History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 15

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton
Number of Pages: 878

USA > Ohio > Mercer County > History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 15
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 15

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All negotiations proved futile, as the Indians were evidently bent on war, and only favored delay for the purpose of collecting their full force. Wayne, therefore, cautiously proceedel down the Miami, attacked the villages, and on the 20th of August, 1794, a terrible and decisive battle was fought in which the allied tribes were totally defeated and dispersed. The Indians were posted in a wood in front of the British works, which was inaccessible to the cavalry. They were drawn up in their lines so near as to support each other.

Gen. Wayne ordered the front of his army to advance with their hayo- nets, and drive the enemy from their hiding places, and then to deliver . their fire, and press the fugitives so vigorously as not to allow them time to load. So rapid was the charge, and so entirely was the enemy broken by it, that in the course of one hour they were driven more than two miles through thick woods to within gunshot of the British fort. The fight terminated, directed by so experienced and skilful a leader as Gen. Wayne, under the guns of the British garrison. The woods were strewn for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of Indians and their white auxiliaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayes ts.

Gen. Wayne remained for three days in front of the field of brittle, laying waste the houses and cornfields of the Indians. He then returned to Auglaize and destroyed the villages and corn within lifty miles of the river. He lost in the battle one hundred and seven men killed and wounded; the loss of the Indians is unknown. This decisive victory was the closing of the wars with the Indians at that period in the United States. Other Indian nations became quiet and peaceable, and the power of the United States to restrain and punish their enemies had a decided influence on the future conduct of the Indian nations. By the Ist of January, 1793, the influence of Little Turtle and Buckongehelis, both of whom saw the fully of further resistance to the United States and the

. HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO

hopelessness of reliance upon England, commenced negotiations for peace, and on the 3d day, of August, 1795, a grand treaty was concluded at Greenville, establishing the celebrated "Greenville Treaty Line." This treaty appears elsewhere in this volume. Gen. Wayne no doubt owed much of his success to the courage, skill, and fidelity of the re- markable force of scouts and spies which he had organized. Among them were famous names, Mcbean, Captain Wells, and Henry Miller; but chief was Captain Wells, who was taken prisoner by the Indians when young, had lived with them for years, had married the sister of Little Turtle, and was counted the bravest of their brave. He was pre- sent at the defeat of Harmar and St. Clair, but afterward, under an im- pulse to stand among his own people, he left the Miamis and joined the army of Wayne. During the war of 1812 he commanded at Fort Wayne, and fell in a desperate encounter with five hundred Pottawattamies, while marching with the Miamis and a small body of whites to the relief of Fort Dearborn.

Wayne awaited the arrival of the Indians at Greenville to negotiate a treaty of peace. Little Turtle and the Shawnees, "whose voice was always still for war," came in very slowly. They had more at stake than any other tribe. They had occupied all Southern Ohio-the Scioto, the Great Miami, and Mad River regions. From these beautiful lands they had been driven back and back, and were now likely to lose all that remained to them. They came at length, and the treaty was made by which the Indians ceded certain "pieces of land," among which were one six miles square at or near Loramie's store, one piece two miles square at the bend of the navigable water or landing on the St. Marys River near Girtys Town (St. Marys), one piece six miles square at the head of the navigable waters of the Auglaize River, one piece at the confluence of the Auglaize and Miami, six miles square (at Defiance), and one piece where " Fort Wayne now stands six miles square." These were called "posts." It has been observed that Little Turtle and Blue Jacket of the Shawnees came in to Greenville very tardily, but it must be said to their bonor they proved true to the treaty to the last hour of their lives.

Little Turtle was a master spirit of the confederate Indians, with headquarters at "the Miami Towns," now Fort Wayne. He commanded the Shawnees at the defeat of Harmar, and was present at the assault upon Recovery. At the peace negotiations he had the double task of controlling the confederate chiefs and dealing with Gen. Wayne. His name occupies prominent rank in the pages of our Indian biography.

Major-General Anthony Wayne.

His grandfather, Anthony Wayne, was a native of Yorkshire, Eng- land, in 1681, and removed to Ireland, where he devoted himself to agri- culture for several years. Entering the army of William of Orange ngainst King James the Exile in 1690 he fought at the battle of the Boyne, and took part in the siege of Limerick, making himself quite serviceable to the State, for which he seems never to have been duly rewarded. Hence he became much dissatisfied with the general relations of his adopted country, and at the age of sixty-three he left Ireland for a voyage to America, and settled in Chester County, Pa., in 1722. Ile was distinguished for his devotion and attachment to the principles of civil and religious liberty, and held a captain's commission at the battle of the Boyne on July 1, 1690, between William III. at the head of the Protestant army, and James II. at the head of a Catholic and French force.

Ilis son Anthony, the subject of this sketch, was born in the township of East Town, Chester County, Pa., January 1, 1745, and was highly re- spected for his talents, his morality, and his devotion to the interests of the colonies. He devoted his time to farming and surveying. and in 1767 married a daughter of Benjamin Primrose, Esq., of Philadelphia, a distinguished merchant in Philadelphia.

In 1774 Anthony Wayne was elected a member of the Legislature, and in 1775 a member of the Committee of Public Safety. His distinguished talents, as well as the decided stand he took as a patriot and statesman, prepared the way for his future usefulness, more especially in advocating the noble stand which Pennsylvania took in the Revolution.

Having resigned his seat in the Legislature in September, 1775, he raised a regimeut of volunteers, and on the 3d day of January, 1776, he

received from Congress n colonel's commission, and was elected colonel of the Fourth Regiment raised by order of Congress in Pennsylvania, the other three having been respectively assigned to Col. Arthur St. Clair, Col. John Shee, and Col. Robert Magan.

On March 16, 1776, the Committee of Safety appropriated two thon- sand pounds for the use of Col. Wayne's regiment in the service of the United Colonies.

At the opening of the campaign in 1776 Col. Wayne was ordered with his regiment to New York, and from thence to Canada, where he arrived in the latter part of June. He joined Gen. Sullivan's regiment, which was defeated at Three Rivers July 17, 1776. The command of the Northern army then devolved upon Gen. Gates, who marched to the aid of Gen. Washington, leaving Gen. Wayne in command of the post at Ticonderoga. He was esteemed for his conduct and bravery and way commissioned a brigadier-general.

In the spring of 1777 Gen. Washington called Gen. Wayne to the main army, and on May 15 placed him at the head of a brigade, since

Major- General Anthony Wayne.

which time he was ever the successful leader or actor in every engage- ment, as the subsequent facts will demonstrate.

In June, 1777, after the retreat of the British from Philadelphia, Gen. Wayne's and Morgan's corps were the two successful ones which pursued the enemy, and were complimented by Gen. Washington in his report to Congress.

At the battle of Brandywine Gen. Wayne was assigned the post of honor of leading the American attack.

At the battle of Paoli, September 2, 1777, he was driven from his posi- tion by Gen. Gray's army with fixed bayonets, and by his conduct on that occasion Gen. Wayne proved himself to be a brave, active, ant energetic officer. A marble monument has been erected to perpetu- ate the memory of the gallant officers and soldiers who fell on that occasion.

On October 4, 1777, Gen. Wayne signalized himself at the battle of Germantown by leading his men into action. He had one horse shot under him and another as he was mounting. So intrepid and daring was he that he received the appellation of MAD ANTHONY, and is familiarly known as such.

Gen. Wayne's army did noble duty by removing the British under Gen. Clinton from Philadelphia June 28, 1778, who retreated in the dead

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

of night, leaving Gen. Wayne's army to bury two hundred and forty- five of his soldiers, besides taking charge of a large number of the wounded.

July 15. 1779, Gen. Washington resolved to attack Stony Point, and committed the issue to Gen. Wayne. The fort was garrisoned by six hundred men, principally Highlanders, under Licut .- Col. Johnson. The brave and intrepid Wayne at the head of his troops, with their muskets unloaded :and fixed bayouets, surprised and took the garrison, numbering five hundred and fifty-three prisoners,

Congress presented him with a gold medal, emblematical of this glori- ous victory-for the wisdom and magnanimity which he displayed in conducting so wonderful a military enterprise. While Congress thus rewarded their General, the soldiers were not forgotten for their bravery, for the stores which were taken at the garrison were divided among them.

On October 17, 1781. when Lord Cornwallis and his army surrendered at Yorktown, Gen. Wayne assisted by his strategetical genius, which never failed him in the most untoward situation.

Gen. Washington, after Cornwallis's surrender, sent Gen. Wayne to Georgia, and so awe-inspiring were his record and his acts, that the enemy's forces succumbed, and he succeeded in establishing peace, se- curity, and order. For his valuable services the State of Georgia pre- sented him with a valuable farm in their State.

Gen. Wayne's regiment also did noble duty May 20, 1782, when he defeated the Creek Indians at Ogechee.

In July, 1783, after an absence of seven years, Gen. Wayne returned to his native State and to civil life, crowned, as he well deserved, with the blessings of the nation, and in 1784 was elected a member of the General Assembly from Chester County, and served for two sessions. Hle again retired to private life, but in 1789 he was brought before the public, but not as a soldier; he was elected a member of the Council of Censors, and afterwards of the Pennsylvania Convention, and advo- cated the adoption of the Federal Constitution, in which duties he ac- quitted himself with marked ability and to the entire satisfaction of the people.

Gen. Wayne was nominated by President Washington, in the month of April. 1792, to the command of the army of the United States, and thereby succeeded Gen. St. Clair. Gen. Wayne waited patiently at Pittsburgh, his headquarters, from 1792 to August, 1793, for negotia- tions to take place with the Indians; but every effort failed, and about September 1, 1793, he formed an encampment on the banks of the Ohio River between Mill Creek and the then village of Cincinnati, where the troops were drilled and instructed in military duties adapted to the peculiar service they were about to encounter.

Congress increased the army under Gen. Wayne with five thousand men, and with this increased force he set out on his march August 3, 1793, and advanced from his headquarters at " Hobson's Choice," near Fort Washington, on October 6. 1793, to the southwest branch of the Great Miami, within six miles of Fort Jefferson, and about a month sub- sequently established his headquarters at Fort Greenville, in the vicinity of what is now the town of Greenville, Darke County, Ohio, which fort was built by him about the period of his arrival at that point. Here with his fort properly fortified, and devoting his time and attention to the military instruction of his officers and men, he remained till the mid- summer of 1794. While thus engaged a body of sixteen hundred mounted volunteers, on July 26. 1794, from Kentucky, arrived, under the command of Maj .- Gen. Scott. We now retrace our history to the 234 of December, 1793, when Gen. Wayne gave orders for the erection of a fort on the site of St. Clair's defeat in 1791, and for that purpose ordered Major Heury Burbeck, with eight companies of infantry and a detachment of artillery, to proceed to the ground, whither the soldiers arrived, executed the order of Gen. Wayne, and the fort was appropriately called " furt Recovery."

On July 28, 1794, the army began its march upon the Indian villages along the Maumee. On this march, some twenty-four miles to the north of Fort Recovery, Gen. Wayne had built and garrisoned a small post which he called Fort Adama. From this point, on the 4th of August, the army moved toward the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumre Rivers, where they arrived on the Stb of August. At this point a strong

stockade fort with four good stockhouses by way of bastions was erected, which was called by Gen. Wayne Fort Defiance.

On August 14 Gen. Wayne wrote to the Secretary of War: "I have the honor to inform you that the army under my command took posses. sion of this very important post on the morning of the 8th instant-the enemy on the preceding evening having abandoned all their settlements, towns, and villages with such apparent marks of surprise and precipita. tion as to amount to a positive proof that our approach was not discov- ered by them until the arrival of a Mr. Newman, of the quartermaster- general's department, who deserted from the army near St. Marys. I had made such demonstration as to induce the savages to expert our advance by the route of the Miami villages to the left, er toward Roche de Brute, or foot of the Rapids by the right-which feints appear to have produced the desired effect, by drawing the attention of the enemy to these points, and gave an opening for the army to approach undiscovered by a devious, i. e., in a central direction. Thus we have gained posses- sion of the grand emporium of the hostile Indians of the West without loss of blood."

On August 15, 1794, Gen. Wayne moved his forces towards the foot of the Rapids, and erected a fort, which he called Fort Deposit, for the reception of stores, baggage, and the better to reconnaitre the enemy's ground, which lay behind a thick bushy wood and the British fort, which was called by them Fort Miami, at the foot of the Rapids about seven miles from Fort Deposit, and stood on the northwest bank of the Maumee River near where Maumee City now stands.

Gen. Wayne erected and finished Fort Deposit, not only to protect his provisions and baggage, but because from this point he could the more readily reconnoitre the enemy's position at the foot of the Rapids. The British fort, Fort Miami, contained 250 British regulars and 210 militi ;. with four nine-pounders, two large howitzers, and six six-pounders, which were mounted in the fort, with two swivels. This fort had been recently constructed, contrary to the treaty with Great Britain, and within the limits of the United States.

From Gen. Wayne's report to the Secretary of War (Gen. Verux), we learn that at eight o'clock on the morning of the 20th of August, 1796, the army, under his command, advanced in columns, agreeably to the standing order of march-the legion on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee, one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left under Gen. Todd, and the other in the rear under Gen. Barbee. A second battalion of mounted volunteers, commanded by Major Price, marched in front of the legion, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action.

This corps was attacked after marching nearly five miles, and received so hot a fire from the enemy, who were concealed in the high grass and woods, as to compel it to fall back. Then the army was formed into two lines by Gen. Wayne in a close, thick wood, while the Indians were drawn up in three lines near enough to support each other at right angles with the river. Gen. Wayne, in his official correspondence, say -: " I soon discovered from the weight of fire and extent of their lines that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground. and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I gave orders to the second fine to advance, and directed Maj .- Gen. Seatt to gain and tura the right flank of the Indians with the mounted volunteers by a cir- cuitous route. At the same time I ordered the front line to advance with trailed arms and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up to deliver a close and well-directed fire on their backs, so as not to give time to load again." Gen. Wayne also com- manded the legionary cavalry to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to act in. All orders were obeyed with spirit and prompitude, but such was the impetuosity of the charge of the first line of infantry, that the Indisus and Canadian militia and volunteers were driven from their coverts in so short a time that, although every exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion and by Gens. Scott, Todd, and Barbee of the mounted volunteers to gain their proper position, yet but a part of each could get up in season to participate in the netion-the cnemy being driven, in the course of our hour, more than two miles through the thick wands already mentioned, by less than one-half their number.

From every account the enemy numbered two thousand combatants,

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

and the United States troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hundred. This horde of savages with their allies abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving Gen. Wayne's victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the British garrison, Fort Miami, at the foot of the Rapids.

This victory was followed by the treaty of Greenville, which com- menced June 16 and lasted to August 20, 1795, and which the reader will find at length in the chapter on Indian treaties.

The question has often been discussed whether Tecumseh, the Indian chief, was at the council the night before the battle, and participated in all the events of that disastrous campaign of the Indians and their allies.

We shall give the testimony of Anthony Shane, who was present on that occasion, who states that Tecumseh led a party of Shawanees in the attack upon the army of Gen. Wayne. That it was in this engagement that Tecumseh first encountered Gen. Harrison, then a lieutenant. That the chief occupied an advance position in the battle, and while attempting to load his rifle he put in a bullet before the powder and was thus unable to use his gun. Being at this moment pressed in front by some infantry, he fell back with his party till they met another detachment of Indians. Tecumseh urged them to stand fast and fight, saying if any one would lend him a gun, he would show them how to use it. A fowling-piece was handed to him with which he fought for some time, till the Indians were again compelled to give ground. While falling back he met another party of Shawances, and although the whites were pressing on them he rallied the Indians and induced them to make a stand in a thicket. When the infantry had pressed close upon them, and had discharged their mus- kets into the bushes, Tecumseh and his party returned the fire and then retreated till they had joined the main body of the Indians below the rapids of the Maumee.

Of the killed and wounded in this engagement, according to the report of Gen. Wayne, the regular troops lost twenty-six killed and thirteen wounded, and nine regulars and two volunteers died of their wounds be- fore the 28th of August. The loss of the enemy was more than twice that of the army under Wayne, as the woods were strewn for a consider- able distance with the dead bodies of Indians.

Gen. Wayne remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and cornfields of the enemy were consumed and destroyed for a consider- able distance both above and below Fort Miami. Upon August 27 the army started upon its return march for Fort Defiance, laying waste the villages and cornfields for a distance of some fifty miles along the Maumee.

The army reached Fort Defiance the 14th of September, 1704, and after fortifying the fort substantially they left on the 17th for the Miami village, where they arrived the next day. The history of events will be seen from Wayne's daily journal from September 18 to October 22, 1704, when Gen. Wayne having completed his work, at the point now bearing his name, Lieut .- Col. Hamtramck assumed command of the fort, and after firing fifteen rounds of cannon he gave it the name of Fort Wayne.

Gen. Wayne, having defeated all the Indian tribes, the history of which we have given in the chapter on Indian wars, concluded a treaty with them at Greenville in 1796, he being appointed sole commissioner to treat with the Northwestern Indians, and also received the military posts given up by the British government. He embarked in a schooner at Detroit for his home in Chester County, Pa., and had ouly proceeded as far as Erie when he was taken ill and died suddenly from an attack of the gout December 15, 1796, in the 51st year of his age, in the Block House. His dying words were to bury him "at the foot of the flagstaff," with the inscription A. W., and his command was obeyed.

The highest culogium we can pronounce upon so distinguished a sol- dier, a patriot, a hero, and a citizen is that he was a man of true courage and remarkable foresight-that he perilled his life for his country and shielded its inhabitants from the murderous tomahawk. He established her boundaries, by compelling her enemies to sue for peace, and he be- held his country advancing step by step in the mechanical arts and intel lectual sciences, and also becoming powerful in arms.

In 1809 his son, Col. Isaac Wayne, of Chester County, had his body removed to the burial ground of Radnor Church, Chester County, where

the " Pennsylvania State Society of Cincinnati" erected a monument to his memory with the following inscriptions :-

On the North Front.

MAJOR-GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE

WAS BORN AT WAYNESBURGH, IN CHESTER COUNTY, STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, A. D. 1745. AFTER A LIFE OF HONOUR AND USEFULNESS

HE DIED IN DECEMBER, 1796, AT A MILITARY POST ON THE SHORES OF LAKE ERIE,

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. HIS MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS

ARE CONSECRATED

IN THE HISTORY OF HIS COUNTRY

AND IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN. HIS REMAINS ARE HERE DEPOSITED.

On the South Front.

IN HONOUR OF THE DISTINGUISHED

MILITARY SERVICES OF

MAJOR-GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE,

AND AS AN AFFECTIONATE TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO HIS MEMORY

THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY HIS COMPANIONS IN ARMS, THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI, JULY 4TH, A. D. 1809,

THIRTY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AN EVENT WHICH CONSTITUTES THE MOST

APPROPRIATE ECLOGIUM OF AN AMERICAN SOLDIER AND PATRIOT.

The Council at. Greenville.

It does not appear that any military movements worthy of notice took place during the winter of 1794-95. The General, however, was press- ing his appeal on the War Department to reinforce his army, and was engaged in watching the movements of the enemy, and bringing every influence within his power to operate on their minds in favor of peace. ne appealed to their hopes and their fears. He availed himself of the influence of the chiefs who were friendly to the United States, and of such as were indisposed to continue the war, by which he distractel their council, kept their minds in a vacillating state, and prevented them from agreeing on any plan of operation of a warlike character. Whether he had succeeded in concealing from them the reduced state of his army. which was producing great fear at headquarters, was not known, though it was believed that a knowledge of that fact would operate as a strong temptation to the savages to try the fate of another battle.

Their number had not been materially reduced, while the strength of the American army had been very greatly diminished by sickness att . death, and by the expiration of the term of enlistment of many of :

Legion, and of the discharge of the Kentucky volunteers. The far'. however, fortunately was, let the cause of it be what it might, that the British officers and agents, with all the influence they were able to ex. . could not stimulate the Indians to recommence hostilities. They lol Required some knowledge of the population and strength of the United States, and of their own utter inability to resist it. Some of them wen

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History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 15

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton Number of Pages: 878

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton
Number of Pages: 878