History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 4

Author: Miller, Charles Christian, 1856- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 874

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"He should take who has the power, And he should hold who can."

FIRST SETTLEMENT IN OHIO

The Governor of Canada, Count de Fron- tenac, anxious for France to gain possession of the rich country to the south of the chain of Great Lakes, sent out trading parties with authority from the King of France to erect stores and military posts, and to take posses- sion of the country in the name of the govern- ment of France. One of these trading par- ties erected a post on the Maumee, near the present site of Maumee City in Lucas County, in 1680. This was an important trading post for a number of years. This post was re- moved to a more advantageous position at the head waters of the Maumee, where the city of Fort Wayne now stands. On the site of the old post at Maumee City, the British erected, in 1794, Fort Miami. The above- named post or stockade, at Maumee City, is believed to have been the first attempt at set- tlement or occupation by white men, within the present limits of Ohio. These statements are made, says the historian Knapp, on the authority of records at Montreal and Que- bec, and papers at Albany and Harrisburg.

The chief village of the Miami Indians was at the junction of the St. Mary's and St. Jo- sephi's rivers, where Fort Wayne now stands. In 1791 General Harmar was sent against them, to punish them for their continued at- tacks upon the white settlers. But he was led into an ambuscade and routed.

ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT

General St. Clair, a Revolutionary officer of note and Governor of the territory north-

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west of the Ohio, was then sent to attack the Miamis in the same year; but he was surprised and signally beaten. Every schoolboy knows the story of his defeat. It was the most dis- astrous of all the early conflicts with the In- dians. The battle was fought along a branch of the Wabash, a little south of the St. Mary's, at Fort Recovery, Mercer county, Ohio, November 4, 1791.

After a careful examination of the records and ability of various officers, Washington assigned to General Anthony Wayne the dif- ficult task, and in June, 1792, he was sent.into the Indian country in the Northwest. He was called by the Indians, "The Chief Who Never Sleeps." He spent about two years in building forts, enlisting troops and in gaining the confidence of some of the Indians. They left Fort Washingtan (now Cincinnati), Oc- tober 7. 1793, and established Fort Greenville, on the present site of the county seat of Darke county. On Christmas Day, 1793, Wayne reoccupied the ground where St. Clair had been so badly beaten three years before and erected a stockade, which was very ap- propriately named "Fort Recovery." As the fort was in process of recovery 600 human skulls were found and buried under one of the blockhouses-relics of the awful carnage of St. Clair's defeat.

General Wayne now put forth every effort to gain the favorable consideration of terms of peace, but the Indians, flushed with success, refused to accept any terms, however favora- ble, and even murdered Trueman, Freeman and Colonel Hardin, the three ambassadors sent to treat with them. Back of this action was the influence of the British, who urged the Indians on to further deeds of violence.

On July 28, 1794, General Wayne, after being joined on the 26th by Colonel Scott, with 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, started on

his victorious march against his foes. They fled at his advance, and he soon found him- self in the fertile country about the junction of the Auglaize with the Maumee. There were extensive gardens and highly cultivated fields extending for many miles above and be- low the junction of the two rivers. All this indicated the work of many people-an evi- dence of the number of the enemy.

Here General Wayne at once erected a strong stockade fort where the two rivers meet and he named it "Fort Defiance."

Wayne was eight days in building Fort De- fiance; began on the 9th of August and fin- ished on the 17th. After surveying its block- houses, pickets, ditches and fascines, Wayne exclaimed : "I defy the English, Indians and all the devils in hell to take it." Colonel Scott, who happened at that instant to be standing at his side, remarked: "Then call it Fort Defiance." And so Wayne, in a letter to the Secretary of War, written at this time, said : "Thus, sir, we have gained possession of the grand emporium of the hostile Indians of the West without loss of blood. The very extensive and highly cultivated fields and gar- dens show the work of many hands. The margin of those beautiful rivers, the Miamis of the Lake (or Maumee) and Auglaize, ap- pear like one continued village for a number of miles both above and below this place ; nor have I ever before beheld such fields of corn in any part of America from Canada to Flor- ida. We are now employed in completing a strong stockade fort, with four good block- houses, by way of bastions, at the confluence of the Auglaize and the Maumee, which I have called Defiance."

BATTLE OF THE FALLEN TIMBER

The Indians and their British allies did not, however, risk a battle here, but selected an ele-

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

vated plain above the rapids of the Maumee, on the left bank of the river. This place they thought greatly favored their plan of battle, for it was covered by fallen timber which had been recently hurled to the ground by a tor- nado, thus preventing the action of cavalry. Undaunted by this plan, Wayne moved on to the place of conflict, and on August 20th, about 8 o'clock in the morning, he began the attack upon the combined forces of Indians and British. The battle began at "Presque

ground. As was anticipated, this advance soon met the enemy, and being fired on fell back and was warmly pursued toward the main body. The morning was rainy, and the drums could not communicate the concerted signals with sufficient distinctness. A plan of turn- ing the right flank of the Indians was not, therefore, fulfilled. But the victory was com- plete, the whole Indian line, after a severe contest, giving way and flying in disorder. About one hundred savages were killed."

Perrysburg

Maumed

FORT MEIGS

Proctor's

Nounse City

Roche

de Bœuf

Wayne's Battle Grout

PLAN ILLUSTRATING THE BATTLES OF THE MAUMEE.

The above map shows about eight miles of the country along each side of the Maumee, including the towns of Perrysburg, Manmee City and Waterville.

Fort Meigs, memorable from having sustained two sieges in the year 1813, is shown on the east side of the Maumee, with the British batteries on both sides of the river, and above the British fort, the position of Proctor's encampment.

From Knapp's "History of the Maumee Valley."

Isle"-a hill about two miles south of Mau- mee City, and four south of the British fort, Miami.

"General Wayne had about three thousand men under his command, and the Indians are computed to have been equally numerous. This is not improbable, as the hostile league em- braced the whole Northwestern frontier. As he approached the position of the enemy he sent forward a battalion of mounted riflemen, which was ordered, in case of an attack, to make a retreat in feigned confusion, in order to draw the Indians on more disadvantageous

This decisive victory gave undisputed pos- session of the country of the Miamis, and completely broke their power.

Before leaving this valley, so gloriously gained, General Wayne erected a fort where Swan Creek joins the Maumee, which was held until Jay's treaty, 1793, when Great Brit- ain surrendered its Northern posts.

"On the 27th the troops took up their march, devastating every village and field on the line to Fort Defiance, which they pro- ceeded to render more substantial. Septem- ber 14th the legion moved on to the Miami

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villages, where the long contemplated fort was constructed, and October 22, 1794, placed un- der command of Lieutenant Colonel Ham- tramck, who, after firing fifteen rounds of cannon, gave the name, which the city now bcars, of Fort Wayne."

SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS, 1813

Of all the military operations along the Great Lakes during the War of 1812, none is more interesting than the siege of Fort Meigs, near the present site of Toledo. The fort stood upon high ground, about 60 feet above the Maumee, on the margin of the bank. The surface is quite level. The site is well preserved, and a station called "Fort Meigs" is now seen along the line of the elec- tric railway. One may yet see the well-defined outline of the old fort-the grand traverse yet arises six or eight feet above the ground. The place is famous, and many people visit it each year.

The following accounts of Fort Meigs and her battles are taken from Knapp's "History of the Maumee Valley."

"In an excursion of the veterans of the War of 1812, made to Fort Meigs in June, 1870, Mayor Tyler, in his address of wel- come to the soldiers, remarked, with regard to the present condition of this consecrated ground :

"'On to-morrow you will be escorted to the old fortifications of Fort Meigs. There you will find its earthworks faithfully pre- served, safe, only as far as the hand of time has marred its former war-frowning front. No instrument of agriculture has torn down or plowed up any part of the old fort. Two of the original pickets, placed there in 1812, are there yet. There you will find, marked by stones long since placed over them, the graves of your fallen comrades, there the trenches,

there the magazine, there all the outlines of the ancient warfare. Mr. Michael Hayes and his brothers, who own the soil of the old fort, have faithfully performed their duty in guard- ing this landmark of history from destruction or desolation. They have preserved many of the relics of the battle-field-grape shot, can- ister, bayonets, and many other evidences of the conflict.'

"So far the military operations of the Northwest had certainly been sufficiently dis- couraging ; the capture of Mackinac, the sur- render of Hull, the massacre at Chicago, and the overwhelming defeat at Frenchtown, are the leading events. Nothing had been gained, and of what had been lost, nothing had been retaken. The slight successes over the Indians by Hopkins, Edwards and Campbell had not shaken the power or confidence of Tecumseh and his allies; while the fruitless efforts of Harrison through five months, to gather troops enough at the mouth of the Maumee to attempt the reconquest of Michigan, which had been taken in a week, depressed the spir- its of the Americans, and gave new life and hopes to their foes.

"About the time that Harrison's unsuccess- ful campaign drew to a close, a change took place in the War Department, and General Armstrong succeeded his incapable friend, Dr. Eustis. Armstrong's views were those of an able soldier. In October, 1812, he had again addressed the government, through Mr. Gallatin, on the necessity of obtaining com- mand of the Lakes, and when raised to power determined to make naval operations the basis of the military movements in the Northwest. His views in relation to the coming campaign in the West were based on two points, viz : The use of regular troops alone, and the com- mand of the Lakes, which he was led to think could be obtained by the 20th of June.

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

"Although the views of the Secretary in regard to the non-employment of militia were not, and could not be, adhered to, the general plan of merely standing on the defensive until the command of the Lakes was secured, was persisted in, although it was the 2nd of Au- gust, instead of the Ist of June, before the vessels on Lake Erie could leave the harbor in which they had been built. Among these defensive operations in the spring and summ- mer of 1813, that of Fort Meigs, the new post taken by Harrison at the foot of the rapids, and that at Lower Sandusky, deserve to be especially noticed, as they form historical wealth which the whole country, and espe- cially the inhabitants of the Maumee Valley, will ever regard with feelings of pride and interest. It had been anticipated that, with the opening of spring, the British would at- tempt the conquest of the position upon the Maumee, and measures had been taken by the General to forward reinforcements, which were detained, however, as usual, by the spring freshets and the bottomless roads. It was no surprise, therefore, to General Harri- son, that on the breaking up of the ice in Lake Erie, General Proctor, with all his disposable force, consisting of regulars and Canadian militia from Malden, and a large body of In- dians under Tecumseh, amounting in the whole to 2,000 men, made him a hostile visit, and laid siege to Fort Meigs. To encourage the Indians, he had promised them an easy conquest, and assured them that General Har- rison should be delivered up to Tecumseh. On the 26th of April the British columns ap- peared on the other bank of the river and es- tablished their principal batteries on a com- manding eminence opposite Fort Meigs. On the 27thì the Indians crossed the river and es- tablished themselves in the rear of the Amer- ican lines. The garrison, not having com-

pleted their wells, had no water except what they obtained from the river, under a constant firing from the enemy."

Below is an extract from an article on the siege of Fort Meigs, by Rev. A. M. Lor- raine, originally published in the "Ladies' Re- pository" for March, 1845:

"One afternoon, as numbers were gathered together on the 'parade,' two strangers, finely mounted, appeared on the western bank of the river, and seemed to be taking a very calm and deliberate survey of our works. It was a strange thing to see travelers in that wild country, and we commonly held such to be enemies, until they proved themselves to be friends. So one of our batteries was cleared forthwith, and the gentlemen were saluted with a shot that tore up the earth about them and put them to a hasty flight. If that ball had struck its mark, much bloodshed might have been prevented, for we learned subsequently that our illustrious visitors were Proctor and Tecumseh. The garrison was immediately employed in cutting deep traverses through the fort, taking down the tents and preparing for a siege. The work accomplished in a few hours, under the excitement of the occa- sion, was prodigious. The grand traverse be- ing completed, each man was ordered to ex- cavate, under the embankment, suitable lodg- ings, as substitutes for our tents. Those rooms were shot-proof and bomb-proof, ex- cept in the event of a shell falling in the trav- erse and at the mouth of a cave. The above works were scarcely completed before it was discovered that the enemy, under cover of night, had constructed batteries on a com- manding hill north of the river. There their artillerymen were posted: but the principal part of their army occupied the old English fort below. Their Indian allies appeared to have a roving commission, for they beset us

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on every side. The cannonading commenced in good earnest on both sides. It was, how- ever, more constant on the British side, be- cause they had a more extensive mark to bat- ter. We had nothing to fire at but their bat- teries, but they were coolly and deliberately attended to; and it was believed that more than one of their guns were dismounted dur- ing the siege. One of our militiamen took his station on the embankment, and gratuitously forewarned of us of every shot. In this he be- came so skillful that he could, in almost every case, predict the destination of the ball. As soon as the smoke issued from the muzzle of the gun, he would cry out 'shot' or 'bomb,' as the case might be. Sometimes he would exclaim 'Block-house No. 1,' or 'Look out, main battery;' 'Now for the meat house ;' 'Good-bye, if you will pass.' In spite of all the expostulations of his friends, he main- tained his post. One day there came a shot that seemed to defy all his calculations. He stood silent, motionless, perplexed. In the same instant he was swept into eternity. Poor man! he should have considered, that when there is no obliquity in the issue of the smoke, either to the right or left, above or below, the fatal messenger would travel in the direct line of his vision. He reminded me of the peas- ant in the siege of Jerusalem who cried out. 'Woe to the city! Woe to myself" On the most active day of the investment, there were as many as 500 cannon balls and bombs thrown at our fort. Meantime the Indians, climbing up into the trees, fired incessantly upon us. Such was their distance, that many of the balls barely reached us, and fell harm- less to the ground. Occasionally they in- flicted dangerous and even fatal wounds. The number killed in the fort was small, consid- ering the profusion of powder and ball ex- pended on us. About 80 were slain, many

wounded, and several had to suffer the ampu- tation of limbs. The most dangerous duty which we performed within the precincts of the fort, was in covering the magazine. Pre- vious to this, the powder had been deposited in wagons, and these stationed in the traverse. Here there was no security against bombs; it was therefore thought to be prudent to re- move the powder into a small block-house and cover it with earth. The enemy, judging our designs from our movements, now directed all their shot to this point. Many of their balls were red-hot. Wherever they struck they raised a cloud of smoke, and made a frightful hissing. An officer, passing our quarters, said: 'Boys, who will volunteer to cover the magazine?' Fool-like, away several of us went. As soon as we reached the spot, there came a ball and took off one man's head. The spades and dirt flew faster than any of us had before witnessed. In the midst of our job, a bombshell fell on the roof, and lodging on one of the braces it spun around for a mo- ment. Every soldier fell flat on his face, and with breathless horror awaited the vast ex- plosion, which we expected would crown all our earthly sufferings. Only one of the gang presumed to reason on the case. He silently argued that, as the shell had not burst as quickly as usual, there might be something wrong in its arrangement. If it burst where it was, and the magazine exploded, there could be no escape; it was death anyhow; so he sprang to his feet, seized a boat hook, and pulling the hissing missile to the ground, and jerking the smoking match from its socket, discovered that the shell was filled with in- flammable matter, which if once ignited would have wrapped the whole building in a sheet of flame. This circumstance added wings to our shovels and we were right glad when the officer said : 'That will do; go to your lines.'"

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

Defeated in his attempts to capture Fort Meigs, Proctor next moved to Lower San- dusky, into the neighborhood of General Har- rison's stores and his headquarters, and be- sieged Fort Stephenson.

Herewith is given a brief account of the attack upon this fort, and its heroic defense by the youthful Colonel Croghan.

COL. GEORGE CROGHAN AND THE DEFENSE OF FORT STEPHENSON

George Croghan was born near Louisville, Kentucky, November 15, 1791. He was a boy of manly appearance, and at a very early age developed a strong desire for military life. He was graduated at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, July 4, 1810. In 1811 he served in the battle of Tippecanoe, exhibit- ing great courage, activity and military skill. He was made captain the following year, and major, March, 1813. On May 5, 1813, he dis- tinguished himself as aide-de-camp of Gen- eral Harrison in the defense of Fort Meigs.

Early in 1813, Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), was constructed by and named after Colonel Stephenson, then in command of United States troops. During the month of July, 1813, Major Croghan was placed in command of this fort, upon which an attack by the British was anticipated. Pre- vious to the battle, General Harrison had dis- patched messengers to Croghan, advising him that if the enemy appeared in force he should retreat. But the young major wrote back that he had determined to hold the fort at all haz- ards. General Harrison treated his reply as disobedience of orders, and relieved him of his command. Croghan at once explained to the General's satisfaction, and was returned to his post.

On the 31st of July the - British made their appearance, landing about a mile below the

fort. General Proctor, the British commander, at once sent a messenger to the fort with a flag, and a summons for an immediate sur- render. To this went back the reply: "The fort will be defended to the last extremity; no force, however great, can induce us to sur- render, as we are resolved to maintain this post or bury ourselves in its ruins." Again was the flag of truce sent to Croghan, advis- ing him to submit, and thereby avoid the ter- rible massacre that would surely follow. But to this, the cool and defiant answer went out : "When this fort is taken, there shall be none to massacre; it will not be given up while a man is able to resist." Firing immediately commenced by the British gunboats and a howitzer on shore. Croghan had but one piece of artillery, but by shifting its position from place to place, induced the belief that he had several. The British, having made no satisfactory progress, determined to storm the fort, and on the 2nd of August advanced with about 500 regulars, 800 Indians, a howitzer and three six-pounders. They were under command to "give the Yankees no quarter." Croghan, with only 169 men, reserved fire un- til the "red coats" had approached within easy reach, when he fired with such fatal precision that the British faltered; he then turned his battery, a single gun, a six-pounder loaded with grape and canister, upon them, and the ravine through which they were approaching was shortly filled with the dead and dying en- emy. This British loss of dead and wounded was about 120, while Croghan's was only eight.

Thus, on the 2nd day of August, 1813, at the age of 21 years, the heroic Croghan, against a vastly superior force, had won this brilliant victory. For this exploit he was bre- vetted lieutenant colonel by the President of the United States; Congress awarded him a

American Book Co.

WAYNE'S CAMP KETTLE

Now in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society

Courtesy of American Book to.

FARMERS' CASTLE (BELPRE) IN 1791

CORE

Courtesy of Croghan Bank, Fremont, Ohio

COLONEL GEORGE CROGHAN Hero of Furt Stephenson August 2, 1813

Vomtesy of American Book Co. CAPTURE OF STONY POINT BY WAYNE, JULY, 1779

THE LOGAN ELM

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

gold medal, and the ladies of Chillicothe, then the capital of Ohio, presented him with a beautiful sword.

Just previous to the battle, Major Croghan wrote the following impressive letter to a friend :

"The enemy are not far distant. I expect an attack. I will defend this post till the last extremity. I have just sent away women and children, wih the sick of the garrison, that I may be able to act without incumbrance. Be satisfied. I shall, I hope, do my duty. The example set me by my Revolutionary kindred is before me Let me die rather than prove unworthy of their name."

He was made inspector general in 1825, with rank of colonel, and served as such with General Taylor in Mexico in 1846-47.

Col. George Croghan died in New Orleans, January 8, 1849. And to keep his memory, Fremont, through these passing years, has continued to celebrate the second of August.

Fort Stephenson, a spot precious to the citizens of Fremont, is now owned and cared for by the city. The old cannon, familiarly known as "Old Betsy." which did such fearful execution in the fight, to-day stands silently upon the fort, a fitting companion of that no- ble shaft, erected in memory of Colonel Crog- han, and of the brave soldiers in the late Re- bellion.

Tecumseh's death at the battle of the Thames in Canada, and Perry's victory on Lake Erie, with Jackson's at New Orleans, following the successes of Fort Meigs and Fort Stephenson, closed the War of 1812, or the "Second War of Independence."

THE OLD NORTHWEST-EARLY STRUGGLE FOR POSSESSION

Prof. B. A. Hinsdale, of the University of Michigan, in his "Old Northwest," writes

thus: "Save New England alone, there is no section of the United State embracing several States, that is so distinct an historical unit, and that so readily yields to historical treat- ment as the 'Old Northwest.' It was the oc- casion of the final struggle for dominion be- tween France and England in North America. It was the theatre of one of the most bril- liant and far-reaching military exploits of the Revolution. The disposition to be made of it at the close of the Revolution is the most im- portant territorial question treated in the his- tory of American diplomacy. After the war the Northwest began to assume increasing im- portance in the national history It is the original public domain and the part of the West first colonized under the authority of the national government. It was the first and most important territory ever organized by Congress. It is the only part of the United States ever under a secondary constitution like the Ordinance of 1787. No other equal part of the Union has made, in one hundred years, such progress along the characteristic lines of American development."

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History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 4

Author: Miller, Charles Christian, 1856- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co Number of Pages: 874

Author: Miller, Charles Christian, 1856- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 874