USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 20
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Wayne's army, now called the "Northwestern," win- tered at the new camp on the Stillwater branch of the Miami. It was fortified, and many cabins put up during the season. Wayne gave the group of huts and fort the name of Greenville, which was retained for the flourish- ing town that now covers its site. Here he awaited the arrival of the convoys with provisions, and continued his preparations for the struggle. About the last of De- cember a detachment was sent forward to the field of St. Clair's defeat, which built and garrisoned Foit Recov- ery there. Under the walls of that work an eseort of one hundred and fifty men, commanded by Major Mc- Mahon, was attacked by a thousand Indians, led by Lit- tle Turtle, the noted Miami chief; but they were beaten off, after a severe action, with great slaughter. The next month Wayne was joined by sixteen hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky, and on the twenty-eighth of July, 1794, he began his first movement against the enemy. August 8th, the army reached Grand Glaize, near the union of the Auglaise and Maumee, where Fort Defiance was built, and Wayne despatched a firm but conciliatory message to the Indians. In reply they sent word that if he would wait ten days longer at Grand Glaize, they would decide for peace or war; but he would not wait, and continued his movement until the eighteenth of August, when he reached a place forty-one miles from Grand Glaize, where, ascertaining that he was almost in the presence of the enemy, he began to throw up a light work called Fort Deposit, to cover the trains and heavy baggage of the army. On the morning of the twentieth, moving cautiously down the north bank of
the Maumee about five miles, the advance guard was ambuscaded by the Indians, and received so severe a fire that it was driven back upon the main body. The enemy was very favorably posted in high grass and among trees felled by a tornado-which gave the action the name of "the Battle of the Fallen Timbers." Among these it was impossible for the cavalry to operate with effect on a considerable part of the line of battle. They were promptly moved against the enemy's flanks, how- ever, while the front line of infantry charged the savages, which it did with such impetuosity as to oust them speedily from their coverts, and in less than an hour to drive them more than two miles and disperse them so thoroughly that the battle was not renewed.
The brunt of this gallant affair was borne by less than nine hundred of Wayne's men, opposed to more than twice their number, representing the Miami, Delaware, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes, and led by sev- eral of their bravest chiefs. A number of Canadian militia and British regulars, with their officers, were also on the field as auxiliaries to the savages; and some of them were killed in the fight. In the spring of this year a fortification had been constructed by the British in the neighborhood of the battle ground, upon the territory of the United States. To the vicinity of this (Fort Miami) Wayne now moved, and while engaged in a spirited cor- respondence with its commander, in regard to the intru- sion of the British upon Federal territory, occupied his army with the devastation of the Indian villages and cornfields above and below the British post. Ineluded in the destruction were the buildings and other property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent and "prin- cipal stimulator," as Wayne calls him, of the war on the side of the savages, having been personally present on the field of the Fallen Timbers.
Having laid waste the country for miles about the fort, Wayne returned to Fort Defiance, and on the fourteenth of September moved toward the junction of the St. Jo- seph's and the St. Mary's, where the Government had for years desired to plant a military work, and where he built one whose name is perpetuated by the city of Fort Wayne, at the same place. About the middle of Oeto- ber the Kentucky contingent, which had become muti- nous and troublesome, was marched back to Fort Wash- ington and mustered out of service. On the twenty- eighth the remainder, except a sufficient garrison for the new fortification, moved to Fort Greenville, where it win- tered. The several tribes, notwithstanding constant British instigation to the contrary, one after another de- cided to sue for peace. Messages to that effect were received in December and January by the commanders at Forts Wayne and Greenville; prisoners were ex- changed; and in the summer of 1795 a great gathering of the leading men of the tribes at the latter place re- sulted in the treaty of Greenville, bearing final date August 3d, of that year. It was ratified by the Senate of the United States in December; and so, through Wayne's carefulness and foresight in preparation, his masterly strategy in the construction and occupancy of a chain of military posts into the hostile country, and
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the bravery of his "Legion," the terrible Indian wars of the eighteenth century in this country were closed. A peace lasting until the temporary outbreak sixteen years afterwards, under Tecumseh and the "Prophet," was secured by the great convention of Greenville.
A MINOR EXPEDITION.
In the spring of 1794, while General Wayne was for a time in or near Fort Washington, he was directed by President Washington to despatch a force to Fort Massac, on the Mississippi, to intercept an irregular, filibustering army, understood to be in preparation in Kentucky, and expected to invade Louisiana for the conquest of that province, then under Spanish domination. Wayne de- tached Major Doyle, with a company of infantry and artillery, to perform the service, which, with other ener- getic measures undertaken by Washington, effectually broke up the schemes and intrigues mainly instigated, in Kentucky and elsewhere, by the agents of M. Genet, then the French Minister to this country. The "French party" had enlisted the sympathies of the governor and other prominent men in Kentucky, and arranged for the rendezvous of two thousand men at the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) to constitute an army of invasion; so that the movement thus checked, in part from Fort Washington, was really somewhat formidable.
A VERY SHORT CAMPAIGN
seemed to be made necessary in southwestern Ohio at one time during the latter part of the first decade of this century, by the suspected hostile conspiracies of Tecum- seh and his brother, the Prophet, who resided at Green- ville from 1805 to 1809. They were visited there by many Indians of influence and martial prowess; who were roused almost to frenzy by the intrigues of the Prophet and the eloquent appeals of Tecumseh. So strong became the signs of hostility at last that war was confidently expected. The militia of this region were called out and rendezvoused at Dayton, supplies gathered, wagon- and pack-trains organized, and other preparations made. The scare was shortly over, however; and the troops, after about a fortnight's service, were disbanded. One regiment was out from Hamilton county, command- ed by Colonel John S. Wallace, of which Dr. John Black- burn, of Cincinnati, was surgeon.
THE TIPPECANOE CAMPAIGN.
It is probable that many other men of Hamilton county, besides the gallant commander, General William Henry Harrison, were out with him in the campaign of 1811, against the Indians of the Indian country; but their names are not now ascertainable. The sole note of the history of the campaign, connecting Cincinnati and the county with it, which we find, is in Mr. E. D. Mans- field's Personal Memories. He was then a little boy, residing with his father at Ludlow's Station, on the Ham- ilton road, upon which he remembered seeing the Fourth regiment of infantry march from Cincinnati on a pleasant morning in May, on their way to the ultimate victory of the campaign at Tippecanoe the following November, where they found the main body and chief hope of the American army. The renown won by General Harrison
in the campaign also reflects from it honor upon Hamil- ton county, although he was then residing at Vincennes as governor of Indiana territory.
THE WAR OF 1812-15.
Early in the spring of 1812, before this struggle had been fully enlisted, the President made a requisition upon the State of Ohio for one thousand two hundred militia. More than enough to fill the quota were soon raised, many of them from Hamilton county. They were ordered by Governor Meigs to rendezvous at Dayton, on the twenty-ninth day of April. By the fourth of May one thousand four hundred troops, mostly volunteers, were encamped at Camp Meigs, three miles above that place, and one hundred more were added within a week. Gen- erals Cass and Gano, the latter a Cincinnatian, were in command, under the governor, who was commander-in- chief. The force was divided into three regiments, led, respectively, by Lewis Cass, Duncan McArthur, and another Cincinnati soldier, James S. Findlay, who, al- though a general in the militia, consented to take a col- onel's place. May 25th, the equipment of the troops being measurably complete, Governor Meigs formally surrendered the command of the Ohio contingent to General Hull, of the United States army, who was to lead it away to the disgraceful surrender at Detroit.
Upon the outbreak of the contest, Governor Meigs had called out the First division of Ohio militia, which. rendezvoused in Hamilton county, at Hutchinson's tavern (later Jacob Hoffner's, in Cumminsville), on the road from Cincinnati through Colerain. Mr. Mansfield says the volunteers presented a motley appearance, dressed as they were in a great variety of apparel, some with hunting-shirts, some with butternut jackets, and others in more fantastic costumes. Many of the men had rifles or other arms; but most of them drilled with sticks and cornstalks in place of firelocks. When the governor's call was made, the response was generous from this county, as from other parts of the State. Two companies volunteered at once in Cincinnati. One was of mounted infantry, commanded by Captain John F. Mansfield, a nephew of Jared Mansfield, the surveyor- general.
He was in the Hull surrender with his command, but was presently released. He was extremely mortified by the terrible disgrace, and also taking a fever while cross- ing Lake Erie, he died soon after his return to Cincin- nati-"of fever and a broken heart," says his cousin, Mr. Mansfield, in his Personal Memories. Captain Mans- field is thus further eulogized by his distinguished rela- tive, Hon. E. D. Mansfield, in his Memories of Dr. Drake:
He was a most extraordinary young man, whose character produced a more intense and enduring impression upon those who knew him than did any one of whom I have ever heard. The impression made upon others-an impression deep and durable-is the highest testimony to the reality of a great and noble character. The fleeting effect of brilliant genins, or the doubtful applanse given to talent without virtne, may be possessed by many ; but it is seldom we find that perfection of character which demands a praise which never wavers and which no time destroys. Still more seldom do we find in it such kindly affection as draws within its embrace the hearts of both strangers and friends. Such was the character of Captain Mansfield ; and I judge it only by
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the concurrent testimony of a large number of persons, from the pass- ing citizen to the near relatives, from the soldier who served with him to the officer who commanded.
Returning after Hull's surrender, in an open boat on the lake and river, he was seized with an autumnal fever. Enfeebled by disease, he was not less broken in spirit ; and his sensitive mind seemed to have sunk under the stain of disgrace and disappointment. In this state Dr. Drake found him, when returned to Cincinnati. No power of medicine or care of friend availed against his deep-seated malady of mind and body. He was already delirious, and soon sank to the grave. He was only in his twenty-fifth year; and one so young, so unassum- ing, and so full of worth, was never so much lamented by so many who knew what worth was. The public honors paid to his memory -- not a few-were small compared to the tribute of sorrows poured out by hearts bound to him by no tie of nature, but endeared by strong af- fection.
Neither the roll of Captain Mansfield's company (the Cincinnati Light infantry), nor of Captain J. W. Sloan's dragoons (the Cincinnati troop), nor of any other com- pany known to have been from Hamilton county, is in the office of the adjutant-general of the State ; and we have been unable to recover any such roll from private hands. The rules of the adjutant-general's office at Washington do not permit the copying of military rosters there, through fear of frauds in the procurement of bounty lands and otherwise. Another company that went out from Cincinnati during the war was that of Cap- tain Carpenter, and Captains McFarland and Hugh Glenn are said to have had Hamilton county companies in this service, but we are likewise unable to present a copy of their rolls of honor. The entire regiment com- manded by General Findlay was from the Miami coun- try. The two companies first enlisting marched to join Hull's army with the Fourth United States infantry, which had crossed from Newport Barracks to take the road northward; and a sermon was preached to them be- fore starting, on the fourth of May, 1812, by the Rev. Dr. Wilson. Mr. Mansfield thus related the incident, at a pioneer celebration in 1874:
Just before they set ont they were called into the First Presbyterian church, corner of Main and Fourth streets, to hear an address from Dr. Joshua L. Wilson. The text was, in substance: "Cursed be he that goeth not forth to battle, and cursed be he that keepeth back his hand from blood." The brave, earnest, patriotic Wilson never hesi- tated to speak his mind, and speak it freely. That noble army was surrendered without a cause; and none who did not know those men, can know with what anguish and sorrow and indignation that surren- der was received.
August 5, 1812, orders were sent by Governor Meigs to General John S. Gano, at Cincinnati, to march imme- diately with three hundred men of his division to Ur- bana, in charge of Captain Sutton. They were to be "un- der the command of a major," and furnished with a blanket and knapsack, arms and ammunition. “Volun- teers under the law of Ohio will be preferred," wrote the governor. No public money was in hand for the pur- pose of recruiting or equipment; the credit of the Gov- ernment was low; and many of the military and naval operations of the war were conducted only under pledges or pecuniary obligations for which private persons be- came responsible. This order gave General Gano a similar opportunity. Fifteen days after the order was despatched he wrote:
I had to get Major Barr to join me to put our note in bank for three thousand five hundred dollars, payable in ten days, which is all we
could raise, and the bills on Government will not command the cash here-there are so many drawn they cannot be accommodated. . . I have six as good companies as I have seen in the State ; four have marched from here yesterday to join two others at Lebanon, where they will elect their major. The detatchment is as follows; Captain Jenkinson with his company of artillery, fitted completely with muskets, etc., etc .: Lebanon Light infantry, in exactly the same nniform as Mansfield's company; four companies of riflemen completely equipt, one company one hundred strong. All can instantly fix bayonets to their rifles; the others every man a tomahawk and knife. The whole are volunteers, except the light infantry of Lebanon.
On the sixth of September, 1813, when the events of the war were rapidly thickening, Colonel Henry Zumalt, of Cincinnati, was ordered by General Gano to march his regiment of militia, near eight hundred strong, "this evening, if possible," to Dayton, thence to Franklinton, the present western division of Columbus. He was to be joined on his way by two companies from Hamilton and two from Lebanon. Extra pay was offered if the troops should be called into actual service. He was in- structed to procure musicians, if possible; and an order was given on Major Morton for fifty stand of arms and accoutrements.
The story of the war need not be recounted here. It will be sufficient if some mention of the deeds of Hamil- ton county's sons is made. This was admirably done by General Harrison, in an after-dinner speech at the cele- bration of the forty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of Cincinnati and the Miami country, held in Cincinnati on the twenty-sixth of December, 1833, by natives of Ohio. We extract in full that portion of his address referring to their exploits :
Your young orator [Joseph Longworth, esq. ] has mentioned the per- formances of our own Buckeye population in the late war, in terms as eloquent as they were just. I could not think of trespassing upon the patience of the company by recounting the merits of all who distin- guished themselves; but I cannot resist the gratification of informing the citizens of Cincinnati that they have amongst their number some who were as conspicuous for their gallantry as any from Ohio or else- where.
As those who are truly brave are always backward and retiring, I think it probable that the anecdotes I shall relate are unknown to the greater portion of the inhabitants of this city. To do full justice to my gallant friend whom I perceive at some distance on my right [Major Gwynne], I must necessarily recount the circumstances which afforded the opportunity for distinguishing himself to which I have referred. The siege of Fort Meigs had continued some days, when the enemy, despairing of making an impression upon onr works from their position in front, took possession of one on our right flank, on which, in the night, they erected two batteries, with the view of enfilading our lines. It became necessary to dislodge them, and a sortie for that purpose was ordered. I had no means of ascertaining the force by which these bat- teries were defended. But it was impossible to suppose it very small, and allow their commander the possession of any military knowledge, as a large river separated them from his main body. It became neces- sary, therefore, to make the detachment ordered on this duty as strong as circumstances would permit. It was composed of the com- panies of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth regiments of the line, then in the fort ; the former raised in Kentucky, the latter in Ohio. The whole rank and file of both regiments was about three hundred and fifty. To these were added the battalion of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Petersburgh, Virginia, volunteers of about one hundred, and a small company of Boone county, Kentucky, militia, for flankers. The aggregate of the detachment being about five hundred rank and hile, were put under the command of Colonel John Miller, of Ohio, the com- mandant of the Nineteenth regiment. These troops were drawn up in a deep ravine which flanked the fort, to prevent, if possible, the enemy from knowing the object they were intended to accomplish. Before the advance was ordered the troops were addressed, and the necessity of their succeeding and the motives for every one to perform his duty pointed out. They were ordered to advance with trailed arms, to pre-
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vent their fire from being expended before they reached the enemy, and the most positive directions given to put to death any man who should fire before orders were given to do so.
The advance was made in line, the regular troops on the left, their centre directly opposite the batteries of the enemy, on their right the Pittsburgh and Petersburgh volunteers, and the Kentucky company of militia still farther on that flank. From the shape of the ravine from which the advance was made, the regular troops had reached the sum- mit before the volunteers, and the latter were in some measure masked by the hill, when the whole of the enemy's fire was poured upon the regulars. The meditated attack was discovered by the enemy, who looked into the ravine by climbing trees, and were of course prepared to receive it. The effect of the fire was dreadful, as may well be sup- posed, from a thousand Northwestern Indians and upwards of two hundred British troops in position, delivered from the corner of a wood upon troops in line marching through an open plain. I have always been of opinion that the loss was greater for the numbers engaged, and for the period that the firing lasted, than has ever occurred before or since in America. A moment's halt was necessary to close the ranks and to disencumber them of the killed and wounded. This was done with the precision and coolness of a parade exercise. In another moment the "march! march!" was given by the gallant commander, and the whole line, regulars and volunteers, rushed upon the enemy. They did not remain to receive the shock, although still possessing the advantage of position, and then outnumbering the assailants by three to one. With the exception of the extreme left flank of Indians, their whole line, British and Indians, and Tecumseh, the commander of the latter, fled; the British to their boats and the Indians to the swamps. The company to which your fellow-citizen, Major Gwynne, then a lieutenant of the Nineteenth infantry, was attached, was on the right of the line of regulars. The battle being over in front, he dis- covered that on the right the Kentuckians were still engaged with the Indians who had composed the enemy's extreme left, and that they had cut them off from our line. Seeing that the danger was pressing, with- out waiting for orders he changed the front of his company, charged the Indians on the rear, relieved the brave Kentuckians, and, with their assistance, completely routed them. That Major Gwynne by this bold and prompt movement saved many valuable lives, there can be no doubt. The highest reward bestowed upon a Roman soldier was given to him who saved the life of a Roman in battle.
But I perceive that there is another Buckeye at the table who merited well of his country under my command in the late war. I am per- suaded that a relation of the circumstances will not be unacceptable to the company. When the enemy were first discovered advancing on Fort Meigs, and their Indians had already encircled the fort, it became necessary to send orders to Brigadier-General Green Clay, who was, as I knew, advancing with a brigade of Kentucky militia to join me. As it would have been improper to send a written order, when there were so many chances of its falling into the hands of the enemy, a person was wanted who, to the qualities of sagacity, bravery, fortitude, and perseverance, united unquestionable patriotism. For a service of that character it is not usual to command its performance by an officer. Your fellow-citizen, Major Oliver, at that time an officer of the commis- sariat, proffered his services. They were accepted, and he performed the duty to my entire satisfaction. The hazard of the undertaking was very great, and it was of that kind that even the bravest men would dis- like to encounter. The fame which is acquired by such a death, is one of the strongest motives to distinguished actions in the field. If Major Oliver had perished on this occasion, and the chances were greatly against him, he certainly would have been "wept" by his numerous friends, but to requote what has been already given, he would have been "unhonored and unsung." What have been the rewards of Major Gwynne and Major Oliver from their country for the services they rendered, I cannot say. Indeed, it appears that the Buckeyes have been rather unfortunate in that respect, although always in the hour of danger and on the day of battle, they appear to have been frequently overlooked in the division of the spoil.
A glance at the president of the day [Major Daniel Gano] reminds mc of the important services rendered by his father; and as he is the proper representative of that father, it is within the rules that I should mention them. When I first saw the late Major-General John S. Gano, it was in the hard winter of 1791-2, at the head of some forty or fifty volunteers, united with a body of regular troops, on an excursion to the scene of the disastrous battle-ground of the preceding fourth of November. An uncommon fall of snow made it necessary for General (then Colonel) Wilkinson, who commanded the detachment, to leave the infantry and proceed with the mounted volunteers. The great
depth of snow prevented the accomplishment of the pions purpose of burying the dead, for which the enterprise was undertaken. In a few weeks from this time, Captain Gano again joined us on the hazardous expedition to erect the fort which was named St. Clair. With similar small bodies he was ever on the alert-ever ready to afford any assist- ance in his power toward the protection of the frontiers, until the gen- eral peace with the Indians in 1795. In the last war he served under my command as major-general at the head of the Ohio quota of militia, and during my absence on th northern frontier he commanded the Ninth Military district, as general-in-chief. I can state with confi- dence that in all of these situations, whether at the head of forty men or of some thousands, he discharged his duty with the strictest fidelity, usefulness, and honor.
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