USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 7
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Another interference by the Legislature with the judiciary took place in 1809-1810. The terms for which the judges had first been elected being about to expire, a resolution was passed, declaring the judicial offices vacant, and thereupon the Legislature proceeded to elect judges for the various courts. In this operation they in some cases elected persons already commissioned for unexpired terms, but when the individual had become in any manner unsatisfactory his office was given to another. At the same time the General Assembly took occasion to reduce the num- ber cf Supreme Court Judges from four to three. The purpose was to deprive of his office the judge who had been duly elected and commissioned by the previous Legis- lature. Much confusion and dissatisfaction naturally ensued in the judiciary depart- ment. Judges who held unexpired commis- sions refused to accept new commissions, and claimed their seats under the old. Such claims made divisions in the courts, and the course of justice was delayed and often pre- vented; but the Legislature never revised their proceedings, or attempted any justifi- cation of their conduct in this matter.
The session of 1810-1811 was held at Zanesville, but nothing extraordinary took place. The Indians, who, since the Green- ville treaty in 1795. had remained quiet, under the instigation of a new chief named Tecumseh, aided by British traders and mili- tary emissaries from Canada, began to com- mit acts of aggression upon the inhabitants of the State of Ohio who were settled near the borders. In October, 1807. an act by AUTUMN SCENE IN BURNET WOODS CINCINNATI, OHIO Congress prevented the passage from Amer- ican ports of any commercial shipping, and ordered home from abroad, immediately, all American vessels, for the war that was plainly impending. This act proved a fruitful source of discussion in Congress until the war with Great Britain was declared, and for which this embargo act was on our part the primary cause. So hostile had the Indians, under the lead of Tecumseh, become that, in the spring of 1810, General William H. Harrison, then Gov- ernor of the Territory of Indiana, invited a council, to take place at Vincennes in August. At it, Tecumseh appeared with four hundred fully armed followers. As a result of this council General Harrison believed it necessary to take suitable precautions for war.
In the spring of 1811, the hostile savages began to roam over the Wabash country in small parties, plundering the white settlers and the friendly Indians. Harrison sent word to Tecumseh and his brother, called "the Prophet." that these depradations must cease, and that he was determined and prepared by force of arms to stop them. Tecumseh went to Vincennes, the seat of the Indiana Territorial Government, and there found seven hundred
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well-armed militia. After making solemn assurances of friendship he went to the Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws and other Southern Indian tribes, and tried to induce them to join him in an aggressive campaign, but without success. In the meantime a much-increased force at Vincennes, obtained from Kentucky and Ohio, having arrived, Gen. Harrison, late in Septem- ber, 1811, marched up the Wabash Valley toward the town of the "Prophet," near the junction of Tippecanoe Creek and the Wabash River, and on the way built a fort near the present city of Terre Haute, Indiana, calling it Fort Harrison. There the troops encamped in a healthy elevation, among oak trees, and without underbrush to hinder their operations, and the General was visited by "the Prophet," his brother Tecumseh being absent. Suspecting treachery, the General, on the 5th of November, arranged his camp to resist any sudden attacks. He ordered that the infantry dispose themselves in a suitable manner, and in case of an attack should hold their ground until relieved, the cavalry to parade dismounted with pistols in belts, and act as the reserve. Then two Captains' guards of fifty men each were detailed to defend the camp. Thus prepared the whole camp, except guards and sentinels,
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PRESQUE ISLE, TOLEDO, OHIO
went to sleep. The "Prophet," on his part and that of his followers, arranged that when the whites were asleep they should rush in and murder them. To excite his followers he indulged in various incantations, until he had every Indian brought up to a frenzy, when he gave the word to attack. At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 7th of November, General Harrison being in the act of pulling on his boots, the crack of a sentinel's gun caused him to order the whole camp to be aroused. A sharp battle ensued which lasted until daylight, when the Indians were driven at the point of the bayonet into the wet prairie that sur- rounded the encampment. In that battle there were killed and wounded of the whites one hundred and eighty-eight. The loss to the Indians crippled them from any other attempt to attack Harrison's forces. On the return of Tecumseh from the South he found all his scheme to form an Indian Confederacy prostrated by this act of his brother, and in the War of 1812 he joined the British, to whom he was an active friend.
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In June, 1812, the United States declared war against Great Britain. After the ignoble surrender of Detroit by General Hull, by which the territory of Michigan was lost, tempo- rarily, Ohio became the scene of military operations. General Harrison had succeeded Hull, and worked indefatigably, preparing for the winter campaign, which the people demanded. This required much labor. Block houses had to be built and garrisoned along the way to Detroit, and magazines of provisions supplied and defended. But the work went cheerfully on. Kentucky sent militia freely, under the veteran General Shelby. The yeomanry of Ohio and Indiana hastened to report for military duty, and in fact so numerous were the volun- teers that orders were issued by General Harrison to stop the enlistment. He made the vicinity of the Manmee Valley, near the scene of the battle field of Fallen Timbers, the place of rendezvous, from where he intended to fall upon Malden and Detroit, and he made the brigades from Pennsylvania and Virginia, and that of General Simon Perkins, of Ohio,
ON THE MAUMEE RIVER TOLEDO, OHIO
as the right wing, with the Kentuckians under General Winchester as the left wing of his army. The latter, with eight hundred men, reached the Maumee Rapids in January, 1813, where he learned that a force of British and Indians were occupying French Town, now Monroe, Michigan, on the River Raisin, twenty miles south of Detroit. Having sent under Colonels Allen and Lewis a suitable detachment of his force to protect the inhabitants, he was advised late in the evening of the 21st that the foe was approaching, but received the information with incredulity. Nevertheless, it proved to be a fact, and a repetition of St. Clair's surprise and butchery was perpetrated on the morning of the 22d by about fifteen hundred British and Indian warriors. At the River Raisin Winchester surrendered after an agreement with the British commander that ample provisions be made for the protection of his wounded soldiers. The promise was given, but immediately violated, for Proctor, the
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British commander, knowing that Harrison was near, hastened to Malden, leaving the pris- oners behind, deprived of their arms and without a guard. The Indians followed the Brit- ish a short distance, when they turned back and fell upon the unfortunate prisoners, butch- ering and scalping without mercy those who could not walk and driving before them those who could, their intention being to hold them prisoners until ransomed at Detroit. By the battle and massacre nearly the whole of Winchester's command comprising the best of Ken- tucky's youth were destroyed, and afterwards during the war the words "remember the River Raisin" became the war cry of the Kentuckians.
General Harrison had advanced to the Maumee Rapids when he heard of the disaster at River Raisin, and there learning that Proctor had marched to Malden, he, at the rapids, established a fortified camp near the present town of Perryville, opposite Maumee City, and which he named Fort Meigs. There he was by Proctor and Tecumseh besieged for sev- eral days, who with about two thousand troops and Indians had come down from Malden, and although he had confidence in the strength of his position, his fort having bastions and
DUDLEY'S BATTLE GROUND, 2
May 5# 18/3, Gol. Dudley of Glay's Brigade U.5.Troops with 800 Kentucky Militiamen attached the British are Illan forces. under Proctor and Tecumseh. Aller driving them from their batteries and spiking the gun
they were drawn into ambush and 500 Kentuckians were Captured and Gol. Dudley with 350 others were tomahawked and scalped on these grounds.
WHERE DUDLEY'S MEN WERE MASSACRED NEAR TOLEDO, OHIO
several cannon planted, he dispatched a courier to General Green Clay, who was on his march northward with another body of twelve hundred Kentuckians. Clay received the courier in the Maumee Valley, and dispatched Captain Leslie Combs, then nineteen years old, with four men of his company and a young Indian. They traveled in a canoe, and, as they approached the rapids, heard the roar of artillery. It was the 5th of May, and Proctor had begun to fire on the fort. Puzzled how to approach, much less enter an invested fort, Captain Combs and his companions having safely passed the rapids, rounded a point that brought them in full view of the besiegers and besieged, when Indians among the former approaching the bank, fired a volley at them, killing one man and wounding two. This caused the Captain to run his canoe to the opposite shore and with his wounded he escaped- to the woods, but, making a detour, they fortunately met the advance of the main body of General Clay's troops under the command of Colonel Dudley. Captain Combs, fortunately escaping uninjured, at once took comand of his company of riflemen, which was in the advance of Colonel Dudley's command, and pressing forward, attacked and captured a British
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battery, spiked most of the guns and hauled down the hated and despised British flag, while luzzas rang out from the ramparts of Fort Meigs, Captain Combs' men, having been sig- naled to fall back and cross the river, fell into an Indian ambush and were made prisoners. The savages then attacked the other men of Dudley's command as they followed him from the boats, and of the eight hundred massacred and scalped all but one hundred and seventy-five, who reached the fort in safety. In the meantime Colonel Boswell, with the rest of Clay's troops, fought his way through the British and Indians toward the fort, where, being joined by a rallying party, he, thus assisted, drove the motley enemy from their batteries. Proctor then abandoned the siege and returned to Malden. Combs and his com- panions were taken to Fort Miami, then in possession of the Indians, where, being stripped nearly naked, they were made to run the gauntlet between two rows of savages and thus many were killed. The survivors were then placed inside the fort, where, but for Tecumseh, they would have all been murdered, as Proctor was so enraged at the termination of the siege, that he made no attempt to stay the bloody instinct of the Indians.
When General Harrison was assured that Proctor and his allies had returned to Fort Malden, he left Fort Meigs in charge of General Clay, and proceeded to meet Governor Meigs, of Ohio, who, with a considerable fcrce of Ohio militia, was pressing forward to his relief. General Harrison found the Ohio settlements so full of enthusiasm that ample assis- tance was to be had for the asking. and he at once began, with the consent of Governor Meigs, to enlist troops. Meanwhile, Tecumseh had urged Proctor to resume the siege and capture of Fort Meigs, but, satisfied that he could not do so, Proctor, with his white troops, embarked on the 28th of July for Sandusky Bay, from there to proceed to attack Fort Ste- phenson at Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, on the Sandusky River. That fort was a regu- lar earthwerk. with ditch, bastions and block houses, garrisoned with one hundred and sixty inexperienced young men, none of whom had reached the age of majority, under the command of Major Croghan, of the regular army, himself a young man of but twenty-one years of age. The enemy numbered five hundred regulars and militia and above three thou- sand Indians. By reason of the weak position, General Harrison had instructed the com- mander to fire the fort and retreat, if he could, should the enemy approach with force and artillery. but the youthful commander had bravely stuck to his post, determined rather to die than surrender to the superior forces of the enemy. After reaching Fort Stephenson Proctor demanded a surrender, accompanied with the usual threats of butchery and massacre if the garrison should hold out : but Croghan, who found that all his companions, zealous like him- self, would support him to the last, returned a spirited answer to the effect that "when the fort should be taken there would be none left to massacre ; as it would not be given up while a man was able to fight."
A brisk firing was opened by the enemy during the night, and at an early hour the fol- lowing morning three six-pounders which had been planted during the night within two hundred and fifty yards of the pickets began action upon the fort, but fortunately with but little damage. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon all the enemy's guns were concentrated against the northwestern angle of the fort for the purpose of making a breach. To counter- act the effect of their fire Major Croghan caused that point to be strengthened by means of bags of flour, sand and other materials, in such a manner than the fort sustained little or no injury. But the British, supposing that their fire had sufficiently shattered the fort to make an advance advisable, began to storm the place with a force of five hundred, and at the same time made two feints on different points. The column which advanced against the northwestern angle was so completely enveloped in smoke as not to be discovered until it had approached within eighteen or twenty paces of the lines, but the men being all at their
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posts and ready to receive the enemy, they commenced so heavy and galling a fire as to throw the column into confusion ; but being quickly rallied, Colonel Short, the commander, explained, "Come on, my brave fellows, give the damned Yankees no quarter," and imme- diately leaped into the ditch, followed by his troops. As soon as the ditch was entirely filled by the assailants, Major Croghan ordered his one six-pounder, which had been masked in the block house, to be fired. It had been loaded with a double charge of musket balls and slugs. This piece completely raked the ditch from end to end. The first fire leveled one-half in death, Colonel Short being mortally wounded, the second and third discharge either killed or wounded every one in the ditch except eleven who were found covered by the dead bodies of their companions. At the same time the fire of the small arms was so incessant and destructive that it was in vain the British officers exerted themselves to lead on the balance of the column ; it retired in disorder under a shower of shot and sought safety in an adjoining wood. The loss to the British in killed was about one hundred and fifty, besides a considerable number of their Indian allies. The Americans had but one killed and seven slightly wounded. Early in the morning of the 3d of August, the enemy retreated down the
BOULEVARD AND HARBOR PUT-IN-BAY, OHIO
river, after having abandoned considerable baggage and military stores. The garrison was composed of regulars, all Kentuckians. They were as human as they were courageous. This was proved by their unceasing attention to the wounded enemy after their discomfit- ure; for during the night they received into the fort through the fatal porthole of the block house all those who were able to crawl to it. To those unable to move they threw canteens filled with water. They even parted with their clothing to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded.
Soon after this gallant exploit which called for the admiration of the whole country, Tecumseh followed Proctor to Detroit, and all hope was given up by the enemy of reducing the American forts unul they could gain entire control of the lakes.
The spirit of the American people was roused to a pitch of enthusiasm, and there was an earnest determination to prosecute hostilities with vigor, but without the command of the lake offensive operations could not be carried on to any great advantage. The utmost
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exertions accordingly were made by Commodore Perry, who. in the harbor of Erie, was building a flotilla to complete his naval armament, and to test the ability of his gallant sailors in a contest with the enemy on Lake Erie. Commodore Perry, notwithstanding all obstacles and hindrances, had his fleet equipped by the 2d of August, but some time was lost in moving several of the vessels over the bar at the month of the harbor of Erie. On the 4th of August, he sailed in quest of the enemy, but not meeting them, he returned on the 8th. Receiving re-enforcements brought to him by Captain Elliot, he again sailed on the 12th, and on the 15th anchored in the bay of Sandusky. There he took in about twenty volunteer marines, and again went in search of the enemy, and after cruising off Malden, retired to Put-in Bay, a distance of thirty miles. His fleet consisted of the brig "Lawrence,"
PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE
his flag vessel, of twenty guns; the "Niagara," Captain Elliot, of twenty guns; the "Cale- donia." Lieutenant Turner, of three guns; the schooner "Ariel," of four guns; the "Scor- pion." of two guns ; the "Somers," of two guns and two swivels; the sloop "Trippe," and the schooners "Tigress" and "Porcupine," of one gun each, amounting in all to nine vessels, fifty-four guns and two swivels. Commodore Barclay, who had heretofore avoided the encounter. soon after deemed it prudent to meet Perry's fleet and test the question of superiority on the inland sea. Accordingly, very early on the morning of the 10th of Septem- ber. he bore down upon Perry's squadron, which immediately got under way, and stood out to meet the enemy. The Americans had three vessels more than the British, but this advantage was fully counterbalanced by the size and armament of the British fleet, which
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consisted of the "Detroit," Commodore Barclay, of nineteen guns and two howitzers; the "Queen Charlotte," Captain Fumis, of seventeen guns; the "Lady Prevost," Lieutenant Buchan, of thirteen guns and two howitzers; the brig "Hunter," of ten guns; the sloop "Little Belt," of three guns, and the schooner "Chippewa," of one gun and two swivels; in all six vessels, sixty-three guns, four howitzers and two swivels. About 10 o'clock a change in the wind to the southeast gave the American squadron the weather gage. Commodore Perry then hoisted his Mizzen Jack, having for a motto the dying words of the lamented Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship." It was received with repeated cheering by the officers and crews. Having formed his line he bore down upon the enemy, who likewise cleared for action, and hauled up his colors. At a quarter before twelve the enemy's flagship and the "Queen Charlotte" opened fire upon the "Lawrence," which she sustained for ten minutes, before she was near enough to work her guns, which were carronades. She continued to bear up, making signals for the other vessels to hasten to her support, and at five minutes before twelve brought her guns to bear upon the enemy. The tremendous fire to which Perry was exposed soon rendered the "Lawrence" unmanagable ; she was reduced almost to a wreck ; nearly the whole of her crew was either killed or wounded, and the Commodore saw that he must make a bold movement or lose the action. With a courage and spirit which deserved success, Perry determined to abandon the "Lawrence" and hoist his flag on the "Niagara," which was then in the thickest of the fight. Leaving Lieutenant Yarnell in the "Lawrence," he hauled down his inspiring colors, and taking them under his arms, gave orders to be put on board the ship where Elliot was in command. In quitting the "Law- rence" he gave his pilot choice to remain on board or to accompany him. The faithful fellow told him "he'd stick by him to the last," and jumped into the boat. Perry left the ship in his usual gallant manner, standing up in the stern of the boat until pulled down by the crew. Broadsides were leveled at him and small arms discharged by the enemy, two of whose vessels were within musket range and a third one even nearer. His brave shipmates who remained behind, stood watching him in breathless anxiety, the balls struck around him and passed closely over his head in all directions; but the same providence that watched over the heroic Commodore throughout this desperate battle conducted him safely amid a shower of shot and his crew beheld with exaltation his flag hoisted at the masthead of the "Ni- agara." No sooner was he on board than Captain Elliot volunteered to put off in a boat and bring into action the schooners which had been kept astern by lack of wind; the gallant offer was accepted, and Elliot left the "Niagara" to put it into execution. About this time Perry saw, with great regret, the flag of the "Lawrence" come down. But the event was unavoidable. She had sustained the full brunt of the battle and was rendered incapable of defense; any further show of resistance would have resulted in most useless and cruel car- nage. The enemy, however, was not able to take possession of her, and subsequent circum- stances enabled her to again hoist the flag. Commodore Perry now gave signal for close action, and the small vessels got out their sweeps and made all sail. Finding that the "Ni- agara" was but little injured, he determined, if possible, to break the enemy's line. He accordingly bore up and passed ahead of the two ships and brig, giving them a raking fire from his starboard guns, and also to a large schooner and sloop from his larboard side, at half pistol shot. Passing the whole squadron he luffed up and laid his ship alongside the British flagship. The small vessels under the direction of Captain Elliot, having, in the . meantime, got within grape and canister distance, and keeping up a well-directed fire, the whole fleet of the enemy struck excepting the "Little Belt" and "Chippewa," which attempted to escape, but were pursued by two gunboats and taken. The engagement lasted three hours, and never was a victory more decisive and complete. The carnage was fear-
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ful; the Americans having lost twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded, and the British forty-one killed and ninety-four wounded. Commodore Barclay was among the latter. Perry, who was unhurt, immediately sent a dispatch to General Harrison, which, for its brevity and point, is well worth quoting :
"U. S. Brig 'Niagara,' September 10, 1813, 4 p.m.
"Dear General-We have met the enemy and they are ours-two ships, two brigs, one schooner and a sloop. Yours, with great respect and esteem,
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY."
The results of this victory were instantaneous, and of the utmost consequence. It had been won by a squadron of American vessels over a British squadron, in which it differed materially from other maritime successes achieved during the war. But that was not the chief matter of exultation ; the Americans were now masters of Lake Erie, and had it in their power at once to intercept the whole coasting trade, by which Proctor's troops and Indians were supplied with provisions, to land any force they chose in his rear and to entirely cut him off from Kingston and York. Abandoning, therefore, and destroying all his fortified posts beyond the Grand River, Proctor commenced to retreat at once, accompanied by Te- cumseh and his Indians, Tecumseh not deserting his allies, now that victory had turned against them, although nearly all the other Indians abruptly left the cause.
After the victory of Lake Erie, General Harrison, aided by General Shelby, resolved to cross the lake to Malden, and march from there to Detroit, with the intention of capturing the latter. But on arriving at Malden General Harrison found that the British comman- der, Proctor, had passed into Canada after setting fire to Fort Malden and the storehouses and dwellings at Amherstburg. In Malden, General Harrison was met by a troop of well- dressed women, who implored mercy and protection. Proctor's rear guard had been gone but an hour when Harrison arrived. On the 2d of October, the pursuit led by Colonel Richard M. Johnson's mounted Kentuckians, began, and Detroit was reached to learn that Proctor had, with Tecumseh, gone eastward towards the Moravian town eighty miles east of Detroit. There the American force overtook the fugitives and forced them to a battle. Tecumseh was slain and his followers fled to the shelter of a swamp, while Proctor escaped in his carriage with a guard of a few volunteer Indians and Dragoons, and made his way to the western shore of Lake Ontario. Harrison's victory was complete, and, returning, he took possession of Detroit. Ohio, Michigan and Indiana were now freed from Indian and British raiders; and the frontier being secured, General Harrison left Colonel Lewis Cass with a garrison of a thousand regulars, Military Governor of Detroit. He then proceeded with the remainder of the troops of his command to join the Army of the East. Being badly treated shortly afterwards by General Armstrong, the Secretary of War. General Harrison resigned and returned to the Governorship of Indiana. This territory was admitted as a State in 1816, when he retired from public life to his home in North Bend, Ohio. Ohio no longer took any part in the War of 1812-1815. The State had done her duty in the fullest sense of the word.
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