History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 7

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

All these horrible acts of the Indians were known to have been visited upon the relatives of the men who had accompanied Williamson, and anger and revenge were a stronger motive than right and justice. Williamson should have prevented it, but while today every reader of this history can justly shudder and denounce the brutal murder of the Moravians, the fact remains that if every reader had been on the banks of the Tuscarawas at the time, knowing what these men knew, having suffered as these men had suffered, when the vote for life or death came, the proportion would have been the same. No one can endorse the needless, inhuman murder of the innocent Moravians, but the perpetrators of the dastardly deed had minds at the time inflamed by the cruelties in- flicted on themselves and their relatives by other Indians. In this modern day those at a distance from the crime can well shudder and denounce the burning at the stake of the brute who has ruined and murdered an innocent girl in the southland, but were the matter to come home to them direct, how many fathers, with the brutal act fresh in the memory, would lift a finger to stay the hand that fires the funeral pyre? Would there be even eighteen out of eighty-two?

It was Saturday morning, May 25, 1782, the expedition started for the Sandusky Plains, about 150 miles distant, but to avoid the Indian trails, so the savages would have no knowledge of the attack, their course was through the unbroken forest, to the Tusca- rawas, on the banks of which were the de- stroyed Moravian towns, and it took them four days to cover the sixty miles, although Williamson's men, over the traveled route, had made it in two days when on their mission of

opposite to where he stood, so that the speed of the runner might not be impeded or checked by a front fire. The word was given, 'All ready, go!' and sim- ultaneously a yell went up all along the line from the' savages, who were eager to inflict the severest punish- ment upon the helpless captive. The young fellow came through the lines with astonishing swiftness, and ran into the store where I was. He was covered with ragged and gaping wounds made by the discharge of powder and the tomahawks, and the arrows stuck out from his blackened body like the shafts of a clothes- rack. He gave me a most imploring look, as if he ex- pected me to help him, and suddenly sprang high in the air as if in terrible agony. He turned and went out at the door, when he was brained with a tomahawk and fell to the ground with his last despairing groan."

murder. They encamped at the ruined town of Schönbrunn, and two officers, reconnoiter- ing, saw in the distance two Indian warriors, who had been spying on their movements. It was now believed the Indians would have full knowledge of their expedition, and Crawford determined to press on as rapidly as possible. They started on a forced march through the wilderness of Holmes county, and the night of May 30 encamped about ten miles south of the present site of Wooster, just south of the Wayne county line. From here they went almost due west, passing north of Odell's lake, and on to the Mohican, following up the river until near where Mansfield now is they turned west and encamped on June Ist at Spring Mills, eight miles east of Crestline. The next day, June 2, about one o'clock, they entered Crawford county just north of where Crest- line now is and continued west to the San- dusky river at the mouth of a small creek called Allen's Run, near the present town of Leesville. The Sandusky river was the point for which the guides were aiming and the offi- cers, pleased at reaching this destination, called a halt for an hour. They had reached the river south of the Wyandot trail, which the Indians used on their excursions from the Sandusky towns east to Pittsburg. In the last five days they had made eighty-five miles, and the guide, Slover, told Crawford they were now about twenty-five miles due east of the Indian town, and that a little to the southwest there were extensive plains reaching to their destination. After nine days of slow and diffi- cult marching through an unbroken forest, they decided to make for the open plains, so they followed the south bank of the Sandusky, two or three miles, to about the center of section 12, of Jefferson township. Here the Sandusky bends to the north and they left the river and, going southwest, encamped for the night in the southwestern part of Jefferson township, on the eastern edge of the plains.

Early on the morning of June 3rd they en- tered the plains, and the open sunlight, after the long and dreary march through the dense woods, was a pleasing relief to all. Their course was now west through Whetstone and Bucyrus townships, passing about four miles south of Bucyrus, to an Indian trail skirting the west side of the Sandusky; they followed

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

this trail through southwestern Bucyrus town- ship and through Dallas, into what is now An- trim township, Wyandot county, and made their final encampment near the present town of Wyandot, within ten miles of their destina- tion.

On the morning of June 4th they started along the south bank of the Sandusky, follow- ing its course in a northwest direction for six miles where the mouth of the Little Sandusky was reached. Here they crossed the Sandusky, following the trail along the east bank which leads to the Indian towns, and they soon reached the old Indian town of Sandusky, on the east bank of the river, about three miles southeast of the present town of Upper San- dusky. The town was deserted. The guide Slover said that when he was a captive of the Miamis, he frequently visited the Wyandots and this was their principal town. The offi- cers and guides were astonished and a halt was called. The volunteers feared a mistake had been made and that there was no village short of Lower Sandusky (Fremont) forty miles down the river, through a section known to be covered by roving bands of Indians, for they were now in the heart of the Indian coun- try.

It was one o'clock when Crawford ordered the halt; he called his officers into consulta- tion. This lasted an hour. Slover said eight miles further down the river was another In- dian town, and in his opinion the Indians had made that their headquarters. Crawford feared they might find this also deserted and there was danger in their getting too far into the Indian country with but five days' of pro- visions left. It was decided to move forward in search of the Indians. The army crossed the river to the west side, continued along the trail up the west bank to the site of the pres- ent town of Upper Sandusky; they continued a mile further, with no sign of Indians and the troops became anxious, and for the first time expressed a desire to return home. Craw- ford promptly called a halt and a council of war. Col. Crawford and Guide Zane both favored an immediate return, as further pro- gress was dangerous, and the final decision was made to continue that day and if no In- dians were discovered they would return. The march was continued, and the troops had

gone but a short distance, when one of the light-horse scouts, who in the open prairie were generally a mile in advance, returned at full speed announcing the Indians were in front of them. The volunteers were now enthusi- astic and the whole army moved forward rapidly.

The Indians had kept trace of the army ever since it had left Mingo Bottom, and had sent warriors to the Shawanese, in the Miami valley, and to the Wyandots and Delawares, on the Sandusky, to prepare for an attack. The va- rious tribes gathered and when Crawford left the Tuscarawas, in a northwesterly direction, it was known the Sandusky Indians were the objective point. Pomoacan, Wyandot chief, sent special messengers to Detroit, notifying DePeyster, the English commandant at that point, of the intended attack. DePeyster acted promptly, and started Butler's rangers, a mounted troop, to Lower Sandusky (Fre- mont) by boats to assist their allies; special messengers were also sent by the Wyandots to the Shawanese on the Miami, and two hun- dred warriors started on their march of forty miles from Logan county to help their breth- ren. In the meantime the Delawares, under Pipe, had assembled three hundred warriors at his town on both sides of the Tymochtee, about one and a half miles northeast of the present town of Crawfordsville, Wyandot county, near the place now marked by the monument erected on the site where Col. Crawford was burned at the stake, Zhaus- sho-toh was the Wyandot war chief, and the village of Pomoacan, the "Half King," was five miles northeast of Upper Sandusky, in Crane township, on the Sandusky river. Here he had four hundred warriors.

The Americans had advanced about two miles north of Upper Sandusky, and were one mile west of the river, when they met the enemy, the Delawares being in the front line of battle, under Pipe, his assistants being the renegade Simon Girty and Chief Wingenund, the latter having joined the Delawares from his village about two and a half miles north- west of the present site of Crestline. The Delawares had taken posession of a small grove called an "island," and from this they were promptly driven by the Americans. The Wyandots under Zhaus-sho-toh, with whom

CITY BUILDING, CRESTLINE, O.

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EAST SCHOOL BUILDING, CRESTLINE, O.

PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, NEW WASHINGTON, O.

HOSFORD MILL, GALION, O. Built 1822

NORTH HENRY STREET, CRESTLINE, O.

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

was the British Captain Elliott, came to the support of the Delawares. Elliott took com- mand of both tribes, and the Delawares occu- pied the west and south sides of the grove, and the Wyandots the north and east. The grove was surrounded by a prairie of tall grass, high enough to be some protection to the Indians, while the Americans had the bet- ter of it by the protection of the grove. The firing began at four o'clock, and the battle lasted until dark. As the Indians exposed themselves when skulking through the grass they were picked off by the American sharp- shooters. Some of the borderers from the tree-tops had a better opportunity of detect- ing the savages. One of these Daniel Canon, an expert rifleman, remarked afterward: "I don't know how many I killed, but I never saw the same head again above the grass af- ter I shot at it." Toward sunset the Indians became more cautious. The day closed de- cidedly favorable to the Americans; their loss was five killed and nineteen wounded. Indian losses were never known, but their killed and wounded far exceeded the Americans. Al- though the Americans were in full possession of the field, the Indians were not dispirited. Desultory firing was resumed at six o'clock in the morning and continued until noon, the Americans believing the Indians had not re- covered from their defeat of the day previous, and plans were discussed by the Americans to attack the enemy in force; the Delawares were drawn up south of them and the Wyandots north.

Before the plan of attack was matured, a sentinel reported mounted troops coming from the north; they proved to be Butler's rangers, sent by DePeyster from Detroit, and a few minutes later another sentinel reported the ar- rival of two hundred Shawanese from the south; during the late afternoon additional small detachments of Indians were continually arriving. The council of war now unani- mously decided on a retreat that night. About nine o'clock the retreat started and by a cir- cuitous march to the west passed around the Delawares and Shawanese south of them, reaching the old town of Upper Sandusky, three miles southeast of the present county seat of Wyandot county, just before daylight. Here a halt was called and stragglers kept con-

stantly arriving, but Col. Crawford, Dr. Knight and John Slover the guide, and many others were missing.

The command now devolved on William- son, and his force numbered about three hun- dred. After a short rest the army went south along the east bank of the Sandusky, crossed the river at the mouth of the Little Sandusky, and then east, skirting the southern bank of the river. They were again on the Sandusky Plains, and when they reached where the town of Wyandot now is, they saw in the distance a large force of mounted Indians and Butler's rangers following in pursuit. They were a dozen miles from the woods on the eastern boundary of the plains, where alone lay safety. Their horses had had two days' rest at San- dusky during the battle, but the eleven days previous marching, and the long night ride had left both man and horses in a jaded con- dition. They were also hampered by their wounded. Yet Col. Williamson urged his troops forward with all possible speed; he was ably assisted by Lieut. Rose, the military genius of the expedition. The latter was an aide-de-camp of Gen. Irvine, the commander of the Revolutionary forces at Pittsburg, and had been attached to Col. Crawford's staff for this expedition. He was as fearless and brave as he was able and efficient, and to him, more than any other man, was due the successful retreat .*

The retreating column left the Sandusky at Wyandot, and started northeast across the plains. Passing through Dallas into Bucyrus township they crossed what is now the Marion road about a mile north of the Dallas town- ship line, and a little before noon crossed what is now the Sandusky pike two miles north of

*John Rose was known among the Americans as Major Rose. After the Revolutionary War was over he returned to his own country, Russia, and Gen. Irvine received many letters from him, in which he gave his true history. His name was not John Rose, but Gus- tavus H. de Rosenthal, of Livonia, Russia, and he was a baron of the empire. In an encounter with another nobleman within the precincts of the palace at St. Petersburg, he had killed his antagonist in a duel. He fled to England, where he sailed immediately to America to offer his sword in defense of the colonies in their struggle for freedom. During his absence his relatives secured his pardon from the Emperor Alexander, and permission for him to return, which he did, and be- came Grand Marshal of Livonia. Baron Rosenthal died in 1830.

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

the Dallas township line, and about three miles south of Bucyrus .* Before they had reached the Sandusky Pike, the faster mounted men of the enemy had overtaken the fleeing col- umn, and were harrassing them with occa- sional shots. As more and more of the enemy came up and scattered along the flanks of the marching column the firing became more se- vere, and it required all the skill and encour- agement of Col. Williamson and Lieut. Rose to prevent the demoralization of the troops, and to preserve the column in solid marching order. The woods and safety were still six miles away; they were in an open prairie rapidly being surrounded by double their num- ber of infuriated savages from whom they could expect no mercy, and the weary col- umn struggled on. About two o'colck they were within a mile of the woods; on both sides and at the rear were hundreds of the enemy, pouring in a galling fire, and the rear guard was in confusion; the Indians had pressed for- ward and were seeking to bar their entrance to the woods, and the troops in advance, showed signs of wavering. Williamson urged them to stand firm, stating: "Not a man of you will reach home if each one decides to shift for himself. Your only salvation is keeping in line. Our ranks once broken, all is lost." The danger of the demoralization of the troops became so great that a stand had to be made. A point was selected where there is a slight rise in the ground in the northeast quarter of Section 22 in Whetstone township.f

The troops had crossed what is now the Galion road a little west of where the monu- ment now stands marking the site of the bat- tle, which really occurred a little north of where this monument was placed. A body of light horse troops was thrown forward to pro- tect the entrance to the woods, the little army was reversed, and facing to the west hurriedly formed into solid rank to resist the attacking foe. Fortunately for the Americans, in their haste to pursue the retreating troops, the Brit- ish had left their artillery behind. During the

*Locations are given as they exist today. In 1782 this county was a wilderness, covered with forests, prairies and swamps.

+Butterfield .- Crawford's campaign against San- dusky. The west half of this quarter section is owned (1912) by J. B. Campbell; its east half by Sarah R. Lust.

morning march through the dry prairie a scorching sun had added to the discomforts of the tired troopers, but toward noon a breeze had sprung up, and the sky became overcast with clouds, and when the halt was made a storm was threatening. Having hur- riedly formed in battle line, the Americans awaited the assault, and six hundred painted, yelling savages, with their British allies, charged them in front and on both flanks. Rose rode down the line, unmindful of the hail of bullets pouring in, urging the men to stand firm, to aim true, and to see that every shot brought down a man. The first attack was repulsed, the line was unbroken and the Americans regained confidence, and the sec- ond attempt to break their lines was another failure. Then Indian caution prevailed, and under protection of the high grass they con- tinued their attack, until the threatening storm broke forth, and both armies were drenched to the skin, rendering most of the fire-arms useless. The battle had continued for an hour when the severe rain caused a cessation of hos- tilities. The Americans had suffered a loss of three killed and eight wounded, among the latter was Capt. Joseph Beam, who was shot through the body. Although the wound was thought to be fatal, he was taken home and eventually recovered. The loss of the enemy was far greater than that of the Americans.

When the rain put a stop to the battle the Americans hurriedly buried their dead, cared for their wounded, making them as comfort- able as possible for transportation, and again formed in line of march. The enemy, seeing the column again on the retreat, rallied their forces and renewed the pursuit, firing on the column from a respectful distance. Capt. Biggs' company was covering the retreat. They had led the advance in the outward march and were now reduced to only nine men. Some of these were wounded and all greatly exhausted, and there was again danger of the ranks being demoralized by the fire of the enemy, and each man attempting to shift for himself. Again the companies began to waver under the irritating attacks of the en- emy, and it took the heroic exertions of the officers to prevent the retreat from degenerat- ing into a hopeless rout. The company in front was ordered to file to the left, the bal-

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

ance of the army marched forward, when that company wheeled into line and became the rear guard; then another from the front took its place, each in turn protecting the rear, and confidence took the place of fear, and the weary march finally ended when the tired troopers entered the friendly shelter of the dense woods.

The battle of Olentangy on June 6, 1782, may have been but a skirmish, but it is inter- esting historically as a battle of the American Revolution, fought on Crawford county soil. The battle of Sandusky on June 4, was also in what was Crawford county from 1820 to 1845, so the only two battles of the Revolu- tion that occurred west of the Alleghenies, are of historic interest to this county.

Of the expertness of the American marks- man, Butterfield, in his work "Crawford's Campaign Against Sandusky," gives an inci- dent which relates to the battle of Olentangy. It was told him by George W. Leith, of Ne- vada, a grandson of John Leith. John Leith was a trader at the Indian town of Sandusky, and was there when the news arrived of the approach of Crawford's army. On June 4, the day before the battle, he started down the Sandusky river with his goods and furs seek- ing safer quarters. He camped that night on the banks of the river a little below Tiffin. Here a Frenchman, who was an Indian in-

terpreter, on his way to join the Indians at , over a mile north of the battle ground. A Sandusky, spent the night with him. The next morning, hearing the firing, the French- man hurriedly left for the field of battle. Reaching the Indians, he dressed himself in their costume, and in a spirit of bravado painted a large red spot on his breast, re- marking to one of the Indian warriors, "Here is a mark for the Virginia riflemen." He ac- companied the Indians in their pursuit of the retreating army, and took part in the battle of Olentangy, and when the Americans went over the battlefield gathering up their dead and wounded they found the Frenchman, cold and stiff in death, with a bullet hole passing through the red mark.

By nightfall the Americans reached the place where they had made their first camp in Crawford county, near Leesville, and here they passed the night, the enemy camping about a mile to the rear. In less than twenty-

four hours they had covered forty miles and both armies were completely exhausted. The next morning the Americans resumed their retreat, being occasionally fired on by the sav- ages, the last shot as they were leaving what is now the borders of Crawford county, just north of Crestline. From there they marched to the Ohio with no sight of the enemy. They reached the Tuscarawas towns on June 10, and Mingo Bottom on the 13th, covering the distance in less than seven days, and even with this speed they were rejoiced to find some of their missing comrades, whom they had feared had either been lost or fallen into the hands of the enemy, had arrived before them-some of them as much as two days previous. The outward journey had consumed eleven days, the route taken having been about one hundred and eighty-five miles each way.

When the retreat was started Col. Craw- ford missed his son John Crawford, his son- in-law, William Harrison, and his nephew, William Crawford. While looking for these relatives, Dr. Knight joined him. Both waited, calling for the absentees, until all the troops had passed. By this time there was severe firing in the direction of the retreating army. An old man and boy joined Crawford and Knight. It being dangerous to attempt to reach the main column the four went north about two miles, and then turned due east, little before midnight they reached the San- dusky which they crossed less than a mile south of the village of the Wyandot chief Po- mnoacan. The old man lagged behind, and frequent stops were made for him to catch up. Finally an Indian scalp-halloo announced that the old man had been overtaken by some wandering savage and killed. At daylight Crawford, Knight and the boy entered Craw- ford county about two miles northwest of where Oceola is now situated, their progress being slow on account of the darkness and the jaded condition of the horses. Here Craw- ford and the young man were compelled to abandon their horses, and on foot they con- tinued their journey east, bearing toward the south, and about two o'clock fell in with Capt. Biggs, who had carried Lieut. Ashley from the battle, the latter being badly wounded. The five continued an hour longer when a heavy

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

rain came on and they were compelled to go into camp, which they did near the line be- tween Holmes and Liberty townships, about two miles north of Bucyrus, having only made nine miles since daylight. The next morning the five continued their journey, passing through the southwest corner of Liberty and crossing the Sandusky two or three miles east of Bucyrus, and soon entered Whetstone town- ship. While marching through the woods they discovered a deer recently killed, with some meat sliced from the bones. This they took with them and a mile farther espied smoke of a fire. They approached it carefully and were of the opinion some of their own party had en- camped there the previous night. They used the fire to roast their venison, and while eat- ing were joined by one of their own men, the man who had killed the deer, who hearing them in the distance had secreted himself in the woods believing them to be Indians. After eating their breakfast of venison the party continued their march until about two o'clock they reached the point on the Sandusky, in section 12, Jefferson township, where the troops had left the. river on their outward march. It was near this point the enemy had camped the preceding night. A discussion arose as to the future course; Crawford held to follow the course of the army as they could make better time along a known trail, and that there was no danger, as the Indians would not follow the retreating army into the woods, and they were now several miles from the plains. Capt. Ash- ley and Lieut. Biggs thought the safer course was through the woods, avoiding all Indian trails. Crawford's plan was followed, the Col. and Dr. Knight leading, on foot; about a hundred yards behind was the wounded officer on horseback, Lieut. Ashley, with his friend Capt. Biggs, while at the rear were the two young men. They followed the south bank of the Sandusky, through the site of the pres- ent town of Leesville and just east of that place several Indians started up less than fifty feet from Crawford and Knight. The Doctor jumped behind a tree and was about to fire, when Crawford, observing how many Indians there were, advised him not. An Indian who knew them came forward and shook hands; Capt. Biggs in the meantime had fired on the savages, but missed, and he and his companion

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 7

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302