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AMBUSCADE AT LICKING RIVER.
meneed their march homeward. The party had not gone more than nine or ten miles, before the Indians appeared in considerable force in their rear, and began to press hard upon that quarter. Bowman selected his ground, and formed his men into a square; but the Indians declined a close engage- ment, only keeping up a scattered fire, and it was soon dis- covered that their object was to retard their march until they could procure reinforcements from the neighboring villages.
As soon as a strong position was taken by Col. Bowman, the Indians retired, and he resumed the line of march, when he was again attacked in the rear. He again formed for battle, and again the Indians retired. Thus harrassed, the troops began to waver, when Benjamin Logan, John Bulger, James Harrod and George Michael Bedinger, at the head of a body of mounted men, scoured the woods in every direc- tion, forcing the Indians from their coverts, and cutting down as many as they could overtake. This decisive step completely dispersed the enemy, and the weary and dispiri- ted troops continued their retreat unmolested. Their loss was nine killed and a few wounded. The Indian loss was unknown, but a prominent chief, Blackfish, was disabled (some accounts say mortally wounded) by a shot through the knee.3 Bowman crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Little Miami, when the men dispersed to their several homes.
In the autumn of 1779, a number of keel boats were ascending the Ohio River under the command of Major Rogers, and had advanced as far as the mouth of Licking without accident.4 Here they were drawn ashore by a strat-
3) Butler says that Blackfish was killed, and that Red Hawk continued the battle, and was also killed .- Ilistory of Kentucky, 109.
4) They were on their return from New Orleans, where they had been sent by the Governor of Virginia, for the purpose of procuring supplies to
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
agem. At first a few Indians only appeared, standing upon a sand bar near the mouth of the Licking, while a canoe, with three other Indians was paddling towards them as though to receive them on board. Rogers immediately ordered the boats to be made fast to the Kentucky shore, while the crews, to the number of seventy men well armed, cautiously advanced in such a manner as to encircle the spot where the enemy had been seen. When Rogers had, as he supposed, completely surrounded the enemy, and was pre- paring to rush upon them, from several quarters at once, he was thunderstruck at beholding several hundred savages suddenly spring up in front, rear, and upon both flanks. They instantly poured in a close discharge of rifles, and then throwing down their guns, fell upon the survivors with the tomahawk. Major Rogers and forty-five of his men were killed almost instantly. The survivors made an effort to regain the boats, but the five men who had been left in charge of them, had immediately put off from shore in the hindmost boat, and the enemy had already gained possession of the others. Disappointed in the attempt, they turned furiously upon the enemy, and aided by the approach of darkness, forced their way through their lines, and with the loss of several severely wounded, at length effected their escape to Harrodsburgh.
Among the wounded was Capt. Robert Benham. Shortly after breaking the enemy's lines, he was shot through both hips, and the bones being shattered, he instantly fell. For- tunately, a large tree had lately fallen near the spot where he lay, and with great pain, he dragged himself into the top and lay concealed among the branches. The Indians, eager
support the military posts on the upper Ohio and Mississippi .- Butler's History of Kentucky, 102.
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SINGULAR PARTNERSHIP.
in the pursuit of others, passed him without notice, and by midnight all was quiet. On the following day, the Indians returned to the battle ground, in order to strip the dead and take care of the boats. Benham, although in danger of famishing, permitted them to pass without making known his condition, very correctly supposing that his crippled legs would only induce them to tomahawk him upon the spot, in order to avoid the trouble of carrying him to their town. He lay close, therefore, until the evening of the second day, when perceiving a raccoon descending a tree near him, he shot it, hoping to devise some means of reaching it, when he could kindle a fire and make a meal. Scarcely had his gun cracked, however, when he heard a human cry, apparently not more than fifty yards off. Supposing it to be an Indian, he hastily reloaded his gun and remained silent, expecting the approach of an enemy. Presently the same voice was heard again, but much nearer. Still Benham made no reply, but cocked his gun, and sat ready to fire as soon as an object appeared. A third halloo was quickly heard, followed by an exclamation of impatience and distress, which convinced Benham that the unknown must be a Kentuckian. As soon, therefore, as he heard the expression, " Whoever you are, for God's sake, answer me!" he replied with readiness, and the parties were soon together. Benham, as we have already observed, was shot through both legs! the man who now appeared, had escaped from the same battle with both arms broken! Thus cach was enabled to supply what the other wanted. Benham having the perfect use of his arms, could load his gun and kill game with great readiness, while his friend, having the use of his legs, could kick the game to the spot where Benham sat, who was thus enabled to cook it. When no wood was near them, his companion would rake up
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
brush with his feet, and gradually roll it within reach of Benham's hands, who constantly fed his companion, and dressed his wounds, as well as his own-tearing up both of their shirts for the purpose. They found some difficulty in procuring water at first, but Benham at length took his own hat, and placing the rim between the teeth of his companion, directed him to wade into the Licking, up to his neck, and dip the hat into the water. The man who could walk, was thus enabled to bring water by means of his teeth, which Benham could afterwards dispose of as was necessary. When the stock of squirrels and other small game in the neighbor- hood was exhausted, the man on his legs would roam away and drive up a flock of wild turkeys, then abundant in those woods, until they came within range of Benham's rifle. Thus they lived for six weeks, when, on the 27th of November, they discovered a boat on the Ohio and were taken to Louis- ville. Both thoroughly recovered from their wounds.5
It will be seen that the leading events of 1779-the abor- tive expedition of Bowman, and the surprise of the party under Rogers-were not likely to discourage Indian incur- sions ; and in June, 1780, occurred a most formidable inva- sion of Kentucky. A body of six hundred men, Canadians and Indians, commanded by Colonel Byrd, a British officer, and accompanied by either two or six cannon, marched up the valley of the Licking. They first appeared on the 22d of June, before Riddle's station, on the south fork of that river. There was no alternative but a surrender, as the cannon would have speedily prostrated the palisades. Mar- tin's Station, on the same stream, was next taken, and then, to the infinite relief and astonishment of the settlers, the invaders retreated.
5) Butler's Kentucky, 105.
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SHAWANESE CAMPAIGNS.
An expedition for the destruction of the Shawanese towns, which were well known to be the places of rendezvous for these war-parties, was immediately proclaimed by General George Rogers Clark, and within a month a thousand men flocked to his standard-a fact conclusive of the rapid settle- ment of Kentucky, notwithstanding the discouragements of an Indian war. One division of the army, under Col. Ben- jamin Logan, descended the Licking, while another division, commanded by Clark, ascended the Ohio from the falls. The present site of Cincinnati was the point of rendezvous.
The late Abraham Thomas, of Miami county, has published a statement which presents a forcible contrast to the scene now visible opposite the mouth of Licking. His own words are : "In ascending the Ohio, Daniel Boone and myself acted as spies on the Kentucky side of the river, and a large party on the Indian side was on the same duty ; the latter were surprised by the Indians, and several killed and wounded. After making our destination, and before the boats crossed over to the Indian side, Boone and myself were taken into the foremost boat and landed above a small cut in the bank opposite the mouth of Licking. We were desired to spy through the woods for Indian signs. I was much younger than Boone, ran up the bank in great glee, and cut into a beech tree with my tomahawk, which I verily believe was the first tree cut into by a white man on the present site of Cin- cinnati. We were soon joined by other rangers, and hunted over the other bottom (the second table of land, probably ;) the forest every where was thick set with heavy beech and scattering underbrush of spicewood and paw-paw. We started several deer, but seeing no sign of Indians, returned to the landing." Here was erected a small stockade for stores.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
On the 2d of August, General Clark took up his line of march, which was as follows : the first division under his own command, took the front position ; the centre was occupied by artillery, military stores and baggage ; the second, com- manded by Col. Logan, was placed in the rear. The men were ordered to march in four lines, at about forty yards distant from each other, and a line of flankers on each side, about the same distance from the right and left line. There was also a front and rear guard, who only kept in sight of the main army. In order to prevent confusion, in case of an attack of the enemy on the march, a general order was issued, that in the event of an attack in front, the front was to stand fast, and the two right lines to wheel to the right, and the two left lines to the left, and form a complete line, while the artillery was to advance forward to the centre of the line. In case of an attack on either of the flanks or side lines, these lines were to stand fast, and likewise the artillery, while the opposite lines wheeled and formed on the two extremes of those lines. In the event of an attack being made in the rear, similar order was to be observed as in an attack in front.
On the 6th of August, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the army reached Chillicothe and found the town in flames, the Indians having deserted and fired it that morning. After destroying several hundred acres of corn, on the 7th the march was resumed at 4 o'clock in the direction of Piqua, on the Mad River, twelve miles distant. After proceeding a mile, the men were drenched by a thunder-storm of rain. As soon as it ceased, near dark, the army encamped, kindled fires-discharging and reloading their guns by single compa- nies successively. On the 8th, shortly after noon, they approached Piqua. The Indian road from Chillicothe to
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Piqua, which the army followed, crossed the Mad River about a quarter of a mile below the town, and as soon as the advanced guard crossed into a prairie of high weeds, they were attacked by the Indians, who had concealed them- selves within the weeds. The ground on which the attack was made, as well as the manner of it, left no doubt that a general engagement was intended. Col. Logan was there- fore ordered, with about four hundred men, to file off to the right, and march up the river on the east side, and to continue to the upper end of the town, so as to prevent the Indians from escaping in that direction. Another detachment, under Cols. Lynn, Floyd and Harrod, was ordered to cross the river and encompass the town on the west side ; while Gen. Clark, with the troops under Col. Shaughter, and such as were attached to the artillery, marched directly towards the town. The prairie in which the Indians were concealed, who commenced the attack, was only about two hundred yards across to the timbered land, and the division of the army destined to encompass the town on the west side found it necessary to cross the prairie to avoid the fire of a con- cealed enemy. The Indians evinced great skill and judg- ment, and to prevent the western division from executing the duties assigned to them, they made a powerful effort to turn their left wing. This was discovered by Lynn and Floyd, and to prevent being outflanked, they extended the line of battle west more than a mile from the town, and which con- tinued warmly contested on both sides until about 5 o'clock, when the Indians disappeared, except a few in the town. The field-piece, which had been entirely useless before, was now brought to bear upon the houses, when a few shot dis- lodged the Indians within them.
Piqua was built in the manner of the French towns, and
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
extended along the margin of the river for more than three miles ; the houses, in many places, being more than twenty poles apart. Col. Logan, therefore, in order to surround the town on the east, as was the order, marched fully three miles, while the Indians turned their whole force against those on the opposite side of the town ; and Logan's party were not in the action at all. It is said that the sudden cessation of the Indian fire was caused by the withdrawal of Simon Girty and three hundred Wyandot and Mingo Indi- ans under his command.
Piqua was also burned to the ground, and all the cornfields in the vicinity devastated. On the 10th of August, the army commenced their return march, and from the mouth of Lick- ing dispersed to their homes. The Kentuckians lost seven- teen lives during the expedition.
The effect of this blow was to reduce the Indians to the necessity of extraordinary efforts to support their women and children during the ensuing year-greatly to the relief of the Kentucky settlements.
The summer of 1782 was a disastrous season for Kentucky. Not only the Shawanese, but all the northwestern tribes who were accessible to British influence, scourged the channel and valley of the Ohio. A party of Wyandots, having com- mitted some shocking outrages near Estell's station, were pursued by Capt. Estell and twenty-five men, and a severe conflict occurred near the present town of Mount Sterling, in Montgomery county, Kentucky. The parties were of equal strength, but Capt. Estell divided his force for the purpose of attacking the enemy in rear. This was fatal : the Indian chief instantly charged across a stream that divided the combatants, and overpowered the Kentuckians. Captain Estell and eight of his party were killed, and four
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mortally wounded. In August, another Kentucky settle- ment, called Hoy's station, was visited by the Indians, by whom two lads were carried into captivity. This band was also pursued by Captain Holder, with a party of seventeen men, who, coming up with the Indians, were likewise defeated with a loss of seven killed and two wounded.
On the 14th of August, Bryant's station, five miles from Lexington, was invested by five hundred Indians and Cana- dians, led by the notorious Simon Girty. Fortunately there were assembled at this post a body of borderers who had collected for the purpose of marching to the relief of a neigh- boring station, and were fully armed, and when the Indians assaulted the station on the third day, they were repulsed with a loss of eighty killed and many wounded, and the same night abandoned the siege. They were pursued on their retreat by Colonels Todd, Trigg and Boone, and Major Har- land, at the head of only one hundred and seventy-six men. It was known that Col. Logan was on the way to Bryant's station with considerable reinforcements, but the infuriated Kentuckians could not be restrained. The Indians drew the pursuers into an unfortunate position on the 19th, when the severe battle of Blue Licks ensued, in which the Kentuckians were routed with the loss of seventy-six men ; among whom were Colonels Todd and Trigg, Major Harland, and a son of Colonel Boone. The battle lasted only fifteen minutes. The retreat from the field was still more disastrous. The scene of action was on the banks of the main fork of Licking River, at the great bend, forty-three miles from Lexington.
It was a sad day, and was long remembered as a tragic anniversary. The cry for revenge rang from Kenhawa to the falls of Ohio, and once more a thousand volunteers flocked to the plain opposite the mouth of Licking. Clark led the
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
expedition, and Col. Logan, as in 1780, was in command of a division. The army suffered greatly from hunger-their supply of provisions being scanty and the requisite discipline not suffering any diversion to obtain game. The route was across the Mad River, not far from the present site of Dayton ; thence up the east side of the Miami, crossing that river about four miles below the Piqua towns. Shortly after gaining the bottom, on the west side of the river, a party of Indians on horseback, with their squaws, came out of a trail that led to some Indian villages near the present site of Greenville. The men took to flight, leaving their women and a female captive in the hands of the Kentuckians. On arriving at Piqua, that and the adjacent villages were deserted, and so suddenly, that fires were burning, meat roasting, and corn still boiling in their kettles. The provisions were a most acceptable treat to the Kentuckians, who were nearly fam- ished, but the escape of their enemies excited deep and universal chagrin. The work of destruction was repeated as on former occasions. The station of a French trader, Loramie, was also destroyed at the mouth of the creek, which henceforth bore his name-the same locality as the English Pickawillany, which was destroyed by the French in 1752. During this expedition five Indians were killed, and the loss of the Kentuckians was only two.
The only other expedition of any importance, which pre- ceded the territorial organization, (except an abortive expe- dition in 1785, under Col. Edwards,) was led by Col. Ben- jamin Logan, in 1786. In the autumn of that year, Gen. Clark projected and raised the forces for a campaign against the Indians on the Wabash, and Col. Logan was detached from the army at the falls of the Ohio, to raise a considerable force with which to proceed against the Indian villages on
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SHAWANESE CAMPAIGNS.
the head waters of Mad River and the Great Miami. We have an interesting narrative of this incursion, in the papers of the late Gen. William Lytle, of Cincinnati, who, although a lad of sixteen, was present as a volunteer.
The Indian towns on the Mad River would have been completely surprised, had not one of Logan's men deserted to the enemy. As it was, eight of the Machacheek villages were burned-numerous cornfields destroyed-70 or 80 war- riors taken prisoners, and about twenty others killed, among them a distinguished chief, Moluntha, by a treacherous act of one of the officers. Logan was accompanied by Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, Robert Patterson, and other familiar names of border history. The famous Grenadier Squaw was among the captives-also a young Indian, who was afterward adopted by Gen. Logan, and became a distinguished Indian ally of the Americans. He was known as Captain Logan, although his Indian name was Spemica Lawba, or " High Horn."
Here we close our outline of the Kentucky and Shawanese campaigns. Each successive year of hostilities had removed the line of battle westward; for, while in 1774, the banks of the Kenhawa and the Scioto were the scene of action, the valley of the Little Miami was the destination of Bowman and Clark, in 1779 and 1780, and the Great Miami of the expe- dition of 1782. Logan, in 1786, penetrated further north than any preceding invader. It was not until the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, that this warlike tribe finally submitted to destiny, and acquiesced in a permanent peace.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS ON THE MUSKINGUM, FROM 1772 TO 1782.
IT is with a decided sensation of relief that we turn from the repulsive reiteration of Indian massacre, and its swift retaliation, which constitutes so marked a feature of Ameri- can border history, to the narrative of the Moravian Mission. While elsewhere on the Ohio and its tributaries, war assumed its most hideous and demoniac form, the Muskingum yielded the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Shoenbrun, the Beau- tiful Spring, and Gnadenhutten, the Tents of Grace, were the abodes of a Christian community, where the regeneration of the gospel was abundantly and admirably illustrated. The annals of this colony of Indian converts have been faithfully reported by the missionaries, Heckewelder and Zeisberger, and also by George Henry Loskiel, historian of the Mission of the United Brethren of North America. Our purpose is only to preserve a transcript of these memorials.
Hitherto, a description of the temporary residence of Post and Heckewelder at Tuscaroras, during the summer of 1762, and the subsequent emigration from the Susquehanna and Beaver Rivers of Pennsylvania, in 1772 and 1773, have constituted our only direct reference to the devoted Ger- mans and their aboriginal congregation. Although Post's pioneer mission was rudely interrupted by the general bor- der war of 1763, familiarly known as the conspiracy of Pon- tiac, yet the attempt was not entirely fruitless. The Indians
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THE MUSKINGUM MISSION.
appreciated its self-devotion, and when the Delaware Coun- cil at Gekelemukpechink forwarded their invitation to Zeis- berger to occupy the Muskingum, it was unquestionably prompted by the favorable impressions which had been com- municated ten years previously.
The village of Shoenbrun, principally occupied by con- verted Delawares, was situated at the first settlement, on the east bank of the Muskingum,1 about two miles below New Philadelphia in Tuscarawas county ; while the Mohi- can village of Gnadenhutten was seven miles south of Shoen- brun on the same side of the river. At each place, a chapel was built-that at Shoenbrun forty feet by thirty-six-of squared timber, roofed with shingles, and surmounted by a cupola and bell. Heckewelder describes the towns as regu- larly laid out, with wide and clean streets, and fenced to exclude cattle ; presenting a neat and orderly appearance, which excited the astonishment of their savage visitors. Besides the missionaries already named, John Jacob Schmick arrived in August, 1777, and was installed over the congre- gation at Gnadenhutten.
The indefatigable Zeisberger, before the close of 1773, had twice visited the Shawanese villages. He was accom- panied by the converted Delaware chief, Glikhikan, or Isaac by baptism, and another native missionary or national assist- ant. Their first destination was Wakatameki, (probably at the mouth of the creek still so called, near Dresden, in Mus- kingum county,) where they were hospitably received by a Shawanese Indian, whose father had been an acquaintance of Zeisberger in 1755, in the Wyoming valley of Pennsylva- nia. The son of Paxnous, their present host, spoke the Del-
1) In 1779, Schoenbrun, after a temporary desertion, was rebuilt on the opposite or west side of the Muskingum. 14*
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
aware language fluently, and accompanied the missionaries on their farther journey, which extended to the "chief town of the Shawanese." Here the party were entertained with civility by a heathen teacher of great influence, who as- sembled the Indians, and gave Zeisberger an opportunity to address them in Delaware, a language generally understood by those present. The exhortation made a profound impres- sion, and before his departure, the missionary received a message from the chief and council of the town, avowing a determination to receive the word of God, and live in con- formity with it," concluding with a request that the believ- ing Indians and their teachers would come and live with them. Zeisberger promised to communicate their message to his brethren at Bethlehem, but the outbreak of Dunmore's war in the following year, prevented the establishment of a mission. On his second visit to the Shawanese country, in September, 1773, Zeisberger found the head-chief of the tribe very much exasperated against the whites, although his reception of the missionary was kind. On meeting the lat- ter and his companions, he gave them his hand, adding in a loud tone, "This day, God has so ordered, that we should see and speak to each other face to face."
Our impression that this chief was the noted Cornstalk, and that the "chief town" which the missionaries visited, was the " Old Chillicothe" of the Scioto plains, is strength- ened by the circumstance mentioned in Loskiel, that "in May, 1775, the chief of a large Shawanese town spent six days agreeably at Gnadenhutten, accompanied by his wife, a captain, several councillors, in all, above thirty persons." Again, in Loskiel's narrative of 1776, we find the following paragraph : "In Gnadenhutten, arrived about this time, a chief of the Shawanese, commonly called Cornstalk, with a
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