Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth, Part 5

Author: Queen City Publishing Company, Cincinnati, pub
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Cincinnati, O., Queen city publishing company
Number of Pages: 858

USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 5

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Indian aggressions were now frequent. The native tribes resented the settlement of the whites upon their soil, although they came under the sanction of treaties, as an intru- sion. The bitter hostility which existed between them and the people of Kentucky caused them to look upon all white men as enemies, and they were strongly stimulated to deeds of violence by the influence of garrisons of the military posts retained by the British in open disregard of the treaty of 1783, and of renegade traders everywhere established among them. It does not appear that at this time the Indians had experienced any injuries from the hands of the emigrants. The settlers were in general pacific, but fearless, men. Dis- posed to deal justly and in good faith with their savage neighbors, they were averse to bloodshed, but in the hour of danger exhibited daring courage and steady resolution. They were not hunters who cared little whether their game was red men or wild beasts. They were men who preferred to be peaceful citizens, but could be brave fighters. To avert from the new settlements the dangers which threatened them, the government resolved at first to negotiate with the red men. but that method proving unavailing, General Hamar was

EET

DAYTON - 1796.

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF DAYTON, OHIO Two PERIODS-1796 AND 1905

instructed to attack their towns. In pursuance with his instructions, he marched from Cincinnati in September, 1790, with 1,300 men, of whom less than one-fourth were regulars. When near the Indian villages on the Miami an advanced detachment of two hundred and ten men, consisting chiefly of militia, fell into ambush and were defeated with severe loss. Notwithstanding this misfortune, the villages on the Miami were assaulted and destroyed by fire. The standing corn and other means of subsistence were entirely destroyed. Accomplishing this service, the army commenced its march homeward. They had not proceeded far when General Hamar received intelligence that the Indians had returned to their ruined towns. He immediately detached about one-third of his remaining force, under command of Colonel Hardin, with orders to bring the Indians to an engagement. Early the next morning this detachment reached the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary Rivers, both tributaries of the Miami, where they were attacked by a large body of savages. A severe engagement ensued. The savages fought with all the fury of Indian vengeance, and the militia and the regulars alike behaved with the greatest gallantry. More than one hundred of the militia and except nine all the regulars perished in this action, and the rest were driven back to the main body. Dispirited by this severe reverse, Hamar attempted nothing further against the enemy, but continued his march to Cincinnati. This expedition failed to accomplish its object. The audacity of the savage aggression was not at all restrained and the property of the settlers was in constant peril of destruction. Many set- tlers were killed and others were carried into captivity to be adopted, sold or tortured at the pleasure of their cap- tors. The settlements which were part of the Ohio Com- pany shared heavily in these calamities, though in a less degree than those between the two Miamis. The latter terri- tory acquired in Kentucky the significant name of the "Miami slaughterhouse."

This state of affairs inspired Washington with fresh anxiety for the protection of the settlers and the effective THIS LUI prosecution of the Indian war. A new army, in every Jo TRI THE LOCATIE PE FORT WASHINGTON respect superior to the former, was assembled at Cincinnati under the command of Governor St. Clair. The regular force consisted of three regiments of Infantry, two com- panies of Artillery and one of Cavalry. The militia num- bered about six hundred men. With this army St. Clair commenced active operations. On the 17th day of Septem- ber, 1791, the army left Fort Washington and forced a road through the wilderness to where Hamilton now stands. There a fort was erected and called Fort Hamilton. It was on the east bank of the Great Miami River. Having com- pleted and garrisoned the fort, St. Clair marched some twenty miles northward and erected a fort, to which was given his name. A third fort, Fort Jefferson, was erected by him about six miles south of the present site of Greenville, in Darke County. After leaving a garrison at this post, on the 24th day of October, 1791, St. Clair's force was re- duced to less than two thousand men, with whom he marched in the direction of the Indian villages on the Maumee. Misfortune seemed to mark the expedition almost from its com- mencement. The march was slow and tedious over a wet country, covered with a dense forest, which had to be cleared for his baggage wagons and artillery trains. Shortly after

FORT WASHINGTON MONUMENT CINCINNATI, O.

having left Fort Jefferson, a considerable party of the militia mutinied and deserted in a body. To bring back those deserters and protect the provisions which were behind the army moving forward slowly, St. Clair dispatched Major Hamtrauck, with a sufficient force, while with the remainder of his army, now reduced to little more than one thou- sand effective men, he continued his march in the direction of the Indian towns. Late in the evening of the 3d day of November, after a fatiguous march, the army encamped on the banks of one of the branches of the Wabash. The enemy being reported in the neigh-

CINCINNATI IN 1905

borhood in considerable force. St. Clair arranged with Major Ferguson, to commence next morning a construction of defenses for the protection of the baggage, intending to await the return of the forces of Major Hamtrauck, and the arrival of the supplies before advancing to the attack. The enemy. however, anticipated his plans. Taking advantage of the weak- ness of his army, by reason of the desertion of the militia and the absence of Hamtrauck's regiment, carly in the morning of the following day they attacked the outposts, and driv- ing the militia, by which they were supported. across the river, pursued them closely into camp. The fugitives, encountering Major Butler's battalion, threw it also into disorder, and although the advance of the Indians was temporarily checked by a well-directed fire from the front line. they soon rallied. and, spreading themselves in great force along the right and left wings, poured from their places of concealment a perfect storm of bullets on the bewildered troops. shooting down the artillery men at their guns, and effectually prevent-

ing their pieces from being discharged. Finding his men falling on all sides, while no im- pression was made on the concealed foe, St. Clair ordered Lieutenant Colonel Drake, with a part of the second line to advance and turn the left flank of the enemy with the bayonet. By this movement a temporary relief was obtained ; but owing to the lack of riflemen neces- sary to secure possession of the ground from which the Indians were driven, the latter were enabled to rally and drive back the troops. Several desperate charges similar in their char- acter were attempted, but they were attended by a like result, and in all of them the troops suffered severely. Major Butler fell, gallantly fighting at the head of the Second Regi- ment, every officer of which was killed but three, one of the latter being shot through the body. The artillery was either captured or rendered useless, while of the rank and file more than one-half had already fallen. Hemmed in on all sides, the weight of the Indian fire became gradually too oppressive to be borne, and the total destruction of the survivors seemed inevitable; the road, the only avenue of escape, being in possession of the enemy. In this emergency, St. Clair resolved on the desperate expedient of charging the right flank of the Indians in order to draw them from the occupation of the road and thereby open a way for retreat of the troops. This maneuvre was success- fully accomplished, and the road being clear a few militia in the field were the first to rush along it, closely followed by the surviving regulars, who, abandoning their arms and accoutrements, never paused in their headlong flight until they reached Ft. Jefferson, 29 miles distant from the field of battle. The defeat of General St. Clair subjected him to an infinite amount of odium and abuse, but there appeared to have been no want of skill or courage on his part, either OLD PIONEER WARE HOUSE NORTHERN OHIO before or during the engagement. After careful consider- ation of all the circumstances which led to this terrible de- feat a military tribunal pronounced him free from all blame. Washington, never once doubting the honor of St. Clair, remained his firm and steadfast friend. During the action St. Clair was present in the thickest of the fight. Although so severely afflicted with the gout that he was unable to mount and dismount from his horse without assistance, he and Major Butler rode up and down the lines encouraging the men and giving such orders as they considered necessary. While thus engaged, St. Clair had four horses killed from under him in succession, and his cloth- ing was repeatedly perforated by the bullets of the enemy. After his horses were killed, despite his painful condition, he exerted himself on foot with a degree of alertness and energy surprising to all who witnessed it. When the retreat became indis- pensabie he headed the column which broke the ranks of the enemy and opened the way for the flight of the army along the road. He was the last to leave the field of battle, and after remaining on foot until nearly exhausted, he was mounted on a pack horse, which was impossible to be goaded out of a walk. This prevented him from pressing for- ward and rallying the fugitives, and the panic was so great that he could not have his orders attended to by his officers. Major Hamtrauck's regiment FIRST HOUSE BUILT IN DAYTON, O.

was met at Fort Jefferson by the fugitives. It was the opinion of St. Clair that had this increase of force been on the field of battle it would have been included in the defeat. On the whole, therefore, he regarded its absence as a fortunate occurrence, inasmuch as a small effective army was still left to protect the frontier. There was no supply of provi- sions at Fort Jefferson, and the convoy had not made its appearance. General St. Clair, therefore, called a council of the surviving officers of the army to decide upon the best course to be pursued. It was resolved to continue the retreat, and meet the convoy which was known to be on the road, as the destitute and half-famished condition of the troops rendered them liable to be attacked at any moment with terrible results. The resolution was carried into effect the same evening, and the march of the army continued through the night. On the following day a quantity of flour and a drove of cattle were met, which having been disposed of as the necessities of the troops required, the march was continued to Fort Washington. Soon after the defeat of St. Clair, Wilkinson, who had succeeded him in the command of Fort Washington, organized an expedition to survey the battle field. The condition of the dead afforded a mournful spectacle of the cruelty and implacable hatred of the Indians. The bodies were much abused, stripped of everything valuable, while those GLACIAL GROOVES, JOHNSON ISLAND LAKE ERIE who were so unfortunate as to have been taken alive appeared to have been subjected to the greatest possible amount of torture, having their limbs torn off. and stakes as thick as a man's arm driven through their body. Pits were dug in different parts of the field, and all the slain that were exposed to view or could be found, the snow being very deep at the time of search, were interred. In Decem- ber. 1793. a detachment was sent forward by General Wayne to build a fort at the site of St. Clair's defeat. It arrived there on Christmas Day. The ground, now free from snow, was covered with the remains of the dead. The next day pits were opened and the bodies were reverently buried. Six hundred skulls they found upon the field. After this melancholy duty had been performed a fortification was built which was called Fort Recovery. The Indian war now assumed a serious aspect, and the reputation of the Nation required retri- bution. The whole Western frontier was exposed to fresh inroads of the savages, now flushed with so dreadful a victory. General Washington wished to have Congress give him authority to raise three additional regiments of foot, and a squadron of horse, for three Years, unless peace should be made with the Indians. \ bill containing these provisions was introduced into the House of Representatives, but it met with great opposition there. Those who supported the measure urged the necessity of self-defense and self-preservation ; they presented to Congress a picture of the bleeding frontier and they proved that not less than fifteen hundred Kentuckians, men, women and children, who were peaceably pursuing their avocations, had been either slain or carried into captivity by the enemy within the last seven years. It was not doubted that the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia had suffered quite as much within the same period of time. The bill was finally carried. St Clair resigned his military command, and General Anthony Wayne was appointed Comman-

der-in-chief. This was in the spring of 1793, but it was the wish of Washington, that, before his army was organized, every effort should be made by peaceful negotiations with the Indians to bring the war to an honorable termination. No less than five independent em- bassies, offering peace, were sent to the hostile tribes. Knox, the Secretary of War, himself wrote to Brant, the great Mohawk Chieftain, inviting him to a personal conference, and on the 20th day of June the latter visited . Philadelphia, where he was treated with marked respect. Great pains were taken to make him understand the condition of affairs and the wishes of the Government in the hope that he would become a powerful auxiliary in behalf of peace. But the victories gained by the Indians had so elated them that they rejected all proposals for a pacific adjustment of difficulties. Freeman, who left Fort Washington the 7th day of April, 1793; Trueman, who left the same place on the 22d day of May for the Maumee, and Colonel Hardin, who started on the same day for Sandusky, were all murdered by the Indians, and nothing remained but to settle the difficulties by force of arms. While these negotiations with the Indians were earnestly prosecuted by the Government, every effort was made by General Wayne to prepare his soldiers for the field, but as all hostile

TOLEDO IN 1800

movements north of the Ohio having been forbidden by Washington until the Northern Commission sent out by him was heard from and all attempts to reach a peaceful settlement having been exhausted, it was not until the 10th day of August, 1793, that matters were brought to a crisis. On that day the chiefs assembled in grand council and demanded that the Ohio River should henceforth remain forever the boundary between their hunting. grounds and the American settlements. The commissioners failing to impress them with the utter impossibility of complying with any such restrictive stipulations, the conference was abruptly terminated and both parties prepared to renew the war. At this period Wayne was encamped at Cincinnati, where he was contending with the prejudices of the Kentucky

militia, with fever, influenza and desertion. On receiving intelligence of the failure of In- dian negotiations, he broke camp at Cincinnati, and, marching to Greenville, proceeded to fortify a position there for the winter. Knowing the Indians to be bold, dexterous and vigi- lant, Wayne judiciously guarded his camp from surprise by employing several scouts under the command of Captain Wells, to range the forest in various directions and keep up a keen scrutiny upon the movements of the enemy. On the 30th of June. 1794, the Indians at- tempted to regain the ground of St. Clair's defeat, and on the same day Fort Recovery was attacked by Little Turtle at the head of an army of from one thousand to fifteen hundred warriors. The Indians made the attack with determination to carry the fort or die in the attempt. They were repulsed, but they renewed the contest the next day, and it was not until a great number of their bravest chiefs and warriors were killed that they reluctantly abandoned the daring enterprise. On the 28th of the following month, Wayne, having been joined by General Scott with 1,600 Kentuckians, moved to the confluence of the Auglaize and the Maumee. Ilere Fort Defiance was erected. A deserter, having informed the Indians of the approach of the army, Wayne was prevented from taking them by surprise as he had anticipated. He therefore found on his arrival that the main body of the savages

TOLEDO 1× 1905

had retired down the Maumee about thirty miles to the foot of the rapids, where the British had recently erected a fortification. The General fully informed himself of the strength of the enemy, and that his own regulars were about as numerous as the enemy. besides having eleven hundred mounted men from Kentucky, under the command of General Scott. This gave General Wayne a decided advantage, but notwithstanding his superiority in numbers, notwithstanding the high discipline of his troops and their patriotic ardor for a battle, he still offered terms of peace to the enemy and awaited the answer.

A RESIDENCE PART OF TOLEDO, OHIO, IN 1905

The answer was war. So on the 15th day of August, 1794, General Wayne left Fort Defiance and marched down the Maumee, his right being covered by the river. Three days later he arrived at the head of the rapids, where he erected some temporary works to pro- tect his baggage. He found the Indians advantageously posted in front of an English fort. On the evening before the battle, an Indian council was held, composed of chiefs from the Miamis, Shawanese, Pottowatomies, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas and Senecas, the seven Indian nations engaged in the action. Little Turtle, the most celebrated warrior and states- man of his time, was present and addressed the council, strongly urging the necessity of accepting the proposals of General Wayne. "We have beaten the enemies," said he, "twice under separate commanders. We can not expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him; and during all the time that he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." Blue Jacket was, however, at that time commander-in-chief. He opposed Little Turtle, the better judgment of that intelligent warrior was rejected, and war resolved upon. About 8 o'clock in the morning of the 20th day of August, the army advanced to the attack. The

ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF FALLEN TIMBERS NEAR TOLEDO, O.

See Explanatory Notes

enemy had joined in three lines within supporting distance from each other in a windfall extending from the west bank of the Maumee and protected by the British garrison. They could not have secured a better position from such a mounted force as Wayne's, and their position extended among the Fallen Timbers. The first effort of the enemy was to turn the left flank of Wayne's army. At the very first discharge of a rifle the legions were formed into two lines and commanded to drive the enemy into the thicket at the point of the bayonet; then, but not till then, to deliver the first fire and press the enemy so closely as not to give them time to reload their guns. Seeing the strength of the enemy, and that they were endangering the left flank of the Americans, General Wayne ordered the second line to support the first already engaged. The legionary cavalry was ordered to

press forward upon the enemy, who occupied the river's bank, and where there was no tim- ber. General Scott was ordered to make a circuit, so far as to outflank and turn their right flank. All these orders were promptly obeyed, but such was the fury of the first line that the second line could scarcely find occupation. The enemy was broken, routed and slain, or driven two miles in one hour through this windfall and thicket until they were within pistol shot of the British garrison, which was presently surrounded by their blazing cornfields and cabins. The near approach of the troops to the British works drew forth a letter of remonstrance from Major Campbell, its commandant. A sharp correspondence ensued, in which General Wayne denied the right of the British to build a fort there and requested the Major to retire within the limits prescribed to the British by their treaty with the United States. This Campbell refused to do until commanded to retire by his superior of- ficer : at the same time he warned Wayne not to approach within the reach of his cannon.

The erection of this fort within the acknowledged territory of the United States had received the attention of the Government, and General Wayne had private orders to drive out the intruders, if, in his opinion, such a step was necessary to the success of his operations against the Indians. On the morning before the army retired he carefully inspected the defenses of the fort, and soon saw that his artillery was not sufficiently heavy to make any impression on its massive walls, and that the other fortifications were of such an order to make an escalade only possible at the expense of many human lives, which the occasion would not justify. He therefore abandoned all thoughts of effecting its reduction; and having driven the Indians from their principal settlements, destroyed their winter's pro- visions, and erected forts in the country to prevent their return, he fell back on Fort De- fiance, the defenses of which he completed, and finally retired with his army into winter quarters at Greenville. This campaign tranquilized the whole Indian frontier. Next summer Wayne held a council with all the Indians living in this territory, and on the 3d day of August, 1795, at Greenville, he purchased all the territory, not before ceded, within certain limits, comprising in all about four-fifths of the present State of Ohio. The Indians were left in possession of the Northwestern part of the territory.

This treaty was the foundation of a permanent peace. It was the act of all the tribes who had then a claim to the territory east of the Wabash, and the observance of its condi- tions was secured by the expectation of solid benefits, as the rewards of good faith, and by the dread of severe retributions as the consequence of infractions. Its effect on the pros- perity and improvement of the West was immense. Confidence in the disposition and ability of the Government to protect the Western settlers was universally restored, and the emigrant no longer had the fear of the tomahawk and the scalping knife, of the midnight conflagration and the noonday ambush, before his eyes when he undertook the conquest of the wilderness. Occasional aggressions, by whites as well as by Indians, still continued to occur, but no combination of tribes, nor any single tribe, again lifted the tomahawk against the United States until just before the outbreak of the War of 1812 with England.

As has been said. the States who gave over for the country at large their claims in the territory had fixed conditions for their surrender. What has long been known as the West- ern Reserve was detained by Connecticut, which sold small claims rapidly. A permanent set- tlement was effected on the site of Cleveland, in 1796, and by 1800, the Reserve had over one thousand inhabitants. In that year, having reaped all the income she could hope to get immediately, Connecticut surrendered jurisdiction to the Reserve, and it became a part of the Northwestern Territory. Another settlement owes its existence to causes quite as distinct as those of Gallipolis, and played a much more important part in the early history of the State. An earnest band of Presbyterians. under the leadership of Reverend Hubbard W. Finley, had

settled in Kentucky, in 1792, but soon became animated by the abolition principles, and con- sidered removing into "free" territory. With this in view, their pastor wrote to Colonel Nathaniel Massey, who some years before had bought valuable land in the Scioto Valley. but had been unable to found a colony on it. The lands were splendidly adapted for settle- ment, being rich, fertile and picturesque, but attractive, especially because, removed a little way up the Scioto, it was less liable to attacks by the Indians than were the towns on the Ohio. When the treaties that followed Wayne's victory of Fallen Timbers removed the great red danger, Massey and the Presbyterians scon came to terms that were liberal in the extreme. He laid out a town in July, 1796, and gave a lot free to each of the first settlers. Before the end of this year twenty cabins had been erected, and Chillicothe had begun its existence. It was given the name of the principal tribe of the Shawanese, who had formerly occupied that part of the State. This settlement soon became one of the most prosperous and important in the territory. The first government of Ohio was a very flexible affair. There was no Legislature, or rather none in which the people had a voice, for at the forma- tion of the territory there were no people to assert self-government, except the Indians, who preferred the tomahawk and the flint locks they had received for their participation in the earlier wars. The Governor, the Secretary, who was also Lieutenant Governor, and the Judges were the supreme law-making council, except, of course, they could not overstep the provisions of the ordinance under which they were appointed. In the absence of his advisors the Governor could act alone in a very wide classification of cases. The Judges also had extensive power besides that of hearing cases and deciding disputes. The minor judiciary established in each of the little settlements exercised civil and criminal jurisdiction and were administrators and executors as well as judges. There was no fixed seat of government, nor could there well be in so widely distributed, thinly settled an area, embracing all that is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and a little strip of Minnesota, includ- ing the site of St. Paul. Besides the wide scope of country over which they had jurisdiction and the difficulty of attempting to maintain anything like a general supervision of the whole territory, it must also be recorded that there is no evidence to show that any of the law- makers and enforcers possessed unusual talent for statecraft. General St. Clair was an officer of the Revolution who had gained the confidence of Washington. He had abandoned Fort Ticonderoga upon the approach of Burgoyne's army, in 1777, and for this was severely censured, but an investigation proved this to be a prudent, if not a heroic course. As pre- viously stated, his own campaign against the Indians had ended in disaster, which certainly did not establish for him a record as an able commander. In civil affairs he was, generally speaking, no greater success. Not possessing a judicial mind, and certainly no great or firm grasp of affairs, his enactments were promoted by little foresight and soon became con- fused. In view of this inefficiency of the early Government, Governor and Cabinet went into session in Cincinnati and formed the first "code." They repealed contradictory laws and worked out something of a system, establishing local governments and a general court at Cincinnati and Marietta.

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Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth, Part 5

Author: Queen City Publishing Company, Cincinnati, pub Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Cincinnati, O., Queen city publishing company Number of Pages: 858

Author: Queen City Publishing Company, Cincinnati, pub
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Cincinnati, O., Queen city publishing company
Number of Pages: 858