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289
BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER.
in the western wilderness. The surrender of Burgoyne, which, in the old world, led to the recognition of American Independence by France, and the presentiment in England that the colonies were lost, was not without its salutary influ- ence upon the savage denizens of the Ohio and the other tributaries of the mighty Mississippi.
The affair at Saratoga was of some use to the Indian agent at Pittsburgh. The Spanish Governor of Louisiana, addressed a letter written in his own language, to Colonel Morgan, which was dated August 9th, 1777, but only received " by due course," on the 24th of February, 1778. Unluckily, the agent knew no Spanish, and on forwarding it to Congress, not a member of that honorable body could read it, nor (as the Colonel reluctantly confessed in his reply) could any person be found capable and worthy of trust to translate it. As it was, Col. Morgan replied to Don Bernardo de Galvez in sturdy English, detailing with much patriotic unction, what White Eyes had justly denomi- nated the " great event" of Burgoyne's surrender.
13
CHAPTER XIX.
THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS BY GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. INDIAN SIEGES OF FORT LAURENS.
DURING the years 1777-8 the conviction had been forced upon Congress, that Detroit must be taken, or the English governor of that post checked in some manner, or a heavy blow would fall upon the colonial cause from the depths of the Western wilderness, which, in connection with the pressure of the seaboard might be fatal to the United States. Early in the spring of 1778, preparations for an invasion of the enemy's territory were commenced. Col. Morgan was in- structed to make an estimate of the quantity of provisions necessary for the support of three thousand men for three months. " The stock to be laid in amounted to 610,000 lbs. of flour, 732,000 lbs. beef, requiring 3,812 horses for the transport of the flour, and 2,440 head of cattle, which were to be driven on foot and slaughtered as needed. It also required 136 horses to transport the single article of salt. The food for the horses and cattle was to be chiefly furnished by the native growth of grass, vines, &c., found in abun- dance at that day during the summer months on the rich lands of the West. The whole expense of this expedition was estimated at $609,538. The cattle cost at that time £10, or $33.33 a head : the horses cost £25, or $83.25 each. Flour was fifty shillings a hundred, or sixpence a pound, equal to sixteen dollars a barrel. The price of a common woodman's axe was thirty shillings, or five dollars, and the
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291
M'INTOSH'S OHIO EXPEDITION.
price of a pack saddle was the same. Salt was six pounds a bushel or twenty dollars. These were specie prices, not estimated in a depreciated currency."1
A similar division of the army of invasion was proposed, as was made by Dunmore in 1774. Fifteen hundred men were to march through Green Briar, down the Big Kenawha to Fort Randolph, at the junction with the Ohio, and the same force was to assemble at Fort Pitt and descend the Ohio to that post. In fact, the former detachment was never levied, and Gen. McIntosh, who was appointed to the command of the expedition, had never a greater force than fifteen hundred men, if so many. In the spring of 1778, he crossed the mountains with a body of five hundred troops. Soon after, he built a fort which bore his name, on the alluvian plain near the mouth of Big Beaver, intended to cover any excur- sion into the Indian country. It was a regular stockade, with four bastions, each mounted with a six-pounder.
The summer wore away, and on the 17th of September, a council with the Delawares was held at Pittsburg, and their consent to march through their territory obtained. Of this conference, Col. Morgan, who was absent at Philadelphia when it was held, says in a letter written soon afterwards : "There never was a conference with the Indians so improperly or so villainously conducted as the late one at Pittsburg." The assurances given to the Delawares were so wantonly neglec- ted, that Col. Morgan had great difficulty in preventing a total alienation of the tribe. To conciliate their chiefs, they were encouraged to visit Congress in the spring of 1779.
In October, 1778, General McIntosh assembled one thou- sand men at the newly crected fort at the mouth of Beaver, and marched into the enemy's country. The design upon
1) Hildreth's Pioneer History.
292
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Detroit had been relinquished, and the first object of the expedition was to attack the Wyandots and other Indians near Sandusky. After marching about seventy miles beyond Fort McIntosh, the troops halted on the west bank of the Tuscarawas River, a little below the mouth of Sandy creek. Here, on a elevated plain, it was concluded to build a stock- ade, which was named Fort Laurens. After its completion, a garrison of 150 men was placed in it, and left in the charge of Col. John Gibson, while the rest of the army returned to Fort Pitt. So unexpected and rapid were the movements of Gen. McIntosh, that the Indians were not aware of his pres- ence in their country, until the fort was completed.
Fortunately for the safety of the frontiers-fortunately for the Republic, while this languid and inefficient campaign disappointed the hopes of Congress on the upper Ohio, George Rogers Clark was achieving the happiest results in the region of the Wabash and the Illinois. This hero of Kentucky divides the military honors of the Northwestern Territory, with Anthony Wayne alone. The men were not unlike-the same combination of energy and sagacity.
Clark was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1743 : was in Dunmore's expedition of 1774, and among the earliest emigrants to Kentucky ; in 1776, had the boldness to urge upon the people of the border to demand assistance from Virginia or independence of her dominion, and obtained five hundred pounds of gunpowder for immediate defence, which the province transported to Fort Pitt: was authorized, in January, 1778, to raise a body of troops for the reduction of the English posts of Kaskaskia and St. Vincents ; and, re- turning to the west with his instructions and twelve hundred pounds of depreciated currency, was able to recruit only a force of two hundred men. With three companies and several
293 .
CLARK'S ILLINOIS EXPEDITION.
private adventurers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he navigated as far as the falls, where he took possession of and fortified Corn Island, opposite the spot now occupied by Louisville. At this place he had appointed Capt. Joseph Bowman to meet him with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and as many men as could be spared from the stations. Here, also, he an- nounced the real destination of the expedition. Having waited until his arrangements were all completed, and those chosen who were to be of the invading party, on the 24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, he left his position and fell down the river. His plan was to follow the Ohio as far as the old French fort, Massac, or Massacre, about sixty miles from the mouth of the river ; and thence to go by land direct to Kaskaskia. His troops took no other baggage than they could carry in the Indian fashion, and for his success he trusted entirely to surprise. If he failed, his plan was to cross the Mississippi and throw himself into the Spanish set- tlements on the west of that river. Before commencing his march, Clark received two items of information which were of much service in his subsequent operations. One of these was the alliance of France with the colonies ; this at once made the American side popular with the French and Indians of Illinois and the lakes, France having never lost her hold upon her ancient subjects and allies. The other item was, that the inhabitants of Kaskaskia, and the other old towns, had been led by the British to believe that the Long Knives, or Virginians, were the most fierce, cruel, and blood-thirsty savages that ever scalped a foe. With this impression on their mind, Clark saw that proper management would readily dispose them to submit from fear, if surprised, and then to
294
HISTORY OF OHIO.
become friendly from gratitude, when treated with unlooked- for clemency.
At midnight of the sixth day after leaving the Ohio, July 3, they reached the precincts of Kaskaskia, having marched two days without food, and determined forthwith to take the town or die in the attempt. The town was strongly fortified, and contained about two hundred and fifty well-built houses ; but the approach of the invaders was unknown ; the people and the garrison were alike slumbering in security ; and both town and fort were taken-the latter being carried by sur- prise, although the defences were sufficiently strong to resist a thousand men. The commanding officer, Phillip Roche- blave, was made prisoner ; and among his papers, falling into the hands of Col. Clark, were the instructions which he from time to time had received from the British governors of Quebec, Detroit and Michillimacinac, urging him to stimulate the Indians to war by the proffer of large bounties for scalps. Rocheblave was sent a prisoner to Williamsburgh, Virginia, and with him were forwarded the papers taken from his portfolio.
On the day after the fall of Kaskaskia, Captain Joseph Bowman, at the head of thirty mounted men, was sent to attack three other towns upon the Mississippi, the first of which, called Parraderuski, distant fifteen miles from Kas- kaskia, was surprised, and taken without opposition-the inhabitants at once assenting to the terms of the conqueror. The next town was St. Phillips, distant nine miles farther up. The force of Captain Bowman was so small, that he wisely determined to make a descent upon St. Phillips in the night, that his strength, or rather his weakness, might be concealed. The precaution ensured success ; and the inhabitants, with whom the whole affair was conducted in the night, acceded
295
CLARK'S ILLINOIS EXPEDITION.
to the terms prescribed. From St. Phillips, Bowman directed his course upon the yet more considerable town of Cahokia, distant between forty and fifty miles. This town contained about one hundred families, and was also approached secretly, and entered in the night. Captain Bowman, with his troops, rode directly to the quarters of the commander, and deman- ded the surrender of himself and the whole town, which was immediately complied with. Taking possession of a large store-house, well fortified, the bold dragoon immediately established his quarters therein, and awaited the morning's dawn, which would disclose to the people the diminutive force to which they had surrendered. Enraged at the discovery, one of the enemy threatened to bring a body of one hundred and fifty Indians against the little American squadron and cut them off. But he was secured, and in the course of ten days upwards of three hundred of the inhabitants became so reconciled to their change of masters as to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. Leaving a small guard at Cahokia, Captain Bowman returned to Kaskaskia.
But St. Vincents, the most important western post except Detroit, still remained unconquered, nor could Clark, with his small force, hope to obtain possession of it, as he must of necessity be for some time near the Mississippi, to organ -~ ize a government for the colonies he had taken, and treat with the Indians of the northwest. But the French priest of Kaskaskia volunteered to bring over the inhabitants of St. Vincents (now Vincennes) to the cause of the Americans without fighting. Hardly believing it possible, Clark dis- missed him on this embassy. The British governor was absent, and M. Gibault succeeded entirely. In two or three days after his arrival, the inhabitants threw off the British government, and, assembling in a body in the church, took
296
HISTORY OF OHIO.
the oath of allegiance to Virginia. A commandant was chosen, and the American flag displayed over the fort, to the astonishment of the Indians. The savages were told by their French friends, "that their old Father, the king of France, was come to life again, and was mad with them for fighting for the English ; that if they did not wish the land to be bloody with war, they must make peace with the Americans."2
But Clark's skill in Indian diplomacy was no less remark- able than his gallantry. By an attentive study of the Indian character, he had learned to combine dignity and firmness with that respectful and ceremonious behavior which pleases the pride and vanity of the savage. The following speech to the tribes of the Wabash was well adapted to convey a conception of the causes of the war between the United States and England :
" The Big Knife is very much like the red people ; they don't know how to make blankets, and powder and cloth ; they buy these things from the English, from whom they are sprung. They live by making corn, hunting and trade, as you and your neighbors, the French, do. But, the Big Knife, daily getting more numerous, like the trees in the woods, the land became poor and hunting scarce ; and having but little to trade with, the women began to cry at seeing their children naked, and tried to learn how to make clothes for themselves ; women made blankets for their husbands and children ; and the men learned to make guns and powder. In this way we did not want to buy so much from the English ; they then got mad with us, and sent strong garrisons through our country (as you see they have done among you on the lakes, and among the French ;) they would not let our women
2) Perkins' Western Annals, p. 189.
297
AN INDIAN TALK.
spin, nor our men make powder, nor let us trade with any one else. The English said we should buy everything of them, and since we had got saucy, we should give two bucks for a blanket3 which we used to get for one : we should do as they pleased, and they killed some of our people to make the rest fear them.
" This is the truth, and the real cause of war between the English and us ; which did not take place for some years after this treatment. But our women became cold and hungry, and continued to cry ; our young men got lost for want of counsel to put them on the right path. The whole land was dark, the old men held down their heads for shame, because they could not see the sun ; and thus there was mourning for many years over the land. At last the Great Spirit took pity on us, and kindled a great council-fire that never goes out, at a place called Philadelphia ; he then stuck down a post, and put a war tomahawk by it and went away. The sun immediately broke out, the sky was blue again, and the old men held up their heads and assembled at the fire ; they took up the hatchet and sharpened it, and put it into the hands of our young men, ordering them to strike the English as long as they could find one on this side the great waters. The young men immediately struck the war-post and blood was shed. In this way the war began, and the English were driven from one place to another until they got weak, and then they hired you red people to fight for them. The Great Spirit got angry at this, and caused your old father, the French king, and other great nations, to join the Big Knife and fight with them against all their enemies. So the English have become like a deer in the woods ; and you may see that it is the Great Spirit that has caused your waters to be
3) The skin of a buck was "legal tender," in the wilderness, for a dollar.
298
HISTORY OF OHIO.
troubled, because you have fought for the people he is mad with. If your women and children should now cry, you must blame yourselves for it, and not the Big Knife. You can now judge who is in the right ; I have already told you who I am; here is a bloody belt and a white one, take which you please. Behave like men, and don't let your being surroun- ded by the Big Knife cause you to take up one belt with your hands, while your hearts take up the other. If you take the bloody path, you shall leave the town in safety, and may go and join your friends, the English ; we will then try like warriors, who can put the most stumbling blocks in each others' way, and keep our clothes longest stained, with blood. If, on the other hand, you take the path of peace, and be received as brothers to the Big Knife with their friends, the French-should you then listen to bad birds that may be flying through the land, you will no longer deserve to be counted as men, but as creatures with two tongues, that ought to be destroyed."4
This speech was not without the desired effect, and the season passed in a series of successful negotiations with the Indians, and the civil organization of the country of Illinois, which the legislature of Virginia hastened to create. Thanks were also voted " to Col. Clark and the brave officers and men under his command, for their extraordinary resolution and perseverance in so hazardous an enterprize, and for the important services thereby rendered their country."
This summer campaign aroused Governor Hamilton to unusual exertions. He projected a powerful Indian expedi- tion against the Virginia frontier early in the spring. With this design, he left Detroit in the autumn, and after personally adjusting his arrangements on the Maumee and Sandusky,
4) See Butler's History of Kentucky, p. 68.
299
CLARK'S WINTER MARCH.
proceeded to St. Vincents, on the Wabash, in order to act more efficiently as soon as the winter should break up. He arrived at St. Vincent with seventy-nine British soldiers and upwards of four hundred Indians in the month of December, and found that post occupied by two men, Captain Helm and one Henry. Butler, the historian of Kentucky, relates that Helm was not disposed to yield, even to such odds as five hundred to two ; so loading his single cannon, he stood by it with a lighted match, and, as the British came nigh, bade them stand, and demanded to know what terms would be granted the garrison, as otherwise he should not surrender. The governor, unwilling to lose time and men, offered the usual honors of war, and could scarce believe his eyes when he saw the threatening garrison was only one officer and a private.
Hamilton, instead of pressing forward to attack Clark, determined to wait until spring, and allowed his Indians to scatter. This was fatal, for his energetic antagonist correctly supposing that his only chance of escape was to strike the first blow, immediately despatched a boat with forty-six men and the artillery found at Kaskaskia, up the Wabash River, to wait below the town for further orders. He then com- menced his march with one hundred and seventy men, of whom two French companies made a part, for St. Vincents.
The march was commenced on the 7th of February. The prairies were flooded and it was " still raining." When the troops arrived at the Wabash, they found the country between the Great and Little Wabash, " although a league asunder," inundated. Making a canoe, the men were ferried over, and continued their march through "rain and water." On the 18th they heard Hamilton's morning guns, and guided their course accordingly. On the 19th, Bowman records (we are
300
HISTORY OF OHIO.
quoting from a diary of Captain Joseph Bowman) that there had been " no provision of any sort for two days," but this " hard fortune" was slightly relieved on the 20th, when "one of the men killed a deer which was distributed in the camp very acceptably." On the 21st they came to a body of wa- ter a league in extent, and which Clark, on sounding, found " as deep as to his neck." The troops were half starved, and without provisions for men or horses, a delay of twenty- four hours (the time requisite to transport themselves in their few canoes,) would be unendurable ; and so Clark " put some water in his hand, poured on powder, blackened his face, gave a war-whoop and marched into the water without saying a word." He had directed those immediately near him to do the same, and all followed. An acre of solid ground, called Sugar Camp, was soon reached, where they passed the night, the weather now growing suddenly and sharply cold. The next morning another inundated plain was to be forded, be- fore reaching the table of land, on which stood the town and fort of St. Vincents. The strength of the men was sorely tried by this last struggle. The water was colder than the day before, and no less deep, but the "low men and the weakly hung to floating logs until taken off by the canoes, while the strong and tall got out and built fires." Fortunately, an Indian canoe, containing a quarter of buffalo, some corn, tallow, kettle, &c., was seized. " This was a grand prize," says Clark himself, " and was invaluable. Broth was imme- diately made and served out to the most weakly, with great care ; most of the whole got a little ; but a great many gave their part to the weakly, jocosely saying something cheer- ing to their comrades. This little refreshment and fine weather by the afternoon gave new life to the whole. Cross- ing a narrow deep lake in the canoes, and marching some
301
CAPTURE OF HAMILTON.
distance, we came to a copse of timber called the Warrior's Island. We were now in full view of the fort and the town, not a shrub between us, at about two miles distance."
As Clark and his men emerged in sight of the garrison, they availed themselves of a stratagem to convey an exag- gerated impression of their force. Clark thus describes this artifice : "We moved on slowly in full view of the town, but as it was a point of consequence to us to make ourselves appear formidable, we, in leaving the covert that we were in, marched and countermarched in such a manner that we ap- peared numerous. In raising volunteers in the Illinois, every person that set about the business had a set of colors given them, which they brought with them, to the amount of ten or twelve pair. These were displayed to the best advantage ; and as the low plain we marched through was not a perfect level, but had frequent raisings in it seven or eight feet higher than the common level, (which was covered with water) and as these raisings generally run in an oblique direction toward the town, we took the advantage of one of them, marching through the water under it, which completely prevented our being numbered; but our colors showed considerably above the heights, as they were fixed on long poles procured for the purpose, and at a distance made no despicable appearance; and as our young Frenchmen had, while we lay on the War- rior's Island, decoyed and taken several fowlers, with their horses, officers were mounted on these horses, and rode about more completely to deceive the enemy. In this manner we moved, and directed our march in such a way as to suffer it to be dark before we had advanced more than half way to the town. We then suddenly altered our direction, and crossed ponds where they could not have suspected us, and about eight o'clock gained the heights back of the town."
302
HISTORY OF OHIO.
All night of the 22d, and with brief intervals, until the morning of the 24th, a brisk fire upon the fort was sustained. Negotiations ensued, and towards night Hamilton surrend- ered, and the post was delivered to the Virginians on the following day. The assailants had only one man wounded- within the fort, seven were wounded through the ports.
It was the good fortune of Col. Clark, also to intercept and capture a valuable convoy of provisions and stores, com- ing to St. Vincents from Detroit. The surrender of St. Vincents or Fort Sackville, was most timely. Hamilton, instead of guiding the savage elements of a general border war, was sent a prisoner to Williamsburgh, where the Vir- ginia council were about to confine him in irons on bread and water, as a punishment of his barbarism in offering scalp-bounties, when Washington interposed against such a step, as not in accordance with the terms of his surrender.
This imputation upon the British Governor, whom Clark, in his proclamation to the people of Vincennes, just before the attack on the fort, had not scrupled to call the "hair- buyer Hamilton," is also supported by the evidence of one Daniel Sullivan, who, in March, 1778, returned to Pitts- burgh with a statement of his discoveries at Detroit and in the Indian country. Captured by the Delawares when a boy, and living with them for nine years, he was well suited for such a service, and asserted positively that Governor Hamilton instigated the Indians to massacre the white inhab- itants of the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania, paying them very high prices for all the scalps they would bring. In justice to the British commander, it should be mentioned however, that when Daniel Boone and twenty-eight of his neighbors were captured at Blue Licks in February, 1778, it was evidently the interest of the Shawanese captors, to
303
INDIAN SIEGE OF FORT LAURENS.
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