USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, from the close of the revolutionary war to July, 1880 > Part 5
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INTRODUCTION.
and arrived at Tippecanoe on the 6th of November. This was their principal town. Here he was met by Indian messengers with whom an agreement was made that hostilities should not take place before the next morning and that then an amicable conference should be held. Just before day-break, however, the savages, in violation of their engagement, made a sudden and furious attack upon the troops in their encampment. Nothing but the precaution of sleeping in order of battle, on their arms, saved the troops from a total defeat. Nineteen-twentieths of Gen. Harrison's men had never been in any battle, but they behaved in excellent manner, like veterans. Gen. Harrison had only about seven hundred men. The Indians were nearly a thousand strong. The Americans lost thirty-seven killed and one hundred and fifty wounded. The Indians lost forty killed. The number of wounded was unknown. The little town of The Prophet was laid in ashes. The Indians were left very much enraged against the government. Harrison returned to Vincennes.
An incident must be recorded here that occurred in that year which, in its bearing on the future of America, was worth more than a thousand battles. "A steamboat started from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River bound for New Orleans."
The Indian name of Tecumseh means "Cronching Panther." The name of "The Prophet" was "OHlinachica." They were twin brothers of the Shawnees tribe. "The Prophet" was an orator of great renown and a religious teacher. Tecumseh, from his abilities as a warrior and statesman. would have attained eminence in any nation of the globe. They were born near Chillicothe.
The result of the battle of Tippecanoe. no doubt. drove thousands of the Indians into the service of the British in the late war with the United States. the elements for which were then already gathering proportions.
In 1812 the second war with Great Britain commenced. A council of Indians and British met at Malden in Canada. A Wyandot Chief, Walk-in- the- Water, a great warrior and orator, was present. Round Head, another Wyandot Chief from Canada, and two other Wyandot Chiefs, together with Teenmsch and his brother, pledged their support to the British.
Black Hoof, another Wyandot Chief. was friendly to the Americans. He is spoken of as a noble, generous man, and a great orator. So was also Between-the-logs. another Wyandot Chief whom the author once saw at Tymochtee.
INCIDENTS IN THE WAR OF 1812-FORT MEIGS. FORT STEVENSON.
Return J. Meigs was Governor of Ohio. William Hull was Governor of the Territory of Michigan. Hull was ordered to raise troopsand take charge of the post at Detroit. Ohio raised three regiments of volunteers for three months. They rendezvoused at Dayton and. when joined by a regiment of regulars, numbered 2.500 men. They reached the Manmee at Perrysburgh on the 30th of June, 15 days after leaving Dayton. with 160 wagons. The road had to be eut for nearly the whole distance, 120 miles, through swamps and dense forests. They crossed the Manmee in boats and reached Detroit on the 5th of July. The British erected a fort on the opposite side of the river, and on the 15th of August. Gen. Brock. the British commander,
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
summoned Hull to surrender. This being refused, they commenced to bombard and storm the fort. The British force consisted of seven Indred regulars and six hundred savages.
The Americans, except their commander, were anxious and ready for battle. Their numbers exceeded that of the enemy by two to one. When every soldier in the fort was waiting for the order to fire, they were ordered to lay down their arms, which they reluctantly obeyed and a white flag was raised on the fort.
"Without shedding a drop of blood," says Atwater, without firing a single gun, the fort with all its cannons, taken with Burgoin at Saratoga from the British, with a vast amount of powder, lead, cannon balls and all munitions of war, all. all were unconditionally surrendered to the enemy. Let us see: 2,500 men with all their arms; 25 pieces of iron cannon, and 8 brass ones: 40 barrels of powder-all were surrendered to about 1,000 militia and a few Indians. Cass and MeArthur were amongst the prisoners.
The whole of Michigan fell into the hands of the British.
Two years thereafter Gen. Hull was tried before a court martial and sentenced to be shot for cowardice, but President Madison remitted the sentence.
After the disaster of Gen. Winchester, Gen. Harrison withdrew his forces from the Manmee to the Sandusky. Early in February he returned to the Mammee, however, and established his extreme advance post at the left bank and built Fort Meigs.
He had a force of 2,000 men. In early spring Proctor moved upon this fort with 3,200 men. 1,800 of whom were Indians under Teemseh. Proctor was certain of success and promised Teenmseh to deliver Gen. Harrison over to him as a captive. After four days' firing from his batteries, Proctor demanded the surrender of the fort. This was refused. Harrison having anticipated the attack had sent messengers to the Governors of Ohio and Kentucky for aid. The call was promptly responded to, and troops were sent forward immediately. By this time the Indians had completely invested the fort. Twelve hundred Kentuckians were now nearing the fort and received orders from Gen. Harrison to land on the opposite side of the river, and spike the guns of the British battery. Gen. Clay landed his Kentnekians as ordered. Col. Dudley led the attack on the batteries and drove the British from the guns and spiked them. Had Gen. Harrison's orders been promptly obeyed and had the Kentnekians returned to the fort as they were ordered, all would have been well: but the troops were so determined to finish the work, that instead of returning, they disobeyed and followed a band of Indians who led them into an ambush. Gen. Harrison and his officers shonted to them from the fort, to return, but they persisted in their pusuit when, on a sudden, twice their number of Indians rose np and ent off their retreat. They opened a severe fire upon the troops and those that were not slaughtered were taken captives, and made to run the gauntlet. As soon as Tecumseh heard of this butchery, he ran up and stopped the carnage.
In the night following, the savages were cooking their meal in a large kettle over the fire, close by their camp. They had strings tied to each ration. On some of these strings was the flesh of Americans they had slain.
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INTRODUCTION.
Gen. Harrison kept up the fire from the fort for some time into the night.' Before morning Proctor raised the seige and left.
From the command under Col. Dudley of eight hundred men, only one hundred and fifty escaped. All the rest were either killed or taken prisoners. The loss of the garrison during the seige was one hundred and eighty-nine.
Harrison repaired to the southern part of the state for re-enforcements. leaving Gen. Green Clay in command of the fort. On the 20th of July. scouts reported that Proctor was again ascending the river, with a force of 5,000 men, including Indians under the command of Tecumseh. The Indians alone numbered 4,000. There were but a few hundred men defending the fort and the situation looked hopeless. Tecumseh instituted a sham fight near the fort to draw the garrison out, and many of the men were of the opinion that the fight was between the Indians and the arriving troops from southern Ohio. It was almost impossible to restrain the men in the fort from making an attack upon the Indians. They were on the verge of a mutiny. and it required all the cool resolution that Gen. Clay was possessed of to keep order.
Proctor again raised the seige and withdrew to the mouth of the Sandusky. A vigorous attack upon the fort and in the absence of help from the outside, the surrender of it would by all human probability have been a question of a few hours. The ignorance of Proctor as to the condition of the fort, was the bliss of Gen. Clay.
The closing scenes of the late war in the west, and especially the battle of Fort Stevenson and Perry's victory on Lake Erie, being in the valley of the Sandusky river and near the mouth of the bay, seem to make a very proper commencement of the history of Seneca county, and at the same time close the Introduction, which gave the reader a bird's-eye view and a short history of the north-western territory.
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CHAPTER 1.
BATTLE OF FORT STEVENSON-HARRISON AND CROGHAN-FORT SENECA- DEFEAT OF THE BRITISH - WIPINGSTICK - PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE-BATTLE OF THE THAMES-DEATH OF TECUMSEH.
W HERE the beautiful little city of Fremont now stands, there was once a small Indian town, composed of wigwams on. the high banks of the river, and some near the shore. This town was inhabited by Wyandots, who had several other towns along the banks of the Sandusky river. They distinguished between these Sandusky towns by calling one the "Little Sandusky," the other "Upper Sandusky" and this lower one "Lower Sandusky." The whites afterwards added another Sandusky at the mouth of the river and called it Sandusky City, which still bears that name. -
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At this Lower Sandusky, which retained that name for a long time. General Harrison had a fort erected and pickets put up enclosing about one acre of land, and called it Fort Stevenson. The pickets around the fort had old bayonets put into them near the top, to prevent scaling them with ease. It was both a garrison and a trading house. The works were not sufficient to hold more than two hundred men. The defense of this fort was entrusted to a heroic young man by the name of George Croghan, who was then major, and but twenty-one years old. The only piece of artillery in the fort was one iron six pounder, which, at this writing, is still mounted on its carriage, standing on the ground where the fort used to be, and is familiarly known amongst the people of Fremont by the name of "Old Betsy."
About twelve miles up the river. on the left bank, was another stockade called Fort Seneca, with one hundred and forty men, where Gen. Harrison had taken position to rendezvous his troops, and from which he could protect the large amount of property which was collected along the valley of the river. Gen. Harrison was informed of the approach of the British and the Indians, and sent Mr. Connor and two Indians (Senecas) to Major Croghan, with instructions to abandon the fort, burn it and all the stores he could not take away
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
and report to Fort Seneca. But the messengers got lost in the woods, and did not reach Fort Stevenson until 11 o'clock next day.
Major Croghan, being of opinion that he could not retreat, sent back the following answer:
"SIR-I have just received yours of yesterday, 10 o'clock p. m., ordering mę to destroy this place and make good my retreat. It came too late to be carried into execution. We have determined to maintain this place, and, by Heavens, we can!"
Gen. Harrison immediately sent Colonels Wells and Ball, supported by a corps of dragoons, with a very severe reprimand to Major Croghan, and relieving him of duty, putting Col. Wells in command. Major Croghan returned to Fort Seneca with the dragoons as a prisoner.
Gen. Harrison was fully satisfied with the major's explanation and immediately restored him to his command, with instructions. Soon the scouts reported the advance of the British, while the Indians began to show themselves on the opposite side of the river. The British gunboats came in sight and landed troops one mile below the fort. The Indians, four thousand strong, displayed themselves in all directions. The British placed in position a five and a half-inch howitzer to open fire upon the fort. Gen. Proctor sent Major Chambers with a flag to summon a surrender. Major Croghan dispatched ensign Shipp out of the gates to meet him. After the usual ceremonies, Major Chambers said:
"General Proctor demands the surrender of the fort, as he is anxious to spare the effusion of blood," etc.
To this, ensign Shipp replied that the commander would defend the fort to the last extremity, etc., and that if the fort should be taken there would be none left to massacre.
The enemy then opened fire with their six-pounders from the boats, and the howitzer on shore, which was continued through the night with very little effect. Maj. Croghan reserved his fire. He, however. occasionally fired his gun from different points to make it appear as if he had several pieces at his command.
The fort was surrounded by a dry ditch, nine feet wide and six feet deep. On the middle of the north line of the fort there was a block house from' which this ditch could be raked in either direction, by artillery. Here the piece was placed, loaded with slugs and grape shot. Now, the artillery of the British was placed on the shore about two hundred and fifty yards from the fort.
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BATTLE OF FORT STEVENSON.
From this battery and the howitzer they poured an intense fire upon the northwest corner of the fort. Late in the night Gen. Proctor ordered an assault. They came within twenty paces of the fort before they could be discovered. Then a galling fire was poured upon them from the fort; but the British pressed forward and leaped into the ditch, led by Col. Short.
The masked port hole was then quickly opened, and the six-pounder spit grape and slugs through the crashing bones and quivering nerves of more than three hundred men, at the very mouth of the gun. The carnage was terrible. Fifty fell at the first discharge. A tumultuous retreat ensued. Two other assaults were easily repelled by the riflemen. Col. Short had just ordered his men to leap the ditch, cut down the pickets and give the Americans no quarter, when he fell into the ditch, mortally wounded. He hoisted his white handkerchief on the end of his sword and begged for that mercy, which, a moment before, he had ordered to be denied to his enemy. The assault lasted about one-half hour. The loss of the enemy was not less than one hundred and fifty. 'The garrison reported one killed and seven slightly wounded.
In the gloom of the night the British hastened away with their boats, leaving, in their haste, one boat loaded with clothing and military stores. On the next morning seventy stand of arms and some pistols were picked up around the fort.
So far, general history. In connection with this, one of the most brilliant military achievements in the late war with Great Britain, we will relate an incident that, as far as my knowledge and research extends, has never been published.
The Reverend James Montgomery, who was appointed agent for the Seneca Indians under President Monroe, a sketch of whose life is found elsewhere in these pages, took charge of his agency in 1819. He here became intimately acquainted with all the chiefs of the Senecas. Amongst these was a man known by the name of Wipingstick. He was a very intelligent and trustworthy Indian, highly honorable and reliable. He often related to Mr. Montgomery the following narrative concerning the part he was ordered to take in the affair at Fort Stevenson. I am indebted to Mrs. Sally Ingham, the only surviving child of Mr. Montgomery, a sketch of whose life will also be given herein, for the narrative. She, too, often heard Wipingstick relate the affair to her father:
Gen. Harrison had learned enough of Wipingstick to trust him. On the day before the battle at Fort Stevenson, Gen. Harrison sent Wipingstick with a letter to Major Croghan, with instructions and a
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
signal. When the Indian arrived near the fort, and to make himself agreeable to the British and the Indians, he cursed the Americans in the most approved style.
When he saw that the coast was clear and that he was himself unobserved, he approached the 'fort, peeped through the pickets, wrapped the paper, with his handkerchief, into a ball and threw it over the pickets into the yard. Lounging around under the bushes a little while, he observed his handkerchief, in the same form, fly over the pickets again, falling outside. It contained an answer from Major Croghan to Gen. Harrison. With this Wipingstick made his way through the forest to Fort Seneca, and reported to Gen. Harrison the same night. This was the evening before the battle, which was fought on the 2d day of August, 1813.
Wipingstick was a Seneca chief, then about thirty years old, and had a wife and one child. He was a man possessed of many noble traits of character, truthful, hospitable, friendly and honorable. He was five feet four inches high, squarely and compactly built, very muscular and active. He had a pleasant, open face, pleasing voice and was very talkative. At the war-dances he was the leader. and carried a war-club about eighteen inches long, with a ball at the end of the handle and a swell at the other end. This club was cut full of hieroglyphics and was painted red. He danced with the club in his hands, swinging it, yelling and whooping, which he kept up for a long time, and until the sweat would drop from his face.
He attended Mr. Montgomery's funeral, and seemed very much affected by the loss of his old friend. The families of Montgomery and Wipingstick were very intimate.
On the next day, after the battle of Fort Stevenson, Gen. Harrison came down, but the Indians had fled across the country in the direction of Fort Meigs, and the British down the river.
BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE-BATTLE OF THE THAMES-DEATH OF TECUMSEH.
Now both parties made vigorous preparations for a naval battle. to decide as to who should be master of the lake and its shores. Detroit was still in the hands of the British. In a few months the government had nine vessels ready for service, carrying fifty-four guns. and manned by about six hundred sailors and marines. The fleet anchored just off the mouth of Sandusky bay, and sailed from there to Put-in-Bay, a harbor on one of the islands of the lake, and about
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BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.
thirty miles from Malden, where the British fleet was riding at anchor. Commodore Barclay had six vessels, carrying sixty-four guns, manned by about eight hundred men.
On the morning of the 10th of September, 1813, at sunrise, the British fleet was discovered, in full sail, in the distant west. Commo- dore Perry immediately got under way and formed in line of battle, bearing down upon the enemy. He hoisted his flag with the motto: "Don't give up the ship!" which was greeted by the cheers of the crew. For two hours the hostile fleets approached each other with that dead silence that always characterizes the immediate attack at sea. Every- thing on the American fleet was order and discipline; no noise, no bustle. The men stood at their guns with lighted matches, watching the enemy, waiting for orders and occasionally glancing at the coun- tenance of their young commander.
At fifteen minutes after eleven a bugle was sounded on the Detroit, the advance ship of the enemy. Loud cheers burst from all their crew, and a tremendous fire was opened upon the Commodore's flag-ship, the Lawrence, which she was compelled to sustain for forty minutes, on account of the shortness of her guns, without firing a shot. Now all the other vessels of the enemy were drawn around the Lawrence, with the determination to destroy her first. Perry's other vessels could not come to her aid for want of wind. For two hours the doomed vessel withstood this terrible bombardment, while but two of her guns could be used in her defense. Through all this, perfect discipline was observed among Perry's men. The Lawrence was reduced to a wreck. Mangled bodies were scattered all around. All the crew, except three or four, had been either killed or wounded. The last gun, fit for service, was worked by the Commodore himself, and his officers.
It was now 2 o'clock in the afternoon. C'apt. Elliot, of the Niagara, brought his vessel into close action. Commodore Perry left the Law- rence in charge of Lieutenant Yarnell. and. taking a boat, went over to the Niagara, where again he hoisted his flag with the dying words of Lawrence. He brought all his vessels within pistol-shot of the boats of the enemy, and opened a murderous fire from all his boats, which was kept up until every ship of the enemy struck its colors.
The engagement lasted three hours. Never was a victory more decisive and complete. The American squadron took more prisoners than they themselves had men on board. The principal loss of the Americans was on the Lawrence, where, of her crew, twenty-two were killed and sixty wounded. The loss of all the other vessels was but five killed and thirty-six wounded. The British loss was more severe.
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
Commodore Barclay, who had lost an arm at Trafalgar, now lost the other also, and received a severe wound in the hip beside. The loss on the American ships in all, killed and wounded, was one hundred and twenty-four. The loss of the British was over two hundred, killed and wounded, and six hundred were taken prisoners. Every British vessel was taken. Commodore Perry sent word to Gen. Harrison, at Fort Meigs, saying: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." The next day the funeral obsequies of the fallen officers, on both sides. took place near the margin of the bay, in an appropriate manner. The crews from both fleets united in the ceremony. What a lesson! Yes- terday both parties were engaged in deadly strife; to-day they join their sympathies, associate as brothers to pay the last tribute of respect to their fallen companions.
On the 29th of September Gen. Harrison took possession of Detroit, there being no force there to resist him, and again the whole peninsula was thus restored to the United States.
Gen. Proctor, with his army and disheartened Indians, was on a rapid retreat into the heart of Canada. The river Thames, which empties into lake St. Clair, then ran through a wild, unbroken forest. Proctor was pressing his retreat along its valley.
Gen. Harrison left Detroit on the 2d day of October. to pursue the foe, with a force of over 3,000 men. The mounted infantry were com. manded by Col. Johnson, of Kentucky. Proctor was overtaken on the 5th, at a point where the Thames protected one flank of his army, and a great marsh the other. The Indians were stationed in the forest beyond the swamp. This spot was about eighty miles northeast of the mouth of the river. Proctor had under his command one thousand British regulars and eighteen hundred Indians, under the command of Tecumseh.
The British were routed and ran away. Gen. Harrison then turned upon the Indians, routing and killing them. Proctor's loss was sixty- nine, killed and wounded, and six hundred prisoners. The Indians left one hundred and fifty dead upon the battle-field, Tecumseh amongst them.
This Col. Johnson here mentioned was Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, who afterwards, in 1836, was elected Vice-President of the United States. The reader, who remembers the wonderful presidential campaign of 1840, will also remember how hard the Democrats tried to prove that Col. Johnson himself killed Tecumseh, and how equally hard the Whigs tried to prove that it was not true. The question is still an unsettled one. Mr. Abbott. in his history of Ohio, proves the
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WHO KILLED TECUMSEH ?
utter falsity of the assertion that Johnson killed Tecumseh, while Mr. Knapp, in his history of the Maumee valley, is so well convinced of the fact that he proves it, even by affidavits, beyond all question of doubt. 4
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CHAPER II.
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION ON PUT-IN-BAY-ORGANIZATION OF A MON- UMENTAL ASSOCIATION - CELEBRATION OF PERRY'S VICTORY - LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE - SPEECH OF ELUTHERUS COOK - SPEECH OF DR. PARSONS AND THE OTHER THREE SURVIVORS OF PERRY'S FLEET.
R ECURRING again to the incidents of the battle of lake Erie, the author hopes that a description of subsequent events, inaug- urated to erect a suitable monument to the memory of Commodore Perry and his braves, on Put-in-Bay, may not be considered out of place here. Fearing that the occurrences I am about to describe may become lost to history, and conscious of the fact that the reader will find, in the addresses of the Hon. Elutherus Cook and Dr. Parsons, the best description of that eventful scene, I have no apology for giving them a place in these pages, and especially because certain citizens from Seneca county took a very active part in the movement.
An effort was put on foot amongst very many distinguished and patriotic men, in a number of counties bordering on lake Erie, to erect a monument on Gibraltar rock, Put-in-Bay, to the memory of Commo- dore Perry.
In the year 1852, five companies of the Ohio volunteer militia decided to celebrate the anniversary of American Independence by holding a three days' encampment on the renowned and beautiful island of Put-in- Bay.
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