USA > Ohio > Fulton County > A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio, an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. I > Part 5
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TERRITORY OF THE
UNITED STATES NORTHWEST OF THE
OHIO RIVER
1
and to him was committed the perilous task of allaying the restlessness among the Indians. Eventually this was effected by the payment of a "considerable sum of money" to the Indians, who however were not those in supreme authority. Many settlers were murdered, and event- ually the unrest became so serious that General Harmar was ordered, in 1790, to conduct an expedition against the Maumee towns, which were reported to be the headquarters at which all the depredations were planned. The army, under General Harmar, marched northward, from near Fort Washington, on October 4, 1790. It was composed of about 1500 soldiers, four-fifths of whom however were untrained militia. Certain Indian villages were destroyed, but the unreliability of the militia troops soon became evident, and forced General Harmar eventually to decide to return to Fort Washington, which he reached about October 30th. There was much adverse criticism, but a court of inquiry acquitted General Harmar, who, however, resigned his commission soon afterwards.
20
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
The failure of General Harmar to effect the main purpose for which the expedition had been organized, which purpose was the establishment of strong fortress communications throughout the Maumee country, caused General St. Clair to recommend the sending of another pumtive expedition. Accordingly, in September, 1791, an army of 2,300 "effectives" departed, General St. Clair being in command. By the time it had reached the eastern fork of the Wabash, about a mile eastward of the Ohio-Indiana line, the effective force was only about 1400 men. And there, the next morning, the camp was suddenly attacked by Indians, who "shot down the troops, as hunters would slaughter a herd of standing buffalo." The officers could not stay the wild rout which followed. It was a far greater disaster than that which General Harmar had sustained, and altogether the casualties exceeded half of the forces engaged. General St. Clair manifested signal personal valor, but had perforce to follow his troops in retreat. The inevitable court of inquiry sat, and its history duplicated that of the Harmar inquiry, for General St. Clair was exonerated, and, like his predecessor in misfortune, he soon afterwards resigned his commission.
The defeat of two American armies, did not tend to instil into the Indian mind any clear recognition of the authority of the United States. The Maumee Indians, in particular, continued to be belligerently inclined, and not amenable to peace overtures. Almost daily, fresh and revolting stories of massacres reached Washington, and the under- taking of another expedition became imperative. Anthony Wayne was chosen to command the expedition. The choice was an excellent one, as events proved. "Mad Anthony," who gained that cognomen by a daredevil feat of an earlier day, in forcing his way into The Citadel of Stony Point at the point of the bayonet, was a soldier of well- established reputation, quick and resolute in action, an ideal Indian fighter. He proceeded to Pittsburg to organize his army, and in December, 1792, the 'Legion of the United States,' assembled at Legion- ville, about twenty miles below Pittsburg. General Wayne proceeded carefully. His raw troops he made into seasoned capable soldiers before he put them to the test of actual combat. He remained at Legionville, encamped, until the spring of 1793, and then the army was transported down the river, and landed at Hobson's Choice, not far from Cincinnati. There for several months the army underwent incessant drilling. There were several attempts made to effect peaceful understandings with the red men, and some were inclined to "bury the hatchet." The Maumee Indians, with whom was Simon Girty, however, met the overtures with the curt rejoinder: "If you seriously design to make a firm and lasting peace, you will immediately remove all your people from our side of the river" (the Ohio). The peace commissioners, who were at Detroit, were forced to declare the negotiations at an end. They returned to Fort Erie, and reported to General Wayne, who decided to advance without further delay. He left Fort Jefferson, and the first skirmish occurred near Fort St. Clair, south of Hamilton, where the Indians routed a small detachment, and captured about seventy horses. Pro- ceeding carefully, General Wayne established Fort Greenville, on the present site of the town of that name. There an encampment about fifty acres in extent was fortified, and a part of the army wintered in the stockade. Regular drill and teaching of devices of Indian warfare
.
VIEW OF THE MAUMEE TOWNS DESTROYED BY GENERAL HARMAR, Ortober, 1790
MIAMIS
1777777777
7777777
MIAMIS & SHAWANCES
PRINCIPAL TOWN OF
SHAWANEES
DELAWARES
١١٠١
141141
-- -
1414 4
111111
3+
---
---
--
-
-
22
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
were continued during the entire winter. Where General St. Clair was defeated, a detachment from General Wayne's army erected a fort, on Christmas Day, 1793. It was named Fort Recovery. The Indians undoubtedly were cognizant of every move, and it is stated were encouraged in their defiance by the British at Detroit, or at all events by British officials stationed at Detroit. It appears that the local officials, whether with the knowledge and authority of the British Government, or not, is not on record, despatched British soldiers, "three companies of Colonel England's regiment," to Maumee Rapids, to assist in building a fort there. One official wrote that this fort "put all the Indians here in great spirits" to resist the Americans. The fort was situated on the left bank of the Maumee River, within the limits of the present village of Maumee; and to Fort Miami eame regular reports of the progress of General Wayne's army. It was reported: "that the army marehed twice as far in a day as St. Clair's, that the troops marched in open order ready for immediate battle, and that the greatest precaution was exercised at night, by breastworks of fallen trees, etc., to guard against ambush and surprise."
Tr
ONIO
HAMILTON
COUNTY
1792
SC.O
SHAWNEE TOWN
LOWER
DETROIT
LAKE
HURON
17 92.
HAMILTON COUNTY
CANADA
ICTTA
CLEVELAND
LAKE ERIE
On June 30, 1794, the Indians attempted to storm Fort Recovery, but were beaten baek, after sanguinary fighting, which lasted for two days. This cheek disheartened some of the Upper Lake Indians, who began to return home. It seems that the attaek had not been in aceord- ance with the original plan of resistance to General Wayne's advanee, but the opportunity and the impetuosity of the Mackinae tribesmen brought it about. General Wayne's forces had, a few months earlier been increased by 1600 Kentucky cavalrymen, so that his command exceeded 3000. All realized that defeat must not come to this, the third, expedition, and they entered into their preparations with grim seriousness. The army left Fort Greenville on July 28th, 1794, pro- ceeding by way of Fort Recovery. The route led through the Black Swamp country, and it is thought by some that General Wayne's army passed over the ridge road near Wauseon. He certainly would select the highest ground possible, and at best, his progress in such swampy territory was slow. He halted at Girty's Town, and built Fort Adams. On August 8th they reached the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers, seventy-seven miles distant from Fort Recovery. General
23
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Wayne had planned to surprise the enemy at that point, but upon arrival found that the Indians had departed. It seems that General Wayne's plans were communicated to them by a deserter, and thus one of the main hopes of the American general was frustrated. Never- theless, he was able to devastate the region, which was what might be termed one of the main granaries of the tribes of the Maumee and Auglaize. He sent strong detachments up and down the river, destroy- ing the crops which were almost in the mature state. The Indians had acquired, from the French presumably, considerable skill in agriculture, and on the flat stretches bordering the river General Wayne found
MAJOR-GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE
vast fields of ripe and ripening corn. In the many raids, his forces laid waste to a considerable acreage of growing crops, making the succeeding winter one of the most disastrous the Indians of the neigh- borhood had experienced.
At the meeting of the rivers was an ideal location for the placing of a fort. Maybe, the general had purposed erecting one there. He probably had, for he ordered the construction of it almost immediately after the arrival of the army at that important point. And in all probability the news that came to him there, that the British garrison at Detroit was expected by the Indians to take active part in opposing his advance, influenced him to erect a very strong fortification. It was constructed in eight days, and pleased the general evidently, for after
The pricked lines show the route of the army of the United States under the command of General Wayne during the campaign of 1794. And Encampments. & Indian Villages.
The army consisted of a legion of regular troops & a detachment of Kentucky Militia, in all about 3000.
BATTLE BETWEEN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES
SWAN CREEN
INDIAN ENCAMPMENT
OP AUG 20 1794
LAKE ERIE
OCCORRE I.
TURKEY FOOT CREER.
0,
D. M.KEES STORE
ST JOSEPHS R
BEAN CRESA
JACKET
for DIT
The square figures denote the cessions of territory beyond the Indian boundary, made by the treaty of 1795.
VILLAGE
LAIZE
TO FORT WAYNE 1796
R.
B.
GENERAL WAYNE'S ROUTE ALONG THE MAUMEE.
(This is a copy of the original map, by Dr. Belknap, which is found in the library of Harvard College. It is the only map of this campaign. )
INDIAN VILLAGES
@ ROCHE DE BOUT
. MIAMI OF THE LAI
7. UNDER OCH WATHE & THE INDIANS ALO 20 1790
BEFORE BAP"PA THE ACTION
25
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
inspecting it, he turned to one of his staff, General Scott, and exclaimed: "I defy the English, Indians, and all the devils in Hell to take it." "Then call it Fort Defiance," suggested General Scott. By which circumstance the fort, and the subsequent city upon its site, happened to be so named, it is believed.
General Wayne proved himself to be a very efficient commander; very thorough, and ever alert. He gave the Indians no chance to surprise him. His intelligence department, or system of espionage, was very effective. He was served by a capable intrepid band of scouts and spies, men of the white race but, many of them, of almost life-long Indian associations. Some of the most effective of his scouts were white men who, in boyhood, had been captured by Indians, and had grown to manhood in Indian camps, thus naturally adopting Indian ways, and becoming as proficient as Indians in the general methods of life and warfare in the wilderness. They were wont to don Indian costumes, even to the war paint, and move freely and unsuspected among the Indians. Thus, General Wayne was well served, and able to circumvent the plannings of the enemy. As he proceeded on his march, and time after time maneuvered his forces so as to give no opening for successful attack by the Indians, the latter came to speak of him as "the chief who never sleeps." Later, after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, they came to know him by another, and even more flattering, name.
At Fort Defiance General Wayne intuitively felt that a conflict with the enemy could not long be averted. His scouts advised him that below him were definite indications that the impending conflict was near. However, political considerations were ever present to effect the purpose of the American commander without further bloodshed if possible, the political position being complicated, and portentous, be- cause of the presence of British troops on the line of march, resistance by which troops would, it was thought, inevitably involve the United States in another war with Britain. Therefore, at Washington's request, General Wayne, before leaving Fort Defiance, despatched a soldier, under a flag of truce, to the enemy's camp, bearing an offer of advan- tageous terms to the Indians, provided the latter no longer resisted the advance. A council of the confederated chiefs was held under a large elm tree, at the Grand Rapids of the Maumee, and although most of the chiefs were still hostile and belligerently disposed, one of the most powerful chiefs, Little Turtle (Mis-she-kence) of the Miamis, a far- seeing but brave man, was wishful to seek a peaceful solution to the trouble if possible. He argued: "We have beaten the enemy twice under separate commanders, but we cannot expeet the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him. During all the time he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the wateh- fulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me it would be well to listen to his offers of peace." Blue Jacket, a Shawnee chieftain, is supposed to have leaped up in the council and accused Little Turtle of cowardice, whereupon the latter sought no further to plead for peace, but replied: "Follow me to battle." Colonel Howard stated, in writing of this council, that "the eloquence of the wily Pottawatomie chief, Turkey Foot (Mis-sis-sa-in-zit), and the clamor of the braves
Perrysburg.
Manimech
FORT
MEIGN
Proctor's Encampment
Maumee City
Rapids
de Beruf
Wayne & Battle Ground
& state
PLAN ILLUSTRATING THE BATTLES OF THE MAUMEE.
Explanations .- The map shows about 8 miles of the country along each side of the Mamince, including the towns of Perrysburgh. Maumee City and Waterville.
Just previous to the battle of the Fallen Timbers, in August, 1994. Wayne's army was encamped at it locality called Roche de Bœuf, a short distance above the present site of Waterville. The battle com- meneed at the Presque Isle hill. The routed Indians were pursued to even under the guns of the British Fort Miami.
Fort Meigs, memorable from having sustained two sieges in the year 1-13, is shown on the east side of the Maumee, with the British batteries on both sides of the river, and above the British fort. the position. of Proctor's encampment.
Rache
.... ..
Miami
27
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
for war, prevailed, and the council closed its deliberation at the dawn of day and declared for war." Meanwhile, General Wayne had not waited for an answer to his peace proposal. He knew the character, in war, of the Indian, and proceeded with his operations as planned while the Indians deliberated. A week after the peace messenger had been despatched, the American army left Fort Defiance, and three days later reached Roche de Boeuf, a massive frowning rock which rises from the western side of the river, about a mile above the spot where later the village of Waterville was established. It has been authenticated that General Wayne's march from Fort Defiance followed the left bank of the river, but actually how far inland from the river bank his route lay is not known. It is possible that it followed the ridge road. At
LITTLE TURTLE ( MIS-SHE-KENCE) CHIEF OF THE MIAMIS.
Roche de Boeuf, which he reached on August 18th, he met his returning messenger, who carried an evasive reply from the Indians, who inti- mated that if General Wayne would tarry ten days longer, the tribes would treat with him for peace. Wayne detected the ruse, and knowing that the Indians were immediately before him, and preparing to attack, he resolved to ignore the request, and attack the Indians forth- with, before they could be reinforced by British or Indian forces. His scouts reported that there were at least two thousand Indians, of the Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Chippewa, and Iroquois tribes gathered near Fort Miami, with their right resting on Swan Creek; also that the renegades McKee, Girty, and Elliott, with about seventy white rangers, disguised as Indians, from Detroit, were with them. The Indians were under the supreme joint command of Little Turtle, of the Miamis, and Blue Jacket, of the Shawnees. The former had been the chief mainly responsible for the discomfiture of
FORT DEFIANCE, AS RESTORED.
29
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
General Harmar, and the disastrous campaign of General St. Clair. Following the council under the elm tree at Maumee, the Indians swept through the woods in long columns, and took up what they deemed to be an impregnable position on, and around, Presque Isle Hill, about two miles above Maumee. The position selected was one which had many natural advantages, and strategically it was rendered more desirable for defence by the fact that during a tornado of the previous year the trees had been torn down, and lay literally an interlaced stretch of fallen timbers, between which the Indians could lie and, as they thought, safely hurl defiance at the advancing army. It was thought that cavalry, in which arm General Wayne's army was so strong, would be useless over such ground, and that thus the American force would be reduced practically to one-half its full strength. The Indians formed in three long lines, their left resting on the river, and
THE ELM, AT MAUMEE, UNDER WHICH THE COUNCIL OF INDIAN CHIEFS WAS HELD PRIOR TO THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS, 1794
their right extending some two miles into the forest, at right angles to the Maumee. Wayne halted at Roche de Boeuf on the 19th, but at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 20th moved forward. His plan of battle included the mock defeat of his advanced line, which was to fall back, apparently in disorder, upon the main body, which then would execute quick maneuvers depending upon opportunities then disclosed. Accordingly, he sent forward a battalion of mounted Ken- tuckians, with orders to maintain a position far enough in advance of the main body to give the latter time to form, after the first attack. An hour later, the battle began, the cavalry being fired on by the Indians who were concealed in the long grass, and among the timbers; and as prearranged, the mounted troops fell back. General
30
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Wayne immediately reorganized his forces, maneuvering them into two lines, with cavalry on both flanks. He then gave the front line the order to charge with trailed arms. They were to administer the cold steel to the Indians while passing over the stretch of fallen timber, then turn, fire a well-directed volley into the Indians, and again charge with bayonets fixed, and before the Indians had a chance to reload their muskets. "Mad Anthony's" tacties were those of his Revolutionary days, and his characteristie impetuosity oceurred to his aide, just as the general had given the order to attack. "General Wayne" said the aide, Lt. William H. Harrison, "I'm afraid you'll get into the fight yourself and forget to give me the necessary field orders."
"Perhaps I may," responded Wayne, "and if I do, reeollect the standing order of the day is, charge the d --- d raseals with the bayonet."
It was very quickly over. Wayne's troops had not been drilled for so long and so thoroughly without being able to maneuver with alaerity and promptitude under fire. It has been stated that such was the impetuosity of the initial charge that the Indians and their white allies were driven from the eoverts almost immediately. Prodded from their hiding places by cold steel, and subjected to a deadly fire, the impaet was like that of a hurricane, and as Che-no-tin, meaning hurricane, or the wind, Wayne thereafter beeame known to the Indians. The American troops followed up the fleeing savages with such swiftness and fury, and poured such a destructive fire into their baeks, that few of the second line of Wayne's legion arrived in time to participate in the action. "Such was the impetuosity of the first line of infantry" reported Wayne "that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers. were driven from all their coverts in so short a time that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals Seott, Todd, and Barbie, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their troops proper positions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action, the enemy being driven in the course of an hour, more than two miles, through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one-half their numbers." Many of the Indians endeavored to eseape by swimming the river, but they were intereepted and eut down in mid-stream by the cavalry. Sur- prising to the Indians also, no doubt, were the feats of the cavalrymen, who, it seems, "galloped boldly among the Indians, leaping their horses over the fallen logs, and dodging in and out among the trees" swinging their long sabres with terrible effeet among the dismayed Indians. The enemy was driven to the very palisades of the British fort, Miami, the gates of which fortress, however, did not open as had been expected, to offer refuge to the defeated and pursued Indians. It has been stated that the British looked on, with apparent uneoneern, at this humiliation and defeat of their former allies, which was fortunate for both Britain and Ameriea, for had the garrison at that moment shown any sign of intervening, General Wayne would have attempted to storm the fortress, and international relations would have been strained probably to beyond the breaking point. In faet, General Wayne rode to within a few hundred feet of Fort Miami, and seemed to seriously eontemplate storming it. The impulse passed, his impetuosity being at most times subordinate to his responsibility. His military experience also must
31
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
have indieated to him the inadvisability of attacking, with but one small piece of artillery a fortification which mounted ten strong pieces of artillery. A letter eame to General Wayne next day from the British commandant at Fort Miami, in which he, Major Campbell, stated: "I have no hesitation, on my part, to say that I know of no war existing between Great Britian and America," but he asked in what light he was to view the American action "in making sueh near approaches to this garrison"; to which letter General Wayne replied that his army moved "far within the acknowledged jurisdiction of the United States of America," but that "were you entitled to an answer the most full and satisfactory one was announced to you from the muzzles of my small guns yesterday morning."
An interesting insight to the battle, as viewed from the Indian side, is given in a manuscript written by Jonathan Adler, who at the time lived with the Indians. His account reads as follows:
"We remained here (Defiance) about two weeks, until we heard of the approach of Wayne, when we packed up our goods and started for the old British fort at the Maumee Rapids. Here we prepared ourselves for battle, and sent the women and children down about three miles below the fort; and as I did not wish to fight, they sent me to Sandusky, to inform the Wyandots there of the great battle that was about to take place. I remained at Sandusky until the battle was over. The Indians did not wait more than three or four days, before Wayne made his appearance at the head of a long prairie on the river, where he halted, and waited for an opportunity to suit himself.
"Now the Indians are very curious about fighting, for when they know they are going into a battle, they will not eat just previous. They say that if a man is shot in the body when he is entirely empty, there is not half as much danger of the ball passing through the bowels as when they are full. So they started the first morning without eating anything, and moving to the end of the prairie, ranged themselves in order of battle at the edge of the timber. There they waited all day without any food, and at night returned and partook of their suppers. The second morning they again placed themselves in the same position, and again returned at night and supped. By this time, they had begun to get weak from eating only once a day, and coneluded they would eat breakfast. Some were eating, and others, who had finished, had moved forward to their stations, when Wayne's army was seen approaching. Soon as they were within gunshot, the Indians began firing upon them, and finding Wayne too strong for them attempted to. retreat. Those who were on the way heard the noise and sprang to their assistance. So some were running from and others to the battle, which created great confusion. In the meatime, the light horse had gone entirely around, and eame in upon their rear, blowing their horns and closing in upon them. The Indians now found that they were completely surrounded, and all that eould made their escape, and the balance were all killed, which was no small number. Among these last, with one or two exceptions, were all the Wyandots that lived at San- dusky at the time I went to inform them of the expected battle. The. main body of the Indians were baek nearly two miles from the battle- field. and Wayne had taken them by surprise, and made such a
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