USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 1 > Part 22
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
Yorktown in 1781, at the surrender of Cornwallis. Sub- sequently, he joined the army of General Greene, in the Sonth, and when the war closed, returned to his home in
Ligonier, and engaged in the labors of his farm. Iu 1786 he was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress, and was soon after chosen president of that august body. After the passage of an act for the gov- ernment of the Northwest Territory, he was appointed the governor, coming to Cincinnati, then Fort Washing- ton, and organizing the county of Hamilton, in 1790. In 1791 he commanded the expedition known by bis name, which had for its object the punishment of the Indians who lived on the table-land between the Lake and the Ohio River.
"General St. Clair," says Mr. Smucker, "received elaborate instructions from General Knox, the Secretary of War, and in April proceeded to Pittsburg to complete arrangements for raising his army and organizing it. General Richard Butler, of Pennsylvania, a gallant officer in the Revolution, who served with honor in Mor- gan's riffe corps, and was the ranking officer of the Penn- sylvania levies, was appointed the second oficer in St. Clair's mimy. He was actively engaged, in the Spring and early Summer, in recruiting. Slowly the troops gath- ered at Fort Washington and Ludlow Station, six miles distant, when, on the 17th of September, being then 2,300 strong, they marched forward and built Fort Hamilton, the first in the chain of forts to the Maumee, being distant twenty-two miles from Fort Washington. On the 12th of October they conngenced the erection of Fort Jefferson, forty-four miles from Fort Hamilton, within the present county of Darke, six miles from Greenville, the county sat. On the 24th of October the march was resumed, the fort having been completed. The commander-in-chief was suffering from sickness, pro- visions were not abundant, the roads were wet and heavy, the militia were daily deserting, and circumstances gener- ally were unfavorable for a successful campaign, the effective men now numbering only 1,500, not including those that were garrisoning Forts Hamilton and Jefferson and those looking after the deserters and guarding the supply-trainz. Such being the condition of things on the evening of November 3d, when the army was encamped on a branch of the Wabash, now in Mercer County, Ohio, within a mile or two of the Indiana State line and in the south-western part of the county, five miles distant from the Parke County line. Here, on the morning of November 4, 1791, was defeated and fearfully cut up the army of General St. Clair by probably about 2,000 In-
commanded by General Butler, and about seventy yards farther from the second line, under command of Colonel Darke.
" The battle commenced early in the morning, and continued three or four hours. General St. Clair was evidently surprised. both as to the time of the attack and as to the strength of the enemy. He had no idea that the wily savages were present in such overwhelming numbers. In the last personal interview had with Pres- ident Washington, St. Clair was reminded by him of the character of the enemy he was to encounter, and was, moreover, earnestly and repeatedly admonished against being surprised. No marvel, therefore, at the strong and emphatic expressions and very wusual manifestations of grief and disappointment by the President when hearing of the disastrous defeat of his former gallant and esteemed companion in aris, and of the almost total destruction of his army !
" It may be urged in extennation that General St. Clair failed, from 'some cause, to obtain a knowledge of certain facts that were reported to Colonel Oldham and General Butler by Captain Sloo, as the result of recon- noitering outside of the camp until midnight, and which facts were well calculated to raise the presumption of the presence of the Query in considerable strength. Had the information obtained by Captam Sloo been comme. micated promptly to the commander-in-chief' he would! probably have been more vigilant.
"At about half an hour before sunrise (but after the morning parade), the militia, posted as above indicatol and while engaged in preparing their morning meal, were in- expectedly attacked by a large body of Indians, suppose !! to have been commande:l by the infamous renegade, Si- mon Girty. The distinguished . Little Turtle,' however, was chief commander of the Indians. An attack upon raw militia under circumstances so well calculated to throw them into confusion was, of course, successful. They made a small show of fight upon the first onslanght, but soon fled (many of them throwing away their arms), ran over the creck and through the first line of the amin army, producing there some consternation and disorder. The Tudians closely pursue, and in a short time the battle became general, the enemy being in force sufficient to make simultaneous assaults almost around the entire encampment of St. Clair's army. In General St. Clair's official account of the battle it is stated that the great weight of the enemy's fire was directed ciletly against the center of the first and second lines, where he had pheed his artillery, and that his artillerists were repeat- edly driven from their positions by the enemy; with great daughter. Great confusion there upon cusaed, and Col. ond Darke was opared to make a bayonet charge up n the enemy, with a view of turning their hft fank. This order was executed with great spirit, and the Indians gave way and were driven back three or four hundred
dians, the militia being first attacked, who gave way. The right wing or first line was commanded by General Butler, and the second line by Colonel Darke. The militia under the command of Colonel Oldham had been marched across the small, fordable stream, a tributary of the Wabash, and cucampet on high ground, about four hundred yards distant from the first line, or right wing, I yards; but, for want of a sufficient number of ridemen
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to pursue this advantage, the Indians soon renewed the attack with much vigor, being probably re-enforced, and Colonel Darke and his troops were in turn obliged to give way and retreat. A similar order, and with the same results, was executed in gallant style by the sec- ond regiment, composed of the battalions of Majors Bat- ler and Clark. For several hours these successes and reverses rapidly followed each other, continually result- ing, however, in great loss of life, especially among the officers. All the officers of the second regiment were killed or seriously wounded, except three; and when the artillery was all silenced every artillery officer had been killed exeept Captain Ford, and he was badly wounded.
" For three hours the battle thus raged, and the con- duet of the troops (after the flight of the militia at the commencement) was worthy of all praise. By this time more than half of the army had fallen, and an immedi- ate retreat was decided upon. The remnant of the army was accordingly placed in position to march toward Fort Jefferson; but to get possession of the road leading to that point another bayonet charge had to be made upon the enemy, which was attended with further loss of life. The artillery was all abandoned, of necessity, as not a single artillery horse was left alive. During the entire engagement General St. Clair was in the thickest of the fight, and narrowly escaped with his life, a number of balls having passed through his clothes, and three horses being killed under him or as he was endeavoring to mount them. He left the field at last on a pack-horse, which he had hurriedly mounted after his third horse was shot, just before the retreat was ordered.
" The retreat, of coarse, was precipitate, a flight rather, the Indians pursuing the routed army for four miles, killing many that were unable, from various causes, to keep up with the main body, which reached Fort Jer- ferson late in the day.
"Six hundred and thirty men were killed, and two hundred and forty were wounded, not counting civilians, such as wagoners, drivers of cattle, pack-horsemen, and others. Quite a number of women-the wives of sol- diers -- were also killed or wounded. The proportion of officers lost in this disastrous campaign was unusually large. Among the conspicuous officers killed were Gen- eral Richard Butler, Colonel Oldham, and Majors Fer- guson, Hart, and Clark. Adjutant-general Winthrop Sargent, Colonel William Darke, Licatenant-colonel Gib. son, Major Butler, and the Viscount Malartic (the gen eral's aid-de-camp) were of , the wounded. Many cap- tains, lieutenants, and other subaltern officers were also killed or wounded.
"At a council of war held at Fort Jefferson on the' night of the 4th of November it was decided to return i with all due speed to Fort Washington, which point was reached on the evening of the 8th of November, the army leaving Fort Jefferson at ten o'clock at night, soon 1
after the prompt return to Fort Washington was deter- mined upon, and marching all night.
"The principal tribes which General St. Clair's army encountered were the Delawares, Miamis, Shawnees, Wyandots, and Ottawas, with some Chippewas, and Pot- tawattomies. The number of warriors in the battle has never been ascertained; their estimated strengt !: gener- ally ranges, however, between one thousand and three thousand. General St. Clair in his special report stated that 'he was overpowered by members; that in a few minutes after the attack his whole camp, which extended above three hundred and fifty yards in length, was en- tirely surrounded and attacked on all quarters.
"General St. Clair made an official report of his en- gagement with the Indians to the Secretary of War. General Kvox, under date of November 9th, and on the 12th of December that officer communicated its substance to Congress.
" General St. Clair, aware of the public odium that rested upon him, asked of the President the appointment of a court of inquiry to investigate liis conduet. This was not deemed expedient ; but a committee of Congress was appointed, on motion of Mr. Giles, of Virginia, to consider the subject, who, after maturely deliberating upon the matter referred to them. reported 'that the causes of the failure of the expedition were the delay in preparing estimates for the defense of the frontiers and the late passage of the net for that purpose ; the delay caused by neglect in the quartermaster'- department; the lateness of the season when the expedition was com- meveed ; and the want of discipline and experience in the troops.' The report concluded with a full and con :- plete exoneration of General St. Clair . from all bhone in relation to every thing before and during the action In commenting upon his honorable acquittal of all blame by the committee of Congress appointed to inquire into the causes of the failure of the expedition, and of the concurrence therein by the Secretary of War, as given in a report to Congress, Judge Marshall, in his Life of Washington, remarks with his ustal felicity of manner, ' that more satisfactory testimony in favor of St. Clair is. furnished by the eircenianeo that he still retained the nudiminished esteem and good opinion of President Washington.'
" Notwithstanding the foregoing taets, which were highly favorable to him, General St. Clair became very unpopular with the unthinking, inconsisterate masses, and continued to be a greatly maligned patriot. He had been defeated, and that was sufficient with the ignorant, the thoughtless, and with superficial thinkers and those of Emited knowledge of the thets of the case, to bring down upon him, all over the country, 'one loud and mer- ciless watery of abe, and even detestation. The ta- doubted patriotism, unflinching courage, aul endu uit services to his country of General St. Clair were worse requited by his countrymen, and his reputation beli
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
further below his real merits by them, than was the case with any other of the many gallant chieftains who ap- peared upon the fiery theater of Western Indian warfare. If our Western history furnishes a parallel to it, it is presented in the case of Captain Michael Cresap, with whose reputation his countrymen have also dealt with exceeding harshness; and I might place General William Huli in the same category."
General St. Clair held the office of territorial goy- ernor until 1802, the year after the transferenee of the capital from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, when he was re- moved by President Jefferson. The reason of his re- moval is stated by Judge Burnet to have been dissatis- faction caused by his sceming disposition to enlarge his own powers and restrict those of the territorial legisla- ture, which was manifested in his veto of nineteen out of thirty bills passed at its first session. Judge. Burnet, in his favor, adds: "He not only believed that the power he elaimed belonged legitimately to the executive, but was convinced that the manner in which he exercised it was imposed on him as a anty by the ordinance, and was calculated to advance the best interests of the Ter- ritory." While in the publie service General St. Clair had neglected his private interests, and at the elose of his official career he returned to Ligonier, in Pennsyl- vania, poor, aged, and infirm. The State of Pennsyl- vania granted him an annuity, however, a few years afterward, which comfortably supported him during the remainder of his life. He was a man of superior abil- ity, fair scholarship, and of unquestionable patriotism and integrity. He is described as having been, while in public life, plain and simple in his dress and equip- age, open and frank in his manners, and accessible to persons of every rank. His family consisted of one son and three daughters. Arthur St. Clair, the son, was . many years ago a prominent lawyer in Cincinnati, and
was the first prosecuting attorney of Butler County.
One of the daughters also lived here for many years. 1.obert Clarke & Co., of Cincinnati, are about to pub- lish the papers of General St. Clair, which have been in possession of the State of Ohio for years, and justice will then be done to his memory. The volume will be edited by William Henry Smith, of Chicago, and will contain a copious biography.
ISRAEL LUDLOW.
ISRAEL LUDLOW, an early surveyor of the Northwest' Territory and the founder of the town of Hamihon, was boru at Long Hill Farm, near Morristown, New Jersey, in 1765. His ancestors were English, and emigrated to New Jersey from Shropshire, England, to escape perse- cution on the restoration of Charles the Second. the Land- lows having been actively identified with the cause of the parliament aod prominent in the affairs of the com- monwealth. The heard of the family at that peril, Sir Edmund Lundlow, was one of the judges who passed zen-
tenee of death on Charles I, became lieutenant-general of Ireland under Cromwell, and, banished after the restort- tion, died an exile in Vevay, Switzerland. Israel Ludlow was appointed, in 1787, by Thomas Hutchins, surveyor- general of the United States, who was " assured" of his "ability, diligence, and integrity," to survey for the gov- ernment. the boundary of the large tract of land pur- chased in this neighborhood by the New Jersey associa- tion, of which Judge John Cleves Symmes was principal director. He accepted the appointment, and received his- instructions, with an order for a military escort to protect himself and assistants during their performance of the work. Bat the military posts on the western frontier had no sol- diers to spare, and General Joseph Harmar, then in com- mand of the forces in the Northwest Territory, advised Mr. Ludlow of the impossibility of giving his expedition .in escort, at the same time warning him as to the danger of attempting the survey, without such protection, among the hostile tribes of the Ohio wilderness. But, being a man of great energy, Mr. Ludlow undertook the task, and, keeping up friendly intercourse with the Indians, they did not molest him or binder his operations. In 1789 he became one-third partner, with Matthias Den- man and Robert Patterson, hu the proprietorship of the lands about Fort Washington, and is Planned to have given the present city of Cincinnati its name, in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, composed of officers who had served in the Revolutionary war, of which his father, Cornelius Ludlow, was a member. He begun, in the year just mentioned, the survey of the town-a phat of which he placed on record. There was a controversy about its correctness, one having been previously made and recorded by another person : but the community soon became satisfied that the plat prepared and certified by Mr. Indlow was the correct one. Ludlow Station was established in 1790 near the north line of the orig. inal town, a block-house having first been built for pro- tection, the Indians at that date being exceedingly hostile and dangerous. In the Summer of 1791 General Arthur St. Clair's army encamped at and about the above-uned station, previous to its march into the Indian territory. It was not until 1792 that Mr. Ludlow, then known as Colonel Ludlow, completed his survey of the Mini Pi- chase; but, having done so, in May of that year he made a full report of the survey, together with a report of all the expenses incidental thereto, which was accepted by Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury. Colonel Ludlow was subsequently the founder and sole proprietor of Hamilton, having surveyed its town plat in 1794.
There had been considerable competition for the loca- tion of the county seat, and Colonel Ludlow made sev- eral stipulations, which were not entirely filled, however, at the time of his death.
In 1795, in company with Generals St. Clair, Dayton. and Wilkinson, he also founded the present city of Day- i
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ton. After General Wayne's treaty with the Indians at Greenville, in the same year, Colonel Ludlow was ap- pointed to survey the boundary line between the United States and the Indian Territory. This was a work of great danger; but it was of the highest importance that the boundary should be established; and, as no military escort could be furnished, he undertook the task, and, with only three backwoodsmen as spies to give warning of danger, he accomplished it. Colonel Ludlow married Charlotte, daughter of General James Chambers, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, November 10, 1786. He left four children, -- James C., Sarah B., Israel L., and Martha C. Ludlow.
. THOMAS IRWIN.
Tis name should be preserved as that of one of the carliest pioneers. Thomas Irwin was born in the county of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the year 176S. His father was in humble circumstances, and in 1782 set out for the western frontier of Pennsylvania. Land was held so cheaply there that any one could get it, and Mr. Irwin took up a tract near Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, The boy aided his father in clearing up the farm there purchased, and remained with him until . he was twenty-one years of age, when he set out for the West.
In company with James Burns and another neighbor, he journeyed to Pittsburg, where a small fiat-boat was bought, in which the party intended floating down the Ohio River. They set out on their voyage on the last week in March, 1789, and at Wheeling were joined by a family which had intended going on to Kentucky with them. Becoming frightenedl, however, they refused to proceed, and Mr. Irwin and his companions went on with- ont them. They had reason for apprehension. The In- dians were in the habit of shooting at the travelers, which they could do with impunity, as the boats offered a very distinct mark, aud these who fred at them did so under the shelter of the trees and bushes on the sl ore.
Two of those who had started with Irwin left him at Limestone, and he and Burns proceeded on their voyage down the stream. Arrived at Columbia, they spent some time in examining the place, which had just then begun. There were a number of families living there. in a very exposed situation, scattered over a wide extent. Eight tailes farther down there was another small settlement, opposite the mouth of the Licking River, but offering no superior advantages. As they wished to see it, they took their guns and went overland, through bashes and thick- ets. till they reached a double shanty, occupied by seven men, most of whom had been employed the previous Winter in' surveying Symmes's purchase. This was the first improvement made in Cincinnati, and these persons were the first settlers of Cincinnati. Joel Williams, a: agent of the owners, was also there, and he encouraged the two young men to stay and become residents of the . from Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
place, which they determined to do. Both Burns and Irwin purchased lots.
The first hewed log-house was erected by Robert Ben- ham, and Irwin and all the men in the settlement hyped to put it up. It was situated near Front and Main. The settlers at that time had to depend chiefly upon the hunt- ers for their meat. Irwin went frequentiy on these cx- cursions, and much improved his knowledge of hunting thereby. No Indians were visible at this time. Mr. Irwin, three months after arrival, accompanied one of the settlers, Mr. Kitchell. up stream, in a boat which had been built at the infant settlement, after a tedious time arriving at Wheeling, and then going to bis father's house in. Pennsylvania, where he remained until the following year. In the Summer of 1789 Major Doughty descended the Ohio River from Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the Muskingum, with one hundred and forty men, and began the construction of a fort at the settlement opposite the mouth of the Licking. This structure, known as Fort Washington, was one of the best forts of wood ever built in the West. Josiah Harmar, who had borne arms with credit as a colonel during the Revolutionary War, was commissioned as brigadier-general, and assigned to the command of the Western army, in 1789. He arrived at Fort Washington with three hundred men, on the twenty- pinth day of December in that year. The continuance of Indian hostilities and depredations on the infant set- tlements of the West determined the general government to make an effort to terminate the war by marching an army into the Indian conutry, and attacking the enemy on their own ground. A call for volunteers and a requi- sition or draft of militia from the States of Pennsylvania and Kentucky were made for the contemplited .expedi- tion, under the command of General Harmar, against the Indians. Major James Paul, of Uniontown, Penn- sylvania, raised a battalion of volunteers, which was joined by Thomas Irwin. He belonged to the company under the command of Captain Faulkner, who had been an officer in the War of the Revolution. Mr. Irwin was elected ensign, and Mr. Huestou lieutenant. They de- seended the Chio River ir boats, in December, 1790, land- ing at Fort Washington on the 19th. The principal ob- jeet of the expedition was to destroy the Indian villages at and near the confluence of the St. Joseph River and St. Mary's River, where they units and form the Maumee, near where Fort Wayne was afterward built. Colonel Hardin took the advance, and marched to Puede Crock. a short distance west of where the town of Lebanon now is, and there encamped, General Harmar following with the main body, four days later. His force consisted of three hundred and twenty soldiers of the regular army, forming two batta!'ons, commanded respectively by Majors Wyllys oud Doughty, and a company of artillery under the command of Captain Ferguson, with three brass pieces, and eight hundred and thirty-three volunteers and naltia
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
The army followed the trace made by General George Rogers Clark with his army in his expedition against the Indian towns in October, 1782, as far as the Piqua towns. The route pursued was through what is now the northeast part of Hamilton County, then by Lebanon, Xenia, and Mad River. The expedition was successful in one of its objects, that of burning the Indian town at the forks of the Maunice, and after this began sending out small parties to harass the Indians.
But a different fate awaited some of them. On the 18th of October a detachment of three hundred men was sent out with a view of seeing what discoveries they could make. Ensign Irwin was with this body, as was also Captain John Armstrong, afterward commandant at Fort Hamilton. They returned at sunset. The next morning the same troops were ordered out, and were placed under the command of Colonel Hardin. During the day they found numerous fresh tracks of Indians, who appeared to have been making a hasty retreat. Colonel Hardin was so eager for pursuit that he immediately started out with the principal portion of his troops, in such a hurry that he neglected to communicate his movements to Captain Faulkner, who was stationed at one side, and out of sight of the others.
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