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 79
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Drawing up his whole force, cavalry and infantry, on the plain beneath the fortress, he caused such of the boats of General Clay's division as were laden with ammunition, in which the garrison stood in much need, to be dropped under the works, and the stores im- mediately disembarked. All this took place in the period occupied for the exchange of prisoners. The remaining boats, containing the private baggage and stores of the divis- ion, fell into the hands of the Indians still engaged in the pursuit of the fugitives, and the plunder they acquired was immense. General Harrison having secured his stores, and received the officers and men exchanged for his captives, withdrew into the garrison, and the bombardment was recommenced.
The victory obtained at the Miami, was such as to reflect credit on every branch of the service ; but the satisfaction arising from the conviction, was deeply embittered by an act of cruelty, which, as the writer of an impartial memoir, it becomes my painful duty to re- cord. In the heat of the action, a strong corps of the enemy, which had thrown down their arms and surrendered prisoners of war, were immediately dispatched under an escort of 50 men, for the purpose of being embarked in the gun-boats, where it was presumed they would be safe from the attacks of the Indians. This measure, although dictated by the purest humanity, and apparently offering the most probable means of security, proved of fatal import to several of the prisoners. On reaching our encampment, then entirely deserted by the troops, they were met by a band of cowardly and treacherous Indians, who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, guided by the savage instinct of their nature, approached the column, and selecting their victims, commenced the work of blood. In vain did the harrassed and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their destroyers. The phrenzy of these wretches knew no bounds, and an old and excellent soldier named Russell, of the 41st, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest a victim from the grasp of his murderer. Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen beneath the steel of the infuriated party, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was doing, rode up at full speed, and raising his tomahawk, threatened to destroy the first man who refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of coercion had hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasperated chieftain, produced an in- stantaneons effect, and they retired at once humiliated and confounded .*
* Drake, in his life of Tecumseh, in quoting a letter from Wm. G. Ewing to John H. James, Esq., of Urbana, gives full particulars of Tecumseh's interference on this occasion, which we here copy.
" While this blood-thirsty carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the rear, in the Indian tongue, when, turning round, he saw Tecumseh coming with all the rapidity his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two Indians had an American, and were in the act of killing him. He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and
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WOOD COUNTY.
The survivors of this melancholy catastrophe were immediately conveyed on board the gun-boats, moored in the river, and every precaution having been taken to prevent a re- newal of the scene, the escorting party proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom the rites of sepulture were afforded, even before those of our own men, who had fallen in the action. Col. Dudley, second in command of Gen. Clay's division, was among the number of the slain.
On the evening of the second day after this event, I accompanied Maj. Muir, of the 41st, in a ramble throughout the encampment of the Indians, distant some few hundred yards from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view, was at once of the most ludicrous and revolting nature. In various directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken in the boats of the American division, and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their riches, carefully examining each article, and attempting to divine its use. Several were decked out in the uniforms of the officers; and although embarrassed in the last degree in their movements, and dragging with difficulty the heavy military boots with which their legs were for the first time covered, strutted forth much to the admiration of their less fortu- nate comrades. Some were habited in plain clothes ; others had their bodies clad with clean white shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner, with the swarthiness of their skins; all wore some articles of decoration, and their tents were ornamented with saddles, bridles, rifles, daggers, swords and pistols, many of which were handsomely mounted and of curious workmanship. Such was the ridiculous part of the picture ; but mingled with these, and in various directions, were to be seen the scalps of the slain drying in the sun, stained on the fleshy side with vermillion dyes, and dangling in air, as they hung suspended from the poles to which they were attached, together with hoops of various sizes, on which were stretched portions of human skin, taken from various parts of the human body, principally the hand and foot, and yet covered with the nails of those parts ; while scattered along the ground were visible the members from which they had been separated, and serving as nu- triment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accompanied.
As we continued to advance into the heart of the encampment, a scene of a more dis- gusting nature arrested our attention. Stopping at the entrance of a tent occupied by the Minoumini tribe, we observed them seated around a large fire, over which was suspended a kettle containing their meal. Each warrior had a piece of string hanging over the edge of the vessel, and to this was suspended a food, which, it will be presumed we heard not without loathing, consisted of a part of an American ; any expression of our feelings, as we declined the invitation they gave us to join in their repast, would have been resented by the Indians without much ceremony. We had, therefore, the prudence to excuse our- selves under the plea that we had already taken our food, and we hastened to remove from a sight so revolting to humanity.
Since the affair of the 5th, the enemy continued to keep themselves shut up within their works, and the bombardment, although carried on with vigor, had effected no practicable breach. From the account given by the officers captured during the sortie, it appears that, with a perseverance and toil peculiar to themselves, the Americans had constructed sub- terranean passages to protect them from the annoyance of our shells, which sinking into the clay, softened by the incessant rains that had fallen, instead of exploding were speedily extinguished. Impatient of longer privations, and anxious to return to their families and occupations, numbers of the militia withdrew themselves in small bodies, and under cover of the night ; while the majority of Indians, enriched by plunder and languishing under the tediousness of a mode of warfare so different from their own, with less ceremony and cau- tion, left us to prosecute the siege as we could.
Tecumseh at the head of his own tribe, (the Shawnees,) and a few others, amounting in all to about 400 warriors, continued to remain. The troops also were worn down with constant fatigue ; for here, as in every other expedition against the enemy, few even of the officers had tents to shield them from the weather. A few pieces of bark torn from
the other by the breast, and threw them to the ground; drawing his tomahawk and scalp- ing knife, he ran in between the Americans and Indians, brandishing them with the fury of a mad man, and daring any one of the hundreds that surrounded him, to attempt to murder another American. They all appeared confounded, and immediately desisted. His mind appeared rent with passion, and he exclaimed almost with tears in his eyes, “ Oh ! what will become of my Indians." He then demanded in an authoritative tone, where Proctor was; but casting his eye upon him at a small distance, sternly inquired why he had not put a stop to the inhuman massacre. " Sir," said Proctor, "your Indians cannot be commanded." "Begone !" retorted Tecumseh, with the greatest disdain, " you are unfit to command ; go and put on petticoats."
539
WOOD COUNTY.
the trees, and covering the skeleton of a hut, was their only habitation, and they were merely separated from the damp earth on which they lay, by a few scattered leaves, on which was generally spread a blanket by the men, and a cloak by the officers. Hence, frequently arose dysentery, ague, and the various ills to which an army encamped on a wet and unhealthy ground, is inevitably subject ; and fortunate was he who possessed the skin of a bear or buffalo, on which he could repose his wearied limbs, after a period of suffering and privation, which those who have never served in the wilds of America, can with diffi- culty comprehend. Such was the position of the contending parties towards the middle of May, when Gen. Proctor, despairing to effect the reduction of the fort, caused preparations to be made for the raising the siege. Accordingly the gun-boats ascended the river, and anchored under the batteries, the guns of which were conveyed on board under a heavy fire from the enemy. The whole being secured, the expedition returned to Amherstburg, the Americans remained tranquil within their works, and suffered us to depart unmolested.
Gen. Harrison having repaired the fort from the damage occa- sioned by the siege, left for the interior of the state, to organize new levies, and entrusted the command to Gen. Green Clay. The enemy returned to Malden, where the Canadian militia were disbanded. Shortly after commenced the second siege of Fort Meigs.
On the 20th of July, the boats of the enemy were discovered ascending the Miami to Fort Meigs, and the following morning, a party of ten men were surprised by the Indians, and only three escaped death or capture. The force which the enemy had now before the post, was 5000 men under Proctor and Tecumseh, and the number of Indians was greater than any ever before assembled on any occasion during the war, while the defenders of the fort amounted to but a few hundred.
The night of their arrival, Gen. Green Clay dispatched Capt. M'Cune, of the Ohio mili- tia, to Gen. Harrison, at Lower Sandusky, to notify him of the presence of the enemy. Capt. M'Cune was ordered to return, and inform Gen. Clay to be particularly cautious against surprise, and that every effort would be made to relieve the fort.
It was Gen. Harrison's intention, should the enemy lay regular siege to the fort, to select 400 men, and by an unfrequented route reach there in the night, and at any hazard break through the lines of the enemy.
Capt. M'Cune was sent out a second time with the intelligence to Harrison, that about 800 Indians had been seen from the fort, passing up the Miami, designing, it was supposed, to attack Fort Winchester at Defiance. The general, however, believed that it was a ruse of the enemy, to cover their design upon Upper Sandusky, Lower Sandusky, or Cleveland, and accordingly kept out a reconoitering party to watch.
On the afternoon of the 25th, Capt. M'Cune was ordered by Harrison to return to the fort, and inform Gen. Clay of his situation and intentions. He arrived near the fort about daybreak on the following morning, having lost his way in the night, accompanied by James Doolan, a French Canadian. They were just upon the point of leaving the forest and entering upon the cleared ground around the fort, when they were intercepted by a party of Indians. They immediately took to the high bank with their horses, and re- treated at full gallop up the river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also mounted, until they came to a deep ravine, putting up from the river in a southerly direction, when they turned upon the river bottom and continued a short distance, until they found their further progress in that direction stopped by an impassable swamp. The Indians foresee- ing their dilemma, from their knowledge of the country, and expecting they would natu- rally follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. M'Cune guessed their inten- tion, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the fort, gaining, by this manœuvre, several hundred yards upon their pursuers. The Indians gave a yell of chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just as they neared the fort, M'Cune dashed into a thicket across his course, on the opposite side of which other Indians had huddled, awaiting their prey. When this body of Indians had thought them all but in their posses- sion, again was the presence of mind of M'Cune signally displayed. He wheeled his horse, followed by Doolan, made his way out of the thicket by the passage he had entered, and galloped around into the open space between them and the river, where the pursuers were checked by the fire from the block-house at the western angle of the fort. In a few minutes after their arrival, their horses dropped from fatigue. The Indians probably had orders to take them alive as they had not fired until just as they entered the fort ; but in the chase, M'Cune had great difficulty in persuading Doolan to reserve his fire until the last extrem- ity, and they therefore brought in their pieces loaded.
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WOOD COUNTY.
The opportune arrival of M'Cune no doubt saved the fort, as the intelligence he brought was the means of preserving them from an ingeniously devised stratagem of Tecumseh, which was put into execution that day, and which we here relate.
Towards evening, the British infantry were secreted in the ravine below the fort, and the cavalry in the woods above, while the Indians were stationed in the forest, on the San- dusky road, not far from the fort. About an hour before dark, they commenced a sham battle among themselves, to deceive the Americans into the belief that a battle was going on between them and a re-inforcement for the fort, in the hopes of enticing the garrison to the aid of their comrades. It was managed with so much skill, that the garrison instantly flew to arms, impressed by the Indian yells, intermingled with the roar of musketry, that a severe battle was being fought. The officers even of the highest grades were of that opinion, and some of them insisted on being suffered to march out to the rescue. Gen. Clay, although unable to account for the firing, could not believe that the general had so soon altered his intention, as expressed to Capt. M'Cune, not to send or come with any troops to Fort Meigs, until there should appear further necessity for it. This intelligence in a great measure satisfied the officers, but not the men, who were extremely indignant at being pre- vented from going to share the dangers of their commander-in-chief and brother soldiers, and perhaps had it not been for the interposition of a shower of rain, which soon put an end to the battle, the general might have been persuaded to march out, when a terrible massacre of the troops would have ensued.
The enemy remained around the fort but one day after this, and on the 28th, embarked with their stores and proceeded down the lake, and a few days after met with a severe re- pulse, in their attempt to storm Fort Stephenson.
We are informed by a volunteer aid of Gen. Clay, who was in the fort at the second siege, that preparations were made to fire the magazine, in case the enemy succeeded in an attempt to storm the fort, and thus involve all, friend and foe, in one common fate. This terrible alternative was deemed better, than to perish under the tomahawks and scalp- ing knives of the savages.
The soldiers of the northwestern army, while at Fort Meigs, and elsewhere on duty, frequently beguiled their time by singing patri- otic songs. A verse from one of them, sufficiently indicates their general character.
Freemen, no longer bear such slaughter, Avenge your country's cruel woe, Arouse and save your wives and daughters, Arouse, and expel the faithless foe. CHORUS-Scalps are bought at stated prices, Malden pays the price in gold.
Perrysburg, the county seat, named from Com. Perry, is 123 miles NW. of Columbus, on the Maumee river, just below Fort Meigs. It was laid out in 1816, at the head of navigation on the river. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 Universalist church, 2 newspaper printing offices, 8 mercantile stores, and had by the cen- sus of 1840, 1041 inhabitants. The building of steamers and sail vessels has been carried on here to a considerable extent. A canal for hydraulic purposes has been constructed here. It commences in the rapids of the Maumee, 5 miles above, and has 18 feet fall, affording power sufficient to carry 40 runs of stone.
A correspondent, residing in Perrysburg, has communicated to us a sketch of the speculations which attracted so much attention to the Maumee valley, some years since.
The notable era of speculation, embracing the years 1834, 5, 6, and part of '37, first at- tracted public attention to the Maumee valley, as a commercial mart. From the mouth of the river to the foot of the rapids, the country swarmed with adventurers. Those that did not regard any of the settlements (for neither of the beautiful villages of Toledo, Maumee or Perrysburg, were more than settlements at that time) as the points designated by nature and legislation for the great emporium, purchased tracts of land lying between and below
541
WYANDOT COUNTY.
whese towns, and laid out cities. It would amuse one to take the recorded maps of some of these embryo cities, with the designated squares, parks and public buildings, and walk over the desolate sites of the cities themselves. Manhattan, at the mouth of the river ; Oregon, 5 miles above ; Austerlitz, 6 miles, and Marengo, 9 miles, were joint contenders with the villages that have grown up, for the great prize. They all had their particular ad- vantages. Manhattan based her claim upon the location at the exact debouchure of the river. Oregon, in addition to all the advantages claimed by the other towns, added the fa- cilities of the location for engaging in the pork business, and her leading proprietor, in a placard posted up publicly in 1836, professed his belief, that these particular advantages were greater even, than those enjoyed by the city of Cincinnati. Marengo based her claims upon the fact, that her location was at the foot of the rock bar, and therefore at the virtual head of navigation. The result of all this was, that hundreds of young men, from the east and south, flocked to this valley during the years above named, with the hope of speedily amassing a fortune ; and of this number it is not too much to say, that full three- quarters, having no means at the commencement and depending upon some bold stroke for success, left the valley before the close of the year 1837, hopelessly involved. All these towns, some eleven, if I recollect rightly, in number, still form a part of the primeval for- ests of the Maumee, most of them, after ruining their proprietors, have been vacated, and the sounding names by which they were known, are a by-word, a reproach, or the butt-end of the coarse jokes of the more recent and fortunate adventurers in the valley.
Perrysburg, from Maumee City,
Gilead, at the head of the Maumee rapids, 18 miles above Perrys- burg, has about 150 inhabitants. There is much water power at that point. Otsego, Bowling Green and Portageville, are also small places in the county. The last, 18 miles south of the county seat, marks the site of one of Hull's encampments, when on his march to Detroit.
WYANDOT.
WYANDOT was formed from Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Han- cock, February 3d, 1845. The surface is level and the soil fertile. About one-third of it is prairie land, being covered by the Sandusky plains. These plains are chiefly bounded by the Sandusky, the Lit-
542
WYANDOT COUNTY.
tle Scioto and the Tyemochte, which last signifies in the Wyandot language, " around the plains." This tract in its natural state is cov- ered with a rank wild grass several feet in height, and in some parts are interspersed beautiful groves of timber. The following is a list of the townships in Wyandot :
Antrim,
Marseilles,
Ridge,
Crane,
Mifflin,
Salem,
Crawford,
Pitt,
Sycamore,
Eden,
Richland,
Tyemochte,
Jackson,
Wyandot having been so recently formed, its population is un- known ; it is, however, thinly settled, but is rapidly populating.
This county was, from an early day, a favorite residence of the Wyandot Indians ; it is noted for being the scene of Crawford's de- feat in June 1782, and his subsequent death by the most cruel tortures.
Crawford's Battle Ground.
The view representing Crawford's Battle Ground was taken on the road to Tiffin 3 miles north of Upper Sandusky, and 1 west of the Sandusky river. The action, it is said, began some distance north of the cabin shown, in the high grass of the prairie in which the Indians were concealed. The parties afterwards were engaged in the grove or island of timber represented in the view, called at this day " Battle Island," in which the principal action was fought. Many of the trees now bear the marks of the bullets, or rather the scars on their trunks made by the hatchets of the Indians
543
WYANDOT COUNTY.
in getting them out after the action. The large oak on the right of the view has these relics of that unfortunate engagement. A part of the whites slain were buried in a small swamp about 30 rods south of the spot from whence the drawing was taken. It is not shown in the view as the scene is represented to the eye as if looking in a northern direction.
The annexed history of Crawford's campaign we take from Dod- dridge's Notes :
Crawford's campaign, in one point of view at least, is to be considered as a second Mo- ravian campaign, as one of its objects was that of finishing the work of murder and plun- der with the christian Indians at their new establishment on the Sandusky. The next object was that of destroying the Wyandot towns on the same river. It was the resolu- tion of all those concerned in this expedition not to spare the life of any Indians that might fall into their hands, whether friends or foes. It will be seen in the sequel that the result of this campaign was widely different from that of the Moravian campaign the pre- ceding March.
It should seem that the long continuance of the Indian war had debased a considerable portion of our population to the savage state of our nature, Having lost so many relatives by the Indians and witnessed their horrid murders and other depredations on so extensive a scale, they became subjects of that indiscriminating thirst for revenge which is such a prominent feature in the savage character, and having had a taste of blood and plunder without risk or loss on their part, they resolved to go on and kill every Indian they could find, whether friend or foe.
Preparations for this campaign commenced soon after the return of the Moravian cam- paign in the month of March, and as it was intended to make what was called at that time " a dash," that is an enterprize conducted with secresy and dispatch, the men were all mounted on the best horses they could procure. They furnished themselves with all their outfits except some ammunition, which was furnished by the Lieutenant Colonel of Wash- ington county, [Pennsylvania.]
On the 25th of May, 1782, 480 men mustered at the old Mingo towns, on the western side of the Ohio river. They were all volunteers from the immediate neighborhood of the Ohio, with the exception of one company from Ten Mile in Washington county. Here an election was held for the office of commander-in-chief for the expedition. The candidates were Col. Williamson and Col. Crawford ; the latter was the successful candidate. When notified of his appointment it is said that he accepted it with apparent reluctance.
The army marched along " Williamson's trail" as it was then called, until they arrived at the upper Moravian town, in the fields belonging to which there was still plenty of corn on the stalks, with which their horses were plentifully fed during the night of their encamp- ment there.
Shortly after the army halted at this place, two Indians were discovered by three men, who had walked some distance out of the camp. Three shots were fired at one of them, but without hurting him. As soon as the news of the discovery of Indians had reached the camp, more than one half of the men rushed out, without command, and in the most tumultuous manner, to see what happened. From that time, Col. Crawford felt a presen- timent of the defeat which followed.
The truth is, that notwithstanding the secrecy and dispatch of the enterprize, the Indians were beforehand with our people. They saw the rendezvous on the Mingo bottom, knew their number and destination. They visited every encampment immediately on their leav- ing it, and saw from the writing on the trees and scraps of paper that "" no quarter was to be given to any Indian, whether man, woman or child."
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