USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I > Part 48
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1714, November 12, to 1717, Lieutenant Jacques Chas. Sabrevois.
1717, M. Louis de la Poste, Sieur de Louvigny.
1717, July 3, to 1720, M. Henri Tonty, younger brother of Alphonse.
1720, M. Charles Joseph, Sieur de Noyelle.
1720 to November 10, 1727 (when he died), Steur Alphonse de Tonty.
1727, December 19, to , M. le Chevalier de Lepernouche.
1728, M. Jean Baptiste Deschaillons de St. Ours. 1728, M. Charles Joseph, Sieur de Noyelle.
1728 to June 10, 1734, M. de Boishebert.
1734, June 10, to , Hugues Jacques Péan, Sieur de Livandière.
1734-1738, Lieutenant Jacques Charles Sabrevois. 1738-1741, M. Charles Joseph, Sieur de Noyelle. 1741, July 28, to 1742, Pierre Poyen de Noyan.
1742-1743, Pierre de Celeron, Sieur de Blainville.
1743-1747, M. Joseph Lemoyne, Chevalier de Longueuil.
1749- , Lieutenant Jacques Charles Sabrevois. 1751, February 15, to March 19, 1754, Pierre de Celeron, Sieur de Blainville.
1754 to May 25, 1758, M. Jacques d'Anon, Sieur de Muy. Died at Detroit.
1758-1760, Captain François Marie Picote de Bellestre.
English Commanding Officers.
1760, Major Robert Rogers.
1760 to 1763, Major Donald Campbell.
1763 to August 31, 1764, Major Henry Gladwin. 1764, Colonel John Bradstreet.
1765, Colonel John Campbell.
1766, August 26, Major Robert Bayard.
1767-1769, Captain George Turnbull.
1770, June 2, to September, Major T. Bruce.
1770, September, to January 8, 1772, James Steph- enson.
1772, Major Etherington.
1772-1774, Major Henry Bassett.
1774, Major R. B. Lernoult.
1775, Captain Montpasant.
1776, Major Arent Schuyler De Peyster.
1776, Captain Lord.
1778, December, to October, 1779, Major Richard Beringer Lernoult.
1779, October, to June 1, 1784, Major Arent Schuyler De Peyster.
1784, June I, to , Major William Ancram.
1785, June, Captain Bennet. 1786, June; Major R. Matthews.
1787, Major Wiseman.
1789, September 2, Major Patrick Murray.
1790, November 14, Major D. W. Smith. 1791, Colonel England.
1791, Major John Smith, of Fifth Regiment. 1792, Major Claus.
1792, October 24, Colonel Richard England.
1793, March, to 1796, Colonel Richard England1 of Twenty-fourth Regiment.
1793, Captain William Doyle.
The records of the War Department at Washing- ton having been partially destroyed in the War of 1812, no record of the officers in command prior to 1815 can be there obtained, but from various old records the following officers are found to have been at Detroit on and between the dates named :
American Commanding Officers.
1796, July 11, Captain Moses Porter.
1796, July 12, Colonel John F. Hamtramck.
1796, Major-General Anthony Wayne.
1797, Major-General James Wilkinson.
1797, to December 17, 1799, Colonel D. Strong.
1799, December 17, to February, 1800, Major Henry Burbeck.
1800, Colonel Porter.
1800-1802, Major Thomas Hunt.
1802 to April 11, 1803, Colonel J. F. Hamtramck.
1803, Major Henry Burbeck.
1803, Major John Whistler.
1803, Colonel Thomas Hunt.
1805, August, to April, 1807, Captain S. T. Dyson. 1809-1811, Captain Jacob Kingsbury.
1812, May, Major John Whistler.
1812, July, Colonel Brush.
1812, July, to August 16, 1812, Gen. Wm. Hull.
1813, September 29, General Duncan McArthur.
1813, Major-General William Henry Harrison.
1813, October, Colonel Lewis Cass.
1813, November, Captain Abraham Edwards.
1814, February, Colonel Anthony Butler. 1814, March, Colonel George Croghan.
1814, July, Colonel Anthony Butler.
1815, January I to February 4, Colonel Charles Gratiot.
1The following anecdote concerning Colonel England is given in John A. McClung's " Sketches of Western Adventure":
" This gentleman was remarkable for his immense height and enormous quantity of flesh. After his return from America, the waggish Prince of Wales, who was himself no pigmy, became de- sirous of seeing him. Colonel England was one day pointed out to him, by Sheridan, as he was in the act of dismounting from his horse. The prince regarded him with marked attention for sev- eral minutes, and then, turning to Sheridan, said, with a laugh, 'Colonel England, hey ? You should have said Great Britain, by
228
MILITARY OFFICERS IN COMMAND AT DETROIT.
1815, February 4 to August 10, Colonel Anthony Butler.
1815, Major W. H. Puthuff.
1815, September, Brigadier-General Miller.
The official list of commanding officers since 1815, compiled by the direction of the Secretary of War for this work, is as follows.
Commanding Officers at Fort Shelby.
1815, August, to November, 1817, Captain John Biddle, First Battalion Corps Artillery.
1817, November, to January, 1818, Second Lieu- tenant Chas. Mellon, First Battalion Corps Artil- lery
1818, January, to June, 1818, First Lieutenant Neucas Mackey, First Battalion Corps Artillery.
1818, June, to July, 1819, Captain John Farley, First Battalion Corps Artillery.
1819, July, to August, 1821, Captain Thos. Stock- ton, Fourth Battalion Corps Artillery.
1821, August, to June, 1822, Colonel James House, Second Artillery.
1822, June, to October, 1822, Captain J. Mount- fort, Second Artillery.
1822, October, to December, 1822, Captain R. A. Zant Zinger, Second Artillery.
1823, Major Baker.
Commanding Officers at Detroit Barracks.
1838, March, to April, 1838, Major John Garland, First Infantry.
1838, April, to August, 1838, Captain L. J. Jami- son, Fifth Infantry.
1838, August, to May, 1839, Major M. M. Payne, Second Artillery.
1839, May, to June, 1839, First Lieutenant C. B. Daniels, Second Artillery.
1839, June, to August, 1839, Captain R. A. Zant Zinger, Second Artillery.
1839, August, to September, 1839, First Lieuten- ant C. B. Daniels, Second Artillery.
1839, September, to October, 1839, Major M. M. Payne, Second Artillery.
1839, October, to May, 1840, Major F. S. Belton, Fourth Artillery.
1840, May, to June, 1841, Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. W. Fanning, Fourth Artillery.
1841, June, to July, 1841, Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Crane, Fourth Artillery.
1841, July, to June, 1842, Brigadier-General H. Brady.
1842, June, to April, 1843, Colonel George M. Brooke, Fifth Infantry.
1843, April, to July, 1843, Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. McIntosh, Fifth Infantry.
1843, July, to August, 1843, Captain E. K. Smith, Fifth Infantry.
1843, August, to July, 1844, Colonel Geo. M. Brooke, Fifth Infantry.
1844, July, to September, 1844, Captain E. K. Smith, Fifth Infantry.
1 844, September, to November, 1844, Colonel Geo. M. Brooke, Fifth Infantry.
1844, November, to April, 1845, Colonel J. S. Mc- Intosh, Fifth Infantry.
1845, April, to May, 1845, Colonel Geo. M. Brooke, Fifth Infantry.
1845, May, to July, 1845, Captain E. K. Smith, Fifth Infantry.
1845, July, to August, 1845, Colonel Geo. M. Brooke, Fifth Infantry.
1845, August, to October, 1845, Captain H. Day, Second Infantry.
1845, October, to July, 1846, Lieutenant-Colonel Bennet Riley, Second Infantry.
1846, July, to November, 1848, unoccupied.
1848, November, to June 5, 1851, Colonel William Whistler, Fourth Infantry.
1851, June 5th to IIth, LIEUTENANT U. S. GRANT, Fourth Infantry.
1851, June, to March, 1860, unoccupied.
During the war it was occupied by various de- tachments of volunteers.
1866, March 19, to April 9, 1866, Captain D. L. Montgomery, Seventeenth Infantry.
1866, April 9, to May 11, 1866, Captain R. P. Mc- Kibbin, Fourth Infantry.
1866, May II, to June, 1866, First Lieutenant S. W. Black, Seventeenth Infantry.
Commanding Officers at Fort Wayne.
(First occupied December 15, 1861.)
1861, December, to September, 1862, Captain Alfred Gibbs, Third Cavalry.
1862, September, to December, 1862, Captain C. H. McNally, Third Cavalry.
1862, December, to March, 1863, Captain C. C. Churchill, U. S. A.
1863, March, to June, 1863, unoccupied.
1863, June, to March, 1864, Captain Lewis Wilson, Nineteenth Infantry.
1864, March, to April, 1865, Major Pinkney Lugen- beel, Nineteenth Infantry.
1865, April, to October, 1865, Lieutenant-Colonel De L. Floyd-Jones, Nineteenth Infantry.
1865, October, to April, 1867, Colonel Silas Casey, Fourth Infantry.
1867, April, to May, 1867, Major M. D. Hardin, Forty-third Infantry.
1867, May, to May, 1868, Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Kiddoo, Forty-third Infantry.
229
MILITARY OFFICERS IN COMMAND AT DETROIT.
1868, May, to April, 1869, Colonel John C. Robin- son, Forty-third Infantry.
1869, April, to January, 1871, Colonel R. C. Buchanan, First Infantry.
1871, January, to July, 1874, Lieutenant-Colonel Pinkney Lugenbeel, First Infantry.
1874, July, to October, 1876, Colonel D. S. Stan- ley, Twenty-second Infantry.
1876, October, to May, 1877, Captain J. B. Irvine, Twenty-second Infantry.
1877, May, to August, 1877, Lieutenant-Colonel E. S. Otis, Twenty-second Infantry.
1877, August, to October, 1877, Lieutenant P. M. Thome, Twenty-second Infantry.
1877, October, to November, 1877, Captain J. B. Irvine, Twenty-second Infantry.
1877, November, to May, 1877, Lieutenant-Colonel E. S. Otis, Twenty-second Infantry.
1877, May, to June 8, 1884, Colonel H. B. Clitz, Tenth Infantry.
1884, June 8, to , Colonel H. M. Black, Twen- ty-third Infantry.
Designation of Command embracing the City of
Detroit, Michigan, from May 19, 1813, with location of Headquarters and name of Com- manding Officers.
May 19, 1813, Military District No. 8, Detroit, Michigan.
May 17, 1815, Military Department No. 5, Detroit, Michigan.
May 17, 1821, Eastern Department, Governor's Island, New York Harbor.
November 1, 1827, Eastern Department, New York City.
May 1, 1837, Eastern Department, Elizabethtown, New York.
May 19, 1837, Military Department No. 7, Detroit, Michigan.
July 12, 1842, Department No. 4, Detroit, Mich. August 31, 1848, Military Department No. 2.
September 11, 1848, Military Department No. 2, Albany, New York.
October 4, 1848, Military Department No. 2, Troy, New York.
January 5, 1849, Military Department No. 2, Detroit.
May 17, 1851, Eastern Division, Troy, New York.
October 31, 1853, Department of the East, Balti- more, Maryland.
March 23, 1857, Department of the East, Troy, New York.
October 26, 1861, to November 9, 1861, in no Department.
November 9, 1861, Department of the Ohio.
November 15, 1861, Department of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky.
March 11, 1862, Mountain Department, Wheeling, Virginia.
June 26, 1862, to August 19, 1862, in no Depart- ment.
August 19, 1862, Department of the Ohio, Cin- cinnati, Ohio.
November 16, 1862, to January 12, 1864, in no Department.
January 12, 1864, Northern Department, Colum- bus, Ohio.
January 27, 1865, Department of the Ohio, De- troit, Michigan.
August 6, 1866, Department of the Lakes, Detroit, Michigan.
October 31, 1873, Division of the Atlantic, New York City.
November 8, 1878, Department of the East, New York City.
June 26, 1878, Department of the East, Governor's Island, New York Harbor.
Commanded by
May 19, 1813, Major-General W. H. Harrison.
May 17, 1815, Brigadier-General Alex. Macomb. May 17, 1821, Brevet Major-General W. Scott.
December 8, 1823, Brevet Major-General Edmund P. Gaines.
December 8, 1825, Brevet Major-General Winfield Scott.
November 1, 1827, Brevet Major-General E. P. Gaines.
July 16, 1828, Brevet Brigadier-General Hugh Brady, Col. Second Infantry.
March 21, 1829, Brevet Major-General Edmund P. Gaines.
November 23, 1829, Brevet Major-General Win- field Scott.
May 19, 1837, Brevet Brigadier-General Hugh Brady, Col. Second Infantry.
August 1, 1844, Brevet Brigadier-General George M. Brooke, Col. Fifth Infantry.
September 20, 1844, Brevet Brigadier-General H. Brady, Col. Second Infantry.
July 4, 1846, Brevet Colonel Bennet Riley, Lieut. Col. Second Infantry.
August, 1846, Brevet Brigadier-General Hugh Brady, Col. Second Infantry.
September 11, 1848, Brevet Major-General John E. Wool.
January 5, 1849, Brevet Brigadier-General Hugh Brady, Col. Second Infantry.
April 15, 1851, Colonel William Whistler, Fourth Infantry.
May 17, 1351, Brevet Major-General J. E. Wool.
230
MILITARY OFFICERS IN COMMAND AT DETROIT.
January 13, 1854, Brevet Brigadier-General James Bankhead, Colonel Second Infantry.
November 13, 1856, Brevet Brigadier-General John B. Walbach, Colonel Fourth Artillery.
March 23, 1857, Brevet Major-General John E. Wool.
November 15, 1861, Brigadier-General Don Carlos Buell.
March 11, 1862, Brigadier-General William S. Rosecrans.
March 29, 1862, Major-General John C. Fremont. August 19, 1862, Major- General Horatio G. Wright.
March 25, 1863, Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside.
January 12, 1864, Major-General S. P. Heintzel- man.
October 1, 1864, Major-General Joseph Hooker.
January 27, 1865, Major-General Edward O. C. Ord.
December 26, 1865, Brevet Major-General Orlando B. Willcox.
January 15, 1866, Major-General Edward O. C. Ord.
August 23, 1866, Brevet Major-General Joseph: Hooker.
June 1, 1867, Brevet Major-General J. C. Robin- son, Col. Forty-third Infantry.
February 1, 1868, Brevet Major-General John Pope.
May 6, 1870, Brevet Major-General Philip St. G. Cooke.
October 31, 1873, Major-General W. S. Hancock. February 10, 1886, Major-General P. H. Sheridan. April 13, 1886, Major-General J. M. Schofield.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
EARLY INDIAN ATTACKS .- THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH OR SEVEN YEARS' WAR.
EARLY INDIAN ATTACKS.
THE Indians whom Cadillac and the other French commandants gathered about Fort Pontchartrain were, generally, friendly, but these Indian allies had enemies, who frequently sought occasion to injure them by making war on the French. Their first attack was made in 1703, when the fort was set on fire by an Indian and partially destroyed. A portion of the defenses, the church, the House of the Rec- ollects, Cadillac's house and that of his lieutenant, were burned. The friendly Indians aided in re- building the houses, and presented the commandant with one hundred bushels of corn to " cure " in part the loss he had sustained by the fire.
In June, 1706, while Cadillac was absent, a dog belonging to Bourgmont, the acting commandant, bit an Ottawa Indian in the leg. The Indian was greatly enraged, and beat the dog. Bourgmont then fell upon the Indian, and punished him so severely that he died soon after. Of course this roused the anger of the Ottawas, who were besides jealous of the Miamis, because they seemed to be the especial favorites of the French. On June 6 they fell upon a party of six Miamis, and wreaked their vengeance by killing five of the number ; other Miamis who were in the vicinity then rushed for protection to the fort, and Bourgmont fired on the Ottawas, killing several. Meantime the Ottawas had seized the priest, Nicholas Constantine del Halle, as he was walking in his garden outside of the fort. One of the chiefs released him, but just as he was about entering the fort he was killed by a musket-shot from an Ottawa. Bourgmont then closed the gate of the fort, in which there were but fifteen soldiers, and fired on the Ottawas, killing thirty of them. This occasioned much bad feeling, but the French maintained their ground, though the fort was besieged for nearly a month. In the spring of 1707 the Ottawas went to Montreal to explain and make peace, returning to Detroit on August 6, 1707, with M. de St. Pierre, who brought instruc- tions to Cadillac in regard to the matter. A portion of the Miamis had by this time become disaffected, and the same year Cadillac marched against them, and caused them to sue for peace.
In 1712, at the instigation of the English, the
Outagamies, or Foxes, aided by the Kickapoos and Mascoutins, attacked the fort, which was then held by Du Buisson with a force of only twenty men. Being warned in time, he secured his grain and supplies from the warehouse outside, and brought them within the stockade. He then burned the warehouse, the church, and several other buildings, which might have endangered the fort if set on fire by the Indians.
On May 13, the Ottawas, Hurons, Potowatamies, Menominees, Illinois, and Osages arrived to aid him. By this time the Foxes had erected a fort almost within musket range of Fort Pontchartrain. Here they were besieged by the allied Indians, who raised rough scaffolds twenty-five feet high, from which they fired on the Foxes, who finally sued for peace. The allied Indians would make no terms except unconditional surrender, and the Foxes retired to their fort, and discharged therefrom burn- ing arrows at the French fort, setting several houses on fire. The French covered their houses with wet bear and deer skins, and the fires were put out with swabs fastened on long poles. The Foxes held out so long that the allied Indians at one time were about to give up the contest, but large presents from Du Buisson caused them to renew the siege, which was continued with vigor till a heavy rainstorm dis- persed them. The Foxes then escaped, and made their way up to Grosse Pointe, where they entrenched themselves. With aid of cannon from the fort they were defeated, and nearly one thousand massacred by the allied Indians, who made slaves of the squaws and the children. In 1717 a party of Foxes again threatened the fort, but they were soon put to flight. These defeats seemed to have been salutary lessons, for there is no record of any further attack upon the fort until 1746, when it was set upon by north- ern Indians, and defended by Pontiac and his tribe.
THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH WAR.
The French and English or Seven Years' War was caused by the determined effort of both the French and the English to secure their western pos- sessions and to add to their extent. To this end intrigue, massacre, and military manœuvres contin- ually succeeded each other. Year by year the jeal-
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232
THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH WAR.
ousy between French and English occupants of America became increasingly manifest, and excur- sions to attack English settlements were a feature of the times.
As early as 1745, and especially in 1747, such items as these are of frequent mention in old French records : "Twenty-four Ottawas and Pottowatamies have been fitted out for the war excursion." "Nine parties have been equipped for a war excursion. Sieur Blondeau, a volunteer, commands them."
The English, however, were not asleep, and they were as unscrupulous as their antagonists in making use of the savages. Governor Clinton, in a letter to Colonel Johnson, dated New York, April 25, 1747, says, "In the bill I am going to pass the council did not think it proper to put rewards for scalping, or taking poor women or children prisoners, in it ; but the assembly has assured me the money shall be paid when it so happens, if the Indians insist upon it." On May 30 Colonel Johnson wrote the governor, " I am quite pestered every day with par- ties returning with prisoners and scalps, and without a penny to pay them with. It comes very hard upon me, and is displeasing to them I can assure you, for they expect their pay, and demand it of me as soon as they return."
The fact is undoubted and indisputable that at Detroit and other posts under both French and Eng- lish rule, the Indians received goods in payment for human scalps as regularly as for coon and muskrat skins.
In 1747 the English, through the Iroquois, dis- tributed belts to the Hurons, and in fact to all of the Indians in this neighborhood, and all, except the Illinois, were agreed in a plot to massacre the French at Detroit on one of the holidays of Pente- cost. The Indians were to sleep in the fort, as they had often done, and each was to kill the 'inmates of the house where he lodged. A squaw, going into a garret in search of corn, overheard the conspirators planning beneath her. She informed a Jesuit lay brother, who told M. de Longueuil, the comman- dant. He at once called together the principal chiefs, showed them that their plot was exposed, and they abandoned it with excuses and protesta- tions.
On August 31, 1747, a settler named Martineau strayed too far from the fort, and was killed and scalped by four Indians. On September 22 follow- ing, the fort was reinforced by the arrival of one hundred and fifty soldiers from Montreal, and the settlers felt much more secure. That there was continued danger, however, is evident from this gen- eral order, dated Detroit, June 2, 1748 :
Should any Huron or rebel be so daring as to enter the fort without a pass, through sheer bravado, 'twould be proper to arrest him and put him to death on the spot.
During the year several Indians from Bois Blanc Island waylaid a party of Frenchmen on Grosse Isle and seriously maltreated them. M. de Lon- gueuil, who was still in command at the fort, sent a force of thirty men in search of the hostile party. Three of the Huron chiefs, who had begun to fear for their own safety, volunteered their aid, and with ten of de Longueuil's men they set out, overtook the first party of thirty, and captured the five hostile Indians, only one of whom was a Huron. The leader, an Onondaga, was put to death by the inhabitants as soon as the party reached Detroit, and the rest were put in irons; one of these, a Seneca Indian, was found dead in the guard-house on the 29th of December, 1747 ; the three others were released in February, 1748, on promise of good behavior.
In considering the history of the West at this time, it should be remembered that the Territory watered by the Ohio was claimed by both English and French. The latter had established a small post on French Creek, south of Lake Erie. To off- set this movement, a company, known as the Ohio Company, was organized, and five hundred thousand acres in the disputed territory granted it, on condi- tion that one hundred families should be settled thereon within seven years, and a fort erected for their protection. These proceedings caused the French much uneasiness, and in 1749 Pierre de Celeron, Sieur de Blainville, under instructions from Count de la Gallissonière, Governor of New France, left Montreal with three hundred soldiers to take formal possession of the valley of the Ohio. He was furnished with leaden plates inscribed with a state- ment of the claims of the French, and a formal declaration that they thus took possession of the land. These plates were deposited at various points through the country. After having performed these duties, a part of the expedition returned by water, arriving at Detroit October 6, and the rest went back overland. As an appropriate supplement to his expedition, Count Gallissonière made special efforts to encourage immigration to the western posts, and particular privileges were accorded to all immigrants. Those who came to Detroit in 1749, 1751, and 1754, had various supplies granted to them.
In order to obtain information as to the plans of the French, or to protest against them, Governor Dinwiddie, on behalf of Virginia, which claimed the territory, sent Colonel George Washington to inter- view the French commandant at the post on French Creek. Washington set out on November 14, 1753, and on his return trip narrowly escaped being mas- sacred by the Indians. After his return, in order to protect her interests, Virginia determined to erect a fort. In pursuance of this plan, in February, 1754, that province began the erection of a fort near what
233
THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH WARS.
is now Pittsburgh; but in April following the Vir- ginia troops were driven from their position by the French, who made the place almost impregnable by building Fort Duquesne. Its position at the conflu- ence of the Alleghany and Monongahela, which unite to form the Ohio, rendered it a point of great commercial and strategic importance ; and the Eng- lish at once made a desperate effort to obtain it. General Braddock, at the head of a large army, was sent against it, but on July 9, 1757, he was defeated. In 1754 or 1755 M. Bigot, Intendant of Canada, sent Hugues Jacques Péan, with four hundred militia, and a quantity of provisions and goods for the Indians, to Detroit, and there is strong ground for the belief that a portion of these troops were sent to join the army that defeated Braddock. Tradition says that several English horses were brought here after his defeat.
During this period immense quantities of military supplies were forwarded from France, and the offi- cers vied with each other in their efforts to swindle the Government by fraudulent contracts and exorbi- tant charges. Enormous fortunes were thus accu- mulated.
After the defeat of General Braddock several Indian tribes, who had formerly been friendly to the English, were won over to the French, and on Jan- uary 10, 1757, a delegation from the Flathead Indians arrived at Detroit to hold a conference with M. de Muy in regard to uniting against the English.
A dispatch sent from Fort Duquesne, about this time, given in the Pennsylvania Archives, says :
M. de Vaudreuil adopted all possible measures to enable M. Dumas to make a good defence. He has sent him an abundant supply of all sorts of ammunitions, by a detachment of three hun- dred Canadians, who, with the garrison and the Detroit militia, that will be near enough to go to his assistance, will compose a force of twelve to fifteen hundred men, exclusive of the Indians, who are quite numerous.
On July 12, 1757, M. Vaudreuil wrote to M. de Moras from Montreal :
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