The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record;, Part 24

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1254

USA > Ohio > Union County > The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record; > Part 24

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).

This account was written many years ago, and as a matter of course both those men have long since "joined the innumerable throng" on the shores of the silent land. Theirs is but one example of the endurance of which the bold and hardy frontiersmen were possessed, and such instances could be multiplied almost without number. Who

*Annals of the West, p. 227.

234

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

is not familiar with the adventures of Boone, Kenton, Logston, Brady, McCullongh, Wetzel, and the. hosts of others whose names have de- scended in history that the people of the West might know how the country in which they live was won for them? Bravely and stubbornly they fought, and the broad and beautiful land now densely populated is the rich heritage from the hands of those noble men whose memory is revered by all who read this story. No longer now is heard the voice of war; the smoke of the conflict rests no more on the rivers and forests of the West; the savage race is far removed from the scenes of its early triumphs and defeats, and before the genius of civilization and universal liberty the country has pushed rapidly and steadily forward until it stands at the head of the nations.

In the summer of 1780, a force of 600 Canadians and Indians, commanded by Col. Byrd, a British officer, and having two field pieces, marched up the valley of the Licking, in Kentucky, and surprised and captured Ruddle's and Mar- tin's Stations, on the South Fork of that river. The Indians perpetrated their usual excesses and cruelties, and the force, perhaps from that fact, was sud- denly " turned right-about-face and hurried ont of the country with all speed."* Gen. Clark, who had just completed a forty on the Mississippi River below the month of the Ohio, and had returned to his station at the falls, now Louisville, Ky., had received a letter from the Governor of Virginia, recommending an' attack upon the Indian villages north of the Ohio, and learning of the raid up the Licking, prepared immediately to administer chastisement upon the sav- ages, and to destroy the store which furnished goods to the natives. This store, known as Loramie's, was near the present site of a village of the same name, in Shelby County, Ohio, where a post had been destroyed by the French in 1752. Clark was not long in mustering a force of a thousand Kentuckians, and was soon at the mouth of the Licking. The advance was against the Indian towns on the Little Miami and Mad Rivers, and it was entirely successful, re- sulting in their utter destruction.

About five miles west of the present site of the city of Springfield, Ohio, was situated the old Indian town of Piqua, on the Mad River; and about twelve miles sonth, on the Little Miami, in the northern portion of what is now Greene County, was the old Indian town of Chillicothe. Piqua is said to have contained, at one time, nearly 4,000 Shawanese, and in the summer of 1780 it was quite populons. About 300 Mingoes, led by Simon Girty, were there as allies of the Shawanese, the latter being probably commanded by their celebrated chief, Catahecassa, or Blackhoof. On the 2d of Angust, 1780, Clark moved north- ward with his army from the north shore of the Ohio, where Cincinnati now stands, and on the 6th arrived at old Chillicothe, only to find it destroyed and its Indian inhabitants gone. The next day he drew up in front of old Piqua .; Here he found the Indians aware of his approach. information having been given by a soldier who had deserted to the enemy. Girty withdrew his 300 Min- goes from the fight, and the Shawanese were effectnally whipped by Clark's army and retreated in dismay before the men who fought in such a reckless manner that the red men termed them "mad." The engagement occurred on the Sth of August, and on the 9th the victorious troops destroyed the stock- ade fort, the cabins and the corn-fields, starting on their return to Kentucky on the 10th. The Shawanese were now obliged to provide themselves shelter and food, and found no time for war for a considerable period.

* Western Annals, p 235.

+ Fort Jefferson.

į This town was about where the town of New Boston, Clark County, Ohio, now stands. After the Indians were driven from here, they established themselves in what is now Miami County, and gave the old name to the new village. This was on the site of the present city of Piqua. They also had another town of the same name in the southern part of the State, but this has been changed to Pickaway, and is the name of a county at present, of which Circleville is the seat of justice.

₹

Nathan Howard

237

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

In the spring of 1781, a small force was sent out from Fort Pitt against some of the Delaware Indians who had broken their treaty and taken up the hatchet in common with other tribes against the Americans. Their towns near Coshocton were laid waste, numbers of their warriors killed and captured, and large quantities of peltry and supplies destroyed. The hostile Delawares now withdrew forever from the valleys of the Tuscarawas and Muskingum, and took up their abode on the Scioto, the Mad River and the Sandusky, while the British commander at Detroit gave them every encouragement and addressed them as his "children." The friendly Delawares at Newcomerstown, above Coshocton, placed themselves under the protection of the Americans and re- turned with the troops to Fort Pitt. Thus was a tribe "divided against itself," and it was but natural that it should ultimately be only too willing to make permanent peace with those who were its conquerors; and such, as will pres- ently be seen, was the final result, at the treaty of Greenville.

Finally, in the summer of 1781, it seemed that the much-wished-for capt- ure of the British post at Detroit was in a fair way to be accomplished. Virginia took the matter in hand, and raised a force of about 400 men, placing them under the command of George Rogers Clark, whose signal success in the previous year had inspired greater confidence than ever in him. Near the close of July, the command moved down the Ohio from Pittsburgh for the falls (now Louisville), and at Wheeling was joined by a considerable body in addi- tion, while at the same place nearly an hundred of the militia deserted. A force from Westmoreland County, Penn., commanded by Archibald Lochry, Lieutenant of that county, proceeded down the river to join Clark, but was ambushed by Indians about eleven miles below the mouth of the Great Miami River, in what is now the State of Indiana, and all the men, numbering over 100, were either killed or captured, Col. Lochry being among the former .* Capt. Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), and George Girty, brother of the rene- gades Simon and James, were in command of the Indians on this occasion. Owing to this disaster and an act by Virginia, authorizing its Governor to stop the expedition, Clark was compelled to abandon the attempt to capture Detroit, and from letters written by him on the subject it appears that he was far from being pleased with the outcome. The enemy had intercepted a letter from Clark, and were thus made aware of the approach of Lochry, whom they proceeded against with the result seen. Other forces were to have taken different routes and co-operated with Clark, but the entire plan was given up.

The Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas, then known as well as the par- ent stream by the name Muskingum, had given certain information to the Americans concerning hostile movements on the part of the enemy, and in consequence their missions were broken up by the exasperated warriors of other tribes, and they were compelled to move to the Sandusky region, where it is said some of them returned to barbarism and became hostile to the whites. Accounts conflict regarding their subsequent history. One statement is that about 150 of their men, women and children were allowed by permission of the Wyandots to return to their old home on the Tuscarawas and harvest the corn which was still standing. from the previous year's growth, they at that time being short of provisions. In the early part of 1782, numerous depreda- tions were committed upon the settlements in Western Pennsylvania, and finally an expedition was organized, under Col. David Williamson, to proceed against the hostiles and administer punishment. The Indians who had returned to the old Moravian town of Gnadenhutten, on the Tucarawas, in what is now Tus- carawas County, Ohio, were met with, and as many supposed they were the per- petrators of the outrages, they were dealt with accordingly. Ninety of them.

* This occurred on the 24th of August, 1781.

238

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

men, women and children, were put to death in a most cruel manner by the vengeful frontiersmen. Statements from different sources say they were mem- bers of the Moravian band which had formerly ocenpied the ground, and oth- ers were equally as positive that they belonged to hostile tribes. The affair occurred in March, 1782, and whatever the fact . may be regarding the hostility or friendliness of the Indians, it cannot be denied that their massacre was contrary to the usages of civilized warfare.

The country people around Forts Pitt and McIntosh became elamorous to be led against the Wyandot towns on the Sandusky River. and Brig. Gen. William Irvine, who assumed command of Fort Pitt and the western depart- ment in November, 1781, finally gave his consent to a movement in the direc- tion proposed, and a force of 468 men set out on the 21st of May, 1782, under command of Col. William Crawford. The troops were mostly raw militia. and the march was so slow that the enemy learned of the approach of the army and prepared himself accordingly. The opposing forces met on the 4th and 5th of June, and the Americans were defeated and driven back with a loss of some fifty of their number. Col. Crawford and a number of others were capt- ured, and while a portion were tomahawked, the Colonel and his son-in-law-, William Harrison, were burned at the stake near the site of the present town of Wyandot, in the county of the same name, in Ohio, where the engagement had occurred. The tortures of poor Crawford were terrible, and were witnessed by his surgeon. Dr. Knight, who miraculously escaped the same fate and found his way back to the settlements, where he gave an account of the affair. Col. Crawford was burned on the fifth day after his capture: he was first tied to a post, with room to walk around it. then the savages "ent off his ears; after that blew squibs of powder on different parts of his body: then the squaws procured hickory brands and darted against such parts as they thought might most affect him; they then scalped him and slapped the scalp in the Doctor's face-told him that was his big Captain: the Colonel was still alive. This he thinks was an hour after the Colonel was tied up, when he (the Doctor) was taken away. Just as he was leaving him, the Colonel leaned on his knee and elbow to rest, when a squaw took a shovel of hot embers and threw upon his back to put him again in motion. The next day, under the guard of one man. the Doctor passed the same place and saw some of the Colonel's bones in the ashes. The Colonel, he says, made little noise; he begged one Simon Girty, whom he formerly knew at Fort Pitt. to shoot him. but Girty said, with a laugh. he had no gun; that examples must take place. * The above quota- tion is from the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, for July 23, 1782.

The following, from the " Short Biography of John Leith,"* is believed to be "the only account extant of incidents transpiring at Upper Sandusky imme- diately before the arrival of Crawford's army. " It is here copied from a foot- note in Butterfield's work, previously mentioned:

" The spring following, I was married to a young woman seventeen or eighteen years of age, also a prisoner to the Indians, who had been taken by them when about twenty months old. I was then in my twenty-fourth year. Our place of residence was in Moravian Town [ Gnadenhutten] for about two years, about which time Col. Williams [ Col. Daniel Brodhead]. an American officer, took possession of Coshocton [ in the spring of 1781]; and shortly after the British and their Indian allies took Moravian Town. with me, my wife and children, and all the Moravians prisoners, and carried us to [Upper] Sandusky.

: John Le'th had been captured by the Indians when on a trip among them from Fort Pitt, in company with a trader, hostilities having begun between the Indians and Americans subsequent to their departure from the fort and while they were in the Indian country. Leith married Sally Lowry, also a pris mer In 1790, he returned with his wife to Fort Pitt. One of his sons, Samuel, was the first white child born in the Sandusky Valley.

239

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

After arriving at [Upper] Sandusky. the British would not suffer me to trade on my own footing and for myself; but five of them having placed their funds into one general stock, employed me to attend to their business for them. and two of them being my old employers, they gave me the same wages as before. Whilst in this employ, Cols. Williams [ Williamson] and Crawford marched with an army against Sandusky, at which time I was closely watched by the Indians, and had to make my movements with particular regularity, though I had spies going to and fro by whom I could hear every evening where the army was encamped, for several days. One evening I was informed the army was only fifteen miles distant [near the present village of Wyandot, Wyandot County, Ohio], when I immediately sent the hands to gather the horses. etc., to take our goods to Lower Sandusky. I packed up the goods (about £1,500 worth in silver, furs, powder, lead, etc.) with such agility that by the next morning at daylight we started for Lower Sandusky. I also took all the cat- tle belonging to the company along. After traveling about three miles, I met Capt. [Matthew ] Elliott, a British officer; and about twelve miles further on, I met the whole British Army, composed of Col. Butler's Rangers [a company from Detroit, under the command of Capt. William Caldwell]. They took from me my cattle and let me pass. That night I encamped about fourteen miles above Lower Sandusky, when, just after I had encamped and put out my horses to graze. there came to my camp a man who was a French interpreter to the Indians [ Francis Le Vellier]. . Well.' said he, 'I believe I will stay with you to-night and take care of you.' I told him he could remain there for the night, but I intended starting early in the morning. Next morning, after we had got our horses loaded ready to start and the Frenchman had mounted his horse, we heard a cannon fire at Upper Sandusky. The Frenchman clapped his hand to his breast and said, 'I shall be there before the battle is begun;' but alas, poor fellow! he got there too soon. Without fear or any thought but victory, he

went on to where a parcel of Indians were painting and preparing for battle, put on a ruffled shirt and painted a red spot on the breast saying, 'Here is a mark for the Virginia riflemen;' and shortly after marched with the Indians to battle. where in a short time he received a ball in the very spot and died in- stantaneously. I arrived at Lower Sandusky the second day, and remained there three days to hear the event. At length the Americans under Col. Will- iams { Williamson] stole a retreat on the Indians who were gathering around them in great numbers; but Col. Crawford, with most of his men, was taken by them. They tomahawked all his men and burnt him alive."

The defeat and death of Crawford was a sad blow, but the energies of the borderers were not entirely prostrated. In the fall of 1782. the Delawares and Wyandots were located principally upon the Sandusky River, directly upon the line between Fort Pitt and Detroit, and south of them, principally on the upper waters of the Great Miami, were the towns of the Shawanese. Gens. Irvine and Clark planned a simultaneous attack upon them, the former to push from the east against the Delawares and Wyandots, and the latter to pro- ceed from Kentucky and attack the Shawanese. Irvine was disappointed in numerous ways and was unable to carry out his part of the programme, but Clark's fortune was better. Irvine, although prevented from moving with a force against the Sandusky River tribes, yet used every means to draw their at- tention so they should not learn of the movements of Clark. In this he was only partially successful, for there is plenty of evidence to show that the In- dians anticipated an attack from the south, and even petitioned for aid from the British commandant at Detroit. Two deserters from Clark's army gave the enemy valuable information, and deterred them from sending a force for the reduction of Fort Pitt, which Capt. Alexander McKee was arranging.

240

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

The deserters stated that the "Falls [Louisville] were weak and could easily be reduced. On this report, they changed their ground and determined to go against the Falls and continued in this mind till after Col. Crawford's expe- dition. They then changed their ground once more and determined to reduce Wheeling. Mr. McKee actually marched for that purpose from the towns* with 100 rangers (British) as they are called, and about 300 Indians. A day or two after his departure, runners came in who gave the information that Gen. Clark was approaching with a train of artillery and a large body of troops."f The Indians became greatly alarmed, McKee was recalled, and every available man of the Shawanese, Delawares, Wyandots. Mingoes, Monseys, Ottawas, and Chippewas, some 700 in all, assembled to give battle to the Kentuckians. be- ing determined to have the fight at the old Shawanese town on the Mad River, from whence the latter had been driven two years before. This was early in August, and the Indians did not meet Clark until after their raid into Ken- tucky and the battle of the Blue Licks. The General, upon learning of this severe blow which "had been struck by the northern savages, determined, as soon as possible, again to lead an expedition into the Miami Valleys. It was the last of September, however, before a thousand men could be gathered at the mouth of the Licking, whence they marched northward. But their com- ing, though expeditious and secret, was discovered by the natives, and the towns on the Miamis and Mad River abandoned to their fate. The crops were again destroyed, the towns burned, the British store (Loramie's) with its goods annihilated, and a few prisoners taken, but no engagement of any consequence took place. Such, however, appears to have been the impression inade by Clark upon the Shawanese that no large body of Indians, thenceforward, in- vaded the territory south of the Ohio. "t The following was Gen. Clark's letter to Gen. Irvine on the subject of the expedition:

MIAMI, November 13, 1782.

Sin: I fell in with your late express on the 2d inst., at the mouth of the Licking Creek.$ I was happy to find that our design was likely to be well-timed. We marched on the 3d. The 10th, surprised the principal Shawanese town, Chillicothe, | but not so completely as wished for, as most of the inhabitants had time to escape. We got a few scalps and prisoners. I immediately dispatched strong parties to the neighboring towns. In a short time laid all of them in ashes, with their riches. The British trading-post at the carrying place shared the same fate. I cannot find, from the prisoners, that they had any idea of your second design; and I hope you will completely surprise the Sanduskians. « I beg leave to refer you to Mr. Tate and his companions for further particulars, for rea- sons well known to you.

Gen. Clark's official report of his invasion of the Shawanese country at this time was as follows:

LINCOLN, 7 November 27, 1782.

SIR: I embrace the earliest opportunity, by Capt. Morrison, of acquainting you with our return from the Indian country. We left the Ohio on the 4th inst. with one thousand and fifty men, and surprised the principal Shawnee town on the evening of the 10th inst. Immediately detaching strong parties to different quarters, in a few hours two-thirds of the town and everything they were possessed of was destroyed except such articles as might be useful to the troops; the enemy had no time to secrete any part of their property which was in the town. The British trading-post. at the head of the Miami, and carrying-place to the waters of the lake, c shared the same fate, at the hands of a party of one hundred and fifty horse, commanded by Col. Ben Logan. The property destroyed was of great amount, and the quantity of

* Meaning the Shawanese towns, in what is now Logan County, Ohio. The British Rangers mentioned com- posed Capt. Caldwell's Company, sent by De Peyster from Detroit.

+ From letter of Gen. William Irvine to Col. Edward Cook, about September 1, 1782. Irvine derived his informa- tion from a negro who had come in from the Shawanese towns. It was subsequently found to be correct. After he lett, the enemy successfully invaded Kentucky, and won the bloody battle of Blue Licks, August 19, 1782.

į Annals of the West, p. 273.

¿ This express left Pittsburgh October 3, and Clark met it on the present site of Cincinnati.

i| Now Piqua, Miami County, Ohio. From Gen. Clark's letter it would seem that the town had been given the same name as the old one on the Little Miami, previously referred to. Other accounts give it always as Piqua.

a It has been seen that Gen. Irvine was unable to make bi- contemplated descent upon the Delawares and Wyan- dots in their towns on the Sandusky River. b Lincoln County, Ky.

c Lake Erie.

241

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

provisions burned surpassed all idea we had of the Indian stores. The loss of the enemy was ten scalps, seven prisoners, and two whites re-taken; ours was one killed and one wounded. After lying part of four days in their towns, and finding all attempts to bring the enemy to a general action fruitless, we retired, as the season was far advanced and the weather threatening. I could not learn from the prisoners that they had the least idea of Gen. Irwin's* penetrating into their country; should he have given them another stroke at Sandusky, it will have more than doubled the advantage already gained. We might probably have got many more scalps and prisoners could we have known in time whether we were discovered or not. We took for granted we were not, until getting within three miles, some circumstances happened which caused me to think otherwise. Col. John Floyd was then ordered to advance with three hundred men, to bring on an action or at- tack the town, while Maj. Walls, with a party of horse, had previously been detached by a different route, as a party of observation. Although Col. Floyd's motions were so quick as toget to the town but a few minutes later than those who discovered his ap- proach, the inhabitants had sufficient notice to effect their escape to the woods, by the alarm cry which was given on the first discovery. This was heard at a very great dis- tance, and repeated by all that heard it. Consequently, our parties only fell in with the rear of the enemy. I must beg leave to recommend to your Excellency the militia of Kentucky, whose behavior on the occasion does them honor, and particularly their desire to save prisoners. Subscribed, G. R. CLARK.

To Gov. BENJAMIN HARRISON, of Virginia.

With what joy the frontier settlers hailed the dawn of peace it can be imagined. For seven years they had lived in fear of incursions from their savage foes, and their relief must have been exceedingly great at the cessation of hostilities with even a portion of their enemies. The defeat and capture of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., " prepared the way for preliminaries of peace with Great Britain, and put a check upon their Indian allies. Upon the 30th of November, 1782, provisional articles of peace had been arranged at Paris, between the Commissioners of England and her unconquerable colo- nies. Upon the 20th of January following, hostilities ceased; on the 19th of April-the anniversary of the battle of Lexington-peace was proclaimed to the army of the United States, and on the 3d of the next September, the defi- nite treaty which ended in our revolutionary struggle was concluded."f

But the close of the war with Great Britain did not bring peace to the border settlements. "The victories in the East brought no cessation of hos- tilities in the West. The savages still glutted their vengeance upon the un- wary borderers; the tomahawk and scalping-knife still brought death in all the brutality with which the Indian was capable, to young and old-to either sex. "+ Matters between the United States and Great Britain remained for several years unsettled, and there was some difficulty with a few of the States regarding the adjustment of land claims in the territory on the upper side of the Ohio. The Indians almost constantly harassed the border settlements, and at times wore an aspect of evil. A treaty at Fort Stanwix (now Rome, N. Y.), October 22, 1784, with the Iroquois tribes-Mohawks, Onondagas, Ca- yugas and Senecas-resulted in their ceding to the United States all claims to the country west of the western border of Pennsylvania as far as the Ohio River. January 21, 1785, a treaty was held at Fort McIntosh with the Wy- andots, Delawares, Chippewas and Ottawas, the celebrated Delaware chief. Buckongahelas, it is said, being present. The following were the important provisions of this treaty :

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.

The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record;, Part 24

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1254

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1254