind them here many friends who cherish their memory. Dr. Theller's adventures might furnish the subject of an epic. His short, thick frame, his " Patriot coat," and his jolly Irish countenance, are still fresh in the recollection of citizens of Detroit. His joint "command " on Hickory Island at the mouth of the Detroit River, with Roberts and Hamley and Souther- land and perhaps others ; his unfortunate cx- enrsions on his little schooner, Anne; his being taken prisoner by Colonel Prince, of Sandwich ; his trial for high treason at Toronto on the old English doctrine, " Once a subject, always a subject," although he had been for a quarter of a century a citizen of the United States; the day fixed for his execution with the more un- happy Lount and Mathews, who suffered death; his imprisonment in the fortress at Quebec, from which he finally escaped, with Colonel Wallace W. Dodge, of Monroe, Michigan, who was captured with Dr. E. A. Theller on the schooner Anne before Malden. Their escape from the strongest fortress on the American continent and the only escape therefrom of which we have any record, will ever be re- garded, by those that have visited Quebec, as one of the most daring feats ever achieved. It was impossible to induce any of the officers or citizens of Quebec to believe an escape there- from practicable, and they continued to prose- ente a very vigilant search long after they had passed beyond the limits of the city. The conspiracy for their escape could not have proved successful but for the co-operation of

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the citizens who were in sympathy with the Patriot cause. The only opportunity for com- municating with friends in the city was during their daily walk, guarded, on the promenade on the highest plane of the citadel, from which they could have a comprehensive view of the city, and note the streets and by- ways thereof. The care, prudence and caution observed for weeks of preparation in commu- nicating with friends in the city by depositing messages and notes in the mouths of cannons unobserved, and the subterfuges resorted to in obtaining wires, small saws and instruments for sawing the iron bars in the windows of their prison walls, are truly marvelous. I have, in common with most visitors to the fortress, had pointed out by the guide the spot from which they made their wonderful leap, strik- ing on the solid masonry below at the hazard of life and limb. Dr. Theller sprained his ankle, and when he recovered from the shock he could with great difficulty and severe pain crawl along with the assistance of Colonel Dodge, who, when captured on the schooner Anne, had lost one of his eyes by a spent ball, which was with the eye extracted in a barbar- ous and inhuman manner in the prison at Mal- den. The indignities suffered from the time of their capture, en route and in prison, until they were safely lodged in the citadel in Qne- bec, were not only inhuman but outrageons, illy becoming those having prisoners of war and captives under their control.

A detailed description of their hairbreadth escapes in passing the numerous guards, senti- nels and police, I have listened to with intense interest from the lips of Colonel Dodge. The ingenious modes adopted of secreting them by the Canadians in sympathy with Theller and Dodge after passing the fortifications in the city and its vicinity, were creditable to the heads as well as hearts of their constant friends. The limits of this work will admit of mentioning one only of the modes adopted for concealment, which was by removing the floor boards of the · stalls in which horses were kept, digging a hole sufficiently large to accommodate two persons, depositing Dr. Theller and Colonel Dodge therein, replacing the floor boards, scat- tering manure carelessly over them, and then fastening the horses over them. As they re- mained in some instances three days, released only at midnight for exercise and refreshments,

they suffered intensely from their wounds and the filth, more readily imagined than described. The large rewards offered for their capture stimulated to the very highest degree the exer- tions of all classes of the officers, soldiers, guards and police, as well as citizens, except that portion of the citizens in sympathy with the Canadian Patriots, who were equally vigi- lant in concealing them and giving them all the aid and comfort in their power.

Their marvelous escape, hotly pursued until they reached and passed the boundary, line of the State of Maine, has ever been regarded as a feat exceedingly hazardous, and that required the most wonderful tact, prudence and courage; and not until their arrival at Augusta, Maine, did they realize that they were safe from re- capture and imprisonment. The curiosity and interest manifested to see the heroes of the Patriot War, and the ovations that greeted them at Augusta, Boston, New York, Philadel- phia and Baltimore are yet fresh in the mem- ory of many of our old citizens.

At Toronto Theller was actually led out for execution, as it was understood here at the time, when it was ascertained that there was danger of a mutiny in the British army. The regiment stationed at Toronto was filled with Irishmen, who, looking straight at the sub- stance of the thing, stripped of its technicali- ties, saw that Theller was to suffer because he was an Irishman. They declared openly that while they were ready to put down the rebel- lion in Canada, yet that the ministers of the law should not hang their countryman be- cause he was their countryman. This was the common report of the matter at the time, for the entire truth of which I am not able to vouch. At any rate the Doctor was not hung ; and while all the facts above detailed might not have taken place, yet there was something about it, and at least the authorities at Toronto probably thought it best not to risk a mutiny in the army, followed up perhaps by a popular outbreak.

The proceedings of those in Monroe in sym- pathy with the Patriot cause were conducted with the greatest secrecy. To avoid attracting attention of the public the "Hunters' Lodge " congregated in various places in the city, alter- nating between the Macomb Street Hotel, the yellow tavern that occupied the site of the "present residence of Mrs. Dr. Dorsch, the old

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Strong Hotel, and the " Mulbollen School House" (now modernized and repaired) on First street, owned by the Hon. J. M. Sterling. The names of citizens of Monroe in sympathy with the Patriot cause were for many years as familiar as household words, but the number now living is very limited that actually em- barked in the enterprise. Of those who went to the front many will recall the names of Cunningham, Duff, Ichabod White, a brother of the late Arvin W. Potter whose first name I cannot recall, Captain Joseph Wood, Captain John Alford, Lawyer Brophy, Austin Deane, Jarvis Eldred, Colonel Wallace Dodge and Stephen B. Wakefield - the last named, I am informed, guarded the Hunters' Lodge from intrusion. But two, Jarvis Eldred and Stephen B. Wakefield, are now living in our midst.

The original design of those engaged in the attempt to revolutionize Canada was, that it should be done there, among the people them- selves and by themselves ; but the first move- ment in Canada having failed, large numbers who had been compromised by it fled to the United States, where, on the northern frontier, the enterprise assumed the forms and aspects of a threatened invasion.

This condition of things called for action at Washington. The United States was at peace with England, and Mr. Van Buren, then Presi- dent, was a statesman that loved peace when it could be preserved with honor. It was his duty to see that the laws were faithfully ex- ccuted, among which he found an act of Con- gress denouncing high penalties against those who should engage in fitting out and prose- enting military or armed enterprises against any nation or country with which the United States was at peace. Mr. Van Buren accordingly issued his celebrated proclamation of neutrality, which fell heavily on the Patriots and pro- duced no little excitement on the frontier. Several prosecutions took place, upon which convictions were sometimes the result, but pub- lie opinion was strong and universal against all who attempted to enforce neutrality, and light punishments only followed the convictions.

The administration was of course denounced, and the effect of Mr. Van Buren's proclamation was felt extensively in the presidential cam- paign of 1840, when " Kinderhook " was de- feated by " Tippecanoe, " to say nothing of "Tyler too." Mr. Van Buren has been well

enough abused to satisfy the ambition of any man, but history will do him justice for that proclamation. It was simply an act of public duty.

Notwithstanding the interference of the Government, the enterprise of revolution was prosecuted with much vigor and with as much secrecy as possible. The public feeling was kept in a high state of excitement, for it was expected nightly that the "Patriots would go over " to make the attack on the British an- thorities, and to erect the standard of revolt on Canadian soil. This was the great desidera- tum, for it was believed that once erected there thousands would flock to it from both sides of the line, that supplies of every kind could easily be procured, and that nothing more would then be required but stout resolution and good commanders.

In the meantime the authorities, under the administration of that generous young man, Governor Mason, deemed it proper, if not nec- esary, to act. The militia was called out, and to arm them several hundred muskets, am- munition and accouterments were brought in from the arsenal at Dearborn. Several hun- dreds of these were distributed to the militia. Levi Bishop was a private specially detailed and charged to place in the hands of each man as he passed a complete stand of arms and ac- couterments, and eight pounds of ball and buck- shot cartridges. This duty he performed in each instance as the men filed past the front door of the City Hall. It looked rather war- like. It appeared as if something serious might be looked for. It looked as if the authorities were in earnest.

It was known that the " Patriots " were en- camped on the islands at the mouth of the De- troit River, making all necessary preparations to " go over " on the first favorable opportunity. It was also well known that the Little Erie, a favorite little steamer, which had few equals and no superiors in speed, was running irregu- larly in their interest. The General Brady was another river boat which could run about two- thirds as fast as the Erie. This latter boat was taken into the service of the State for the pur- pose of running down and capturing the Little Erie. The armed militia, with eight pounds of ball-cartridges each, embarked on board of her.

The broad pendant of the Nation waved at

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her masthead, while a band played stirring national airs. She left the wharf at Detroit about ten o'clock in the forenoon with perhaps three or four hundred troops on board, bound for Gibralter, at the mouth of the river. After getting fairly under way the soldiers " stacked arms " on deck and reclined "at ease " about the boat, dining in true military style on bread and raw salt pork.

Arrived at Gibralter without falling in with the enemy, Governor Mason, the commander- in-chief, and staff landed and spent about an hour on shore, in a council of war.

But the Governor returned on board and the boat put about for Detroit. The men and officers were also all on board as were also some of the provisions, but on looking about not one of the four hundred stand of arms and ball-cartridges could be found, and it was not known by what mysterious agency they had been removed or the particular time or the manner of their removal. They disappeared, and soon afterwards it was ascertained that they were in the hands of the " Patriots " on Hickory Island. Many of them were after- wards lost on the schooner Anne, before re- ferred to. This expedition to Gibralter was an impressive commentary upon the state of pub- lic feeling here and of the manner in which the local authorities did their duty.

The General Brady returned to Detroit, and the next morning Ben Kingsbury, in the Morn- ing Post, a paper published by him there at the time, gave an account of the losses as follows : Killed, none; wounded, one man in the cheek by handling his musket carelessly ; missing, none; army, 400 stand of arms, ammunition, eight rounds of ball and buckshot cartridges ; provisions, several barrels of pork and bread. Losses of the enemy not known, as he had not been scen, but supposed to be heavy. Such was the celebrated expedition to Gibralter

A squad of militia was kept under arms for several days to guard the arsenal at Dearborn.

Soon after this and while the " Patriots" still remained encamped on Hickory Island, General Theller made his most unfortunate ex- pedition with the little schooner Anne round the east side of Bois Blanc Island, opposite Malden, having a few men and some three or four hundred stand of arms on board with him. When between the island and Malden they were fired on by the militia from the Canada

shore. Several were killed or wounded, the schooner became unmanageable, and the whole party with the schooner fell into the hands of the Canadian militia, under the command of Colonel Prince. The arms were what the Canadians stood much in need of, as regular British troops and supplies had not yet arrived on the frontier.

At length the long-expected time when the " Patriots " should " go over " arrived, and they did " go over " some time in the night of the latter part of December, 1837, in a small steam- boat, pressed into their service for the purpose. The landing was a short distance above Wind- sor, from whence they immediately marched down to the village opposite Detroit. Coming near a sentry, he fired and the leader of the " Patriots " fell dead. I think his name was Putnam. This was the first mishap. In- stantly the sentry was fired on and killed. Some store-houses were then set on fire and a general alarm was given. The Canadian mili- tia sprang to their arms, and a street fight en- sued, favored by the bright light of the burn- ing buildings and also by that of a boat lying at the wharf which had been set on fire. The fight continued until the break of day, when the " Patriots," outnumbered, fled across the fields to the woods in the rear of the village, pursued by their enemies, who shot down many and took some prisoners. The whole party was dispersed. Some escaped across the river. Many were killed. Some were taken to Laudem, Canada West, where they were tried, condemned and hung. Several were sent to English penal colonies, where, after drudgery and years of misery and suffering, those who survived finally escaped or were pardoned and returned home.

Those who were here at the time will re- member well the intense excitement which pervaded the city of Detroit when, between two and four o'clock in the morning, it was an- nounced that the " Patriots" had made their long looked-for attack. In a few moments more the wharves on the river and the win- dows and roofs were covered with people.

The firing was clearly heard and the flashes of musketry were distinctly seen, but the prob- able issue was unknown. At length day broke and all eyes were strained to catch the first glimpses of the combatants. Men were seen hurrying to and fro, for of course the scene of

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combat presented activity and excitement. The retreat and pursuit across the fields were dis- tinetly seen. As the sun rose the roof of every building fronting on the river or in sight of it was literally covered with people, agitated by the wildest excitement. Every sort of rumor was afloat as to the probable success or disaster of those who had gone over the river.

At this time the Thirty-Fourth British regi- ment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colo- nel Airey, had arrived at Malden, and was ready and perhaps eager for any emergency. Many of the officers of this regiment became well known in Detroit, whose hospitalities and courtesies were more than once extended to them. Besides the Lieutenant-Colonel there was Major Deeds, as gallant a man as ever rode in front of a regiment; there were Captains Mathews, Braderick and Athens; Lieutenant Airey, a brother of the Colonel ; Harvey, a son of the governor of New Brunswick ; and that active and intelligent old gentleman, Quarter- master Dulse, and many others not remem- bered, most of them gentlemen of distinction, or members of wealthy and respectable families.

This regiment was at Malden, eighteen miles from the scene of action at Windsor. They kept a sharp lookout for the " Hunters," but of course it was not known where the first blow would fall, or where the first attempt would be made. The news, however, that the " Pa- triots " had "gone over " flew with the speed of the wind to Malden. A detachment of the companies was at once placed under the com- mand of Captain Braderick, who asked for the place, assisted by Lieutenant Airey, with two pieces of artillery, and was ordered to march to the scene of action. The march was as fast as possible, and the detachment arrived at Wind- sor about noon. The " Patriots" were dis- persed, but the troops kept on till they reached the windmill, about a mile and a half above Windsor, in full view of Detroit. Here a man was discovered who had seized a canoe and was rowing for dear life for Belle Isle. He was about two-thirds of the way across, perhaps one-half or three-eighths of a mile from the windmill, and hence he presented a splendid mark for Lieutenant Airey's artillery. In an instant a piece was unlimbered, and in an in- stant more three or four nine-pound balls whistled successively past the man in the canoe. The flashes and smoke were distinctly seen

from the roof's of the stores and houses in Detroit. The last shot took effect and cut off one of the arms of the man in the canoe close to the shoulder. It was a " charming shot," one that might be talked of in all after life.

In the meantime the Little Erie, the steam- boat before named, had been taken into the service of the United States, and that veteran commander, General Brady, was on board of her with the veteran military corps, the old Brady Guards, cruising about the river to assist in keeping the peace, and to render assistance to any who might need it. The wounded man was taken on board of this boat and put on shore at Detroit, where he was properly cared for.

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History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 35

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York, Munsell & company Number of Pages: 882

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882