USA > Michigan > Outlines of the political history of Michigan > Part 22
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343
WINCHESTER SURRENDERS.
CHAP. XII.]
prisoners should be protected, private property secured, and the side-arms of the officers restored to them at Malden. Unfortunately, this was not reduced to writing-probably because not conve- nient, and no one in that army was then acquainted with Proctor. . A white flag was sent to the camp, accompanied by Proctor in person, and by Major Overton, one of Winchester's staff. Graves and Madison hesitated about submitting, knowing the habits of the Indians, and refused to do it with- out full assurance of safety. Proctor pledged himself to respect the conditions, and to send sleds for the wounded to take them to Malden next morning, and to have them all safely guarded in the meantime. On these assurances they surren- dered. Some of the Indians immediately began to be insolent, and Proctor, on being appealed to by Major Madison, intimated it was beyond his power to restrain them. Madison at once ordered his men to protect themselves with their guns, and thereupon the savages were called off and did them no more mischief. The unwounded troops were at once marched off towards Malden.
Proctor afterwards reported that the surrender was unconditional. Upon this he is flatly contra- dicted by Winchester, and the promise to Madison to the same effect cannot be gainsaid. Those offi- cers were men of unsullied honor, and no one can doubt their correctness. The assurances of Proctor were heard and verified by many others, and testified to by Colonel Lewis and twenty-one
344
CONDITIONS BROKEN. [CHAP. XII.
other officers,' immediately after their return in March, as well as by some who were longer de- tained, and by civilians at Frenchtown. The reso- lutions passed by a meeting of . returned officers, held at Erie on the 18th of February, 1813,2 not only aver distinctly all the conditions, but other further promises made by Proctor and Elliott for the safety of the wounded, and how all of them were disregarded. Private property of officers and soldiers was allowed to be plundered, and the officers' side-arms were never restored. Some of the worst atrocities to individuals were not pub- licly known until shortly after, though most of the bloody deeds which have made the River Raisin terribly famous occurred at once.
The victory was dearly bought. Proctor had 182 killed and wounded among his white forces, or more than one-third of their whole number. Of the American troops, not more than 30 or 40 escaped, 537 prisoners were accounted for as first estimated, and this number was increased by 40 or 50 afterwards ransomed from the Indians. The number of killed and missing was 397, a large number of whom were not slain in action but murdered afterwards, and a few subsequently came in and were ransomed. The loss of the Indians is not known, but it must have been very large. The men fought desperately, and were only over- come by numbers.
I 4 Niles R., S3.
2 4 Niles R., 13.
345
CHAP. XII.| MASSACRE OF PRISONERS.
Proctor started at once for Malden. When it was discovered that he was leaving no guard be- hind to protect the wounded, of whom there were very many, he was remonstrated with, and some of those who were able to travel desired to ac- company the forces, but they were persuaded that they would be safe, and that the next morning they should all be taken safely to Malden on sleds. The Indians retired to Stony Creek, a few miles off, and it was represented that the interpreters who were left behind had full control over the savages. Personal pledges were given to some of the officers, and one, Captain Hart, (a very highly esteemed officer, and brother-in-law of Henry Clay,) who had met an old acquaintance and friend in Captain Elliott, who had been entertained in his own house, received from him positive assurances of safety and care.
These pledges were not fulfilled, but it is not certain that Elliott was responsible. The kind- hearted inhabitants had tenderly cared for the wounded in their own homes. The next morning about 200 drunken savages, who had been indulged by their white leaders with the means of a de- bauch at Stony Creek, came into the devoted vil- lage, and in council determined to kill and scalp all the wounded who could not travel. After plundering the village, they broke in among the wounded, and stripped and tomahawked them. More than 60 were burned up in the houses where they were confined, those who tried to es-
346
MASSACRE OF PRISONERS.
[CHAP. XII.
cape from the fire being driven back and slain. The streets were strewn with the mangled bodies. Those who could walk were started off for Mal- den, and a few were, for large sums, allowed to ride. Most of these were killed on the road, and the number taken to Malden was very small. Captain Hart, Captain Virgin McCracken of Colonel Allen's regiment, Winchester's secretary Captain Woolfolk, and Ensign Wells, were slaugh- tered on the road. The bodies of Woolfolk and Hart were privately rescued, and concealed for burial, by some French citizens. Many prisoners were carried to the Indian villages on the Huron and Rouge, and to Detroit. Many were murdered and some were ransomed. Major Graves was seen on the Rouge a few days after the massacre, but his subsequent fate was never known. He was beyond doubt put to death. No imagination can exaggerate the dreadful scenes of those hor- rid crimes. The brutal tyrant who controlled this region would not even interfere to allow the bu- rial of the dead; and the bodies of the murdered soldiers were left to be devoured by unclean beasts. The French inhabitants, whose testimony was given on oath concerning these transactions, described the efforts which were made to save some of the bodies from this pollution, and the details of the ravages of the dogs and swine are too dreadful for description.
Dr. McKeehan, who was sent up with a flag of truce to help attend the wounded at Malden,
347
PROCTOR'S MISCONDUCT.
CHAP. XII.]
was treated shamefully by Proctor. After being charged with coming for improper purposes, and resenting it, as he had reason, he was for a time employed as aid to the other surgeons; but on the 2d of March he was arrested, under pretext of carrying on a private correspondence, and in a few days sent down, with Israel Ruland of De- troit, to Montreal, being treated ignominiously on the way, and on his arrival there shut up in a filthy subterranean dungeon for more than a month. No charges were ever made or alleged against him, and no explanation was ever given or guessed at, unless that he had not taken in silence the insulting abuse of Proctor. That officer was now promoted to be a brigadier general for his vic- tory at the Raisin, where, according to the gene- ral orders announcing his promotion, his gallantry " was most nobly displayed, in his humane and unwearied exertions, which succeeded in rescuing the vanquished from the revenge of the Indian warriors." Surely this was penned without knowl- edge of the cruel sarcasm which was conveyed in it. Whatever grounds for complaint existed against others, no one was found anywhere who competed with Proctor in barbarity. In this he had neither peer nor rival.
The massacre of the Raisin seemed to arouse and quicken all his malignant passions. The Indians who had carried off many prisoners to their own villages, began to bring them in for ransom. Ensign Baker, of the 2nd U. S. Infantry
348
FATE OF PRISONERS.
CHAP. XII.
was captured on the field of battle, with about 20 others, and on that same day taken a few miles from the Raisin, where they were left through the next day, while most of the Indians returned to the village for the massacre. Their captors on returning, brought thirty prisoners, and a number of fresh scalps. These prisoners informed Baker of what had occurred, and their story agreed with what has been obtained from many other sources ; for the testimony is uniform. Four prisoners were wantonly slain just after they were brought in. Mr. Baker was employed at Malden by General Winchester in prosecuting inquiries concerning the outrages, and his report, though not complete, contains some details and testimony of impor- tance. On the 25th of February, the testimony showed, there were at least 30 or 40 still alive and in captivity in the woods. He traced Major Graves as on the River Rouge, on the 25th or 26th of January, but heard no more of him. Robert Abbott, (afterwards Auditor General of Michigan,) stated that on or about the 28th of January an Indian woman came to his dwelling on the Rouge, and told him an American prisoner was that morning killed in the Indian camp, because he had expressed hatred for the Indians. But whether this was Major Graves or not no one knows. At the date of Baker's statement, the mutilated fragments of the dead still remained scattered over the ground, and the British officers said the Indians would not suffer them to be
349
PRISONERS RANSOMED.
CHAP. XII.]
buried. But there can be no question of the power of Proctor to have secured it if he chose.
Baker was taken to Detroit on the 29th of January, and on that day was purchased from the Indians. The next day he was sent down to Malden, and on the 15th of February was for- warded to Fort Niagara by General Proctor. He gives some interesting statements concerning the treatment and ransom of prisoners, and mentions the names of several persons in Detroit, and in Canada, who had earned their gratitude. Thirty- three prisoners besides himself were ransomed at Detroit, seven by Colonel Elliott of Malden, and one by Colonel Francis Baby, (the gentleman whose house was Hull's headquarters when in Canada). He speaks with grateful warmth of Major Muir, the commander at Detroit; Colonels Baby and Elliott, and Captains Aikins, Curtish and Barrow, among the British officers, as also of Reverend Richard Pollard, the Church of England clergyman at Sandwich, whose memory is still held in respect at Detroit, and commemorated by a memorial window in St. Paul's Church. The friends whom he found among the Americans at Detroit were numerous. Foremost among them all he dwells upon Judge Woodward, and his well-deserved eulogy should not be forgotten : "The exertions of these worthy people were di- rected, and point given to them, by our ever to be venerated countryman, Augustus B. Woodward, who with unwearied zeal exerted himself in our
350
WOODWARD. BENEVOLENT CITIZENS. [CHAP. XII.
behalf at Detroit: he was the life and soul of the remaining Americans, the man to whom they all looked up for success in the hour of difficulty; for advice on every occasion. This, added to the influence he at first had with some of the British officers, enabled him to do wonders for us. This gentleman, whose exalted understanding entitles him to the first consideration for talents, appears to have no wish separate from the inter- ests of his country ; though eminently qualified to enjoy society, he gives up all its sweets to shield the unfortunate of his country from savage cruelty and British oppression." A man who made such a record, at such a time, is one of the nobles of the earth. If the history of his time requires his foibles and his oddities to be recorded, let it also be recorded that before such qualities as he showed during those scenes of trial, his weaknesses, though magnified an hundredfold, were of very small account.
Among the names of those most prominent in these benevolent efforts, he mentions Colonel Elijah Brush, Major Henry J. Hunt, Richard Jones, Judge James May, Major Stephen Mack, Colonel Gabriel Godfroy, Robert Smart, Doctor William Brown, Oliver W. Miller, John McDonell, Peter Audrain, Duncan Reid, and Mr. Macomb. Of ladies who ransomed Kentuckians, he men- tions Mesdemoiselles Lasselle, Labadie, Scott, Hays, and others not specified.
351
BENEFACTORS OF PRISONERS.
CHAP. XII. ]
Of these sterling patriots, Colonel Brush was a son-in-law of John Askin, and Major Hunt of Angus Mackintosh, prominent gentlemen of Canada, but neither ever swerved from his duty. Judge May was one of the oldest citizens of Detroit, having lived there since 1778, and per- formed many public functions ; Major Mack was an officer of the Legion ; Mr. Audrain was Clerk, Register, Judge of Probate, and everything else which required clerkly skill and strict integrity ; John McDonell was in after years prominent in Territorial and State affairs, and an excellent citizen : Colonel Godfroy was an Indian trader of great influence, and the others were business men of note. Robert Smart and Doctor Brown, lived to a great old age, bachelors and inseparable friends, quiet in their ways and full of the milk of human kindness, and in death they were not divided. They lie side by side in Elmwood, and the broad slabs that contain their quaint epitaphs cover two honest men, well worthy to be held in remembrance. The rest were not left without relatives still living among us, and have also an honorable reputation.
Most of these gentlemen, and one, at least, of the ladies, incurred Proctor's malignant hatred for these works of mercy. He at once prohibited any further ransom of prisoners; the result of which was that so many as remained among the Indians forever disappeared, and the manner of their dis- appearance can easily be divined. If Major
352
WOODWARD COMPLAINS TO PROCTOR. [CHAP. XII.
Graves was not the prisoner whose death was announced to Mr. Abbott, he must have perished speedily, as he was not seen further, and the River Rouge was well settled, and constantly visited.
On the 2nd of February, Judge Woodward, whose position as Territorial Secretary under Proctor's own appointment, gave him better means of knowledge than any one else, and who, as we have already seen, had been the resort for advice and help of the people of the whole region, pre- sented to General Proctor a very plain and direct letter, which put that officer to some uneasiness. The following is the principal substance of it:
" It is well known to you, sir, that the capitu- lation of the 16th of August, 1812, has suffered many infractions in every quarter of the Territory, by the savages in the employ of the British Gov- ernment. The inhabitants have borne them with unexampled patience. They have entertained a constant apprehension that when the American forces approach the Territory, and when an en- gagement has taken place, the fury of the savage mind at the sight of blood, and in reflecting on the dead they lose, and perhaps on the retaliatory treatment of prisoners or of the dead, which their cruel mode of warfare produced, is always likely to drive them to an ignoble revenge on the pris- oners they find in the country, and the inhabitants of it who are American' citizens. They, therefore, pressed the subject on your attention previous to
CHAP. XII. ! VIOLATIONS OF THE CAPITULATION. 353
the battle of the 22d January, 1813, and felt satis- fied with your assurance, that you considered your own honor pledged for their effectual pro- tection. Since the result of that battle, facts are before their faces which they cannot shut their eyes upon. Some of them are, perhaps, unknown to yourself. I will enumerate some which I be- lieve there will be no difficulty in establishing be- yond the reach of contradiction :
"First. Some of the prisoners, after the cap- itulation of the 22d January, 1813, have been tomahawked by the savages.
"Second. Some of the prisoners, after that capitulation, have been shot by the savages.
"Third. Some of the prisoners, after that capitulation, have been burnt by the savages."
The 4th, 5th and 6th charges include shooting and pillaging the inhabitants, and burning their houses. The Judge urges that General Proctor enter into some convention with the citizens, to rectify the evils. General Proctor having, in writ- ing, through his aid-de-camp, asked for proofs, they were furnished abundantly, and have been preserved and published by the United States Government. But he also sent a verbal message through Major Muir, which Judge Woodward re- garded as dishonorable, and which led him to ask his passport. In this message Proctor asserted "that there was no capitulation on the 22d Jan- uary, and that the prisoners surrendered at dis-
23
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354
TYRANNICAL MEASURES.
[CHAP. XII.
cretion." As Judge Woodward had not the means of proof on this subject, he assumed Proctor would not falsify it. But in this he did him more than justice. The part of the message which he re- sented, was Muir's suggestion that the French citizens should take the oath of allegiance to the King. Upon the character of such a suggestion, to persons remaining under a capitulation pro- tecting them and their property, he used very strong language. He immediately departed for Washington, and not only informed the govern- ment of what had passed, but at the request of a committee in Albany, published his correspond- ence, and some of the testimony, for general in- formation.
Proctor, relieved from the presence of a man whom he both respected and feared, gave full scope to his malice. He ordered all the inhabi- tants of Frenchtown to Detroit. Israel Ruland and Doctor William McDowell Scott were arrested and sent below, where they were long held in close imprisonment on the pretext of being Brit- ish subjects adhering to the Americans. Scott was most harshly treated, as a man of much in- dependence and influence. He had been in the Territory since 1800, and had occupied a judicial position under the Territory of Indiana, and was Marshal of Michigan. He was an Irishman by birth, and a very pleasant and cultivated gentle- man. His descendants are still in Detroit. Mr. Kinzie of Chicago had been previously subjected
355
BANISHMENT OF CITIZENS.
CHAP. XII.]
to infamous cruelty on some similar pretext, and Mrs. Helm, after three months' imprisonment among the Indians, was shut up another three months in a British prison to gratify his spite.
But he had determined to get rid of all trouble- some witnesses still earlier. At the end of Janu- ary, when he stopped the ransom of prisoners, he went further, and ordered to be banished from the Territory all the leading Americans, except those of French origin and other natives. This explains why the proposition was made to reach the native French inhabitants who had once been British subjects, and terrify them into swearing allegiance to Great Britain. On the first day of February, 1813, a meeting was held by several of these obnoxious gentlemen, to express their views on the subject, and the names appended embrace several of those mentioned by Baker. They ex- press their indignation at Proctor's cruelty in send- ing them away and separating them from their families in Detroit, who would be deprived of their protection ; declare the act a direct violation of the capitulation, which promised them protec- tion ; assert their right and duty not to submit to such wrongs without compulsion, and their re- solution to enforce against him by proceedings in justice all rights which can be maintained : acknowledge their duty to maintain obedience so long as protected by the British flag, without pre- judice to their American citizenship; pass a high encomium on Woodward, and request him to urge
356
NAMES OF THE BANISHED.
[CHAP. XII.
a revocation of the obnoxious order. His inter- vention was made in the manner already spoken of, and he not only failed to do them any good, but felt compelled to depart himself. The names signed to this document (corrected from personal information so far as obtained) were, Lewis Bond, David McClean, William Wilson, John Dicks, Ar- chibald Lyon, Israel Taylor, Anderson Martin, Wil- liam M. Scott, David Henderson, William Russell, Joseph Spencer, James Patterson, George R. Chit- tenden, William Robertson, John Walker, Conrad Seek, Elijah Brush, Conrad TenEyck, Peter J. Desnoyers, Robert Smart, James Bennett, Richard H. Jones, William Brown, John McDonell, John Congsett, Duncan Reid, A. Langan, George Batt- zes (?) James Chittenden.1 Of these, Mr. Desnoy- ers, though French, and bearing a name found in Canada, was not born in this country, but was a native of France, and settled in Detroit just after the Americans took possession. He was a gen- tleman of great worth, and died a few years since, universally respected. His son, Peter Desnoyers, then a lad, and now living, was one of the early State Treasurers.
Having got rid at home of all troublesome disturbers of such conscience as he possessed, the attention of General Proctor was soon called to matters outside. The news of the massacre of the River Raisin was received with a general burst of indignation, and the people of Kentucky,
1 4 Niles, 91.
357
WESTERN MOVEMENTS.
CHAP. XII.]
who had especially suffered from the murder of their friends and kinsmen, determined not to leave them unavenged. Steps were at once taken to embody large forces of volunteers in Ohio, Ken- tucky, and all other parts of the west, and the service was sought with alacrity. It became evi- dent that the Indians had put themselves where their condition was desperate, unless they could secure undisputed possession of their ancient hunting grounds; and they gave General Proctor plainly to understand that as they had allied them- selves with the British for their own advantage, as well as to protect Canada, it was time some aggressive measures were taken to drive out the Americans. All the available forces of the sava- ges were gathered for the work, and the British added their share of white troops, and assumed the task of defeating the army in Ohio. General Harrison had been unable to get intelligence early enough to reach the Raisin, to take part in the battle, and its result rendered any immediate ad- vance on Malden impracticable. It was, therefore, resolved to make complete preparation for a fu- ture attack, with forces equal to the emergency. A fort was thrown up at the Maumee Rapids, named Fort Meigs, after the Governor of Ohio. On the first of May, 1813, Proctor, with a large force of British and Indians, well supplied with artillery, began an attack upon the fort, then oc- cupied by General Harrison. The siege lasted until the 5th, when it was raised, and the besiegers
358
BATTLE OF FORT MEIGS.
[CHAP. XII.
returned in some haste towards Malden. The garrison had been reinforced by General Green Clay during the siege, and a part of his army, under Colonel Dudley, after carrying out a well- devised plan for capturing the British batteries on the left bank of the river, had been led away by their ardor into advancing against orders too far, and were mostly killed or captured. On this occasion the barbarities of Frenchtown were re- newed, under the eyes and approval of Proctor. The Indians massacred many prisoners, and com- pelled others to run the gauntlet. Leslie Combs of Kentucky, then a boy of 18, yet a captain and scout of great sagacity and dauntless courage, was among those subjected to this cruelty, and his description of the occurrences has been pre- served and repeated on many occasions, and is well known. Proctor's conduct on this occasion was rebuked by Tecumseh, who in person inter- fered and stopped the atrocities, and tauntingly bade Proctor to go off and put on petticoats, for he was unfit to command soldiers.
Soon after this Dickson, a noted trader, had started from Mackinaw, and gone southward through the Green Bay country and Wisconsin, gathering the Indians in force ; and early in the summer he arrived in Detroit, where Proctor and Tecumseh brought together a large army to make a second attempt on Harrison's defences in Ohio. The hopes of the Indians had been excited by the promise that Michigan should be set apart
359
FORT STEPHENSON.
CHAP. XII.]
for the Prophet and his followers, and they set out with sanguine assurance of success. After various movements to conceal their plans, they ap- proached Fort Meigs. Tecumseh had conceived the plan of deceiving the garrison into supposing an attack had been made by the allies on an American force outside,-expecting by this means to draw out the garrison into an ambuscade. General Clay was on his guard, and although the noises were very suggestive of a fierce battle, and his officers were much excited and anxious to go out to defend their friends, he had been sufficiently warned to remain firm, and paid no attention to the mock fight. After lingering more than a day in the neighborhood, the allied forces concluded to let the garrison alone, and separated, a part returning to Malden and Detroit, and a part moving toward Fort Stephenson, on the San- dusky River. Harrison had his army where it was ready to move eastward or westward, as might be necessary, as the whole line of settlements near Lake Erie was threatened, and it was impossible to be sure where the blows would fall. The coun- try being a wilderness, and the savages not mov- ing in the manner of white troops, much vigilance was required to keep informed of their plans. The forces left the vicinity of Fort Meigs on the 27th of July. On the 31st Proctor appeared be- fore Fort Stephenson, with gunboats, and a force of 490 regulars and 500 of Dickson's Indians, with about 2,000 Indians under Tecumseh,
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