USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Three > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
258
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
would secede from the Union. Hearing of this report Sir James Craig, the Governor General of Canada, employed a secret agent named John Henry to go into New England "to make observations and report the prospects, in case the foreign difficulties should be continued, of a division of the United States." This agent spent three months "feeling out" public senti- ment, and found no disunion opinions, but rather opposition to the legislation. He made regular reports to the Canadian authority. When he had concluded his work he applied for his pay, which was refused him.
Furious at this treatment, he presented himself to President Madison and sold him all the papers and correspondence of his mission, including important letters of the British Ministry, for $50,000. Madison turned over all these papers to the Twelfth Congress in March 1812. England in the meantime was con- tinuing her depredations on our vessels, and this Henry affair was the last straw. An intense war feeling was prevalent everywhere except in New Eng- land. There seemed to be no other manly course left but to fight. Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in a speech in Congress on Eng- land's attitude, said: "We have complete proof of her capture of our ships, in her exciting our frontier Indians to hostility, and in her sending an emissary to our cities to excite civil war, and that she will dc anything to destroy us. Our resolution and spirit are our only dependence." The act declaring war followed. It was vigorously opposed by the Federalists, but Clay represented the desires and sentiment of the
259
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
American people when he declared that the war would be just, and would have for its object "free trade and sailors' rights against the intolerable and oppressive acts of British power on the ocean."
The war in which the Nation was about to engage placed the young State of Ohio in a most trying situa- tion. By virtue of her position it would be largely fought within or adjacent to her boundaries. It demanded of her the best of her resources both in men and money. She was amply able to meet all these demands, and did so with patriotic promptness. That Ohio could do this was due to the fact that she had a remarkable growth in the first decade of the nineteenth century. The population in 1803 was slightly over 45,000; in 1810 it had increased to 230,750. She was therefore enabled when the call to arms came to send to the field more than her share of defenders, thus contributing to the glory of the Nation and to her own patriotic record.
It was fortunate for Ohio that Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., occupied the gubernatorial chair at this critical period. He was one of the type of men that did so much to lay the foundations of the State. He was born at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1765. He came to Ohio with his father, Return Jonathan Meigs, in 1788 as one of the original settlers at Marietta. The senior Meigs was a valiant Revolutionary officer, with a brilliant record at Long Island, Stony Point and Quebec. Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., graduated with honor at Yale in 1785, and thus, like many of the Ohio pioneers, he took with him into the Western country the culture and refinement of his native
260
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
State. Pioneer life had attractions for him. He loved its free and adventurous spirit, and entered into close companionship with the leaders of the new country. In 1803-4 he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, a position which he resigned to accept from President Jefferson the appointment of com- mandant of the United States troops and militia of the St. Charles District of Louisiana. This afforded him a military experience that was useful to him in subsequent years. He also served as a member of the Supreme Court of that Territory for 1805-6. In 1807 he was appointed judge of the United States District Court of Michigan Territory. This com- mission he resigned in October of the same year to become a candidate for Governor of Ohio. He received a majority of the votes cast for this office, but was declared ineligible. In a former chapter (V) the details and facts connected with this contest are given. He was elected to the United States Senate from Ohio and served from January 6, 1809, to May 1, 1810. In this year he was elected Governor, in which position he continued until March 25, 1814, when he resigned to accept the Postmaster-Generalship in President Monroe's Cabinet. He filled this place until June 1823, when he retired to Marietta where he died March 29, 1825.
This survey of his life enables us to see that he was one who had the executive force to meet the events as they occurred. It can truthfully be said of him that during this war he did more than any other governor to aid the country by a prompt organization of the militia. When mutterings of the conflict with
261
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Great Britain were heard, Governor Meigs was quick to realize the importance of his position and the necessity for prompt and vigorous action in antici- pation of the coming struggle. The National govern- ment had ordered him to mobilize 1200 men, pre- paratory to garrisoning the fort at Detroit and effecting a defense against the English in Canada. In response to this call, three regiments of Ohio militia were as- sembled at Dayton in May 1812; the first from the Scioto Valley, under Colonel Duncan McArthur, the second from the Miami Valley under Colonel James Findlay, and the third from eastern Ohio, under Colonel Lewis Cass. The troops were raised without difficulty. Ohio, even in that early day, was prompt to furnish her quota for the defense of the common country, and more men offered their services than could be accepted under the call. Citizens of the best families readily enrolled themselves in the ranks and eagerly entered the service of their country. No adequate equipment for the little army had been provided, and the troops were obliged to camp without tents. It was the middle of May before blankets and other equipment arrived from Cincinnati.
William Hull, Governor of the Michigan Territory and Brigadier General in the Army of the United States, was appointed to the command of these troops. He came to Cincinnati on April 22, from Washington, accompanied by his aides, Captain Hickman and Captain Abraham F. Hull, his son. He established his headquarters at the Columbian Inn, on the south- west corner of Main and Second Streets, then the principal tavern of the town. During the last of ·
262
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
April and the first week of May he made his arrange- ments for the necessary supplies and transportation of the army. In the latter part of May he proceeded to Dayton where on the 25th, Governor Meigs turned over to him the command of the Ohio troops as directed by the Secretary of War.
The Governor addressed the troops and congratulated them that they were to serve under a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary War, who, as superinten- dent of Indian affairs and Governor of the Michigan Territory, to which they were about to march, was especially fitted by training and experience to conduct successfully the campaign that had been planned. Colonel Lewis Cass aroused much enthusiasm in a few well directed words.
General Hull then addressed the troops, and created a most favorable impression. He commended their patriotism, spoke of the necessity of rigid discipline, and concluded as follows: "In marching through a wilderness memorable for savage barbarity, you will remember the causes by which that barbarity has been heretofore excited. In viewing the ground stained by the blood of your fellow-citizens, it will be impossible to suppress the feelings of indignation. Passing by the ruins of a fortress, erected in our territory by a foreign nation in times of peace, and for the express purpose of exciting the savages to hostility, and supplying them with the means of conducting a barbarous war, must remind you of that system of oppression and injustice which that nation has con- tinually practiced, and which the spirit of an indignant people can no longer endure."
MAP SHOWING HISTORIC SITES OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO
Made specially for this work from official maps and data prepared by General O. M. Poe under an act of Congress passed, May 24, 1888. FUL
AMS
BATT 6.
@ BRYAN
NAPOLEON
FIANCE
HENR
PIANGE-
IT91 FORT
"DEFIANCE
WINCHESTER BLT. OCT. 18/2.
E A
PAULDING LDING
G
ARMY.
OTTAWAIS
JTNAM
FT.JENNINGS
BLT. SEPT 181.
IVAN WERT
WERT
L
E
OF
5
AFT. AMANEM BLT OCT 1812
UGLAIZE
CER
C
ST. MARYS. 18LT.1794.
BR
CLAY'S
L
BATTLE GROUND.
LORAMIÈ RES SFT.LORAMIE BLT. 1794 HELB
SIDNEY
DE LAWAR 1
OF
FT. PIQUA
CHAMPAIGN
OKE
MI AV M
-
TROY
FRANKLIN
FERSON
CAMP
Ост 1791
-
GREAT
0 L. Al
MANLAUTET
YEENVILLE. BLT./793
RIVER
. YEATY OF PEACE.
A ROUTE
MIAM BLT. 1812.
IGEN. HULA S
RICELINA
HACER A
OMMAND
D. HARRISON'S AUGLAIZETRIV. C
ERIE
KE
' THE RISE AND PROGRI
HO CHTI2 PILOTZIH ONIIWOH? JAMe his arran одно иянтанинтяои
stsb bris aqsm Isioffto moit iltow ands 1of lisiogge obsM supplies and transportat. 2299100 to tos his 19bitu 909 .MO9 551661Proceed cim where on the 25th, 8885AnsMA boasags turn in his the command of the Ohio troops as direct De the Securtury of War.
The Governor addressed the troops and congratulate thewy what they were to serve under a distinguish offices of the Revolutionary War, who, as superinte decof Indian affairs and Governor of the Michiga Territory, to which they were about to march, w. mpvcially fitted by training and experience to condu wwwshilly the campaign that had been planne Case betro Euw aroused much enthusiasm in a fe
Gril Hull then addressed the troops, and create 4 o . Dropble impression. He commended the puis thm, spoke of the necessity of rigid disciplin wot inekdid as follows: "In marching through wildeman memorable for savage barbarity, you wi remember the causes by which that barbarity h. lipari heretofore excited. In viewing the ground staine by die blood of your fellow-citizens, it will be impossib) to suppress the feelings of indignation. Passing b the ruins of a fortress, erected in our territory by fammign nation in times of peace, and for the expre purpose of exciting the savages to hostility, ar woprlying them with the means of conducting barbisous war, must remind you of that system opprowtou and injustice which that nation has co tinually practiced, and which the spirit of an indigna people can no longer endure."
ERIE
LAKE
TER IS.
· MIDDLE SIS;
MISL.
MEE BAY.
W. SISTER ISL.
E. SISTER
PERRY'S X VICTORY SEPT. 10,1813.
TOLEDO O
A
S
U
PUT-IN-BAY ISL.
WILLIAMS
FULTON EWAUSEON BATTLE OF FALLEN AUG.
@ BRYAN
A
W
FT.
DEPOSIT BLT.1791 RIVER
OLD SANDUSKY
DEFIANCE
HENRY
FT. DEFIANCE BLT.1194. FORT
BLT. OCT. 1812.
1812
JUNE,
FINDLAY BLT. JUNE
FT.FINDLAY
OTTAWAJ
HANCOCK
P UTNAM
FT.JENNINGS BLT. SEPT 1812.
@ VAN WERT
VAN
WERT
FT. NECESSITY->
BLT. JUNE \ 1812.
FT. FEREE(BLT.1812.
CRAWFOR A BUCYRUS
A' ILLEN Z
OF
"LIMA
FT.ADAMS
BLT. 1794
SANFT AMANDA BLT OCT. 18/2.
KENTONES
MERCER
CELINA
0
ST.MARYS.
AUGLAIZE BLT.1794. WAPAKONETA
TO-
GEN. HARRISON'S CAMP MARION MARION
... MOR!
LEWISTONA RE.
MARCH
&SHAWANOE SETTLEMENTS 1786
N
BELLEFONTAINE
HULLS
/A UNION
FASCIOTO
HARRISON'S
DELAWARE
SIDNEY
DE BBAWARE 0
*MARYSVILLE
ROUTE
FT. PIQUA. BLT. 1812.
CHAMPAIGN URBANA GEN. HULL'S I CAMP 1812.
ICTO
DARK E
MIAN MI AM I TROY
MAD RIVER
FRANKLIN
COLUMBUS
CAMP
r
FRANKLINTON-
MER
FT. RECOVERY. BLT. IN 1793
ST. CLAIRS BATTLE
NOV. 4,1791. GROUND,
CLAY'S
RIV,
A
r
LORAMIE KES FT.LORAMIE BLT. 1794. SHELBY
ST. CLAIRS MARCH, 1791.
FT. GREENVILLE. BLT.1793 TREATY OF PEACE.
OF
RIVER.
1
PU WARD
CRAWFORD'S DEFEAT, JUNE 1782. WYANDOT UPPER SANDUSKYHAN
HARRISON'S
GLAIZE FIV.
W
BOWLING GREEN
FT. STEPHENSON'S FREMONT BLT. 1812,
" DEFIANCE WINCHESTER
IV.
FT. SENECA - BLT. 18/2.
AUMEE
PAULDING\ PAULDIN G ARM
S E Ņ E CA FT. BALLS& TIFFIN BLT.1812.
DETROIT Q ----
ROAD. ------ SANDUSKY
NAPOLEON MAUMEE
PORITAGE
RIV.
GENL HARRISON'S CAMP- SSEPT. 1813.
CATAWBA
FORT!
MEIGS
Y
BLT. FEB.1813
TIMBERSX 20,/794
FT. INDUSTRY. NIBLT.1794.
FT.MIAMI BLT.1785.
DUDLEYS DEFEAT 1813.
FT. JEFFERSON BLT. OCT. 179A
GREAT
CL_ ALR-K-E-
HARD IN - Z
FT. M'ARTHUR Y BLT. JUNE 1812
TRAIL.
GREENVILLE
1812.
263
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
There was in this address nothing to suggest an unfortunate termination of the campaign upon which the little army was about to venture with enthusiastic anticipations. General Hull had served in the Revolu- tionary War with credit, and had won honors under General Anthony Wayne at Stony Point; but he was now old and fat, and had lost his energy both of body and mind. A more unfortunate selection could not have been made to lead this campaign. Nevertheless, his dignified and soldierly bearing, with his eloquent words, inspired confidence, and the troops began their northward march with every assurance of success.
While at that early day Ohio had made remarkable progress, and in many portions of the State the forests were giving way to cultivated farms, the means of communication and transportation were of the most primitive character. For the most part the road to the northwest was over miry wagon trails and along the outskirts of impassable swamps. The over- arching branches were the chief protection against the inclement weather. Ague chills shook the sturdy frames of the pioneer soldiers. The ambuscade of the savage foe was ever imminent, and danger lurked in many forms by the river bank and the portage trail. It is not necessary to say that under these conditions the movement of the troops was necessarily slow and hazardous.
When the troops reached Urbana they were joined by a regiment of regulars under Lieutenant Colonel Miller, a veteran of Tippecanoe. From this point General Hull, with a force of about 1900 men, marched through forests and marshes, and after enduring many
264
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
hardships, arrived at the Maumee Rapids the latter part of June. Here the bad judgment of Hull began to be manifest. In spite of the fact that he knew the English were in force on the western shore of Lake Erie, he transferred to a schooner the sick, with the stores and baggage of the army, including even his military papers. The schooner proceeded down the Maumee into the Lake and when opposite Malden, was captured by a British gunboat. Hull's military papers, including instructions and plans of the cam- paign, were at once forwarded to General Brock, the military Governor of Canada. In the meantime the English were on the alert and were making vigorous preparation to concentrate their forces at Malden, a fort on the eastern bank of the Detroit River and not far from its entrance into Lake Erie.
After many delays General Hull's army arrived at Detroit, July 5. His forces were easily superior to the enemy and by prompt action he might have overthrown the British before their reinforcements arrived. He did not choose to do this, but rested contentedly in the security of the fort. General Brock, taking advantage of this delay, gathered a large force of English and Indians. To the latter under the leadership of Tecumseh, and numbering fully 1,000 he held forth the alluring prospect of restoring their hunting grounds north of the Ohio River. The Indians were pleased with his confident assurances. In a subsequent interview Tecumseh and other chiefs pledged their united support against the Americans. The British and their Indian allies then proceeded to Sandwich, opposite Detroit, which was evacuated at
265
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
their approach, and planted a battery for the reduction of the fort within the walls of which Hull had collected his forces. The American artillerists wished to fire upon the battery as soon as it was unmasked, but Hull forbade this and the enemy proceeded without molestation in their preparation for an assault. The indecision and timidity of their general greatly ex- asperated the Americans. In the presence of the enemy he seems to have been the prey of conflicting purposes and emotions. Unfortunately at this criti- cal juncture he had sent two of his ablest officers, Colonels Cass and McArthur, to open up com- munication with the River Raisin. He was deceived by letters intended to be intercepted, into the belief that Brock's army had been reinforced by a large force of British regulars. He peremptorily refused to permit Captain Snelling to cross the river and make a night attack on the works of the enemy. In his trepidation he magnified the real dangers of the situation. The enemy was gradually hemming him in on every side. His supply of provisions was running low, and he saw little prospect of receiving more from Ohio. If the fort should be taken after a battle he feared that there would be a general massacre of the garrison and inhabitants by the Indians.
When Brock had completed his preparations for an attack, on August 15, he summoned Hull to uncon- ditional surrender, and declared that the large body of Indians attached to the British army would be beyond control the moment the contest should com- mence. He seems to have understood fully how to play upon the fears of the aged American general.
266
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Hull hesitated long before he replied. His officers were confident of their ability to hold the fort and eager to give battle to the enemy, and he finally refused compliance with the demand to surrender. Soon afterward the British bombardment of the fort began. For some time firing was returned with spirit. On the morning of the 16th the British landed without molestation on the American side and advanced upon the fort. With them came Tecumseh and seven hundred of his warriors. As they advanced, Hull ordered his troops to withdraw within the fort, and soon afterward, without consulting his officers, had a white flag of surrender raised above the works. He then arranged with Brock the terms of surrender. His troops and officers deeply sensitive to the disgrace in which they all were involved by this action, were emphatic in their protests.
Colonel Cass afterwards, on September 10, 1812, wrote to the Secretary of War his indignant feeling on this occasion as follows: "To see the whole of our men flushed with the hope of victory, eagerly awaiting the approaching contest, to see them after- wards dispirited, hopeless, desponding, at least five hundred shedding tears because they were not allowed to meet their country's foes, and to fight their country' battles, excited sensations which no American ha ever before had cause to feel, and which I trust ir God will never again be felt, while one man remain to defend the standard of the Union."
By this shameful surrender the whole of Michigan Territory, the public stores, and all the American troops, including the detachment under Colonel
267
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
McArthur and Cass, who were absent, were delivered to the British. Twenty-five pieces of iron and eight pieces of brass ordnance, the latter captured from General Burgoyne just thirty-five years before, fell into the hands of the enemy; also twenty-five hundred muskets and rifles and a large supply of ammunition.
Hull's surrender filled the Nation with indignation, and especially did the people of Ohio display their rage and exasperation at the disgraceful event. Most of the troops were from Ohio, and the State felt the humiliation and disgrace cast upon its brave sons through a betrayal by incompetence and cowardice. Hull was made the subject of denunciation and ridicule through the press. The maker of ballads-more powerful than the maker of laws-embodied him in a popular song, which was sung all over Ohio, and which began,
"Old Hull, you old traitor, You outcast of Nature,
May your conscience torment you as long as you live; And when old Apollyon His servants does call on,
May you be ready your service to give."
General Hull was afterwards court-martialed for treason, cowardice and unofficer-like conduct. He was found guilty of the last two charges and sentenced to be shot. On account of his Revolutionary services, President Madison, while he approved the sentence of the court-martial, remitted it, but General Hull's name was stricken from the army-roll.
The surrender of Hull exposed the entire north- western frontier to the incursions of the enemy. The disheartening news aroused the Americans to vigorous
268
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
action for the defense of their country. Throughout the territory menaced, citizens of every rank came promptly forward to offer their services. The crisis demanded a leader whose name would inspire confi- dence-a military genius who could discipline and mould into an effective army the patriotic but un- organized hosts who were eager to be led against the foe.
The man of the hour, with every requirement for the emergency, was at hand in the person of William Henry Harrison. We have read of his services (Chap- ter II) as Commandant of Fort Washington, Secretary of the Northwest Territory and its Delegate to Con- gress, and Governor of Indiana Territory. In all these civic positions he displayed a high grade of common- sense statesmanship. His revision of the land system of the United States, the details of which have been recited, won him the unrestrained confidence of the Western people. His knowledge of the service of the frontier was practical and characteristic, and he ac- quired this knowledge by becoming a part of its rapidly changing order. The dusky native of the forests was to him at once a concrete, practical problem, and he made him an object of philosophical study. Few mer of his time more carefully considered or more thor- oughly understood the American Indian. This largely accounts for Harrison's success in dealing with him whether it was on the battlefield or in the counci chamber.
He was keenly alert to the growing dissatisfaction of the Indians under the leadership of Tecumsel and his brother, the Prophet. When Indian hostilitie finally broke out in 1811, he led the troops at Tippe
269
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
canoe, where he achieved a signal victory. He was a careful observer of the encroachments of Great Britain, and anticipated long before it occurred, the declaration of war, June 18, 1812. As the popular hero of the West he was naturally expected to act a leading part when the Americans should march forth in battle array. Other leaders sought his counsel, and Governor Scott of Kentucky, after advising with prominent men of his State, evaded a statutory pro- vision, and to the great joy of the people, appointed Harrison to the command of the army of 7,000 men, raised to wipe out the disgrace of Hull's surrender and prevent the threatened incursions of the enemy.
At the head of these troops, Harrison proceeded northward by way of Cincinnati, Lebanon, Dayton, Piqua, and St. Mary's. On his journey he received from Washington information of his appointment to a brigadier-generalship in the army. Later he learned that General Winchester had been appointed to the chief command. At this announcement he was disappointed and the soldiers made many com- plaints. However, he counseled cheerful acquiescence and loyally supported his superior. Soon afterward when the authorities at Washington were apprised of the true situation, he was appointed to the chief command of the army. He brought his troops to a high standard of discipline and prepared the way for the victories at Forts Meigs and Stephenson and Lake Erie, which were to call forth the acclaim of the nation throughout its subsequent history.
Prior to the appointment of General Harrison as Commander-in-chief, the Americans were not successful
270
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
in their frontier campaigns. Although Ohio was doing her duty, the War Department at Washington was slow in grasping the situation and furnishing the necessary supplies. And, in addition to this, the militia commanders failed to maintain the necessary discipline among the troops.
In the summer of 1812 General Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia County, at the head of a thousand militia from Jackson, Lawrence and Gallia counties, marched to the foot of the Maumee Rapids, but the expedition was fruitless in its results. Tupper and his men marched back to Fort McArthur, on the Scioto River in Hardin County.
General Harrison had determined upon a winter campaign for the recovery of Detroit and the Michigar Territory. He dispatched one division of his army under General Winchester to the Maumee Rapids. a strategical point at the head of navigation which commanded the approach to the English positions at Malden and Detroit. The other army divisior was stationed at Upper Sandusky, where Genera Harrison employed the men in making roads and bridges and in forwarding to the army on the Maumee cannon, provisions and heavy baggage.
In a brief survey of the progress to the Maumer Rapids, many exploits of personal daring and thrilling encounters with the Indians must necessarily be omitted from this narrative. While the Indian generally fought with the British, many of them wer steadfast in their allegiance to the American cause A number of unfortunate incidents, however, mad the loyal natives sometimes objects of suspicion
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.