USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
On the 28th a reconnoitering party under Captain Hamilton. discovered the whole British and Indian force a few miles down the river. The whole force of the enemy consisted of six hun- dred regulars, eight hundred Canadian militia, and eighteen hun- dred Indians. The force in the fort did not at any time exceed twelve hundred men, of which about a thousand, or eleven hun- dred were able for effective duty. As soon as the report of Cap- tain Hamilton was received an express was sent to General Clay who commanded the Kentucky reinforcements, and who was sup- posed to be approaching by the Auglaize. He also carried letters for the governors of Ohio and Kentucky. The journey was under- taken by Captain Oliver, commissary to the fort, a brave officer, who possessed every necessary qualification for such a perilous enterprise. He was accompanied by a single white man, and an Indian, and was escorted some distance from the fort by Captain Garrard with eighty of his dragoons.
As soon as Captain Oliver left the fort it was invested by the Indians. Captain Oliver found General Clay at Fort Win- chester, to whom he communicated the fact of the siege of Fort Meigs, and the urgent importance of forwarding the reinforce- ment with all practical dispatch.
In the afternoon of the 28th the gunboats of the enemy came in view, and approached to the site of old Fort Miami, on the opposite side of the river. After landing and mounting their guns, the boats were employed in carrying the Indians across the river. After they were landed, hideous yells and reports of mus- ketry were to be heard in all directions.
In the night of the 28th and 29th, the British commenced the construction of three batteries on a high bank opposite. the fort, at a distance of about three hundred yards from the river. The intervening ground between the river and batteries was covered by water. Such progress was made by them during the night, that they were able to continue the work in daylight. Their progress, however, was much impeded by a heavy fire from the fort. Whilst the British were preparing their batteries, the Indians annoyed the garrison by climbing the trees, a hundred
177
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
yards distant from the fort, and firing upon the soldiers engaged in the construction of embankments. Colonel Wood in writing of the annoyances, humorously remarks : "Their eternal annoyances,. however, proved a great stimulus to the militia ; for although they did their duty with alacrity and promptitude, yet their motions; were much accelerated by it - and let who will, make the exper-
COLD
--------
APID
S
RIVER
MAUME
Indian Hill
Upper Sandusky Ro
FORT MEIGS.
iment, it will be invariably found, that the movements of militia will be quickened by a brisk fire of musketry about their ears." Colonel Wood also adds : "On the morning of the Ist of May, it was discovered that the British batteries were completed ; and' about ten o'clock they appeared to be loading, and adjusting their- guns on certain objects in the camp. By this time our troops had completed a grand traverse, about twelve feet high, upon a base- of twenty feet, three hundred yards long, on the most elevated ground through the middle of the camp, calculated to ward: off
12 HAC
178
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
the shot of the enemy's batteries. Orders were given for all tents in front to be instantly removed into the rear, which was effected in a few minutes, and that beautiful prospect of cannonading and bombarding· our lines, which but a moment before had excited the skill and energy of the British engineer, was now entirely fled, and in its place nothing was to be seen but an immense shield of earth, which entirely obscured the whole army. Not a tent nor a single person was to be seen. Those canvas houses, which had concealed the growth of the traverse from the view of the enemy, were now protected and hidden in their turn. The pros- pect of smoking us out, was now at best but very faint. But as neither General Proctor nor his officers were yet convinced of the folly and futility of their laborious preparations, their batteries were opened, and five days were spent in arduous cannonading and bombarding to bring them to this salutary conviction. A tremendous cannonade was kept up all day, and shells were thrown till eleven o'clock at night. Very little damage, however, was done in the camp; one or two were killed and three or four wounded - among the latter was Major Amos Stoddard of the Ist Regiment of Artillery - a revolutionary character, and an officer of much merit. He was wounded slightly with a piece of shell, and about ten days afterwards died of lockjaw.
On the second and third of May, the British kept up an in- cessant shower of balls and shells upon the fort. On the night of the evening of the 4th the enemy erected a gun and mortar bat- tery upon the left or Maumee City bank of the river, within two hundred and fifty yards of the American lines. The Indians climbed the trees and poured in a galling fire upon the garrison. In this situation, General Harrison received a summons fron Proctor for a surrender of the garrison, greatly magnifying his means of annoyance. This was answered by a prompt refusal, assuring the British General that if he obtained possession of the fort, it would not be by capitulation, and that the post would not be surrendered upon any terms ; that should it fall into his (Gen- eral Proctor's) hands, it would be in a manner calculated to do him more honor, and give him higher claims upon the gratitude of his government, than any capitulation could possibly do. As before stated, requisitions had been made upon the governors of Ohio and Kentucky by his messenger Captain Oliver. Fortunately the re- quisitions had been anticipated by the governors. At twelve
179
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
o'clock on the night of the fourth, General Harrison was aroused from his tent by a sentinel with the information that there were some men at the gate who desired to communicate with him. When the General reached the gate he found Captain Oliver and Major D. Trimble and a few attendants waiting for admission. Upon their near approach they had found the fort closely invested by the Indians under Tecumseh. Still, in the darkness of the night they eluded the vigilance of the Indians, reached the fort, bring- ing the joyful intelligence that General Green Clay, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, was descending the Maumee river in boats ; that they were just above the rapids, and would probably be at the fort within a few hours.
"General Harrison immediately determined to make a general sally against the enemy on General Clay's arrival, for which he made immediate preparation, and dispatched Captain Hamilton and a subaltern to General Clay, directing him to detach eight hun- dred men on the left bank of the river, about a mile above the fort. This detachment, with Hamilton as its guide, was then to be marched to the British batteries, carry them, spike the cannon, cut down the carriages, and then return to their boats and cross over to the fort." The residue of the brigade was to be landed on the right bank of the river, and conducted by the subaltern, who went with Hamilton to the fort. . It was the design of the General to cause sorties to be made against the enemy on the southeast side of the river, simultaneously with that by the de- tachment from General Clay, under Colonel Dudley, on the oppo- site shore. For this purpose, a detachment was prepared and placed under the direction of Colonel Miller, of the 19th United States Infantry, to consist of two hundred and fifty of the 17th and 19th Regiments, one hundred of twelve months' volunteers, and Captain Seber's company of Kentucky militia. These troops were drawn up in a ravine, under the east curtain of the fort, out of reach of the enemy's fire, to await further orders. In the mean- time, General Clay had been detained by the difficulty of passing the Rapids in the night. Captain Hamilton reached him at eight o'clock, and Colonel Dudley was detached with eight hundred men to attack the batteries on the north side of the river. General Clay, with Basewell's regiment, succeeded, after some skirmishing with the Indians, in effecting his entrance into the fort. These troops, with Nearing's company of regulars, and the battalion of
180
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
volunteers under Major Alexander, were employed immediately in driving off a large body of Indians, who had approached within one hundred and fifty yards of the fort. This duty was executed with gallantry, under the immediate eye and direction of the com- manding general, who, from his position, discovered a body of British troops passing from the batteries to the east of the fort, to the aid of their allies, thus exposing the rear of the detachment. An order for immediate retreat was sent by his aide, John J. John- son, but his horse being killed under him before its delivery, the intelligence was conveyed by another aide, Major Graham.
"Just as the moment described terminated, the troops in the fort were cheered by the shouts of the Kentuckians in charging the batteries on the opposite shore. At this point every plan was successfully carried into effect, and nothing prevented the detach- ments from returning under the bank to their boats and crossing over to the fort, but that the men unfortunately suffered them- selves to be drawn into the woods by the fire of scattering Indians, until a reinforcement of British troops from the old fort gained their rear, and killed or captured nearly all of them. About fifty were slain, five hundred and fifty captured, and one hundred and fifty escaped to their boats, and crossed in safety to the fort. After the fall of Colonel Dudley, the command devolved on Major Shelby. As soon as it was seen that the attack by Dudley had induced the enemy to send reinforcements from the east side, the General directed the detachment under Colonel Miller, to ad- vance from the ravine. The British batteries at this point were protected by a company of British grenadiers ; another of light infantry, two hundred strong ; these were flanked by two hundred Canadian militia, and by one thousand Indians under Tecumseh. The detachment advanced with loaded but trailed arms, and in a few moments the batteries, two officers and fifty regular troops were taken ; and when we regard the disparity of force, the advan- tageous position of the enemy, and the dreadful execution in so few minutes, it is but justice to this gallant corps, to speak of it as having acquired equal honor with that of any other detachment during the war. In the progress of the severe battle fought by this detachment, Captain Seber's company sustained themselves against four times their number, until relieved by the gallantry of a company of regulars, under Major David Gwynne. The return of this detachment to the fort terminated the battles of the
181
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
day, and immediately General Proctor sent Major Chambers with a flag of truce, demanding the surrender of the fort. An account of the result of the conference has already been given."
At the close of the engagements of the day, the American prisoners, surrounded by British and Indians were hurried down to Proctor's encampment at Fort Miami. The savages were so numerous and intractable that the commands of their white allies (if any were given) to treat the prisoners with the proper respect, due to them, was unheeded. They deemed, and with some plaus- ibility, that the victory was due to their own prowess. On the march they began to rob their prisoners, stripping them even of every article of clothing. As they drew near the encampment, the Indians formed a long line having the bank of the river on one side with a lane between them and the bank about eight feet in width. Through this lane they compelled their captives to run the gauntlet, while they whipped, shot and tomahawked them. One of the Americans, who had a bullet buried in his back, and who ran the terrible gauntlet, writes as follows :
"When I reached the starting place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, and ran near the muzzles of their guns, knowing that they would have to shoot me while I was immediately in front, or let me pass ; for to have turned their guns up or down the line, to shoot me, would have endangered themselves, as there was a curve in the line. In this way I passed without injury, except some strokes over the shoulder from their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch which surrounded the encampment, the man before me was shot, and fell, and I fell over him. The passage, for a while, was stopped by those who fell over the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost at this place I cannot tell ; probably between twenty and forty.
"When we got within the walls we were ordered to sit down. A new scene commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated walls, and shot one of the prisoners next to him. He reloaded and shot a second, the ball passing through him into the hip of another, who afterwords died of the wound. The savage then laid down his gun and took his tomahawk, with which he killed two others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the men, they endeavored to escape from him, by leaping over the heads of each other. Thus they were heaped one upon another, and they trampled upon me so that I could see
182
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
nothing that was going on. The confusion and uproar at this moment can not be adequately described. There was an excite- ment and fierceness manifested among the Indians which betok- ened a strong disposition, among some of them, to massacre the whole of us."
"William G. Ewing, who was present on this occasion, writes : 'While this bloodthirsty carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the rear, in the Indian tongue, when turning around, I saw Tecumseh coming with all the rapidity with which his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two Indians had an American and were in the act of killing him. He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast, and threw them both to the ground. Drawing his homahawk and knife, he ran in between the Indians and the Americans, brandish- ing his weapons with the fury of a madman, daring any one of the hundreds of Indians who surrounded him to attempt to murder another American. They all appeared confounded, and immedi- ately desisted. His mind appeared rent with passion, and he ex- claimed : Oh! what will become of my Indians !' "
"He then demanded, in an authoritative tone, 'Where is Gen- eral Proctor?' He was pointed out to him in the rear.
The chief rode up to the General, and sternly inquired, "Why did you not put a stop to this inhuman carnage?" Proc- tor replied, "Your Indians cannot be controlled." "Begone," exclaimed the indignant Indian chieftain, to the British General, "you are unfit to command. Go put on petticoats."
General Leslie Combs who was among the prisoners taken by Proctor, also ran the gauntlet, but was so fleet of foot that he passed the line of yelling savages unhurt. In a conversation with the writer in 1874, General Combs gave a thrilling descrip- tion of the Indian atrocities at Fort Miami. His account of the massacres, and the dramatic entrance of Tecumseh, his command to the Indians, and his reprimand of Proctor, were all corrobo- rative of the statements of Ewing.
A British officer, who took part in the conflict, wrote, in the London New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826:
"On reaching our encampment the prisoners were met by a band of cowardly and treacherous Indians, who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, guided by the savage instinct of their nature, approached the column, and selecting their vic-
183
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
tims, commenced the work of blood. In vain did the harassed and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their destroyers. The frenzy of these wretches knew no bounds. An old and excellent soldier, named Russel, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest a victim from the grasp of his murderer.
"Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen beneath the steel of these infuriated savages, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was going on, rode up at full speed, and raising his toma- hawk, threatened to destroy the first man who refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of coercion had hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasper- ated chieftain produced an instantaneous effect, and they retired, at once humiliated and confounded.
"The survivors of this melancholy catastrophe were immedi- ately conveyed on board the gunboats, which were moored in the river, and every precaution taken to prevent a renewal of the scene, the escorting party proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom the rites of sepulture were afforded even before those of our own men who had fallen in the action. Colonel Dud- ley was among the slain.
"On the evening of the second day after this event I accom- panied Major Muir in a ramble through the encampment of the Indians, which was distant a few hundred yards from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view was one of the most ludicrous and revolting nature. In various directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken from the boats of the American divi- sion, and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their riches, carefully examining each article and attempting to divine its use. Several were decked out in the uniform of officers. And although embarrassed to the last degree in their movements, and dragging with difficulty the heavy military boots with which their legs were for the first time covered, they strutted forth. much to the admiration of their less fortunate comrades. Some were habited in plain clothes, others had their bodies clad with clean white shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner with the swarthiness of their skins. All wore some articles of decoration. Their tents were ornamented with saddles, bridles, rifles, dag- gers, swords, and pistols, many of which were handsomely
184
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
mounted and of curious workmanship. Such was the ridiculous part of the picture.
"But mingled with these, and in various directions, were to be seen the scalps of the slain drying in the sun. They were stained on the fleshy side with vermilion dyes, and were dangling in the air as they hung suspended from the poles to which they were attached. There were also hoops of various sizes, on which were stretched portions of human skin taken from various parts of the body, principally from the hands and feet, and yet with the nails of those parts attached. Scattered along the ground were to be seen the members of the body from which they had been separated, serving as nutriment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accompanied.
"As we continued to advance into the heart of the encamp- ment, a scene of a still more disgusting nature arrested our atten- tion. Stopping at the entrance of a tent occupied by the Minou- mini tribe, we observed the Indians seated around a large fire, over which was suspended a kettle containing their meal. Each warrior had a string hanging over the edge of the vessel. To this was suspended food, of which it will be presumed we did not see without loathing. It consisted of the flesh of an American. Any expression of our feelings, as we declined the invitations which they gave us to join in their repast, would have been resented by them without ceremony. We had therefore the prudence to excuse ourselves under the plea that we had already taken our food; and we hastened to remove from a sight so revolting to humanity."
The result of the engagements had been sad enough for the Americans, but still the British General saw in it nothing to encourage him; his cannon had done nothing, and were in fact no longer of value; his Indian allies found it "hard to fight people who lived like groundhogs." Proctor finding himself completely baffled, in his attempts to take the garrison, set himself seriously to work to draw off his forces. During the succeed- ing three days and a half, he labored with this view, and on the 9th of May, 1813, at noon, annoyed seriously by our artillery, he sailed down to the mouth of the Maumee river, where he gave his troops a much needed rest until the 28th.
General Harrison having repaired, as far as possible, the damages sustained during the siege, and satisfied that Proctor
185
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
would not return soon, left the fort and proceeded to Lower Sandusky, where he arrived on the 12th of May. Here he found Governor Meigs and a large force of Ohio militia, ready to march to the relief of Fort Meigs. In passing through Upper Sandusky, Delaware and Franklinton, he found Ohio militia at each of these points pressing forward to raise the siege of Fort Meigs, As they were not needed at the time, General Harrison issued a general order at Franklinton on the 16th dismissing them. The order was drawn up, in highly complimentary terms to their zeal and patriotism. The order gave rise to loud com- plaint from the militia, who had a patriotic desire to serve the country. The General's action was based on a confidential order received from the Secretary of War forbidding his calling out any more militia, until he had full and free possession of Lake Erie. After issuing the general order, he made a flying visit to Chillicothe and Cincinnati, inspecting the quartermaster's and commissary's departments as he proceeded. At Newport he found the 24th regiment of United States infantry, from Nash- ville, Tennessee. These he ordered to Franklinton, and followed them the next day.
"Upon reaching Franklinton he held a council with the chiefs of the friendly Indians, consisting of the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandot, and Seneca tribes. He informed them that circumstances had come to his knowledge which induced him to suspect the fidelity of some of the tribes, who seemed disposed to join the enemy in case they succeeded in capturing Fort Meigs - that a crisis had arrived, which required all the tribes who remained neutral, and who were willing to engage in the war, to take a decided stand either for us or against us - that the President wanted no false friends - that the proposal of General Proctor to exchange the Kentucky militia for the tribes in our friendship, indicated that he had received some hint of their willingness to take up the tomahawk against us - and that to give the United States a proof of their good disposition, they must either remove their families into the interior, or the warriors must accompany him in the ensuing campaign and fight for the United States. To the latter condition the chiefs and warriors unanimously agreed ; and they said they had long been anxious for an invitation to fight for the Americans. Tarhe, the oldest Indian in the western country, who represented all the tribes, professed in their name
186
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
the most indissoluble friendship for the United States. General Harrison then told them he would let them know when they would be wanted in the service - "but you must conform to our mode of warfare. You are not to kill defenseless prisoners, old. men, women, or children." He added that by their conduct he should be able to tell whether the British could restrain their Indians from such horrible cruelty. For if the Indians fighting with him would forbear such conduct, it would prove that the- British could also restrain theirs if they wished to do it. He humorously told them he had been informed that General Proc- tor had promised to deliver him into the hands of Tecumseh, if he succeeded against Fort Meigs, to be treated as that warrior might think proper. "Now if I can succeed in taking Proctor, you shall have him for your prisoner, provided you will agree to treat him as a squaw, and only put petticoats upon him; for he must be a coward who would kill a defenseless prisoner." At the conclusion of the conference with the Indian deputations he received information from General Clay, commander of Fort Meigs that the enemy was preparing for a second attack on the- fort. The 24th regiment of regulars was at this time at Upper Sandusky. From this regiment three hundred picked men were ordered to make a forced march, to relieve Fort Meigs. General Harrison pressed forward without halting night or day, and arrived at the Fort on the 28th of May at nightfall. Colonel Anderson, Colonel Gaines and their Tennessee detachment. reached the garrison a few hours after the General.
The dispatch of General Clay to General Harrison seems: to have been a false alarm, as no enemy appeared. As there was nothing to require his presence longer at Fort Meigs, he left that point on the Ist of July and proceeded to Lower Sandusky. Here, on the 2nd, he met Colonel Ball with a squadron of horse and immetliately marched to Cleveland to inspect the progress made in the construction of boats for transporting the army over the- lake. The boat builders were commanded by Major Jessup of the regular army. Cleveland, at that time, had in its hospital seventy-five of General Dudley's wounded soldiers, who had been paroled by Proctor. There was also a company of volun- teers there, from Chillicothe, who acted as boat builders, and nurses to Dudley's wounded men. After remaining at Cleve- land a brief time, General Harrison returned to Lower Sandusky,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.