USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio, containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc., relating to its general and local history : with descriptions of its counties, principal towns, and villages > Part 66
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In his official report of this affair, General Harrison observes that-" It will not be among the least of General Proctor's mortifications, that he has been baffled by a youth, who has just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, Gen. George R. Clarke."
Captain Hunter, of the 17th regiment, the second in command, conducted himself with great propriety : and never was there a set of finer young fellows than the subalterns, viz. : Lieutenants Johnson and Baylor of the 17th, Meeks of the 7th, and Ensigns Shipp and Duncan of the 17th.
Lieutenant Anderson of the 24th, was also noticed for his good conduct. Being without a command, he solicited Major Croghan for a musket and a post to fight at, which he did with the greatest bravery.
" Too much praise," says Major Croghan, " cannot be bestowed on the officers, non- commissioned officers and privates under my command, for their gallantry and good con- duct during the siege."
The brevet rank of lieutenant colonel was immediately conferred on Major Croghan, by the president of the United States, for his gallant conduct on this occasion. The ladies of Chillicothe also presented him an elegant sword, accompanied by a suitable address.
We take the above from Dawson's Life of Harrison, where it is quoted from some other source. In defending Gen. Harrison from the charges of cowardice and incompetency in not marching to the aid of the garrison previous to the attack, Dawson says :
The conduct of the gallant Croghan and his garrison received from every quarter the plaudits of their countrymen. This was what they most richly deserved. There was, however, some jealous spirits who took it into their heads to be dissatisfied with the course pursued by the commanding general. The order which was given to Colonel Croghan to evacuate and destroy the garrison previously to the attack, was loudly condemned, as well as the decision of the council of war, to fall back with the troops then at Seneca, to a posi- tion twelve miles in the rear. Both these measures, it has been said, were determined on by the unanimous advice of the council of war. It is not to be presumed that such men as composed that board, would have given advice which was in any way derogatory to the honor of the American arms. Every individual among them either had, before or afterwards, distinguished himself by acts of daring courage and intrepidity. We do not profess to be much acquainted with military matters, but the subject appears to us so plain as only to require a small portion of common sense perfectly to comprehend it. At the time that the determination was made to withdraw the garrison from Sandusky, it must be recollected that the general had only with him at Seneca about 400 infantry and 130 or 140 dragoons. The enemy, as he was informed by General Clay in the letter brought by Captain M'Cune, amounted to at least 5,000. With such a disparity of force, would it have been proper to have risked an action to preserve the post of Lower Sandusky, which of itself was of little or no importance, and which, the garrison being withdrawn, contained nothing of any value ? The posts of Fort Meigs and Upper Sandusky were of the utmost importance ; the former was amply provided with the means of defence, and was in no danger ; but the latter, weak in its defences, and with a feeble garrison, containing many thousands of barrels of flour and other provisions, the sole resource of the army for the en- suing campaign, was to be preserved at any risk. The position at Seneca was not in the direct line from Fort Meigs to Upper Sandusky. The enemy, by taking the direct route, would certainly reach it before General Harrison, as several hours must have elapsed before he could have been informed of their movement, even if it had been discovered the moment it had been commenced, a circumstance not very likely to happen. It therefore became
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necessary for the security of Upper Sandusky, that a position better adapted to that pur- pose should be assumed. There was another and most important reason for this move- ment: twelve miles in the rear of Seneca, towards Upper Sandusky, the prairie or open country commences. The infantry which the commander-in-chief had with him were raw recruits ; on the contrary, the squadron of dragoons were well disciplined, and had seen much service. In the country about Seneca, this important corps could have been of little service : in the open country to the rear, they would have defeated five times their number of Indians. It was for these reasons that it was determined by the council of war, to change the position of the troops at Seneca. If this movement did take place, the pro- priety of withdrawing the garrison of Lower Sandusky was obvious. The place was ex- tremely weak, and in a bad position. It was not intended originally for a fort. Before the war it was used as the United States' Indian factory, and had a small stockade around it, merely for the purpose of keeping out drunken Indians. It was, moreover, commanded by a hill, within point blank shot, on the opposite side of the river. To those who sup- pose that General Harrison should have advanced upon the enemy, the moment he dis- covered that Sandusky was attacked, we must, in the language of the general and field officers who were present on the occasion, "leave them to correct their opinions in the school of experience." General Harrison had been reinforced a day or two before the siege of Sandusky, by the 28th regiment, raised in Kentucky. After having received this corps, he could not have marched more than 800 effective men without risking his stores, and, what was of still more consequence, 150 sick at Seneca, to be taken by the smallest party of Indians. The scouts of the army brought information that the Indians were very numerous in the direction of Fort Meigs. The general conjectured that a large portion of the Indians were then ready to fall on his flank or rear, or the defenceless camp at Seneca, should he advance. The information he received from the British prisoners confirmed this opinion ; a body of 2000 being there under the command of Tecumseh. At the moment of which we are speaking, the volunteers of Ohio were rapidly approaching. Now, under these circumstances, does any reasonable man believe that General Harrison should have advanced with his 800 raw recruits, against a force in front which he knew to be so much superior in numbers, and with the probability of having one equally large hanging on his flank ? What would have been thought of his abilities as a general, even if he had been successful against General Proctor, (of which, with his small force, there was little proba- bility,) if in his absence Tecumseh, with his 2000 warriors, had rushed upon Camp Seneca, destroyed his stores, tomahawked his sick soldiers, and pursuing his route towards Upper Sandusky, defeated the Ohio volunteers, scattered as they were in small bodies, and finally ending his career with the destruction of the grand magazine of his army, upon the preserva- tion of which all his hopes of future success depended ? In all human probability this would have been the result, had General Harrison advanced to the relief of Fort Stephen- son sooner than he did. It was certainly better to risk for a while the defence of that fort to the talents and valor of Croghan, and the gallant spirits who were with him, than to jeopardize the whole prospects of the campaign.
About 13 miles above Lower Sandusky, at the falls of the river, is the manufacturing village of Ballsville, containing 1 cotton and 1 woollen factory, 2 flouring mills, and about 30 dwellings. It was about half a mile southwest of this village, that Col. Ball had a skir- mish with the Indians, a day or two previous to the assault of Fort Stephenson. There is, or was a few years since, an oak tree on the site of the action, on the road to Columbus, with 17 hacks in it to indicate the number of Indians killed on the occasion. We have an account of this affair, derived from one of the dragoons present.
The squadron were moving towards the fort when they were suddenly fired upon by the Indians from the west side of the road, whereupon Colonel Ball ordered a charge, and he and suite and the right flank being in advance, first came into action. The colonel struck the first blow. He dashed in between two savages and cut down the one on the right ; the other being slightly in the rear, made a blow with a tomahawk at his back, when, by a sudden spring of his horse, it fell short, and was buried deep in the cantel and pad of his saddle. Before the savage could repeat the blow, he was shot by Corporal Ryan. Lieut. Hedges (now General Hedges of Mansfield) following in the rear, mounted on a small horse, pursued a large Indian, and just as he had come up to him his stirrup broke, and he fell head first off the horse, knocking the Indian down. Both sprang to their feet, when
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ยท SCIOTO COUNTY.
Hedges struck the Indian across his head, and as he was falling, buried his sword up to its hilt in his body. At this time, Captain Hopkins was seen on the left in pursuit of a power- ful savage, when the latter turned and made a blow at the captain with a tomahawk, at which his horse sprang to one side. Cornet Hayes then came up and the Indian struck at him, his horse in like manner evading the blow. Serjeant Anderson now arriving, the Indian was soon dispatched. By this time the skirmish was over, the Indians, who were only about 20 in number, being nearly all cut down; and orders were given to retreat to the main squadron. Colonel Ball dressed his men ready for a charge, should the Indians appear in force, and moved down without further molestation to the fort, where they arrived at about 4 P. M.
Woodville is in the Black swamp, on the Portage river and the Western Reserve and Maumee turnpike, 15 w. of Lower Sandusky. It was laid out in 1838, by Hon. A. E. Wood, and contains 1 Lu- theran, 1 Methodist church, 2 stores, 2 tanneries, and 30 dwellings. Hamer's Corners, 8 miles E. of the county seat, has 12 dwellings.
SCIOTO.
SCIOTO was formed May 1st, 1803. The name Scioto was origi- nally applied by the Wyandots to the river ; they however called it Sci, on, to : its signification is unknown .* The surface is generally hilly, and some of the hills are several hundred feet in height. The river bottoms are well adapted to corn, and on a great part of the hill land small grain and grass can be produced. Iron ore, coal, and excellent freestone are the principal mineral productions of value. The manufacture of iron is extensively carried on in the eastern part of the county, where there are six furnaces in opera- tion, viz. : the Ohio, Junior, Franklin, Clinton, Scioto and Bloom. The principal agricultural products are corn, wheat and oats. The following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population : Bloom, 913 578
Jefferson,
Union, 570
Brush Creek, 401
Madison,
830
Vernon, 902
Clay, 696
Morgan,
265 Washington, 653
Green, 973
Nile,
860
Wayne, 1853
Harrison, 686
Porter,
1014
The population of Scioto in 1820, was 5,750 ; in 1830, 8,730, and in 1840, 11,194, or 19 inhabitants to a square mile.
The mouth of the Scioto was a favorite point with the Indians from which to attack boats ascending or descending the Ohio. We have several incidents to relate, the first from Marshall's Kentucky, and the last two from M'Donald's Sketches.
A canoe ascending the Ohio about the last of March, 1790, was taken by the Indians near the mouth of Scioto, and three men killed. Within a few days after, a boat coming down was decoyed to shore by a white man who feigned distress, when fifty savages rose from concealment, ran into the boat, killed John May and a young woman, being the first persons they came to, and took the rest of the people on board prisoners. It is probable that they owed, according to their ideas of duty, or of honor, these sacrifices to the manes of so many of their slaughtered friends.
While the caprices of fortune, the progression of fate, or the mistaken credulity of Mr.
* Col. John Johnston.
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SCIOTO COUNTY.
May, and his imitator, is to be seen in the essay to ensure their safety, by advancing to meet these savages, with out-stretched hands as the expression of confidence and the pledge of friendship. Mr. May had been an early adventurer and constant visitor to Ken- tucky. He was no warrior ; his object was the acquisition of land-which he had pur- sued, with equal avidity and success, to a very great extent. Insomuch, that had he lived to secure the titles, many of which have been doubtless lost by his death, he would proba- bly have been the greatest land holder in the country.
Soon after this event, for the Indians still continued to infest the river, other boats were taken, and the people killed or carried away captive.
The 2d of April they attacked three boats on the Ohio, near the confluence of the Sci- oto ; two being abandoned fell into the hands of the enemy, who plundered them: the other being manned with all the people, made its escape by hard rowing.
Such a series of aggression at length roused the people of the interior ; and General Scott, with two hundred and thirty volunteers, crossed the Ohio at Limestone, and was joined by General Harmar with one hundred regulars of the United States-these march for the Scioto ; the Indians had, however, abandoned their camp, and there was no gen- eral action. On the route a small Indian trail was crossed ; thirteen men, with a subal- tern, were detached upon it-they came upon four Indians in camp, the whole of whom were killed by the first fire.
This spring, 1792, four spies were employed to range from Limestone (now Maysville) to the mouth of Big Sandy river. These four were Samuel Davis, Duncan M'Arthur, (late governor of Ohio,) Nathaniel Beasley, (late canal commissioner, and major general of the militia,) and Samuel M'Dowel. These men, upon every occasion, proved them- selves worthy of the confidence placed in them by their countrymen. Nothing which could reasonably be expected of men, but was done by them. Two and two went to- gether. They made their tours once a week to the mouth of Big Sandy river. On Mon- day morning, two of them would leave Limestone, and reach Sandy by Wednesday even- ing. On Thursday morning, the other two would leave Limestone for the mouth of Sandy. Thus they would meet or pass each other about opposite the mouth of Scioto river ; and by this constant vigilance, the two sets of spies would pass the mouth. of Scioto, in going and returning, four times in each week. This incessant vigilance would be continued till late in November, or the first of December, when hostilities generally ceased, in the later years of the Indian wars. Sometimes the spies would go up and down the Ohio in canoes. In such cases one of them would push the canoe, and the other would go on foot, through the woods, keeping about a mile in advance of the canoe, the footman keeping a sharp look out for ambuscade, or other Indian sign. Upon one of those tours, when Davis and M'Arthur were together, going up the river with their canoe, they lay at night a short dis- tance below the mouth of Scioto. Early the next morning they crossed the Ohio in their canoe-landed and went across the bottom to the foot of the hill, where they knew of a fine deer-lick. This lick is situated about two miles below Portsmouth, and near Judge John Collins' house. The morning was very calm, and a light fog hung over the bottom. When Davis and M'Arthur had proceeded near the lick, M'Arthur halted, and Davis pro- ceeded, stooping low among the thick brush and weeds, to conceal himself. He moved on with the noiseless tread of the cat, till he got near the lick, when he straightened up to look if any deer were in it. At that instant he heard the sharp crack from an Indian's rifle, and the singing whistle of a bullet pass his ear. As the morning was calm and foggy, the smoke from the Indian's rifle settled around his head, so that the Indian could not see whether his shot had taken effect or not. Davis immediately raised his rifle to his face, and as the Indian stepped out of the smoke to see the effect of his shot, Davis, before the Indian had time to dodge out of the way, fired, and dropped him in his tracks. Davis im- mediately fell to loading his rifle, not thinking it safe or prudent to run up to an Indian with an empty gun. About the time Davis had his gun loaded, M'Arthur came running to him. Knowing that the shots he had heard were in too quick succession to be fired by the same gun, he made his best speed to the aid of his companion. Just as M' Arthur had stopped at the place where Davis stood, they heard a heavy rush going through the brush, when in an instant several Indians made their appearance in the open ground around the lick. Davis and M'Arthur were standing in thick brush, and high weeds ; and being un- perceived by the Indians, crept off as silently as they could, and put off at their best speed for their canoe-crossed the Ohio and were out of danger. All the time that Davis was loading his gun, the Indian he had shot did not move hand or foot, consequently he ever after believed he killed the Indian.
During the summer of 1794, as the packet-boat was on her way up, near the mouth of the Scioto, a party of Indians fired into the boat as it was passing near the shore, and one
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SCIOTO COUNTY.
man, John Stout, was killed, and two brothers by the name of Colvin were severely wounded. The boat was hurried by the remainder of the crew into the middle of the stream, and then returned to Maysville. The four " spies" were at Maysville, drawing their pay and ammunition, when the packet-boat returned. Notwithstanding the recent and bloody defeat sustained in the packet-boat, a fresh crew was immediately procured, and the four spies were directed by Col. Henry Lee, (who had the superintendence and di- rection of them,) to guard the boat as far as the mouth of Big Sandy river. As the spies were on their way up the river with the packet-boat, they found concealed and sunk in the mouth of a small creek, a short distance below the mouth of the Scioto, a bark canoe, large enough to carry seven or eight men. In this canoe a party of Indians had crossed the Ohio, and were prowling about somewhere in the country. Samuel M'Dowel was sent back to give notice to the inhabitants, while the other three spies remained with the packet-boat till they saw it safe past the mouth of Big Sandy river.
At this place the spies parted from the boat, and commenced their return for Maysville. On their way up they had taken a light canoe. Two of them pushed the canoe, while the others advanced on foot to reconnoiter. On their return the spies floated down the Ohio in their canoe, till they came nearly opposite the mouth of the Scioto river, where they landed, and Duncan McArthur, [afterwards Governor of Ohio,] went out into the hills in pursuit of game. Treacle and Beasley went about a mile lower down the river and landed their canoe, intending also to hunt till McArthur should come up with them. Mc- Arthur went to a deer lick, with the situation of which he was well acquainted, made a blind, behind which he concealed himself, and waited for game. He lay about an hour, when he discovered two Indians coming to the lick. The Indians were so near him be- fore he saw them that it was impossible for him to retreat without being discovered. As the boldest course appeared to him to be the safest, he determined to permit them to come as near to him as they would, shoot one of them, and try his strength with the other. Imagine his situation. Two Indians armed with rifles, tomahawks and scalping-knives, approaching in these circumstances, must have caused his heart to beat pit-a-pat. He per- mitted the Indians, who were walking towards him in a stooping posture, to approach un- disturbed. When they came near the lick, they halted in an open piece of ground, and straightened. up to look into the lick for game. This halt enabled McArthur to take de- liberate aim from a rest, at only fourteen steps distance ; he fired, and an Indian fell. Mc Arthur remained still a moment, thinking it possible that the other Indian would take to flight. In this he was mistaken ; the Indian did not even dodge out of his track when his companion sunk lifeless by his side.
As the Indian's gun was charged, McArthur concluded it would be rather a fearful job to rush upon him, he therefore determined upon a retreat. He broke from his place of concealment and ran with all his speed ; he had run but a few steps when he found him- self tangled in the top of a fallen tree : this caused a momentary halt. At that instant the Indian fired, and the ball whistled sharply by him. As the Indian's gun, as well as his own, was now empty, he thought of turning round and giving him a fight upon equal terms. At this instant several other Indians came in sight, rushing with savage screams through the brush. He fled with his utmost speed, the Indians pursuing and firing at him as he ran ; one of their balls entered the bottom of his powder-horn and shivered the side of it next his body into pieces. The splinters of his shattered powder-horn were propelled with such force by the ball that his side was considerably injured and the blood flowed freely. The ball in passing through the horn had given him such a jar that he thought for some time it had passed through his side ; but this did not slacken his pace. The Indians pursued him some distance. McArthur, though not very fleet, was capable of enduring great fatigue, and he now had an occasion which demanded the best exertion of his strength. He gained upon his pursuers, and by the time he had crossed two or three ridges he found himself free from pursuit, and turned his course to the river.
When he came to the bank of the Ohio, he discovered Beasley and Treacle in the ca- noe, paddling up the stream, in order to keep her hovering over the same spot, and to be more conspicuous should McArthur make his escape from the Indians. They had heard the firing, and the yelling in pursuit, and had no doubt about the cause, and had concluded it possible, from the length of time and the direction of the noise that McArthur might have effected his escape. Nathaniel Beasley and Thomas Treacle were not the kind of men to fly at the approach of danger and forsake a comrade. McArthur saw the canoe, and made a signal to them to come ashore. They did so, and McArthur was soon in the canoe, in the middle of the stream and out of danger. Thus ended this day's adventures of the spies and their packet-boat, and this was the last attack made by the Indians upon a boat in the Ohio river.
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SCIOTO COUNTY.
It is said tnat 1} miles below the old mouth of the Scioto, stood, about the year 1740, a French fort or trading station. Prior to the settlement at Marietta, an attempt at settlement was made at Ports- mouth, the history of which is annexed from an article in the Amer- ican Pioneer, by George Corwin, of Portsmouth.
In April, 1785, four families from the Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania, descended he Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, and there moored their boat under the high bank where Portsmouth now stands. They commenced clearing the ground to plant seeds for a crop to support their families, hoping that the red men of the forest would suffer them to remain and improve the soil. They seemed to hope that white men would no longer pro- voke the Indians to savage warfare.
Soon after they landed, the four men, heads of the families, started up the Scioto to see the paradise of the West, of which they had heard from the mouths of white men who had traversed it during their captivity among the natives. Leaving the little colony, now consisting of four women and their children, to the protection of an over-ruling Providence, they traversed beautiful bottoms of the Scioto as far up as the prairies above, and opposite to where Piketon now stands. One of them, Peter Patrick by name, pleased with the country, cut the initials of his name on a beech, near the river, which being found in after times, gave the name of Pee Pee to the creek that flows through the prairie of the same name ; and from that creek was derived the name of Pee Pee township in Pike county.
Encamping near the site of Piketon, they were surprised by a party of Indians, who killed two of them as they lay by their fires. The other two escaped over the hills to the Ohio river, which they struck at the mouth of the Little Scioto, just as some white men going down the river in a pirogue were passing. They were going to Port Vincennes, on the Wabash. The tale of woe which was told by these men, with entreaties to be taken on board, was at first insufficient for their relief. It was not uncommon for Indians to com- pel white prisoners to act in a similar manner to entice boats to the shore, for murderous and marauding purposes. After keeping them some time running down the shore, until they believed that if there were an ambuscade of Indians on shore they were out of its reach, they took them on board and brought them to the little settlement, the lamentations at which cannot be described, nor its feeling conceived, when their peace was broken and their hopes blasted by the intelligence of the disaster reaching them. My informant was one who came down in the pirogue.
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