History of Crawford County and Ohio, Part 7

Author: Perrin, William Henry, [from old catalog] comp; Battle, J. H., [from old catalog] comp; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog] comp; Baskin & Battey, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1034

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fortifications at the Fork. Swift fect had borne the news of it up the valley, and though Ensign Ward, left in command, felt himself secure, on the 17th of April he saw a sight that made his heart sick. Sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes were coming down the Alleghany. The com- mandant sent him a summons, which evaded no words in its meaning. It was useless to contend, that evening he supped with his conqueror ; the next day he was bowed out by the polite French- ma'n, and with his men and tools marched up the Monongahela. The first birds of spring were fill- ing the air with their song; the rivers rolled by, swollen by April showers and melting snows; all nature was putting on her robes of green ; and the fortress, which the English had so earnestly strived to obtain and fortify, was now in the hands of the French. Fort Du Quesne arose on the incomplete fortifications. The seven years' war that followed not only affected America, but spread to all quar- ters of the world. The war made England a great imperial power ; drove the French from Asia and America; dispelled the brilliant and extended scheme of Louis and his voluptuous empire.

The active field of operations was in the Canadas principally, and along the western borders of Penn- sylvania. There were so few people then in the present confines of Ohio, that only the possession of the country, in common with all the West, could be the animus of the conflict. It so much concerned this part of the New World, that a brief resumé of the war will be necessary to fully under- stand its history.

The fall of the post at the fork of the Ohio, Fort Du Quesne, gave the French control of the West. Washington went on with his few militia to re- take the post. Though he was successful at first, he was in the end defeated, and surrendered, being allowed to return with all his munitions of war. The two governments, though trying to come to a peaceful solution of the question, were getting ready for the conflict. France went stead- ily on. though at one time England gave, in a measure, her consent to allow the French to retain all the country west of the Alleghanies and south of the lakes. Had this been done, what a different future would have been in America ! Other des- tinies were at work, however, and the plan fell stillborn.

England sent Gen. Braddock and a fine force of men, who marched directly toward the post on the Ohio. His ill-fated expedition resulted only in the total defeat of his army, and his own death.

HISTORY OF OHIO.

Washington saved a remnant of the army, and made his way back to the colonies. The En- glish needed a leader. They next planned four campaigns; one against Fort Du Quesne; one against Crown Point; one against Niagara, and one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia. Nearly every one proved a failure. The English were defeated on sea and on land, all owing to the incapacity of Parliament, and the want of a suit- able, vigorous leader. The settlements on the front- iers, now exposed to a cruel foe, prepared to defend themselves, and already the signs of a government of their own, able to defend itself, began to appear. They received aid from the colonies. Though the French were not repulsed, they and their red allies found they could not murder with impunity. Self-preservation was a stronger incen- tive in conflict than aggrandizement, and the cruelty of the Indians found avengers.

The great Pitt became Prime Minister June 29, 1757. The leader of the English now appeared. The British began to regain their losses on sea and land, and for them a brighter day was at hand. The key to the West must be retaken, and to Gen. Forbes was assigned the duty. Preceding him, a trusty man was sent to the Western Indians at the head-waters of the Ohio, and along the Mo- nongahela and Alleghany, to see if some compro- mise with them could not be made, and their aid secured. The French had been busy through their traders inciting the Indians against the English. The lawless traders were another source of trouble. Caring nothing for either nation, they carried on a distressing traffic in direct violation of the laws, continually engendering ill-feeling among the na- tives. "Your traders," said one of them, "bring scarce anything but rum and flour. They bring little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. The rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent its coming in such quantities by regulating the traders. *

* These wicked whisky sell- ers, when they have got the Indians in liquor, make them sell the very clothes off their backs. If this practice be continued, wemust be inevitably ruined. We most earnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy it." They complained of the French traders the same way. They were also beginning to see the animus of the whole conflict. Neither power cared as much for them as for their land, and flattered and bullied by turns as served their purposes best.

The man selected to go upon this undertaking was Christian Frederic Post, a Moravian, who had lived among the Indians seventeen years, and mar-

ried into one of their tribes. HI . was a missionary, and though obliged to cross a cout ry whose every stream had been dyed by blood, and every hillside rung with the death-yell, and grown red with the light of burning huts, he went willingly on his way. Of his journey, sufferings and doings, his own journal tells the story. He left Philadelphia on the 15th of July, 1758, and on the 7th of August safely passed the French post at Venango, went on to Big Beaver Creek, where he held a conference with the chiefs of the Indians gathered there. It was decided that a great conference should be held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were Indians of eight nations. "We will bear you in our bosoms," said the natives, when Post expressed a fear that he might be delivered over to the French, and royally they fulfilled their promises. At the conference, it was made clear to Post that all the Western Indians were wavering in their allegiance to the French, owing largely to the fail- ure of that nation to fulfill their promises of aid to prevent them from being deprived of their land by the Six Nations, and through that confederacy, by the English. The Indians complained bitterly, more- over, of the disposition of the whites in over-run- ning and claiming their lands. "Why did you not fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of coming into our country to fight them?" they asked again and again, and mournfully shook their heads when they thought of the future before them. " Your heart is good," said they to Post. "You speak sincerely; but we know there is always a great number who wish to get rich; they have enough ; look ! we do not want to be rich and take away what others have. The white people think we have no brains in our heads ; that they are big, and we are a handful; but remember when you hunt for a rattlesnake, you cannot always find it, and perhaps it will turn and bite you before you see it."*" When the war of Pontiac came, and all the West was desolated, this saying might have been justly remembered. After concluding a peace, Post set out for Philadelphia, and after incredi- ble hardships, reached the settlement uninjured early in September. His mission had more to do than at first is apparent, in the success of the English. Had it not been for him, a second Brad- dock's defeat might have befallen Forbes, now on his way to subjugate Fort Du Quesne.

Through the heats of August, the army hewed its way toward the West. Early in September it

* Post's Journal.

HISTORY OF OHIO.

reached Raystown, whither Washington had been ordered with his troops. Sickness had prevented him from being here already. Two officers were sent out to reconnoiter the fort, who returned and gave a very good account of its condition. Gen. Forbes desired to know more of it, and sent out Maj. Grant, with 800 men, to gain more complete knowledge. Maj. Grant, supposing not more than 200 soldiers to be in the fort, marched near it and made a feint to draw them out, and engage them in battle. He was greatly misinformed as to the strength of the French, and in the engagement that followed he was badly beaten-270 of his men killed, 42 wounded, and several, including himself, taken prisoners. The French, elated with their victory, attacked the main army, but were repulsed and obliged to retreat to the fort. The army con- tinued on its march. On the 24th of November they reached Turtle Creek, where a council of war was held, and where Gen. Forbes, who had been so ill as to be carried on a litter from the start, de- clared, with a mighty oath, he would sleep that night in the fort, or in a worse place. The Indi- ans had, however, carried the news to the French that the English were as plenty as the trees of the woods, and in their fright they set fire to the fort in the night and left up and down the Ohio River. The next morning the English, who had heard the explosion of the magazine, and seen the light of the burning walls, marched in and took peaceable possession. A small fortification was thrown up on the bank, and, in honor of the great English statesman, it was called Fort Pitt. Col. Hugh Mer- cer was left in command, and the main body of the army marched back to the settlements. It reached Philadelphia January 17, 1759. On the 11th of March, Gen. Forbes died, and was buried in the chancel of Christ's Church, in that city.

Post was now sent on a mission to the Six Na- tions, with a report of the treaty of Easton. IIe was again instrumental in preventing a coalition of the Indians and the French. Indeed, to this ob- scure Moravian missionary belongs, in a large measure, the honor of the capture of Fort Du Quesne, for by his influence had the Indians been restrained from attacking the army on its march.

The garrison, on leaving the fort, went up and down the Ohio, part to Presque Isle by land, part to Fort Venango, while some of them went on down the Ohio nearly to the Mississippi, and there, in what is now Massac County, Ill., erected a fort, called by them Fort Massac. It was afterward named by many Fort Massacre, from the erroneous

supposition that a garrison had been massacred there.

The French, though deprived of the key to the West, went on preparing stores and ammunition, expecting to retake the fort in the spring. Before they could do this, however, other places demanded their attention.

The success of the campaign of 1758 opened the way for the consummation of the great scheme of Pitt-the complete reduction of Canada. Three expeditions were planned, by which Canada, already well nigh annihilated and suffering for food, was to be subjugated. On the west, Prideaux was to attack Niagara ; in the center, Amherst was to advance on Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; on the east, Wolfe was to besiege Quebec. All these points gained, the three armies were to be united in the center of the province.

Amherst appeared before Ticonderoga July 22. The French blew up their works, and retired to Crown Point. Driven from there, they re- treated to Isle Aux Nois and entrenched them- selves. The lateness of the season prevented fur- ther action, and Amherst went into winter quar- ters at Crown Point. Early in June, Wolfe appeared before Quebec with an army of 8,000 men. On the night of September 12, he silently ascended the river, climbed the heights of Abra- ham, a spot considered impregnable by the French, and on the summit formed his army of 5,000 men. Montcalm, the French commander, was compelled to give battle. The British col- umns, flushed with success, charged his half-formed lines, and dispersed them.

"They fly! they fly!" heard Wolfe, just as he expired from the effect of a mortal wound, though not till he had ordered their 'retreat cut off, and exclaimed, "Now, God be praised, I die happy." Montcalm, on hearing from the surgeon that death would come in a few hours, said, " I am glad of it. I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." At five the next morning he died happy.

Prideaux moved up Lake Ontario, and on the 6th of July invested Niagara. Its capture would cut off the French from the west, and every en- deavor was made to hold it. Troops, destined to take the small garrison at Fort Pitt, were held to assist in raising the siege of Niagara. M. de Aubry, commandant in Illinois, came up with 400 men and 200,000 pounds of flour. Cut off by the abandonment of Fort Du Quesne from the Ohio route, he ascended that river as far as the Wabash, thenee to portage of Fort Miami, or Fort Wayne,

HISTORY OF OHIO.

down the Maumee to Lake Erie, and on to Presqu- ville, or Presque Isle, over the portage to Le Bœuf, and thence down French Creek to Fort Venango. He was chosen to lead the expedition for the relief of Niagara. They were pursued by Sir William Johnson, successor to Prideaux, who had lost his life by the bursting of a cannon, and were obliged to flee. The next day Niagara, cut off from succor, surrendered.

All America rang with exultation. Towns were bright with illuminations ; the hillsides shone with bonfires. From press, from pulpit, from platform, and from speakers' desks, went up one glad song of rejoicing. England was victorious everywhere. The colonies had done their full share, and now learned their strength. That strength was needed now, for ere long a different conflict raged on the soil of America-a conflict ending in the birth of a new nation.

The English sent Gen. Stanwix to fortify Fort Pitt, still looked upon as one of the principal for- tresses in the West. He erected a good fortifica- tion there, which remained under British control fifteen years. Now nothing of the fort is left. No memorial of the British possession remains in the West but a single redoubt, built in 1764 by Col. Bouquet, outside of the fort. Even this can hardly now be said to exist.

The fall of Quebee did not immediately produce the submission of Canada. M. de Levi, on whom the command devolved, retired with the French Army to Montreal. In the spring of 1760, he be- sieged Quebee, but the arrival of an English fleet caused him to again retreat to Montreal.

Amherst and Johnson, meanwhile, effected a union of their forces, the magnitude of whose armies convinced the French that resistance would be useless, and on the Sth of September, M. de Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, surrendered Montreal, Quebec, Detroit, Mackinaw and all other posts in Canada, to the English commander-in- chief, Amherst, on condition that the French in- habitants should, during the war, be "protected in the full and free exercise of their religion, and the full enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving their future destinies to be decided by the treaty of peace."

Though peace was concluded in the New World, on the continent the Powers experienced some difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory settlement. It was finally settled by what is known in history as the "family compact." France and Spain saw in the conquest the growing power of England,

and saw, also, that its continuance only extended that power. Negotiations were re-opened, and on the 3d of November, 1762, preliminaries were agreed to and signed, and afterward ratified in Paris, in February, 1763. By the terms of the compact, Spain ceded to Great Britian East and West Florida. To compensate Spain, France ceded to her by a secret article, all Louisiana west of the Mississippi.

The French and Indian war was now over. Canada and all its dependencies were now in pos- session of the English, who held undisputed sway over the entire West as far as Mississippi. It only remained for them to take possession of the out- posts. Major Robert Rogers was sent to take pos- session of Detroit and establish a garrison there. He was a partisan officer on the borders of New Hampshire, where he earned a name for bravery, but afterward tarnished it by treasonable acts. On his way to Detroit, on the 7th of November, 1760, he was met by the renowned chief, Pontiac, who authoritatively commanded him to pause and ex- plain his acts. Rogers replied by explaining the conquest of Canada, and that he was acting under orders from his King. Through the influence of Pontiac, the army was saved from the Indians sent out by the French, and was allowed to pro- ceed on its way. Pontiac had assured his protec- tion as long as the English treated him with due deference. Beletre, the commandant at Detroit, refused to surrender to the English commander, until he had received positive assurance from his Governor, Vaudreuil, that the country was indeed conquered. On the 29th of September, the colors of France gave way to the ensign of Great Britain amid the shouts of the soldiery and the astonish- ment of the Indians, whose savage natures could not understand how such a simple act declared one nation victors of another, and who wondered at the forbearance displayed. The lateness of the season prevented further operations, but early the next spring, Mackinaw, Green Bay, Ste. Marie, St. Joseph and the Quitenon surrounded, and nothing was left but the Illinois towns. These were se- cured as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made.

Though the English were now masters of the West, and had, while many of these events nar- rated were transpiring, extended their settlements beyond the Alleghanies, they were by no means seenre in their possession. The woods and prairies were full of Indians, who, finding the English like the French, caring more for gain than the welfare

HISTORY OF OHIO.

of the natives, began to exhibit impatience and re- sentment as they saw their lands gradually taken from them. The English policy differed very materially from the French. The French made the Indian, in a measure, independent and taught him a desire for European goods. They also affiliated easily with them, and became thereby strongly endeared to the savage. The French were a merry, easy-going race, fond of gayety and delighting in adventure. The English were harsh, stern, and made no advances to gain the friend- ship of the savage. They wanted land to cultivate and drove away the Indian's game, and forced him farther west. " Where shall we go?" said the Indian, despondently ; "you drive us farther and farther west; by and by you will want all the land." And the Anglo-Saxon went sturdily on, paying no heed to the complaints. The French

traders incited the Indian to resent the encroach- ment. "The English will annihilate you and take all your land," said they. "Their father, the King of France, had been asleep, now he had awakened and was coming with a great army to reclaim Can- ada, that had been stolen from him while he slept."

Discontent under such circumstances was but natural. Soon all the tribes, from the mountains to the Mississippi, were united in a plot. It was discovered in 1761, and arrested. The next sum- mer, another was detected and arrested. The officers, and all the people, failed to realize the danger. The rattlesnake, though not found, was ready to strike. It is only an Indian discontent, thought the people, and they went on preparing to occupy the country. They were mistaken-the crisis only needed a leader to direct it. That leader appeared.

CHAPTER IV.

PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY-ITS FAILURE-BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION-OCCUPATION BY THE ENGLISH.

PONTIAC, the great chief of the Ottawas, was now about fifty years old. He had watched the conflict between the nations with a jealous eye, and as he saw the gradual growth of the English people, their encroachment on the lands of the In- dians, their greed, and their assumption of the soil, his soul was stirred within him to do something for his people. He had been a true friend of the French, and had led the Indians at the defeat of Braddock. Amid all the tumult, he alone saw the true state of affairs. The English would inevit- ably crush out the Indians. To save his race he saw another alliance with the French was neces- sary, and a restoration of their power and habits needed. It was the plan of a statesman. It only failed because of the perfidy of the French. Matur- ing his plans late in the autumn of 1762, he sent messengers to all the Western and Southern tribes, with the black wampum and red tomahawk, em- blems of war, from the great Pontiac. "On a cer- tain day in the next year," said the messenger, "all the tribes are to rise, seize all the English posts, and then attack the whole frontier."

The great council of all the tribes was held at the river Ecorces, on the 27th of April, 1763. There, before the assembled chiefs, Pontiac deliv-

ered a speech, full of eloquence and art. He recounted the injuries and encroachments of the English, and disclosed their designs. The French king was now awake and would aid them. Should they resign their homes and the graves of their fathers without an effort? Were their young men no longer brave? Were they squaws? The Great Master of Life had chided them for their inactivity, and had sent his commands to drive the "Red Dogs" from the earth. The chiefs eagerly accepted the wampum and the tomahawk, and separated to prepare for the coming strife.

The post at Detroit was informed of the plot the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway girl of great beauty, the mistress of the com- mander, Major Gladwin. Pontiac was foiled here, his treachery discovered, and he was sternly ordered from the conference. A regular seige followed, but he could not prevail. He exhibited a degree of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage war- fare, but all to no purpose; the English were too strong for him.

At all the other posts, save one, however, the plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, unheard of before in American history, resulted. The Indians attacked Detroit on the first of May,

HISTORY OF OHIO.

and, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately fol- lowed. On the 16th, a party of Indians appeared before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were admitted. Suddenly, while smoking, the massacre begins. All but Ensign Paulli, the commander, fall. He is carried as a trophy to Pontiac.

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the mission- aries had maintained a mission station over sixty years. They gave way to an English garrison of fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the morning of May 25, a deputation of Pottawato- mies are allowed to enter. In less than two min- utes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. He is sent to Pontiac.

Near the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the com- mander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is slain on the way, the sergeant following is made prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender.

On the night of the last day of May, the wam- pum reaches the Indian village below La Fayette, Ind., and near Fort Quitenon. The commander of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his garrison surrender. Through the clemeney of French settlers, they are received into their houses and protected.

At Miehilimackinac, a game of ball is projected. Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, almost all are slain or made prisoners.

The fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, was the point of communication between Pittsburgh and Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to save his forces from total annihilation, surrenders, and all are carried prisoners to Detroit.

The capitulation at Erie left Le Bœuf with- out hope. He was attacked on the 18th, but kept off the Indians till midnight, when he made a successful retreat. As they passed Ve- nango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only the ruins of that garrison. Not one of its immates had been spared.

Fort Pitt was the most important station west of the Alleghanies. "Escape !" said Turtle's Heart, a Delaware warrior; "you will all be slain. A great army is coming." "There are three large English armies coming to my aid," said Ecuyer, the commander. " I have enough provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three years' time." A second and third attempt was

made by the savages to capture the post, but all to no avail. Baffled on all sides here, they destroy Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit were left. All had been captured, and the majority of the garrison slain. Along the frontier, the war was waged with fury. The Indians were fighting for their homes and their hunting-grounds; and for these they fought with the fury and zeal of fanaties.

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut off. The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage allies, pressed the siege with vigor. The French remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing bills of eredit on birch-bark, all of which were faithfully redeemed. Though these two posts could not be captured, the frontier could be annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued their policy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia a relentless warfare was waged, sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infancy, strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hope- ful boy-all fell before the sealping-knife of the merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their possessions to the torch of the Indian.

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History of Crawford County and Ohio, Part 7

Author: Perrin, William Henry, [from old catalog] comp; Battle, J. H., [from old catalog] comp; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog] comp; Baskin & Battey, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Perrin, William Henry, [from old catalog] comp; Battle, J. H., [from old catalog] comp; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog] comp; Baskin & Battey, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1034