History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I, Part 17

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : Brant & Fuller
Number of Pages: 842

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As soon as this news was communicated in camp, a rush was made by a large portion of the men in the most excited and tumultuous manner to see what had happened. This want of discipline upon the part of his men was the cause of great agitation to Col. Crawford, who became depressed and entertained a presentiment of evil, and that defeat would certainly follow. The murder of the Moravians had caused the Indians to be on the alert to guard against surprises on the part of the whites. There was not a settlement on the Ohio from Pittsburgh to Grave creek, below Wheeling, which was left un- observed. They knew the number of the forces under Crawford and their destination, and visited every encampment as soon as it was vacated, and saw from their writings on the trees and scraps of paper lying around which had been carelessly thrown down, that "no quar- ter was to be given to any Indian, whether man, woman or child."

The two Indians to whom we have referred above, were spies engaged in watching the movements of the troops. On the 6th of June, twelve days after beginning their march, they reached the site of one of the Moravian villages on one of the branches of the San- dusky river. Here, instead of meeting with Indians as they had ex- pected, they met with nothing but a bare scene of desolation, the. ruins of a few huts alone giving evidence that it had been the resi- dence of those whom it was their intention to destroy.

Puzzled by this discovery and having no well formed plan as to their movements, they resolved to hold a council, the result of the deliberations of which was that they would one day more continue their march in the direction of Upper Sandusky, and if they did not succeed in reaching the town in the specified time that they would then beat a hasty retreat. At this council Jonathan Zane advised a retreat at once, giving weighty reasons for his advice, which impressed themselves with great force upon the mind of Col. Crawford, who acquiesced in them. But he was overruled by his officers, a majority of whom were in favor of pressing forward. The march was com- menced on the following morning through the plains of Sandusky,

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and continued until between two and three o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, when the troops in advance were furiously attacked by the Indians and driven in. The plain where the attack took place was covered with high grass in which the Indians lay concealed. At the time the Indian forces were about entering a piece of woods which was almost entirely surrounded by open ground, but they were par- tially checked in accomplishing their purpose by a rapid movement on the part of the whites. Heavy firing at once commenced on both sides. From a partial possession of the woods which the Indians had gained in the outset, they were in a short time dislodged by the whites. The next move of the Indians was to gain possession of a portion of the woods on the right flank of Col. Crawford, but this they were prevented from accomplishing by the vigilance of Major Leet, who had command of the right wing. The firing, which was heavy and continuous, was kept up until dark, when it ceased, and both armies laid on their arms during the night. Large fires were kindled along the line of battle on each side, the armies lying some distance in the background, to prevent being surprised by a night attack. During the fight in the afternoon several of Col. Crawford's men were killed and wounded. How many of the Indians had suf- fered it was impossible to tell, but certainly as many of them as the whites.

On the following morning the army occupied the same ground which they did on the preceding day. During the day no attack was made by the Indians, until evening, but they were noticed to be traversing the plains in various directions, busily engaged, probably in carrying away their dead and wounded.

During the morning of this day a council of officers was held, and a retreat was resolved upon as the only means of saving the army. Reinforcements for the Indians appeared to be pouring in throughout the entire day. In the meantime preparations for retreat were being made on the part of the whites, by interring the dead, lighting fires over their graves to prevent discovery and making arrangements for carrying off the wounded. It was ordered that the retreat should not commence until some time in the course of the night. By some means the Indians were made aware of the intended retreat, and just as the sun went down attacked the whites in force and with great fury, in every direction, except Sandusky. When the line of march was formed, and the retreat had commenced, the guides wisely took the direction of Sandusky, which was the only opening in the Indian lines, and which afforded the only opportunity of concealment. The army had marched about a mile in this direction when it wheeled about to the left, and by a circuitous route gained before daylight of the following morning the trail by which they had come. Their march was continued the whole of that day without interruption except the firing of a few harmless shots by the Indians at the rear guard. As night came on they halted, built fires, prepared and ate their suppers, secured their horses, and tired and jaded, resigned themselves to sleep, without stationing a single sentinel for their

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security. In the midst of this carelessness on their part, they might easily have been taken by surprise and cut off by the Indians, who, however, failed to disturb them during the night. The number who retreated in the main body is estimated to have been about 300.

When the retreat was resolved upon conflicting opinions prevailed as to the best means of effecting it. The majority thought it best to keep together in one compact body, while the minority thought it best to break up into small bands and make their way home in differ- ent directions, abandoning the route by which they had come. Many, indeed, attempted to do so, acting under the impression that the In- dians with their whole force would follow the main body. In this they were sadly mistaken, as the Indians instead of pursuing the main body, followed the small parties with such celerity that few of them escaped.

The only successful detachment was that composed of about forty men in number who were under the command of Williamson, who late in the night of the retreat had managed to break through the Indian lines under a severe fire, and not without loss. These suc- ceeded in overtaking the main body early in the second day of the retreat. For days after the retreat of the whites the Indians covered the whole country from the Sandusky to the Muskingum in pursuit of the small parties, most of whom were overtaken and killed at the time. Some were pursued nearly to the Ohio river, one man by the name of Mills whose family resided about two miles east of Wheel- . ing, on Wheeling creek, being killed about two miles east of the present site of St. Clairsville, almost in sight of his home.

When the retreat commenced Colonel Crawford placed himself at the head of the main body, but had gone only the distance of about a quarter of a mile, when he missed his son John, his son-in-law Major Harrison, and his nephews, Major Rose and William Craw- ford. Halting, as the line passed by him, he called for them by name, but there was no response and he failed to find them. After the line had passed him, he attempted to overtake it, but was unable to do so owing to the weariness of his horse, resulting from the fatigue to which it had been subjected. Falling in company with Dr. Knight and two others, they traveled all night, first in a northerly direction, and then eastwardly to avoid the pursuit of the Indians, their courses being directed by the north star.

On the day following they fell in company with Capt. John Biggs and Lieut. Ashley, the latter of whom was wounded. Biggs and Ashley were accompanied with two other companions in their retreat. They all encamped together that night. On the following day about noon they reached the trail by which the army had advanced upon the Indian towns but a few days preceding, and here a discussion arose as to the propriety of taking that path homewards. Capt. Biggs and Dr. Knight thought it prudent to continue their course through the woods and avoid the trail and all traveled paths, but they were over- ruled by Col. Crawford, who assured them that the Indians would not urge the pursuit beyond the plains, which they had already left

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far behind them. Accordingly abandoning the eastern course which they had been following, the party pursued the beaten track. Craw- ford and Knight, who were together were about 150 yards in advance, followed by Capt. Biggs and his wounded friend, Lieut. Ashley, in the center, both of whom were on horseback, while these were followed by two men on foot.

They had not proceeded more than a mile in this order when sev- eral Indians suddenly sprung up within a few yards of Crawford and Knight, and presenting their guns, in plain English ordered them to halt. Knight sought the cover of a tree and leveled his gun at the foremost Indian. Crawford ordered him several times not to fire, which order was reluctantly obeyed by Knight. The Indians ad- vanced to Crawford in the most cordial manner, shook him by the hand, and asked him how he was. Biggs and Ashley halted, while the two men in the rear taking advantage of the situation, took to their heels, running away, and thereby escaping the necessity of a closer acquaintance with the unexpected intruders. Biggs was or- dered by Col. Crawford to advance and surrender, but instead of obeying the order, he deliberately took aim at one of the Indians and fired, and then he and Ashley put spurs to their horses and for the time being made good their escape. But the next day they were both overtaken and killed.

Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight, in company with nine other prison- ers, under the conduct of a band of Indians, seventeen in number, were marched to the old Sandusky town, about thirty odd miles away. The nine prisoners were placed in advance of Crawford and Knight, who were conducted by two Delaware chiefs named respect- ively, Pipe and Wingemund. All of the prisoners, including Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight, had been previously daubed black by Pipe. Four of the prisoners at different stages in the journey were toma- hawked and scalped, and when the other five arrived at the town, the boys and squaws fell upon them and tomahawked them.

Upon the arrival of Crawford, they surrounded him, and stripping him naked, compelled him to sit on the ground, near a large fire, around which were gathered a large number of warriors, and a much larger number of squaws and boys. They then beat him severely with sticks and their fists. In a little while after a large stake was placed in the ground and great piles of hickory poles and wood were spread around it. Crawford's arms were then securely bound behind his back, and a strong rope was then used, one end of which was. fastened to the ligature between his wrists, and the other was tied to the bottom of the stake. The rope was of sufficient length to permit him to walk around the stake several times and then return. Fire was then applied to the wood which lay in piles at a remove of six or seven yards from the stake.

Col. Crawford, observing these terrible preparations, called to the notorious renegade, Simon Girty, who sat on horseback a few yards distant from the fire, calmly surveying the preparations, and inquired

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of him whether the Indians intended to burn him. Girty replied, in a nonchalant manner, that such was the case.

Crawford received the information with unflinching firmness, merely remarking that he would endeavor to bear it with fortitude. After the hickory poles had been burnt asunder in the middle, Capt. Pipe slowly arose, and, pausing for a moment, commenced to address the crowd in earnest and energetic tones and with animated gestures, re- peatedly and frequently pointing to Crawford, who gave no signs of fear but composedly returned his gaze. When he concluded the as- sembled crowd gave a loud whoop and then simultaneously rushed upon Crawford. For several seconds the press around him was so great that Dr. Knight could not discern what they were engaged in, but in a short time they had sufficiently scattered so that he could ob- tain a view of the victim. They had cut off his ears and the blood was flowing in a thick stream down each side of his face. And now commenced a most revolting scene of torture. The warriors amused themselves by shooting charges of powder into his naked body, com- mencing with the calves of his legs and continuing to his neck. The boys snatched the burning brands from the fire and applied them to his quivering flesh. This caused him to try to elude them by running around the stake, but as fast as he did so to avoid one party of tor- mentors, he was met at every turn by others with burning brands, red hot irons and rifles loaded with powder only. In the course of a few minutes not less than a hundred charges of powder had been shot into his body, which was now all black and blistered. The squaws would gather up a quantity of coals and hot ashes, and throw them upon his body, so that in a few minutes he had nothing but fire to walk upon.

In this extreme of excruciating agony the unhappy man called aloud upon Girty, who stood coolly by watching his writhing agony, in tones that rang through Knight's brain with maddening effect: "Girty! Girty! shoot me through the heart! Quick! quick !! Do not refuse me !! " " Don't you see I have no gun, Colonel!" replied the monster, burst- ing into a loud laugh, at the same time turning to an Indian beside him, he uttered some brutal jests upon the naked and miserable ap- pearance of the prisoner.

This terrible scene had now lasted for more than two hours, and Crawford had become much exhausted. He now walked very slowly around the stake, spoke in a subdued tones, and earnestly besought God to look with compassion upon him and pardon his sins. His nerves had lost much of their sensibility, and he no longer shrunk from the burning brands with which they constantly touched him. At length overcome, he sank in a fainting fit upon his face and lay motionless. Instantly an Indian sprang upon his back, knelt lightly upon one knee, made a circular incision with his knife upon the crown of his head, and putting the knife between his teeth tore the scalp off with both hands. When this horrible action was accomplished, an old withered hag bearing a board filled with burning embers, poured them upon the crown of his head, which had been laid bare to the bone. A deep groan escaped from Crawford, who with difficulty arose and

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with slow and tottering steps walked around the stake. But here let us pause and drop the veil. Suffice it to say that exhausted nature at length gave up the struggle and death at last ended his excruciat- ing agony at a late hour of the night. A thrill of horror at the cruel taking off of Col. Crawford was felt throughout the whole western borders, and caused an involuntary shudder wherever the particulars were made known.

Dr. Knight, the surgeon of the command, was also doomed to death by burning, which was to have taken place at a point about forty miles from Sandusky. He was committed to the care of a young Indian to betaken there. The evening of the first day they had trav- eled about twenty-five miles when they encamped for the night. Dur- ing the latter part of the night the gnats became very troublesome, so that they prevented sleep. At the request of the doctor the Indian unbound him so that he might aid the latter in kindling a fire to drive them away. The Indian complied. While the Indian was down on the ground bending over, blowing the fire into a flame, the doctor caught up a burning stick with which he struck the Indian on the head with main might, knocking him into the fire. Gathering himself up, he ran off at the top of his speed-making night hideous with his dis- mal howls. Seizing the Indian's rifle, he pursued after him. In attempting to cock it, he drew back the lock with such force at to break the main-spring, and he was compelled to cease his efforts to overtake him. The doctor successfully made his way home, which he reached in about three weeks, nearly exhausted from his long tramp and the want of food, having subsisted on such roots, berries and young birds as he was fortunate enough to secure.

John Slover, who had been a prisoner among the Indians, and who was one of the guides of the ill-fated force, was, with two others taken prisoners, and they were sent to one of the Shawnee towns on the Scioto. One of his companions-a prisoner, was murdered on the way, having first been painted black, and then compelled to run the gauntlet, when they struck and cut him with their tomahawks, shot his naked body black with loads of powder, and burned holes in it with red hot irons. His other companion-a prisoner-was sent to another town to be burned, soon after they arrived at their destina- tion. Slover was kept for several days after their arrival, a closely guarded prisoner. During this period of his captivity they sought to obtain from him full information concerning the whites. As he under- stood several Indian languages, and among them the Shawnees, this they could do in their own tongue. But the information he communi- cated to them was not very encouraging. At length a council of the warriors was held and he was condemned to be burned.

When the eventful day arrived he was stripped naked and black- ened according to their custom-his arms pinioned behind him - and a rope was placed about his neck. He was then conducted to the waiting post, and the flames were kindled around him. Just as they were about to commence to apply their tortures to him, a sudden storm accompanied with thunder and lightning occurred. The wind blew a

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fearful hurricane, the rain fell in torrents and the burning flames were extinguished. The savages in dire amazement stood around in utter silence and awe stricken. They resolved to postpone the deed, say- ing: " We will wait until to-morrow morning and take a day in burn- ing him." He was then unbound from the stake, and made to sit down while they danced around him until late into the night, at the same time beating and wounding him with their tomahawks and clubs. When they had made an end he was escorted to an empty hut, where a rope was fastened around his neck, and tied to a beam. His arms were fastened behind him with a cord. A board was given him to lie down upon and he was guarded by three warriors. During the night they repeatedly taunted him, and asked him how he would like to " eat fire to-morrow." They continued their talking and smoking until after midnight when they laid down and slept. Slover, who all along, had resolved on making a desperate effort to escape at the first favorable opportunity which presented, now made an effort to unloose himself, and soon released his arms from the cord by which they were bound. At this moment one of the warriors awoke and got up and stirred the fire. Fearing that an examination would take place should he make any movement he lay perfectly quiet feigning deep sleep. The Indian in a short time laid down again, when hope revived again. In due time he attempted to unloose the rope from his neck, and to this end he began gnawing it with his teeth, but to no purpose, as it was very thick and hard, being made of the hide of a buffalo. Again hope began to desert him and despair began to take hold of him. The dawn of day was now about breaking, and he resolved to make another and final effort, when, by pulling the rope with his fingers, to his astonishment it became unloosed, and slipping it over his head he stepped over the sleeping warriors and sprang over a fence into a cornfield. Here he came across a squaw with four children sleeping under a tree. Changing his course he came out upon a tract where a number of horses were feeding, and catching one he took the cord from his arm, with which he had been tied, and used it for a halter, and appropriating a piece of an old quilt which he found lying on the ground, for a saddle, mounted and rode off at full speed. It was now daylight, but his horse, which was strong and swift, was rapidly widen- ing the distance between him and his captors. By noon he was many miles distant from the scene of his captivity. After traveling a few hours longer his horse gave out, abandoning which he ran on foot until he also was exhausted, and was compelled to stop and take a rest. During his flight he had traveled about seventy-five miles, fear lending wings to his feet and hope urging him onward. As a spy and scout he was perfectly acquainted with the country, and in three days he succeeded in reaching Wheeling in safety, but nearly famished with hunger and exhausted with fatigue. This was the last cam- paign which took place during the revolution from our western borders.

But hostilities on the part of the Indians did not cease, but they continued with small expeditions to harass the west, particularly the

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borders of Kentucky. The inhabitants of the exposed sections estab- lished numerous posts on the frontiers, which were garrisoned by a few men to watch the enemy and intercept them in their progress or spread the alarm of their approach. These precautions availed and finally the conclusion was reached that a stop to their aggressions could only be effected by a successful offensive war. . Hence, in the fall of 1789, congress authorized the president to call out the militia and break the power of the savages. Accordingly, Washington di- rected Gen. St. Clair, then governor of the Northwest Territory, to call out 1,500 men from the western counties of Virginia and Pennsyl- vania, and proceed directly against the towns of the hostile Indians on the Maumee. In the summer of 1790, Virginia furnished her quota, which consisted of 500 men who rendezvoused at Elizabethtown (now Moundsville), in Marshall county, W. Va., from whence they were carried in batteaux to Fort Washington (Cincinnati), from whence the army took up its line of march. The men from Virginia were most of them accustomed to Indian warfare, being well ac- quainted with all their arts of strategy and deception. The march from Fort Washington was commenced on the 17th of September, and marched a distance of about twenty miles from Fort Washington, where he erected a fort on the east bank of the Miami, which he called Fort Hamilton. After completing and garrisoning this fort, he continued his march to the northward another twenty miles, where he established another fort, which he called Fort Jefferson. Here he also left a garrison and continued his march. The cutting of roads for the passage of troops and artillery necessarily consumed much time, and while it was in progress, small parties of the enemy were frequently seen watching the movements of the army. When near- ing the Indian villages, sixty of the militia deserted in a body. To prevent the evil influence of this example, Gen. St. Clair despached an officer to bring them back, while the rest of the army continued their forward movement. The main army at this time was about 1,400 strong.

On the night before the 3rd of November, Gen. St. Clair encamped near the Great Miami village. Here he threw up slight works for the purpose of protecting the baggage, etc., of his troops, and not- withstanding the reduced condition of the forces under his command, determined on the following morning to march directly to the attack. * The troops were encamped in two lines, with an interval of sev- enty yards between them, which was all that the nature of the ground would permit. The battalions of Majors Butler, Clark and Patter- son, composed the front line; the whole under the orders of Major General Butler, an officer of high merited reputation. The front of the line was covered by a creek, its right flank by the river, and its left by a strong corps of infantry. The second line was composed of the battalions of Majors Gaither and Badinger, and the second regi- ment under the command of Lieut. Col. Darke. This line, like the

* Early History of the West, pp. 272 -- 81.

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other, was secured upon one flank by the river, and upon the other by the cavalry and pickets .* The night passed away without alarm. The sentinelswere vigilant +, and the officers upon the alert. A few hours be- ore day, St. Clair caused the reveille to be beaten, and the troops to be paraded under arms, under the expectation that an attack would probably be made. In this situation they continued until daylight, when they were dismissed to their tents. Some were endeavoring to snatch a few minutes sleep, others were preparing for the expected march, when suddenly the report of a rifle was heard from the militia, a few hundred yards in front, which was quickly followed by a sharp, irregular volley in the same direction. The drums instantly beat to arms, the officers fled in every direction, and in two minutes the troops were formed in order of battle. Presently the militia rushed into camp in the utmost disorder, pursued by swarms of Indians, who, in many places, were mingled with them, and were cutting them down with their tomahawks. #

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History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I, Part 17

Author: Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Madison, Wis. : Brant & Fuller Number of Pages: 842

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : Brant & Fuller
Number of Pages: 842