USA > Ohio > Ohio in four wars, a military history > Part 2
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General Hull was afterwards court-martialed for treason, cowardice and unofficer-like con- duct. He was found guilty of the last two charges and sentenced to be shot. On account
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THE WAR OF 1812
of his Revolutionary services, President Madi- son, while he approved the sentence of the court- martial, remitted it, but General Hull's name was stricken from the army-roll.
The surrender of Hull exposed the entire northwestern frontier to the incursions of the enemy. The disheartening news aroused the Americans to vigorous action for the defense of their country. Throughout the territory menaced, citizens of every rank came promptly forward to offer their services. The crisis demanded a leader whose name would inspire confidence - a military genius who could dis- cipline and mould into an effective army the patriotic but unorganized hosts who were eager to be led against the foe.
The man of the hour, with every requirement for the emergency, was at hand in the person of William Henry Harrison. He had served as Commandant of Fort Washington, Secretary of the Northwest Territory and its Delegate to Con- gress, and Governor of Indiana Territory. In all these civic positions he displayed a high grade of common-sense statesmanship. His revision of the land system of the United States, when in congress, won him the unqualified con- fidence of the Western people. His knowledge of the service of the frontier was practical and
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OHIO IN FOUR WARS
characteristic, and he acquired this knowledge by becoming a part of its rapidly changing order. The dusky native of the forests was to him at once a concrete, practical problem, and he made him an object of philosophical study. Few men of his time more carefully considered or more thoroughly understood the American Indian. This largely accounts for Harrison's success in dealing with him, whether it was on the battle- field or in the council chamber.
He was keenly alert to the growing dissatis- faction of the Indians under the leadership of Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet. When Indian hostilities finally broke out in 1811, he led the troops at Tippecanoe, where he achieved a signal victory. He was a careful observer of the encroachments of Great Britain, and antici- pated long before it occurred, the declaration of war, June 18, 1812. As the popular hero of the West he was naturally expected to act a leading part when the Americans should march forth in battle array. Other leaders sought his counsel, and Governor Scott of Kentucky, after advising with prominent men of his State, evaded a statutory provision, and to the great joy of the people, appointed Harrison to the command of the army of 7,000 men, raised to wipe out the
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MAJOR GEORGE CROGHAN The Defender of Fort Stephenson.
Born near Louisville, Kentucky, November 15, 1791; graduated at Wil- liam and Mary College in 1810; was at Tippecanoe in 1811; was brevetted heutenant colenot for his gallantry at Fort Stephenson; resigned from the army in 1817; in 1846, joined General Taylor's army in Mexico and served with credit at Monterey; died at New Orleans, January 8, 1849. Reinterred at Fremont, Ohio, (Fort Stephenson), August 2, 1900.
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THE WAR OF 1812
disgrace of Hull's surrender and prevent the threatened incursions of the enemy.
At the head of these troops, Harrison pro- ceeded northward by way of Cincinnati, Lebanon, Dayton, Piqua, and St. Marys. On his journey he received from Washington infor- mation of his appointment to a brigadier- generalship in the army. Later he learned that General Winchester had been appointed to the chief command. At this announcement he was disappointed and the soldiers made many com- plaints. However, he counseled cheerful ac- quiescence and loyally supported his superior. Soon afterward when the authorities at Wash- ington were apprised of the true situation, he was appointed to the chief command of the army. He brought his troops to a high standard of dis- cipline and prepared the way for the victories at Forts Meigs and Stephenson and Lake Erie, which were to call forth the acclaim of the nation throughout its subsequent history.
Prior to the appointment of General Harrison as Commander-in-chief, the Americans were not successful in their frontier campaigns. Al- though Ohio was doing her duty, the War Department at Washington was slow in grasp- ing the situation and furnishing the necessary supplies. And, in addition to this, the militia
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commanders failed to maintain the necessary discipline among the troops.
In the summer of 1812 General Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia County, at the head of a thousand militia from Jackson, Lawrence and Gallia counties, marched to the foot of the Maumee Rapids, but the expedition was fruit- less in its results. Tupper and his men marched back to Fort McArthur, on the Scioto River in . Hardin County.
General Harrison had determined upon a win- ter campaign for the recovery of Detroit and the Michigan Territory. He dispatched one division of his army under General Winchester to the Maumee Rapids, a strategical point at the head of navigation which commanded the ap- proach to the English positions at Malden and Detroit. The other army division was stationed at Upper Sandusky, where General Harrison employed the men in making roads and bridges and in forwarding to the army on the Maumee, cannon, provisions and heavy baggage.
In a brief survey of the progress to the Maumee Rapids, many exploits of personal daring and thrilling encounters with the Indians must necessarily be omitted from this narrative. While the Indians generally fought with the British, many of them were steadfast in their
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THE WAR OF 1812
allegiance to the American cause. A number of unfortunate incidents, however, made the loyal natives sometimes objects of suspicion. In some instances, a chief would march along with the army, apparently zealous in the work of the campaign, only to be found at last leading the savage foe in a night attack against those for whom he had professed friendship. Others there were, who proved their devotion on the weary march and in the clash of combat. A pathetic instance is here recorded that is worthy of a place in the annals of the State.
Captain James Logan, Shawnee chief, was detailed on a scouting expedition to the Rapids by General Harrison. In company with two companions he set out upon the mission, but en- countering the enemy in considerable force, he retreated to the camp of General Winchester, where he truthfully reported the incidents of the excursion. Some of the soldiers who heard him, however, doubted his story and openly accused him of treachery. Keenly sensitive and smart- ing under the unjust imputation, he firmly and silently resolved that by some daring and des- perate exploit against the enemy he would demonstrate his fidelity to the Americans and establish his claim to their confidence and
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respect. By an exhibition of his worth he would put to shame the calumnies of his accusers.
On November 2, 1812, he set forth with his two companions on a second expedition, deter- mined to bring back a scalp or a prisoner, or die in the attempt. As the little party proceeded towards the Rapids, they unexpectedly fell in with a British officer, the eldest son of Colonel Elliott, and five Indians. Realizing that taken at this disadvantage resistance would probably be in vain, Logan advanced boldly with assur- ance of friendship to greet the British officer. Unfortunately, among the Indians under Elliott, was a chief, Winemac by name, who personally knew Logan, and was fully aware of his friend- ship for the Americans. Nothing daunted, however, the latter persisted that he was going to the Rapids to give information to the British. After some conversation he proceeded on his way, accompanied by Elliott and the five hostile Indians, who suspiciously watched every move- ment of Logan and his companions. Winemac proposed to the British officer to seize the three and bind them. Elliott answered that they were completely in his power, and that if they attempted to escape he could run them down or shoot them. Logan overheard the conversation. It had been his purpose to travel on until night-
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THE WAR OF 1812
fall and then make an effort to escape under shadow of darkness. Now fearing that he might be overpowered at any moment, he re- solved upon the desperate expedient of extri- cating himself from his perilous position by suddenly facing and fighting the enemy, a pur- pose which he quietly communicated to his two companions. For a time they moved on in silence. Then Logan suddenly turned and shot down Winemac. One of his companions shot Elliott. At the next round an Ottawa chief fell mortally wounded. A little later another of the enemy met the same fate, and the two remaining Indians fled into the forest, leaving behind the horses of their slain comrades. Near the close of the combat Logan himself was shot, the ball. passing downward through the breast and lodging under the skin of his back. One of his companions was shot through the thigh; the other escaped unhurt. The two who were wounded mounted two of the horses and rode back to Winchester's camp, twenty miles away. The third Indian, after taking the scalp of the Ottawa chief, returned on foot, reaching the camp next morning.
There was none now to question the fidelity of Logan, but he had won the confidence of those to whom he was devoted at the cost of his life.
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OHIO IN FOUR WARS
After two days of terrible agony, borne with the fortitude peculiar to his race, without a regret or a murmur, he breathed his last. "More firm- ness and consummate bravery has seldom ap- peared on the military theater," wrote General Winchester to General Harrison. "He was buried," said Major Hardin, "with all the honors due his rank, and with a sorrow as sincerely and generally displayed as I ever witnessed."
Logan was named after General Logan of Kentucky, by whom he was captured when a child. His mother was a sister of Tecumseh and the Prophet. In the summer preceding the events here narrated, he spent an entire night in an effort to dissuade Tecumseh from his war- like designs, while the latter urged him to join the British. Failing to agree they parted, never to meet again. Logan in physique and bearing was a noble representative of his race. Just before his death, when he realized that his hours were numbered, he asked Major Hardin to use the money due him for his services for the removal of his family to Kentucky where his children might be educated after the manner of the whites. He was assured that everything possible would be done to carry out his wishes. The tribe to which he belonged, however, re- fused to give up the family, and they disap-
THE WAR OF 1812 23
peared behind the veil that obscures the fate of the primitive children of the forest. Another Logan, a Mingo chief, has been immortalized for his reputed eloquence. It remains for the poet or the novelist to perform a like service for Cap- . tain James Logan, the Shawnee chief, who in the camp of General Winchester, vindicated his honor and died as became a soldier and a patriot.
In the meantime Winchester had reached the Rapids of the Maumee River, January 10, 1813. Instead of remaining there and establishing a stockade where it had been planned to accumu- late stores for a combined army movement against the enemy, he listened to urgent requests of the citizens of Frenchtown for aid against the attacks of the British and Indians. The latter were at Malden, eighteen miles distant from Frenchtown, which was on the Raisin River. Nearly seven hundred men were sent to the relief of Frenchtown under the command of Colonels Lewis and Allen. General Win- chester, perceiving that he sent them into the very jaws of the enemy, three thousand strong, and fearing the result, followed with two hun- - dred and fifty more men. Frenchtown was taken, but just after Winchester arrived, the British and Indians appeared in force and over- whelmed the American troops. The brutal
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English commander, Proctor, permitted a gen- eral massacre of the prisoners and wounded, by the Indian contingent. The snow was deep and the soldiers so exhausted that most of them fell into the hands of the cruel enemy. Only thirty- three escaped and returned to the Rapids. Win- chester himself was taken prisoner, and thus another disaster had befallen American arms in the Michigan Territory.
General Harrison had apprehended Winches- ter's danger and had hastened to the Maumee River. He arrived at the Rapids the very day after this disaster. The next morning, to pre- vent the enemy from cutting him off at his base . of supplies, Harrison retreated to Portage River and awaited the arrival of expected reinforce- ments of tropps and artillery, which were de- layed by heavy rains and did not arrive until January 30. On February 1, with 1,700. men and a few pieces of artillery, Harrison again advanced to the foot of the Rapids, where he chose a more commanding eminence than that selected by Winchester, and commenced the con- struction of a strong fort which, in honor of the Governor of Ohio, he named Fort Meigs.
A hollow square was formed on the hill. Trees were felled and breastworks were at once thrown up around the army. The troops ate
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their ration of parched corn and worked vigor- ously and cheerfully all day long. Trenches were dug; logs were split and planted on end to form a defensive wall of "picketings" or pali- sades; blockhouses were raised; and gradually under the direction of Captain Wood of the engineers' corps, the fort took substantial and commanding form. At first it covered nine acres, but the area was extended until it included fourteen acres. When the outer works were completed, grand transverse embankments were built across the enclosure, and later, when the besiegers approached, the tents were taken down, and each mess excavated under the embankment rooms that they occupied as substitutes. These were carefully drained, sc that inconvenience from the dampness would be reduced to a mini- mum. A well was commenced, but, unfor- tunately was not completed before the siege began.
It was Harrison's original purpose, while the river and lake were still frozen, to make a swift march down the Maumee, across to Malden, sur- prise the British, and destroy the little fleet at that post. A change in the weather, however, . prevented the execution of his plans, and the bold enterprise was abandoned.
One afternoon in the latter part of April, two
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strangers on horseback appeared on the opposite bank of the river. They halted and surveyed with evident interest the fort on the hill, then nearing completion. Some of the officers within the fort, regarding the action suspicious, had a shot from one of the heavy guns fired at the in- truders. The earth was torn up in their immediate vicinity and they soon galloped out - of sight. It was learned afterwards that the two men were Proctor and Tecumseh.
The investment of Fort Meigs began April 27. Conservative estimates of the forces under the command of the British fix the total at 2,560, of whom 1,200 were Indians. When the siege began, Harrison had a much smaller force, which was afterward augmented to 2,000 men. He realized that Fort Meigs must stand as a defense for all the territory north of the river. He therefore doubled his energies to strengthen the works and provision the place for a long siege. The forest was cleared away for a con- siderable distance from the fort to give the ar- tillery free play.
The Indians crossed the river, April 29, and the investment of the fort was soon complete. From this day firing was frequent and spirited. On the night of April 30, the British sent a gun- boat up near the fort and opened fire point blank
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THE WAR OF 1812
upon the works with little effect. In the morn- ing twilight the boat was towed down the river beyond the reach of the guns on the hill. A. vigorous bombardment was kept up from the British batteries across the river, from two- hundred and fifty to five hundred and fifty shots being fired daily at the fort in the early part of May.
A thrilling story is told of the removal of the magazines of the fort to a place of safety. At first the powder was kept in wagons under shelter of the earthworks. As the siege pro- gressed it was realized that there was great danger of the blowing up of the magazines. A number of men volunteered to move the powder to a small blockhouse, excavate a receptacle and bury it beyond the reach of cannon shot. The enemy evidently suspected this, for they trained their guns on the blockhouse. Red-hot shot fell hissing around. Finally a shell dropped through the roof, and lodging in the framework, sent forth scintillating sparks from its writhing fuse. The workmen threw themselves to earth, expect- ing to hear the thunderous explosion which would end their earthly careers. One of them fortunately had the presence of mind to seize a boathook, pull the hissing bomb to the ground, and jerk the burning fuse from its socket. With
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feverish excitement the work of the little band of volunteers was soon completed, and the magazines were securely covered.
On the night of May 3, a gun and mortar battery supported by about two hundred British regulars was transported under cover of the darkness across the river and planted behind earthworks about four hundred yards from the fort. On the following morning Proctor sent to Harrison a peremptory demand to surrender. But the British were not dealing with Hull. "Assure the General," wrote Harrison in reply to Proctor, "that he will never have this post surrendered to him upon any terms. Should it fall into his hands it will be in a manner cal- culated to do him more honor, and to give him larger claims upon the gratitude of his govern- ment than any capitulation could possibly do."
At about midnight, May 4, Harrison received word that General Clay was approaching with 1,200 Kentuckians, who had halted only about two hours' march distant, and were awaiting orders. Harrison at once directed that General Clay send eight hundred men from his forces for the purpose of landing on the other side and attacking the enemy's batteries. In the mean- time he took advantage of the opportunity for planning a sortie which he designed sometime
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previous. This sortie was to be made upon the side of the fort commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Miller of the Nineteenth United States Infantry, simultaneously with the attack to be made upon the enemy's batteries by the detach- ment under Colonel Dudley, from General Clay's reinforcements.
The duty assigned to Colonel Dudley was per- formed with soldierly ability and execution. He landed his men in good order. He then ad- vanced to the enemy's batteries and carried four of them instantly, putting the British regulars and Indian to flight. The victory was complete and decisive, and if Dudley had obeyed orders implicitly, he and his brave men would have been the victors of that day. . Harrison's orders when he planned this attack, were: "The bat- teries must be taken, the cannon spiked, the car- riages cut down; and the troops then must return to their boats and cross over to the fort." But Dudley's impetuous Kentuckians, flushed with victory, pushed on in pursuit of the flying enemy. Their commander tried to stop them, but in vain, and they ran full into an awaiting ambush of Tecumseh and his Indians, three times the number of the Kentuckians.
General Harrison saw the whole event from the rampart of the fort. He beckoned and
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shouted for them to retreat; they thought they were cheered on. "They are lost ! they are lost !" he exclaimed; "can I never get men to obey my orders?" He offered a thousand dollars to the man who would cross the river and carry a warning to Colonel Dudley. Lieutenant Camp- bell attempted this but it was too late. The Ken- tuckians fought bravely but vainly, and of eight hundred Americans that an hour before had been victors, all were slain or captured except one hundred and fifty. Colonel Dudley himself was killed in attempting to cut his way through to the river.
In this connection, however, is to be recorded the most disgraceful incident of this siege. It stands as a shame to a Christian and civilized nation. When Dudley's prisoners were taken down to the British headquarters, which was Fort Miami, the Indians were given free play upon them. They, the Indians, amused them- selves by firing at will among the prisoners. Those Indians who desired to select individual victims were permitted to do so. They led their captives to the very gates of Fort Miami, and under the eyes of General Proctor and in the presence of the British army tomahawked and scalped them. This work of devilish savagery, approved by the British, continued for nearly
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BO
Gun
- BATTERY - -
PLAIN
PRAIRIE
-
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INDEX-
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1. Plekets.
2
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Spring
3. Dry ditch.
1. Ontward embank ment.
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A. Plack-house.
to
il. Bastion. from
Wood
wasrak'dbylo !.
Cropben's six -
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c. Guard block- bonse.
I. Hospital.
Store houses.
Crack
Commissary's
ciare-house.
G. Myanzine.
K. Wicker gates.
Partition gate.
M. Mortars.
P. Graves af Brit- Ish officers.
PLAN OF FORT STEPHENSON
Prepared from the official reports of the battle by the British and American officers and from contemporary writers.
Advance of British
-Ravine
N
M
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of 200
2. Embankn't from ditch to pickets.
Grenadiers
4
which the ditch
1
3
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Ravine
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lim
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THE WAR OF 1812
two hours, during which twenty defenseless prisoners were massacred in the presence of the British authorities to whom they had sur- rendered.
When this massacre was going on, the Indian chiefs were holding a council. In this council, the Pottawattomies, who were painted black, were for a general massacre. In truth their warriors were carrying that plan out at the very moment. The Miamis and Wyandots were on the side of humanity, and opposed this. During this dispute as to how the carnage should be con- ducted, Tecumseh and the British Colonel Elliott came upon the scene. When Tecumseh beheld the slaughter he flourished his sword and cried: "For shame desist; it is a disgrace to kill a defenseless prisoner." To the great joy of Dud- ley's men, his orders were obeyed. By this single act the Indian Tecumseh displayed more humanity and civilization than Proctor and his British associates.
Notwithstanding Dudley's defeat, the com- plete success of his attack on the British bat- teries inspired Colonel Miller in his sortie. He sallied from the fort at the head of three hun- dred men, and assaulted the enemy's works, manned by three hundred and fifty regular British troops and five hundred Indians. The
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OHIO IN FOUR WARS
boldness and rapidity of the attack dazed the enemy. They were driven from their batteries, their cannon spiked, and Colonel Miller returned to the fort with forty-two prisoners. Consider- ing the inequality of numbers between the Americans and British, this sortie must be regarded as one of the most heroic and brilliant actions of the war.
Proctor now saw that the further investment of Fort Meigs was impracticable. He had tested to his sorrow, the fighting spirit of the Americans. He found that though the contest was unequal, they, fewer in numbers as they were, were more than a match for his trained regulars and his blood-thirsty allies. He asked for a cessation of hostilities. During this time arrangements were made for the exchange of prisoners. Tecumseh agreed to surrender his prisoners provided some Wyandots held by Gen- cral Harrison were delivered up.
The disheartening results of the siege caused Proctor's Indian allies to abandon him, and the Canadian militia were discontented and wanted to go home. The greatest disappointment fell to the Prophet. He had been promised the Territory of Michigan for his reward. Te- cumseh was equally disgusted. Proctor had promised him the body of General Harrison
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1
against whom he was filled with hatred and revenge since the battle of Tippecanoe. Angered at the failure on all sides, the Indians left; Tecumseh, however, was held to the enemy by - receiving a commission and the pay of a brigadier-general in the British army.
In the siege of Fort Meigs the American loss was eighty-one killed and one hundred and- cighty-nine wounded. This does not include the killed and wounded under Colonel Dudley. The British under Proctor had five hundred and fifty regulars, eight hundred Canadian militia and fifteen hundred Indians. During the truce Proctor, in a communication to General Harri- son, promised to furnish a list of his killed and wounded, but he never kept his promise. On May 9, 1813, at noon, Proctor embarked his men under the artillery fire of the fort and sailed 'away, humiliated, defeated and disappointed. Thus ended the thirteen days' siege of Fort Meigs. Its capture would have been a serious blow to the country, and a frightful calamity to Ohio. It contained nearly all the military stores, provisions and supplies of the Northwestern Army, and was the sole protection against the invasion of the state by the British.
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