The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I, Part 56

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Detroit, S. Farmer & co
Number of Pages: 1096

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he knew from the King's proclamation that the war with America was at an end, he had no official information to justify his sup- posing the States extended to this place, and therefore could not consent to the Indians being told so ; especially as he had uni- formly declared to them that he did not know these posts were to be evacuated by the English. He had no objection, he said, to my communicating the friendly offers of the United States, and would cheerfully make known to them the substance of your letter to him. In the morning of the 5th I received an intimation from Colonel De Peyster, through Captain McKee, that it was his wish I would go on to Niagara as soon as I had recovered from the fatigue of my journey. In consequence of this I waited on him in the after- noon and pressed with greater warmth than yesterday the neces- sity of my speaking to the Indians, and receiving an answer from them. I pressed him to suffer me to proceed on my business with- out his interference, and offered him my word that I would say nothing to them respecting the limits of the States, but confine myself to the offer of Peace or choice of War, and the Invitation to Treaty. He would not retract his resolution without further orders from the Commander in chief, and I was obliged to submit however unwillingly : but must do him the justice to acknowledge that he made every offer of civility and service, except that which he considered inconsistent with his duty. On the 6th I attended the council which Colonel De Peyster held with the Indians to which he had yesterday invited me. After delivering his business of calling them together, he published to them your letter and pressed them to continue in the strictest amity with the Subjects of the United States,-representing to them the folly of continu- ing hostilities, and assured them that he could by no means give them any further assistance against the people of America. At this meeting were the chiefs of eleven Indian nations, compre- hending all the Tribes as far south as the Wabash ; they were Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots or Hurons, Shawnese, Delawares, Kickapoos, Oweochtanoos, Miamis, Potawatamies, and Pienkishas, with a part of the Senecas ; most of whom gave evident marks of their satisfaction at seeing a subject of the United States in that country. They carried their civilities so far that my lodging was all day surrounded with crowds of them when at home, and the streets lined with them to attend my going abroad; that they might have an opportunity of seeing and saluting me, which they did not fail to do in their best manner with every demonstration of joy. On the morning of the 7th I took my leave of Colonel De Peyster after having received more civilities from him than the limits of this report will suffer me to enumerate; but not till I had the honor of writing to you by my guide whom I directed to return to Fort Pitt so soon as the Pipe should be ready to return to San- dusky, on whom I depended for his safe conduct thither and to pro- vide one to accompany him to Fort Pitt.

I arrived at Niagara on the 11th, was introduced to General Maclean, who was prepared for my coming, delivered him Colonel De Peyster's letter, and was received with every mark of atten- tion, but he declined entering upon any business this day. * * *

On the evening of the 13th I received a note from the General requesting a copy of my Instructions, &c., to send to the Com- mander in chief to facilitate business. I sent him word that he should be obeyed, and early in the morning began to execute my promise, but before I had finished copying them I received a ver- bal message that he wished to see me at his quarters. I finished the copies and waited on him with them. He informed me that he had sent for me to show me the copy of a letter he was writing to Colonel De Peyster. It contained instructions to that gentle- man in consequence of my representations of the murders commit- ted by western Indians in the course of the last spring and since; by his account they had been positively forbid to be guilty of any such outrage. He pressed Colonel De Peyster very earnestly to examine minutely into this affair, to forbid the Indians in the most positive manner to be guilty of such future misconduct, to order them to deliver up immediately such prisoners as they had cap- tured through the spring into the hands of himself or his officers, and further to tell them that if they did not desist from these practices the British troops would join the Americans to punish them,

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While Douglass was on his way to Detroit, Colonel De Peyster, on June 18, 1783, wrote to Captain Matthews, Secretary of General Haldimand :

We are all in expectation of news. Everything that is bad is spread through the Indian country, but as I have nothing more than the King's proclamation from authority, I evade answering impertinent questions. Heavens ! if goods do not arrive soon, what will become of me ? I have lost several stone wt. of flesh within these twenty days. I hope Sir John is to make us a visit.

In order to learn what the real intentions of the English were, the services of Mr. Douglass were continued, and on February 2, 1784, he wrote from Union Town to President Dickenson of Pennsyl- vania :

Early in the fall Sir John Johnson assembled the different west- ern tribes at Sandusky, and having prepared them with presents distributed with lavish profusion, addressed them in a speech to this purport : That the King, his and their common father, had made peace with the Americans, and had given them the country they possessed on this continent ; but that the report of his having given them any part of the Indian lands was false, and fabricated by the Americans for the purpose of provoking the Indians against their father,- that they should, therefore, shut their ears against it. So far the contrary was proved that the great river Ohio was to be the line between the Indians in this quarter and the Americans; over which the latter ought not to pass and return in safety. That, however, as the war between Britain and Amer- ica was now at an end, and as the Indians had engaged in it from their attachment to the crown and not from any quarrel of their own, he would, as was usual at the end of a war, take the toma- hawk out of their hand ; though he would not remove it out of sight or far from them, but lay it down carefully by their side that they might have it convenient to use in defense of their rights and property, if they were invaded or molested by the Americans.

Meanwhile President Washington also took steps to obtain possession of the posts. On July 12, 1783, he sent Baron Steuben to Canada for the necessary orders to secure the delivery of Detroit by the local commander; he was then to proceed to this place, and was authorized, if he found it advisable, to organize the French of Michigan into a body of militia, and place the fort in their hands. On his arrival at Chambly on August 3, 1783, he wrote to General Haldimand that he was on his way to Que- bec and expected to arrive in three or four days. When the Baron presented himself near Quebec, General Haldimand received him politely, but refused him the necessary passports and papers, and delivered him a letter to Washington, dated August 11, in which it was stated that the treaty was only provisional, and that no orders had been received to deliver up the posts along the Lakes.

The next effort to induce Haldimand to yield up the posts was made, under the approval of Congress, at the suggestion of General Knox, by Lieutenant- Colonel William Hull (afterwards our unfortunate first Governor). He started on May 24, 1784, arrived at Quebec July 12, and made known his errand, and Haldimand for the second time refused

to issue an order for the evacuation of the posts. Negotiations and demands for the yielding up of the territory went on, and in 1786 John Adams, then United States minister to England, informed Congress that he had made a demand for the west- ern posts and had been refused, on the ground that many of the States had violated the treaty in regard to the payment of debts.

All this time the British were endeavoring to strengthen themselves in the favor of the Indians and to retain their western possessions. On March 22, 1787, Sir John Johnson wrote to Joseph Brant :

It is for your sake chiefly that we hold them. If you become indifferent about them they may, perhaps, be given up, * * * whereas, by supporting them you encourage us to hold them, and encourage the new settlements, * * * every day increased by numbers coming in who find they cannot live in the States.

At this same time Dr. John Connolly, the Vir- ginia Tory, who had fully allied himself to the British cause, entered upon the vigorous prosecution of his scheme of inducing the Kentucky settlers to take sides with the English, on the ground that they would wrest Louisiana from Spain, and secure the free navigation of the Mississippi. He was in De- troit during a great part of the year 1787, and possibly during 1788. In June, 1787, Detroit was reinforced by a full regiment and two companies, and the garrison then numbered more than two regiments under command of Major R. Matthews. In pursuance of the plan to hold the post, Lord Dor- chester, in the summer of 1788, visited Detroit, and by his directions the town was newly picketed, and other defensive works erected. In the fall of 1789 Connolly was again in Detroit, went to Louisville, and returned in November. These goings to and fro were made known to the Americans by their spies ; and on July 20, 1790, General Knox, Secretary of War, wrote to Governor St. Clair that it was reported that " Benedict Arnold was at Detroit about the first of June and that he had reviewed the militia."

In addition to the many rumors concerning this region, Washington, on August 25, 1790, communi- cated to the cabinet his apprehensions that Lord Dorchester, in anticipation of a war with Spain, contemplated sending an expedition from Detroit to attack Louisiana, then owned by Spain.

There was good reason for these apprehensions, for there was no relaxation in the efforts of the English to retain possession of the West. The Montreal merchants, who had been very successful in their western trade, had increasing fears that this region would be lost. The fur trade and the fur- nishing of supplies had made them immensely wealthy ; their wealth brought influence, and on December 9, 1791, they addressed a memorial to Colonel Simcoe advising that on no account the western posts be surrendered. They claimed that,

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through an oversight, the English commissioners who negotiated the treaties of 1782 and 1783 had made lavish concessions, for which they received nothing in exchange. The memorial enlarged upon the great importance of the fur trade, and suggested various boundaries that would be satisfactory to them ; but all of their suggestions left the West in possession of the English, and the memorial insisted that it must be held for the protection of the Cana- dian border. This memorial was followed by an- other, which alleged that the Americans had not complied with the treaty, and that, therefore, it was not binding, and they recommended the Govern- ment to " dispute the ground to the utmost unless the treaty was complied with," adding, "All that the Americans conquered from us they are entitled to, and no more." These and similar arguments were repeated over and over in the memorials, and they undoubtedly had much to do with the long delay of the Government in complying with the terms of the treaties.

British influence was also still paramount with the Indians, and the English officers lost no oppor- tunity of assuring them of their protection and sympathy. Encouraged in this way, they grew increasingly hostile, and so many western settlers were killed that it was determined to chastise the Indians. A force was accordingly gathered and placed in command of General Harmer.

Some strange infatuation or excess of official courtesy led the Secretary of War to direct that the British commandant at Detroit be notified that the expedition was directed only against the Indians.

Accordingly, on September 19, 1790, Governor St. Clair so notified him, sending the letter by R. J. Meigs. The letter was undoubtedly one cause of the defeat of General Harmer, as the British were acting in full concert with the Indians and aided them in every way. General Harmer was defeated near the villages of the Miamis on October 19 and 22, 1790. After his defeat long poles strung with the scalps of American soldiers were daily paraded through the streets of Detroit, accompanied by the demoniac scalp-yells of the warriors who had taken them.

The next expedition, with fourteen hundred troops, was commanded by Governor St. Clair; and on November 4, 1791, he was defeated near the head- waters of the Wabash. Finally the Government determined to treat with the Indians and endeavor to prevent their incursions ; and on March 1, 1793, the President appointed Benjamin Lincoln, Beverly Randolph, and Timothy Pickering to meet the hos- tile tribes at Sandusky and endeavor to make peace with them. No arrangement, however, could be made, as the Indians, under the advice of the Eng- lish, would not agree to any other boundary than

the Ohio, and the conference closed on the 16th of August.

Considerable impression, however, had been made on the savages, and several of the tribes began to lose faith in the English, who this year, therefore, made renewed efforts to gain their goodwill with gifts, and to convince them that the English would not yield to the demands of the Americans. Lieu- tenant-Governor Simcoe, of Canada, was especially active in these endeavors, and it was largely to re- assure the Indians that the British fort on the Miami was erected. Governor Simcoe was in Detroit on February 18, 1793, and in April, 1794. On the last of these visits, by order of Lord Dorchester, he selected the site for the British fort on the left banks of the Miami, and it was erected, and garrisoned with three companies from Detroit, under command of Captain Caldwell.

The Government at Washington finally became convinced that a force competent to defeat both British and Indians must be put in motion, and Ma- jor-General Wayne took the field against them. His name and fame and the army he commanded caused both English and Indians to feel that a decisive bat- tle would be fought. They were greatly alarmed, and Colonel England sent nearly all his force from Detroit, almost dismantling this fort, in order to strengthen that on the Miami. Other preparations made by the British and Indians, with details of some of the skirmishing, are contained in a series of letters addressed by Alexander McKee to Colonel England, at Detroit. They were published in the National Intelligencer of Washington on July 26, 1814. The first is as follows :

RAPIDS, July 5, 1794.

SIR,-

I send this by a party of Saganas who returned yesterday from Fort Recovery where the whole body of Indians except the Dela- wares, who had gone another route, imprudently attacked the fort on Monday, the 30th of last month, and lost 16 or 17 men, besides a good many wounded.

Everything had been settled prior to their leaving the fallen timber,1 and it had been agreed upon to confine themselves to 1 taking convoys and attacking at a distance from the forts, if they should have the address to entice the enemy out ; but the impetu- osity of the Mackina Indians and their eagerness to begin with the nearest, prevailed with the others to alter their system, the consequences of which, from the present appearance of things, may most materially injure the interests of these people, both the Mackina and Lake Indians seeming resolved on going home again, having completed the belts they carried, with scalps and prisoners, and having no provisions there at the Glaze to subsist upon, so that His Majesty's posts will derive no security from the late great influx of Indians into this part of the country, should they persist in their resolution of returning so soon.

The immediate object of the attack was 300 pack horses going from this fort to Fort Greenville, in which the Indians completely succeeded, taking and killing all of them. But the commanding officer, Captain Gibson, sending out a troop of cavalry, and bring- ing his infantry out in the front of his post, the Indians attacked

1 Supposed to be the place where Wayne's battle was fought.

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them, and killed about 50, among whom is Captain Gibson and two other officers. On the near approach of the Indians to the fort, the remains of his garrison retired into it, and from their loopholes killed and wounded as already mentioned. Captain Elliott writes that they are immediately to hold a council at the Glaze, in order to try if they can prevail upon the Lake Indians to remain ; but without provisions, ammunition, &c., being sent to that place, I conceive it will be extremely difficult to keep them together.

With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient and very humble servant,

A. McKEE.

The following is the second letter :

RAPIDS, August 13, 1794.

SIR,-

I was honored last night with your letter of the 11th, and was extremely glad to find you are making such exertions to supply the Indians with provisions.

Captain Elliott arrived yesterday ; what he has brought will greatly relieve us, having been obliged yesterday to take all the corn and flour which the traders had here.

A scouting party from the Americans carried off a man and a woman yesterday morning between this place and Roche de Bout, and afterwards attacked a small party of Delawares, in their camp ; but they were repulsed with the loss of a man, whom they either hid or threw into the river. They killed a Delaware woman.

Scouts are sent up to view the situation of the army, and we now muster 1,000 Indians. All the Lake Indians from Sagana downwards should not lose one moment in joining their brethren, as every accession of strength is an addition to their spirits.

I have the honor to be, with very great respect, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

A. McKEE.

At this time every exertion was being made to aid the Indians, and on August 18, 1794, Governor Simcoe wrote to Lord Dorchester that he would "go to Detroit with all the force he could muster." He was too late, however, for on August 30, General Wayne defeated the combined forces near their own fort.

In a letter to the Secretary of War he said :

It is with infinite pleasure that I announce to you the brilliant success of the Federal army under my command, in a general action with the combined force of the hostile Indians and a con- siderable number of the volunteers and militia of Detroit. * * * So long as the savages are furnished with all the necessary warlike stores by foreign emissaries and traders at Detroit, we have no reason to suppose that they will be much disposed to maintain a long peace with the Americans. The latter ought certainly to take immediate possession of posts that were ceded to them more than eight years since. Until this is done the frontiers of the western states cannot rest in security, although formidable armies may be sent against the Indians *

* * so long as these garrisons afford them an asylum and succor on all occasions.

Major William Campbell, who had succeeded Captain Caldwell in command at the British fort at Miami, protested against the near approach of American troops, and four letters passed between him and General Wayne. Wayne declared that the English had no right to occupy a fort there, and called upon Campbell to withdraw, but he declined, and although General Wayne had received positive

authority to demolish this fort, he deemed it too perilous an undertaking, and left Campbell unmo- lested.

Ten days after the battle Colonel M'Kee sent this letter to Colonel England :

CAMP NEAR FORT MIAMI, August 30, 1794.

SIR,-

I have been employed several days in endeavoring to fix the Indians (who have been driven from their villages and cornfields) between the fort and the bay. Swan creek is generally agreed upon, and will be a very convenient place for the delivery of pro- visions &c.

The last accounts from General Wayne's army were brought me last night by an Indian who says the army would not be able to reach the Glaze before yesterday evening, it is supposed on account of the sick and wounded, many of whom they bury every day. I propose being in town in a day or two, when I hope for the pleasure of paying you my respects.

On the very day he wrote, there were estimated to be 1,300 Indians at Detroit, who had fled there for protection. The English and Indians were so severely punished by General Wayne that an extra surgeon and another hospital were needed at Detroit, and on October 31 Governor Simcoe approved of their having been provided.

During the battle Antoine Lasselle, a Frenchman, painted, dressed, and disguised as an Indian, was taken prisoner. He was tried by the court-martial, and sentenced to be hanged, but was pardoned through the interposition of Colonel Hamtramck.

The English now began to feel that Detroit was really in danger, and fearing both a revolt of the inhabitants and an attack from without, in Septem- ber, 1794, Fort Lernoult was newly fortified, and Governor Simcoe ordered a block-house and six boats to be built at Chatham. At a conference with the Indians, held on October 10, 1794, he said, "Children, I am still of the opinion that the Ohio is your right and title. I have given orders to the Commandant at Fort Miami to fire on the Ameri- cans when they make their appearance again." The Indians, however, had become distrustful of the ability of the English to protect them, and there was no further occasion for such a severe punish- ment as they received at the hands of General Wayne.

The question of the boundary line and other diffi- culties between the United States and Great Britain now became so serious that early in 1794 John Jay was sent as special minister to London to negotiate a new treaty. On June 23 he wrote that he had information that the posts " will not be surrendered." Finally, however, on November 19, 1794, the treaty known as Jay's Treaty was made, and in 1795, it was ratified by the President. It provided for fixing the eastern boundary of the United States ; for the pay- ment of claims arising from illegal captures during the Revolutionary War; and, also, that Detroit and

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other western posts held by the British should be surrendered on or before the Ist of June, 1796. Preparations for taking possession went forward, and on May 25, 1796, President Washington sent the following communication to Congress :

GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE AND OF THE HOUSE OF REPRE- SENTATIVES,-

The measures now in operation for taking possession of the posts of Detroit and Michilimackinac render it proper that provision should be made for extending to these places, and any others alike circumstanced, the civil authority of the Northwestern Ter- ritory. To do this will require an expense, to defray which the ordinary salaries of the Governor and Secretary of that Territory appear to be incompetent. The forming of a new county or new counties and the appointment of the various officers which the just exercise of government must require, will oblige the Governor and Secretary to visit those places, and to spend considerable time in making the arrangements necessary for introducing and establishing the government of the United States. Congress will consider what provision will in this case be proper.

The communication was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Sitgraves, Greenup, and Reed. On June I Mr. Sitgraves reported that he had not been able to get the information necessary to make a report, and the committee was discharged.

Although the Jay Treaty provided that the west- ern posts should be evacuated on or before the Ist of June, the order to evacuate was not given until June 2. A letter, on file in the State Department at Washington, from James McHenry, Secretary of War, to General Washington, dated June 27, 1796, states that he enclosed a copy of the order for the evacuation of Detroit, which order was dated June 2, 1796.

The order for evacuation was signed by George Beckwith, Adjutant-General, and dated from Que- bec. It provided that Detroit and other posts were to be vacated, but a captain and fifty of the Queen's Rangers, who had been sent to Detroit and Fort Miami as late as April 24, were "to remain as a guard for the protection of the works and public buildings till the troops of the United States are at hand to occupy the same, when they will embark."

In this connection the subjoined letter from the original manuscript letter-book of Samuel Henley, now in possession of the Public Library of Detroit, is of interest :

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The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I, Part 56

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902 Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Detroit, S. Farmer & co Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Detroit, S. Farmer & co
Number of Pages: 1096