History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 37

Author: R. Sutton & Co.
Publication date: 1883
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 427

USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 37

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ST. MARYS, 21st September, 1813.

SIR :

Colonel Jennings's regiment is now here. I shall immediately set it to open the road to Fort Defiance, and will direct the contractor and commissary to push on their provisions. The Secretary of War, in a letter received from him, since I saw you, urges me to join you (suppos- ing that I was then in Kentucky), with a reinforcement of the troops sub- ject to my orders. As I have declined the appointment tendered me of brigadier, I cannot comply with his request, as the commission which I have is of higher grade than yours. I must, therefore, carry the wishes of the President into effect, so far as to place at your disposal the regi- ments of Barbee and Jennings, and the quota of this State which I have heretofore required of Governor Meigs. The officers commanding these corps will be directed to report to you and receive your orders. I shall retain the separate command of the mounted men and Pogue's regiment, and will communicate to you by express the particular object at which I shall aim. Be so obliging as to send orders to Colonels Barbee and Jennings. The former is at Piqua, and the latter I shall place on the road to Defiance, as I have above intimated.

I am very respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

Brig .- Gen. JAMES WINCHESTER.

The following order was at once issued to Colonel Wm. Jennings :- HEADQUARTERS, ST. MARYS, 24th September, 1812.

SIR :

It has become necessary to open a road from this place to Fort Defi- ance by the way of Tawatown, and to build a block-house in the inter- mediate, as nearly central as a good situation can be had. You will, with your regiment, proceed to this duty immediately. Some of the friendly Indians will be employed as guides, and Mr. Wm. Conner will attend you and act as interpreter. A number of wagons and pack-horses will set out from this place to-morrow morning ; it will be proper to send two companies to escort them, with directions to open the road only wide enough to allow the wagons to pass, and direct them to proceed with the utmost expedition.

It will also be proper that the pack-horses should be detached ahead as soon as they arrive within twenty-five or thirty miles of Defiance, under an escort of thirty men; the remaining part of the regiment will follow the wagons, and open the road, so as to have all the small timber removed at least to the distance of thirty feet; upon your arrival at the spot upon which you may think proper to erect the block-house, you will immediately clear a place and proceed to build it. It should be of the largest size of such buildings-not less than 25 feet in the bottom story. You will be reinforced or relieved by Colonel Pogue or Colonel Barbee's regiments, if there should be occasion for it before the work is completed.

I am, very respectfully, your humble servant, WM. H. HARRISON.

Col. WM. JENNINGS, commanding 2d Regiment Kentucky quota Militia.

Capt. Collins, who commanded a company of riflemen from Butler County, opened a wagon way along the old army trace from Loramie to St. Marys. This company was stationed here during the winter of 1813. The Captain gives an amusing and characteristic account of the election of Richard M. Johnson, as colonel of his regiment. He says: "The troops were drawn up on parade in a solid column. There was a gen- tleman of good appearance in front, facing the column, engaged in deliv-

ering a speech to the soldiers." After Capt. Collins had taken a position where he could see and hear, he recognized in the orator, Richard M. Johnson, a lawyer, whom he had formerly seen in Kentucky, and who be understood was a member of Congress from that State. The regi- ment was about to elect a colonel, and he was a candidate for that office. In the course of his remarks he observed, if they should elect him as their commander, he would in all times of danger, take a position where he would be most likely to receive the first fire of the enemy. He literally and most gallantly afterwards redeemed this pledge at the battle of the Thames. He was elected. It was while at St. Marys that General Harrison received his commission as a Major-General in the regular army of the United States; having before that term been acting under a commission from Gov. Scott, of Kentucky, of all his forces in the field. This company of Capt. Collins did good service in opening roads and making water-craft to transport supplies down the St. Marys River. While here Col. Johnson was ordered to destroy an Indian town on the north side of the wet prairie-now the Reservoir. This was what has since been called "Old Town," and belonged to the Shawnees, but was totally destroyed and never reoccupied.

From St. Marys, Gen. Harrison, with the main body of his forces, moved over to the Auglaize, down to Fort Jennings, and afterwards to Defiance.

On Sept. 30, 1813, the companies of Captains Roper, Clarke, and Bacon were ordered to elect a major and form a battalion, which should unite and form a regiment with the company of Johnson, and elect a colonel. Roper was elected major, and Johnson colonel, while Captain Arnold succeeded Johnson as major, and Lieutenant Ellison succeeded Arnold as captain. This regiment, now in command of Col. Richard M. John- son, with the Ohio regiment of Col. Findley, formed a brigade which was placed in command of Brigadier-General Tupper, of Ohio. This brigade was to advance up the St. Josephs, toward Detroit; but about noon of the day on which the organization was effected, an express from Gen. Winchester brought intelligence of his encounter with Indians, and that near Detroit he found British troops, with artillery, acting in concert with the Indians. A few minutes later an express arrived from Gov. Meigs, with a letter from Gen. Kelso, who was in command of a detachment of Pennsylvania troops on Lake Erie. This letter stated that on Sept. 16, 2000 Indians, with some regulars and militia, and two pieces of artillery, left Malden, to attack Ft. Wayne. On receipt of these despatches, orders were issued for a forced march, and three days' provisions; large quantities of ammunition and other necessaries were issued, so that, in three hours, the whole force at St. Marys was in motion to join Winchester, who was believed to have met the allied forces of Upper Canada. On October 1st a heavy rain fell, rendering the road heavy, and almost impassable. The horsemen held the flanks until the infantry halted for dinner, when the cavalry pushed to the front, and the same evening passed the camp of Col. Jennings. The rain continued all night, the weather was unseasonably cold, and the lack of tents rendered the position of the troops very uncomfortable. The footmen were halted at Ft. Jennings; but Gen. Harrison, on Oct. 2, met another express from General Winchester, with intelligence of the retreat of the enemy. On receipt of this message, the General ordered Col. Barbee to return with his regiment to St. Marys, and Col. Pogue to cut a road from Ft. Jen- nings to Defiance. This disappointment of the troops to meet the enemy, caused dissatisfaction; and even the General was displeased to find the first despatches of an exaggerated character. He, however, pushed on, and reached Winchester's camp the same evening. The troops came up the next morning, and advanced to the mouth of the Auglaize, where they went into camp. At Winchester's camp scarcity of supplies had produced suffering and discontent. To allay this, both Harrison and Hardin addressed the soldiers in very affecting terms. The former as- sured them that ample supplies lay at St. Marys, that a road was open- ing to that point, and that in the evening he expected a large quantity of provisions; and, in conclusion, he said: "If you, fellow-soldiers from Kentucky, so famed for patriotism, refuse to bear the hardships incident to war, and to defend the rights of your insulted country, where shall I look for men to go with me ?"

These assurances and appeals restored harmony in the camp. Harri- son now selected a site for a new fort on the Auglaize, close by the ruins

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of the old one. A fatigue party of 250 men was placed in command of Major Joseph Robb, who was detailed to cut timber for the new build- ings. General Winchester now moved from the Miami, and encamped about a mile above the mouth of the Auglaize. General Harrison and Col. Johnson, with his original regiment, returned to St. Marys, where the companies of Jolinson, Ward, and Ellison were honorably discharged on Oct. 7.

Col. Pogue's regiment had orders, after cutting the way to Defiance, to return to the Ottawa towns on the Auglaize, twelve miles from St. Marys, and there erect a fort. On Oct. 4, General Harrison ordered General Tupper to proceed with his mounted men the next morning down the Miami to the Rapids, or farther, if necessary, to disperse any bands of the enemy who were reported to be rioting on the corn of the settlers, who had fled to other settlements for safety. He was then to return by Defiance to St. Marys.

Accordingly, eight days' rations were issued, but Tupper feigned the need of more ammunition than he had received, and this General Win- chester could not supply. In the morning the order was unheeded, and at noon a party of Indians appeared on the opposite bank of the river, and fired upon three men, one of whom they killed, and then fled. They were pursued by several different bands of the troops, one of which, with Capt. Young, overtook them, but finding them about fifty strong, fired upon them, and retreated to the camp. In the morning, Logan, with six other Indians, was sent out to reconnoitre, and Col. Simrall organized a strong party to renew the pursuit; but at this time Win- chester ordered Tupper to commence his expedition toward the Rapids, by a pursuit of these Indians. Again the General was not ready, as he was awaiting the return of the spies sent out in the morning to ascertain the trail of the enemy. These spies returned in the evening, and re- ported the Indians fifty in number, ten miles down the river. Again Tupper was urged to move; but again he was unwilling, and asserted his desire to go by the Ottawa towns instead of by Defiance. The same day the terms of about three hundred mounted riflemen expired, and disgusted with the conduct of the General, they refused to remain in the service. Discontent now manifested itself, as the Kentuckians did not wish to move with Tupper, unless accompanied by some of Win- chester's field officers.

Col. Allen Trimble then tendered his services, and was accepted; but the General proceeded by way of the Auglaize to the Ottawa towns, as he had desired. Here he professed to expect reinforcements. His troops were now disheartened, and all but two hundred refused to move in the direction of the Rapids, and the command therefore retired to Urbana, where those troops who were obedient were honorably discharged. Tupper was ordered to be arrested by Harrison on charges preferred by Winchester, but when the officer went to make the arrest, he found Tupper had gone on an expedition of his own towards the Rapids; and as there was no officer in his brigade capable of succeeding him in command, it was deemed prudent to stay the proceedings for a time. Tupper after- ward demanded a court of inquiry at Fort Meigs, but as no competent witnesses were present, he had to be acquitted.

As Harrison was returning from Defiance to St. Marys, he was in- formed by a Fort Wayne express that Indians were collecting at that place. On his arrival at St. Marys, he found a corps of five hundred mounted volunteers who had come to join the expedition to Detroit. They were in command of Col. Allen Trimble, and were ordered to Fort Wayne, with instructions to proceed from that post against the White Pigeon villages about sixty miles distant, on the St. Josephs. On his arrival at the fort, about half his men refused to go farther; but with part of his force he proceeded, and destroyed two villages. The Indians who were sent from Fort Wayne to bring in the Miami chiefs from the Mississinewa to council, were now at St. Marys, with a number of those chiefs.

. They were ready to deny their hostility ; but finding the General too well informed to be deceived, they begged the mercy of the government, and left five of their number, selected by General Harrison, to be held as hostages at Piqua, until the action of the President could be learned. The troops of Winchester were now employed several weeks in com- pleting the new fort, which they had named for the commander, and in making canoes along the Miami. The regiment of Col. Barbee completed

the fort at St. Marys, and named it Fort Barbee. Col. Pogue, with his regiment, built the fort at the Ottawa towns, on the Auglaize, twelve miles from St. Marys, and named it Fort Amanda, in honor of his wife. The regiment of Col. Jennings completed the fort, which the troops named for the Colonel. These regiments were at the same time employed in constructing boats and canoes, and in escorting provision trains be- tween the posts. These were some of the exertions and movements made in our territory in preparation for the main expedition contem- plated against Malden.

Fort Amanda was situated near the west bank of the Auglaize River, with about an acre of land. The pickets were from ten to twelve feet high, and sunk two or three feet in the ground. There were four block-houses, one at each corner; the second story projected over the pickets three or four feet, and was pierced with portholes, from which the soldiers could defend the fort in case of attack. The first story was occupied by sol- diers and company officers as sleeping rooms. The block-house in the southeast corner was the largest, and used mainly as officers' quarters. -

There was also a large cabin in the centre of the fort, which was used as a storehouse for supplies for the army, as the soldiers wintered all one winter, if not two, at this point. Again, the old fort was used as one of the first post-offices in Allen County, as well as the first place of preaching.

Fort Amanda served as an intermediate storehouse and point of con- centration between St. Marys, Urbana, and Upper Sandusky on the one side, and Forts Wayne and Defiance on the other. Here a cemetery was established for the interment of the Nation's dead during the occu- pation of the fort. This cemetery was continued in use by the whites after the settlement, and is still a monument to that army. As conflict- ing reports are still current as to the number of soldiers here interred, an effort has been made to obtain information through all channels yielding a promise of data.

In this direction an application was made to the War Department through the courtesy of Hon. James A. Garfield-of revered memory and undying fame-with the result portrayed in the subjoined letter :-

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, April 26, 1880. Hon. J. A. GARFIELD, M. C., House of Representatives.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith the letter of your corre- spondent, Mr. Sutton, referred to this office by your indorsement of the 19th instant, and to inform you that there is no record in this office of " Fort Amanda, Ohio," or its garrison.

The records of the "War of 1812" do not show the place of burial in any case, and nothing relating to the subject of Mr. Sutton's inquiry can be found in the records of this office, which for 1813 and 1814 are incomplete, having been partially destroyed by the British forces in 1814.

I have the honor to be, Sir, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant, E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.

As already intimated, St. Marys became a source of supplies, but in November the roads became so heavy that it was impossible to remove provisions. About the Ist of December Major Bodley, quartermaster of the Kentucky troops, made an effort to transport two hundred barrels of flour down the St. Marys River to the left wing of the army below Defiance. About twenty pirogues and canoes were laden and placed under command of Captain Jordon and Lieutenant Cardwell, with about twenty men. About a week later they reached Shane's crossing, having moved about one hundred miles by water, while the distance by land would scarcely exceed twenty miles. Here the freeze of one night blocked the river, and left them ice-bound. Lieutenant Cardwell returned over ice and swamp to Fort Barbee to report the situation. Major Bodley returned with him to the provisions and offered extra reward to any who would cut the ice and push forward. This was tried but soon proved impracticable, as two days' labor only advanced the boats about a mile.

The project was now abandoned, and the boats left under guard. About the middle of the month a thaw occurred which enabled the de- tachment to reach near Fort Wayne, when they were again frozen in.

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The voyage was then abandoned, sleds constructed, and the provisions transported to the fort by land. In the mean time much suffering had been occasioned to the army of General Winchester, as they were with- out flour from the 10th to the 22d.

Thus, until the concentration of the troops in the north a base line of supplies extended from St. Marys by the Auglaize to the Rapids, while the former place, protected by Fort Barbee, continued an important storehouse during all the preliminary preparations for the march against Malden and Detroit. The last commander of Fort Barbee was Captain John Whistler, who had been a soldier from his youth, came to America with Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga. Remain- ing in the United States after the war, he entered the Western army under St. Clair and survived the defeat of November, 1791, at which time he acted as sergeant. In 1793 an order came from the War Office offering the commission of ensign to any non-commissioned officer who would muster twenty-five recruits. In this way Captain Whistler ob- tained his first commission, and then rose to a captaincy, commanding, in succession, Forts Barbee (St. Marys), Wayne (Ft. Wayne), and Dear- born (Chicago).

Nothing transpired of moment within our local limits after the peace treaty with Great Britain in 1815 until the Indian treaty entered into at St. Marys in 1818. Generals Cass and McArthur acted as commis- sioners on the part of the United States on this occasion. The nego tiations commenced September 17, and concluded October 6, 1818. The treaty ground extended from old Fort Barbee west, on the north side of the west branch of the St. Marys River up as far as the cemetery site of to-day. A large force of Indians attended this conference. Such famous chiefs as Tecumseh, Black-Hoof, Logan, Blue Jacket, and Cap- tain Johnny belonged to the tribes represented.

In this treaty all Indian grants are called reservations. Thus the Shawnees had their reservation about Wapakoneta, while the Ottawas held grants farther down the Auglaize River. These tribes inherited strong prepossessions for lands on the St. Marys River, partly on ac- .count of the excellent quality of the land, but chiefly on account of its location between the chief Indian town on the Maumee, now Ft. Wayne, and the different settlements of whites. They always selected the forest lands, with reference to springs, water-courses, and fertility of soil. The treaty of 1818 extinguished the Indian title to all lands within the limits of Ohio, except a number of small tracts which were expressly reserved.

The following incident apropos of this occasion is related on the au- thority of Judge McCulloch :-

The Governors of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, with many leading citizens from these States and Kentucky, were present. Among the Indians was Kalositah, who was over six feet high, and weighed about two hundred pounds. He was further described by the Judge "as the most perfect specimen of physical manhood " he had "ever looked upon," and was confident he could out-jump or throw down any man in the Northwest. Pending the negotiations a grand hopping match occurred, and Kalositah distanced all competitors by clearing fifty feet at two hops and a jump. A match was then arranged with Tom Wilson, a noted wrestler, and the Indian. Kalositah offered to bet the Judge he could throw Wilson, and the Judge finally staked a silk necktie against a wrought silk belt worn by the Indian. The contestants took holds, and . Kalositah allowed his antagonist to exert his utmost before himself taking the aggressive. Wilson employed every art and energy, but all in vain; the Indian appeared planted and could not be moved. At length Kalositah said, "Now me," and lifting Wilson, laid him upon the ground as he would a child. A second trial ended with the same result, and Wilson gave up the contest. Kalositah, thinking perhaps the contest was too easy, magnanimously returned the necktie to the Judge. Again, a stalwart negro from Kentucky was pitted against the Indian. This negro was believed able to throw almost any man he might meet. On this occasion the contest was sharp but decisive, for the "Now me" of the Indian was sooner heard, and was the same signal of his success. Stung to the quick, the negro arose in a passion, only to be again hurled to the ground. On rising the third time, he threatened to whip the Indian, but fighting was not allowed. It will not be considered amiss to relate another incident of the brave, although it occurred at West

Liberty. In 1832 he wrestled with John Norris, a saddler of that town. The Indian probably came on a challenge from Norris, who appears to have possessed considerable conceit. If so, the latter made a grave mistake, for he is said to have been "no more a match for Kalositah than a poodle for a mastiff." The contest was scarcely worth the name, being brief and decisive. With his irresistible "grape-vine twist," Kalositah snapped a leg of his antagonist as if it had been a pipe-stem. The friends of Norris interposed, crying, " You have broken his leg, Kalo- sitah ; you have broken his leg." The imperturbable Indian only replied, " Leg must be rotten," and left Norris to be borne from the field.

The old Fort Barbee stood a little north of the old gravel pit, and in the southeast corner of the Lutheran Cemetery. One of the gate-posts was to be seen until late years. There was a block-house near. Old "Charley Murray," of whom we shall speak hereafter, had his cabin where the gravel pits are now. The boarding-house tents for the accom- modation of the commissioners, their secretaries, agents, and officers, were put up along where the little brick house stands, south of Main Street. This boarding-house was built and kept by the Edsalls, who afterward removed to Shane's Prairie, and then to Fort Wayne. The Indians were encamped by tribes. The timber had all been cut off by the Indians who constituted Girty's Town. Afterwards it was cleared off during the occupation of the army of Harrison in the winter of 1812-13. This leads me to speak of those who were present. The Edsalls had lived at Fort Greenville, where they had kept boarding-house. Having knowledge of the approaching treaty, they came up from Greenville to- gether with John Armstrong, afterwards Judge Armstrong. He came June, 1818, about a month before the negotiations commenced. He built his cabin near the sand-bank of Squire Dowty's, and cleared a patch a little farther up the creek. These were the first white settlers in this part of the county except old Charley Murray, who was at the time of the treaty in jail in Troy, O., awaiting his trial for the murder of Thracker. Two sisters of Thracker lived in the old block-house. Murray had some grudge against him and waylaid him between the two crossings of Loramie, at a deep hollow, ever since known as Thracker's Run, and caused a hired man of his, one Meyers, to shoot him. Murray was afterwards tried at Troy, but was acquitted upon the plea that Meyers was simple minded and fired without his orders. He used to say, however, that " nothing went right with him afterwards." Murray, with William A. Houston, in 1820 entered a large amount of land here, and soon afterwards laid out the town plat of St. Marys.

When Murray came, is not now very certain. It has been stated that Girty, being afraid to stay so near the white settlements, sold out his interests and stock in trade to Murray in 1795, and went down to the Maumee.

Judge Burnet, in his Notes, p. 70, says, "that the judges and lawyers who attended the General Court at Detroit, under the Territorial Gov- ernment, took the route by Dayton, Piqua, Loramie's, St. Marys, and the Ottawa town on the Auglaize, and from thence down that river to Defiance; thence to the foot of the Rapids, and thence down the river Raisin to Detroit. But once they crossed the Maumee at Rock De Bœuff, and passed through a succession of wet prairies, and after two and a half days of incessant toil and difficulty they arrived at the Ottawa village. To their great mortification and disappointment, they were informed that 'Blue Jacket' had returned from Cincinnati a day or two ago with a large quantity of whiskey, and that his people were on a high . frolic. They could not remain in the village, and had a wet, swampy path of twelve miles to pass over to the St. Marys, through a valley swarming with gnats and mosquitos. They started. Night overtook them in the middle of the swamp; there was no moon, and the forest very dense; they could not keep the path, nor see to avoid the quag- mires on every side. After remaining in that uncomfortable condition five or six hours, expecting every moment that their horses would break away, daylight made its appearance. About sunrise they arrived at the old Fort St. Marys at the crossing of St. Marys, then occupied by Charles Murray and his squad, where they got breakfast, and proceeded on their way to Cincinnati."

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History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 37

Author: R. Sutton & Co. Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Number of Pages: 427

Author: R. Sutton & Co.
Publication date: 1883
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 427