Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916

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with Captain McKee, of the British army. [It is proper to state that Captain McKee asserted that he interfered to save Hartshorn, but that he refused quarter and attempted to kill him (McKee), and would have succeeded if he had not been anticipated by his (Mc- Kee's) servant. ]

Upon the advance of the American army in the following month, the British fort at the Rapids was again a point of rendezvous for the Indians. There the deficiencies in arms, ammunition and equipments were again supplied ; and there they were fed with regular rations from the king's stores, con- sisting of flour and Irish beef, until the arri- val of General Wayne with his army on the 20th of August. In the general action of that day there were two militia_companies from Amherstburg and Detroit. The captain of the cutter (who was also the clerk of the court at that place) was found among the killed, and one of his privates taken prisoner. These unequivocal acts of hostility on the part of Great Britain did not pass unnoticed by our government, and although anxious to avoid a general war, the President determined that the aggression on our territory by the erection of a fortress so far within our ac- knowledged limits required some decisive measure.

Authority was therefore given to General

Wayne to dispossess the intruders, if, in his opinion, it was necessary to the success of his operations against the Indians.

Although the qualification of this order, in its literal sense, might be opposed to its exe- cution after the entire defeat of the Indians -the daring violation of neutrality which was professed, by the supply of food, arms and ammunition to the enemy on the very morning of the action, afforded, in the opin. ion of General Wayne, a sufficient justifica- tion for its being carried into effect. An ac- curate examination, however, of the defences of the fort, made by the general at great per- sonal hazard, showed but too clearly that our small howitzers, which had been transported on the backs of horses, our only artillery, could make no impression upon its massive earthen parapet, while the deep fosse and frasing by which it was surrounded afforded no prospect of the success of an escalade, but at an expense of valuable lives, which the occasion did not seem to call for.

From my situation as aide-de-camp to the general-in-chief I mention these things from personal knowledge. If, then, the relation I have given is correct, it must be admitted that the war of the Revolution continued in the western country until the peace of Greenville in 1795.

There were some individuals on both sides who took an active part, either in the battle or its connecting events, who demand more than a passing notice. Among these were the faithful spies of Wayne, whose exploits McDonald in his sketches thus describes :

General Wayne, having a bold, vigilant and dexterous enemy to contend with, found it indispensably necessary to use the utmost caution in his movements to guard against surprise. To secure his army against the possibility of being ambuscaded, he employed a number of the best woodsmen the frontier afforded to act as spies. Captain Ephraim Kibby, one of the first settlers at Columbia, who had distinguished himself as a bold and intrepid soldier, commanded the principal part of this corps.

A very effective division of the spies was commanded by Captain William Wells. At- tached to Wells' command were the following men : Robert Mcclellan, one of the most active men on foot that ever lived. Next to him was Henry Miller, who deserves here a passing notice. He and a younger brother, named Christopher, had been made captives by the Indians while quite young, and adopted into an Indian family. He lived with them until about 24 years of age, when, although he had adopted all their customs, he began to think of returning to his relatives among the whites. His resolution continually gain- ing strength by reflection, he determined to make the attempt, and endeavored to induce his brother to accompany him in his flight, but to no purpose. Christopher was young when captured ; he was now a good hunter,

an expert woodsman and a free and indepen- dent Indian. Henry Miller, however, escaped through the woods, and arrived safe among his friends in Kentucky. Captain Wells was familiar with Miller during his captivity, and knew that he possessed that firm intrepidity which would render him a valuable compan- ion in time of need. To these were added Hickman, May and Thorp, all men of tried worth in Indian warfare.

Captain Wells and his four companions were confidential and privileged gentlemen in camp, who were only called upon to do duty upon very particular and interesting oc- casions. They were permitted a carte blanche among the horses of the dragoons, and when on duty always went well mounted; while the spies, commanded by Captain Kibby, went on foot and were kept constantly on the alert scouring the country in every direction.

In June, 1794, while the headquarters of the army was at Greenville, Wayne dispatched Wells with his corps, with orders to bring an Indian into the camp as prisoner. Accord- ingly, he proceeded cautiously with his party through the Indian country. They crossed the St. Mary's, and thence to the Auglaize, without meeting with any straggling parties of Indians. In passing up the latter they discovered a smoke, dismounted, tied up their horses and cautiously reconnoitred.

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They found three Indians encamped on a high, open piece of ground, clear of brush or any undergrowth, rendering it difficult to ap- proach them without being discovered. While reconnoitring they saw not very distant from the camp a fallen tree. They returned and went round, so as to get it between them and the Indians. The tree top being full of leaves would serve to screen them from ob- servation. They crept forward on their hands and knees with the caution of the cat, until they reached it, when they were within sev- enty or eighty yards of the camp. The In- dians were sitting or standing about the fire, roasting their venison, laughing and making merry antics, little dreaming that death was about stealing a march upon them. Arrived at the fallen tree, their plans were settled. McClellan, who was almost as swift of foot as a deer, was to catch the centre Indian, while Wells and Miller were to kill the other two, one shooting to the right and the other to the left. Resting the muzzles of their rifles on a log of the fallen tree, they aimed for the In- dians' hearts. Whiz went the balls, and both Indians fell. Before the smoke had risen two feet, Mcclellan was running with uplifted tomahawk for the remaining Indian, who bounded down the river, but finding himself likely to be headed if he continued in that direction, he turned and made for the river, which at that place had a bluff bank about twenty feet high. On reaching it he sprang off into the stream and sunk to his middle in the soft mud at its bottom. Mc- Clellan came after and instantly sprang upon him, as he was wallowing and endeavoring to extricate himself from the mire. The Indian drew his knife, the other raised his tomahawk and bade him throw down his knife or he would kill him instantly. He did so, and surrendered without further opposition.

By this time Wells and his companion came to the bank, and discovered the two quietly sticking in the mud. Their prisoner being secure, they selected a place where the bank was less precipitous, went down, dragged the captive out and tied him. He was sulky and refused to speak either Indian or English. Some of the party went back for their horses, while the others washed the mud and paint from the prisoner. When cleaned he turned out to be a white man, but still refused to speak, or give any account of himself. The party scalped the two Indians whom they had shot, and then set off for headquarters. Henry Miller having some suspicions that their prisoner might possibly be his brother Christopher, whom he had left with the In- dians years previous, rode up along side of him, and called him by his Indian name. At the sound he started, stared around, and eagerly inquired how he came to know his name. The mystery was soon explained. Their prisoner was indeed Christopher Miller ! A mysterious providence appeared to have placed him in a situation in the camp by which his life was preserved. Had he been standing either to the right or to the left, he would inevitably have been killed, and an

even chance, too, if not by his own brother. But that fate which appears to have doomed the Indian race to extinction permitted the white man to live.

When they arrived at Greenville their pris- oner was placed in the guard-house. Wayne often interrogated him as to what he knew of the future intentions of the Indians. Captain Wells and his brother Henry were almost constantly with him, urging him to abandon the idea of ever again joining the Indians, and to unite with the whites. For some time he was reserved and sulky, but at length be- came more cheerful, and agreed that if they would release him from his confinement he would remain among them. Captain Wells and Henry Miller urged Wayne to release him, who did so, with the observation that should he deceive them and return to the enemy they would be one the stronger. He appeared pleased with his change of situation, and was mounted on a fine horse, and other- wise equipped for war. He joined the com- pany of Wells, and continued through the war a brave and intrepid soldier.

As soon as Wells and his company had rested themselves, they were anxious for an- other bout with the red men. Time without action was irksome to such stirring spirits. Accordingly, in July they left Greenville, their number strengthened by the addition of Christopher Miller, with orders to bring in prisoners. When on these excursions they were always mounted on elegant horses, and dressed and painted in Indian style. They arrived in the country near the Auglaize, when they met a single Indian, and called upon him to surrender. Notwithstanding there were six against him, he refused, lev- elled his rifle, and as they approached him on horseback, fired, missed his mark and then ran. The thick underbrush enabling him to gain upon them, Christopher Miller and McClellan dismounted and pursued, and the latter soon overtook him. Upon this he turned and made a blow at Mcclellan with his rifle, which was parried. As it was McClellan's intention not to kill, he kept him at bay until Christopher came up, when they closed in and made him prisoner without re- ceiving injury. They then turned about and arrived with him at Greenville. He was re- ported to be a Pottawatamie chief of scarcely equalled courage and prowess. As Christo- pher Miller had performed his part on this occasion to the entire satisfaction of the brave spirits with whom he acted, he had, as he merited, their entire confidence.

On one of Captain Wells' peregrinations through the Indian country, as he came to the bank of the St. Mary's, he discovered a family of Indians coming up the river in a canoe. He dismounted from his horse and concealed his men, while he went to the bank of the river in open view, and called to the Indians to come over. As he was dressed in Indian costume and spoke in that language, they crossed to him unsuspicious of danger. The moment the canoe struck the shore Wells heard the nicking of the cocks of his

LUCAS COUNTY.

comrades' rifles as they prepared to shoot the Indians ; but who should be in the canoe hut his Indian father and mother with their chil- dren ! The others were now coming forward with their rifles cocked and ready to pour in a deadly fire upon this family. Wells shouted to them to desist, informing them who the Indians were, solemnly declaring that the first man who attempted to injure one of them should receive a ball in his head. "That family," said he to his men, "had fed him when hungry, clothed him when naked, and nursed him when sick, aed had treated him as affectionately as their own children." This short speech moved the sympathetic hearts of his leather-hunting-shirt comrades, who entered at once into his feelings and approved of his lenity. Dropping their tomahawks and rifles, they went to the canoe and shook hands with the trembling Indians in the most friendly manner. Wells assured them they had noth- ing to fear; and after talking with them for some time, to dispel their anxiety he told them "that General Wayne was approaching with an overwhelming force ; that the best thing the Indians could do was to make peace, and that the whites did not wish to continue the war. He urged his Indian fatherto keep for the future out of danger ;" he then bade them farewell. They appeared grateful for his clemency, pushed off their canoe, and paddled with their utmost rapidity down stream. Captain Wells and his comrades, though perfect desperadoes in fight, upon this occasion proved that they largely pos- sessed that gratitude and benevolence which does honor to human kind.

While Wayne's army lay at the Indian vil- lage at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee, building Fort Defiance, the general wishing to be informed of the intentions of the enemy, dispatched Captain Wells' party to bring in another prisoner. They consisted of Wells, McClellan, the Millers, May and Mahaffy. They proceeded cautiously down the Maumee until opposite the site of Fort Meigs, where was an Indian village. This was on the 11th of August, nine days before the battle. Wells and his party boldly rode into this town as if they had come from the British fort, and occasionally stopped and talked with the Indians in their language. The savages believed them to be Indians from a distance, who had come to take part in the expected battle. After passing through the village they met some distance from it an Indian man and woman on horseback, who were returning to town from hunting. They made them captives without resistance, and set off for Defiance.

A little after dark they came near a large encampment of Indians, merrily amusing themselves around their camp fires. Order- ing their prisoners to be silent under pain of instant death, they went around the camp until they got about half a mile above it. They then held a consultation, tied and gagged their prisoners, and rode into the Indian camp with their rifles lying across the pummels of their saddles. They inquired

when they had heard last of General Wayne and the movements of his army, and how soon and where the expected battle would be fought. The Indians standing about Wells and his party were very communicative, and answered the questions without any suspi- cions of deceit in their visitors. At length an Indian who was sitting at some distance said in an undertone in another tongue to some who were near him that he suspected these strangers had some mischief in their heads. Wells overheard it, gave the precon- certed signal, and each fired his rifle into the body of an Indian at not more than six feet distance. The moment the Indian had made the remark, he and his companions rose up with their rifles in hand, but not before each of the others had shot their man. The mo- ment after Wells and party had fired they put spurs to their horses, lying with their breasts on the animals' necks, so as to lessen the mark to fire at, and before they had got out of the light of the camp fires the Indians had fired upon them. As Mcclellan lay in this position, a ball entered beneath his shoulder-blade and came out at the top of his shoulder; Wells' arm was broken by a ball, and his rifle dropped to the ground ; May was chased to the smooth rock in the Maumee, where, his horse falling, he was taken prisoner.

The rest of the party escaped without in- jury, and rode full speed to where their pris- oners were confined, and mounting them upon horses, continued their route. Wells and McClellan being severely wounded, and their march slow and painful to Defiance, a distance of abont thirty miles, ere they could receive surgical aid. a messenger was dispatched to hasten to the post for a surgeon and a guard. As soon as he arrived with the tidings of the wounds and perilous situation of these heroic and faithful spies, very great sympathy was manifested. Wayne's feeling for the suffer- ing soldier was at all times quick and sensi- tive. We can, then, imagine the intensity of his solicitude when informed of the sufferings and perils of his confidential and chosen band. He instantly dispatched a surgeon and a com- pany of the swiftest dragoons to meet, assist and guard these brave fellows to headquar- ters, where they arrived safe, and the wounded in due time recovered.

May, who was taken prisoner, having for- merly lived and ran away from the Indians, was recognized. They told him the second day before the battle : " We know you ; yon speak Indian language ; you not content to live with us ; to-morrow we take you to that tree"- pointing to a very large burr oak at the edge of the clearing near the British fort-" we will tie you up and make a mark on your breast, and we will try what Indian can shoot nearest it." Accordingly, the next day he was tied to that tree, a mark made on his breast, and his body riddled with at least fifty bullets. Thus ended poor May !

This little band of spies, during the cam- paign, performed more real service than any other corps of equal number belonging to the

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army. They brought in at different times not less than twenty prisoners, and killed more than an equal number. As they had no rivals in the army, they aimed in each excursion to outdo their former exploits. What confidence, what self-possession was displayed by these men in their terrific encounters ! To ride boldly into the enemy's camp, in full view of

their blazing camp-fires, and enter into con- versation with them withont betraying the least appearance of trepidation and confusion, and openly commence the work of death, prove how well their souls were steeled against fear. They had come off unscathed in so many desperate conflicts that they became callous to danger.

WM. WELLS was such an extraordinary man as to deserve a fuller notice. When a child he was captured by the Indians, and became the adopted son of LITTLE TURTLE, the most eminent forest warrior and statesman of his time.

In the defeats of Harmar and St. Clair he took a distinguished part, commanding in the latter action three hundred young Indian warriors, who were posted immediately in front of the artillery, and caused such car- nage among those who served it. He arranged his party behind logs and trees, immediately under the knoll on which the guns were, and thence, almost uninjured, picked off the artillerists, until, it is said, their bodies were heaped up almost to the height of their pieces. After this sanguinary affair, his fore- cast enabled him to anticipate the final ascen- dency of the whites, who would be aroused by their reverses to such exertions as must be successful with their preponderance of power, and he resolved to abandon the savages. His mode of announcing this determination was in accordance with the simple and sententious habits of a forest life. He was traversing the woods in the morning, with his adopted father, the Little Turtle, when, pointing to the heavens, he said, "When the sun reaches the meridian I leave you for the whites ; and whenever you meet me in battle, you must kill me as I shall endeavor to do by you." The bonds of affection and respect which had bound these two singular and highly-gifted men together were not severed or weakened by this abrupt dereliction. Capt. Wells soon after joined Wayne's army, and by his intimacy with the wilderness, and his perfect knowledge of the Indian haunts, habits and modes of Indian warfare, became an invaluable auxiliary to the Americans. He served faithfully and fought bravely through the campaign, and at the close, when peace had restored amity between the Indians and the whites, rejoined his foster-father, the Little Turtle; and their friendship and connection was broken only by the death of the latter. When his body was found among the slain at Chicago, in August, 1812, the Indians are said to have drunk his blood, from a superstitious belief that they should thus imbibe his warlike endowments, which had been considered by them as pre-eminent.

The above paragraph respecting Wells is copied from the discourse of Henry Whiting, Esq., before the Historical Society of Michi- gan ; that below, relating to his death, is from the MSS. of Col. John Johnston.

William Wells, interpreter for the Miamies,

and whose wife was of that nation, himself uncle to Mrs. Heald, the lady of the com- mandant at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, went from Fort Wayne with a party of twelve or fifteen Miamies to that place, with a view of favoring the escape of the garrison to Fort Wayne. Nothing could have been more un- fortunate than this, for Wells was peculiarly obnoxious to the Putawatimies, and especially to the chief, " the Black Bird," who was the leading warrior on the occasion. The Puta- watimies were alone in arms against us at the time, in that part of the country. The pres- ence of Wells was fatal to the safety of the troops ; the chief Blackbird had often spoken to myself in very bitter terms against him. On the 14th of August, 1812, a council was held between the officers and the chiefs, at which it was agreed that the whole garrison with their arms, ammunition suffi- cient for the journey and clothing should retire unmolested to Fort Wayne, and that the garrison, with all that it contained, should be delivered up to the Indians. In the night preceding the evacuation all the powder and whiskey in the fort were thrown into a canal, communicating from the garrison to the Chicago river. The powder floated out and discovered the deception to the Indians ; this greatly exasperated them and, no doubt, brought matters to a crisis. On the morning of the 15th of August the troops marched out to commence their journey, and had pro- ceeded but a short distance when they were attacked by the Indians. Wells seeing that all was lost, and not wishing to fall into their hands, as he well knew that in that case a cruel and lingering death awaited him, wetted powder and blacked his face, as a token of defiance, mounted his horse and commenced addressing the Indians with all the oppro- brious and insulting language he could think of. His purpose evidently was to induce them to dispatch him forthwith. His object was accomplished. They became so enraged at last with his taunts and jeers, that one of them shot him off his horse, and immediately pouncing upon him, cut his body open, took out his heart and eat it. The troops were massacred, the commanding officer and wife were saved. . . . Chicago means in Putawa- timie, "the place of the polecat."

In the battle of the Fallen Timbers Wayne's army took a white man prisoner, by the name of Lasselle. Col. John Johnston says respecting him :

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ANTOINE LASSELLE I well knew : this man, a Canadian, was taken prisoner at Wayne's battle, painted, dressed and dis- guised as an Indian. He was tried by court- martial at Roche de Bœuf, and sentenced to be hung. A gallows was erected and the execu- tion ordered, when Col. John F. Hamtranck- a native of Canada, who joined the American standard under Montgomery, in the Revolu- tionary war, and was, in 1794, colonel of the

Ist regiment of infantry, under Wayne- interposed and begged the life of the prisoner. Gen. Wayne afterwards granted to Lasselle license to trade at Fort Wayne, and he was there as such many years during my agency at the post. He was a man of wit and drollery, and would often clasp his neck with both hands, to show how near he had been to hanging by order of mad Anthony.

Col. Johnston also says, respecting Col. McKee and Capt. Elliott, who were both alleged to have been in the action, and were notorious enemies of the Americans in the wars in the Northwest :

McKEE and ELLIOTT were Pennsylvanians, and the latter, I think, of Irish birth. They resided, at the commencement of the Revolu- tionary war, at Path Valley, Pa. A brother and a brother-in-law of mine lived in the same neighborhood; I therefore have un- doubted authority for the facts. A number of tories resided in the township, McKee and Elliott being leaders. A large proportion of the inhabitants being whigs, the place became too warm to hold them. They fled to the enemy, and leagued with the Shawanese Indians in committing depredations on the frontier settlers. Both of these incendiaries had Indian wives and children, and finally

their influence became so great among the savages that they were appointed agents for Indian affairs by the British government, and continued as such until their death. Matthew Elliott was an uncle, by his father's side, to the late Commodore Elliott, and had a son killed in the late war, by the Indians under Logan. [See p. 353.] On the death of McKee, his son, a half-breed, was a deputy agent in Upper Canada. He was a splendid- looking man, and married an accomplished white lady. He had too much of the Indian nature, and the marriage turned out some- what unhappily.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 916

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916