USA > Ohio > The Ohio country between the years 1783 and 1815 : including military operations that twice saved to the United States the country west of the Alleghany Mountains after the revolutionary war > Part 12
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1 Early the next day, the 5th September, General Harri- son paraded the remainder of the troops and delivered to them a speech, detailing the duties of soldiers, and stating if there was any person who would not submit to such regula- tions, or who was afraid to risk his life in defence of his country, he might return home. Only one man desired to return; and his friends having obtained leave, as usual,
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For the cavalry a delay of two days was necessary, that they might receive flints for their guns, and a few other supplies that were ex- pected daily; and at dawn, on September 6th, they moved briskly forward in light marching order, and, early on the 8th, came up with Colonel Allen's command at St. Marys, where an express from General Harrison had overtaken Colonel Allen, with orders to halt and build a stockaded fort, for the protection of the sick, and security of provisions. Here they were joined by Major Richard M. Johnson, with a corps of Kentucky mounted volunteers. That night, Aborigines were seen spying the encampment, but they did not molest any one. They returned to the be- siegers of Fort Wayne with the report that "Kentuck was coming as numerous as the trees." Here, also, the messenger, Captain Logan, re- ported his observations of the distressed con- dition of Fort Wayne, he having evaded the besiegers and returned in safety. The after- noon of September 9th, the army encamped at Shane's Crossing of the river St. Marys, the
to escort him on his way, he was hoisted on a rail and carried to the Big Miami, in the waters of which they absolved him from the obligations of courage and patriotism, and then gave him leave of absence .- Captain Robert M'Afee's History of the Late War (1812), page 121.
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present Rockford, Ohio, where they met Colonel Adams, with a good force of Ohio volunteer cavalry. From this place the combined forces moved cautiously, and in as near battle order as practicable. General Harrison was a member of General Wayne's staff during his campaign through this wilderness and he had been an apt student of Wayne's successful methods. The encampment was fortified, or well protected each night, and the march by day was in such order as to prevent being ambuscaded. He also kept well informed regarding the condition and temper of each division.
The scouts soon reconnoitered the country around Fort Wayne, and found that the Savages had made good their escape. That afternoon, most of the army encamped near the fort, where a short time before had been a comfortable village. It was now in ruins, having been burned by the Savages, together with the United States Factory (trading agency building) which had been erected to supply the ungrateful wretches with farming utensils and the comforts of civilized life.
British agents were constantly with the Savages, to prevent defection in their bands and activities. At the councils held in the farther West, and nearer,
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it was reported by the Savages that they had been promised that, if they would besiege the posts, Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison by the Wabash, and prevent their abandonment, as at Fort Dearborn, they should be joined in one moon by a large British force from Forts Malden and Detroit, with artillery, able to demolish the stock- ades and give the garrisons to massacre and spoil -and their success in this would expose the whole frontier to their devastation. Such report would seem incredible at this day, were it not that such deeds had repeatedly been committed by the British and their savage allies formerly, and that they were done at every one of their successful opportunities during the War of 1812.
As in former wars, an occasional Frenchman was friendly and true to the Americans. Antoine Bondie was such an one at Fort Wayne; and it was evidently through his early warnings and personal influence at critical moments that the garrison was saved from massacre, and the post preserved to the Americans.
The number of savage warriors besieging Fort Wayne was estimated at five hundred; and the garrison numbered about eighty. The Savages were secreted around in every available place, hoping to observe the sentries in thoughtless
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exposure, or some weak point at the entrance gate or about the stockade. They essayed strategy. They killed Stephen Johnson, clerk in the agency store, who sought to evade them and visit Piqua to look after his wife. They killed the garrison's cattle and hogs, and com- mitted every depredation possible. Both parties wished to delay the final conflict-the Americans awaiting General Harrison's arrival, the Savages and their British helpers that of their promised reinforcements.
Upon the arrival of General Harrison, he recon- noitered the country in all directions, and found that the enemy had retreated toward Malden.
CHAPTER XVIII
EXTREME SUFFERINGS OF KENTUCKY SOLDIERS
General Winchester Assumes Command of the Army-Harri- son Directs Clearing of Roads and Building of Forts Barbee, Jennings, and Amanda-Winchester Marches Army from Fort Wayne to Defiance-British Force Checked on their Way to Fort Wayne-Harrison Re- appointed Chief in Command of Northwestern Army- Visits Winchester at Defiance and Settles Discord- Plans Fort Winchester which Was Built at Defiance -Extreme Sufferings of Winchester's Left Wing of the Army-Battle of Mississinewa River.
W INCHESTER arrived at Fort Wayne September 19th, and Harrison at once recognized him as his ranking officer, stranger though he was to this wilderness country, to the ways of the Savages, and to the condition of affairs; and a General Order was issued to the soldiers introducing the new commander and urging strict obedience to his commands.
The necessity for additional roads and places for the protection of food and other military
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supplies being urgent, General Harrison returned to St. Marys, where he found the expected Ken- tucky troops. Colonel Joshua Barbee was in- structed to build there an ample fortification, and storehouse within the stockades, which was named Fort Barbee. Colonel William Jennings was ordered to open a direct road toward De- fiance, and to build a fort at the end of the port- age by the Auglaize River. This post was named Fort Jennings, which name is perpetuated at its site by a pleasant village with the same name. Colonel Findlay's regiment of Ohio cav- alry, which the Governor had ordered to report at St. Marys, was ordered forward to destroy the prominent Ottawa towns by the Blanchard River, their former inhabitants having been hostile and now favoring the British.
General Winchester remained at Fort Wayne two days and, September 22d, "rejoicing in the prospect" of recouping the disaster at Detroit, he moved his army of about two thousand anx- ious soldiers down the left bank of the Maumee River. The savage scouts of the enemy ambushed and killed several of his scouts, and endeavored to entrap others. It soon developed that the enemy's scouts were the advance line of about two hundred British troops under Major Muir,
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and one thousand or more Savages led by the notorious Colonel Matthew Elliott. This was the force previously reported as coming from Fort Malden to aid in the reduction of Fort Wayne. They had brought by boats to the site of Fort Defiance four cannon and other heavy equipment, and had then advanced in as near readiness for battle as possible. Upon learning that they would meet a strong force of Americans in front, and that their retreat would be cut off by an oncoming force down the Auglaize River, they hastily retreated the way they had come.
Winchester, fording the Maumee about five miles above the site of Fort Defiance, advanced cautiously down the way of the retreating foe and, on September 30th, fortified an encamp- ment on the right high bank of the Maumee, one mile and a half by river above the site of General Wayne's Fort Defiance.
Meantime, General Harrison had received a letter from the Secretary of War, announcing that he was assigned to the full command of the Northwestern Army, which, in addition to the regular troops and rangers in that quarter, would consist of the volunteers and militia of Kentucky, Ohio, and three thousand men from Virginia and Pennsylvania, making his entire
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force ten thousand. This desirable appointment of Harrison was due to the influence of his many friends in Kentucky, as well as those north of the Ohio River, who realized the mistake of having Winchester outrank him.
Winchester's report of the enemy was received by Harrison at Fort Barbee September 30th, as was also a report from Governor Meigs of a strong force of the enemy opposing Winchester. The three thousand men then at Fort Barbee were at once started direct for Defiance, Harrison com- manding in person. The first night they en- camped at Fort Jennings, where word of the retreat of the enemy was received. This gave opportunity for part of the soldiers to clear the road to Defiance, and others to build a fortifi- cation farther up the Auglaize River, on the site of Wayne's Fort Auglaize. This post was named by Colonel Pogue, its builder, Fort Amanda, in honor of his wife.
General Harrison, with the cavalry, continued down the river, along the Wayne trace of eighteen years before. Upon his arrival at Winchester's encampment many of the latter's soldiers were found in a condition bordering on revolt. The food supplies had become short, and the men were suffering from insufficient clothing and from
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sickness. They had been unfavorably impressed with their General. They greeted Harrison, however, with great warmth, and his address to them was received in very good spirit. The food brought with the visitors gave the hungry men a better breakfast than they had been accustomed to, which, together with the parading and frater- nizing of the cavalry, renewed the soldierly spirit. New plans were entered upon. They found Wayne's Fort Defiance in ruins; and even had it remained in good condition its size would have been inadequate for the present demands. Harri- son selected another site near by, along the high bank of the Auglaize River, and drew a plan for a new fort and stockaded enclosure, to embrace twelve times the ground space, or more, of the former Fort Defiance; and the soldiers began its construction in good spirits. Harrison named this post Fort Winchester.
The Northwestern Army was divided into two wings and a center. General Winchester was directed to retain his command, which was to be known as the left wing. The right wing was composed of the brigades from Virginia and Pennsylvania, and one brigade from south- eastern Ohio. This wing proceeded down the Sandusky River, and built Fort Feree at Upper
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Sandusky, Fort Ball at the present Tiffin, and Fort Stephenson at Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, Ohio. General Tupper was to command the center, moving along Hull's Road by Forts McArthur, Necessity, and Findlay, heretofore mentioned.
While at Defiance, General Harrison discussed with Winchester the lateness of the season; the difficulties of advancing the army during the winter; the food supply; health of the soldiers; and the desirability of his sending two of his regiments southward for the winter, where they would be near the source of supply of food and clothing. They also debated whether General Tupper, with the cavalry, nearly a thousand in number, should be sent down the Maumee beyond the lowest rapids, to disperse any of the enemy there found, thus saving the crops abandoned there by the American settlers; and return to Fort Barbee by way of the Ottawa towns by the Blanchard River. These suggested orders were not decided upon by Winchester and Tupper. There was friction between the commanders, and also between the Federal and volunteer soldiers, which prevented the proposed expedition of the left wing. This wing, Tupper wrote, "was at one time capable of tearing the British flag from the walls of Detroit."
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Rumors of Fort Wayne being again besieged, and the activity of the Savages around the work- men while building Fort Winchester, the expira- tion of the time of enlistment of many men, and particularly the lateness of the season with scarcity of food and clothing, and, withal, much sickness, kept the soldiers from advancing toward Detroit, as had been expected.
During General Winchester's stay, of about three months, just above and below Defiance, his army occupied five encampments, two below being temporary. With continued short rations, delay in the receipt of winter clothing, and the growing severity of the winter, the sickness and sufferings of the soldiers were increasing, and the changes of encampment were made for sanitary reasons, and that the men might be nearer tim- ber for fuel.
On account of their hurried march to the relief of Fort Wayne, much of the soldiers' clothing was left at Piqua, and many of the men were yet wear- ing the linen hunting coats in which they started from their homes in Kentucky, on 12th August; and these were in rags from natural wear, and from the brush and timber with which they had been obliged to contend. Many were so entirely destitute of shoes and other clothing, that they
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must have frozen had they been obliged to go much distance from their camp-fires. The "Black Swamp" through which they travelled during the hot weather, and in which they were yet dwelling, was rank with intermittent and remit- tent fevers which were weakening their systems, and making them susceptible to pneumonia and typhoid fever. The attacks of the latter were facilitated, also, by the fact that the men were huddled together to share each other's warmth, and had only impure surface water to drink. On account of their great distance in the forest, the severe and continued rains, and the soft, miry condition of the swamps, food could not be carried to them in sufficient quantities. Much was lost on the way by not over-conscientious packhorse men; and much that was delivered was in such soiled and spoiled condition as to be un- wholesome. At their Camp Number Three, five miles down the Maumee from Defiance, the sufferings and deaths were the worst. No record has been found of the total number of deaths, which were several each day; nor have markings of the places of their scattered and shallow inter- ment been discovered in later years. Captain Robert B. M'Afee, and William Atherton, who were with this army, recount in their small books
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many other details of the sufferings and deaths of this unfortunate army; probably among the greatest sufferings of their kind that American soldiers have endured.
General Harrison, at this time, had head- quarters a: Franklinton, now Columbus, Ohio, but was often in the saddle, and kept informed regarding the condition of affairs generally; and he put forth great efforts to gather supplies and men, and to advance them toward Detroit. He found in his work, other than the difficulty of getting supplies forward through a swampy wilderness of nearly two hundred miles, in wagons or on packhorses which were forced to carry their own food also, obstacles which he declared to be "absolutely impossible." Different efforts to reconnoiter the lower Maumee, and to punish the aggressive Savages, were barren of desirable results, while increasing the sufferings of the soldiers.
The greatest loss in battle, during this time, was suffered in December by Lieutenant-Colonel Camp- bell's expedition from Fort McArthur. This was against the Miami and Delaware bands of Abo- rigines and extended to the Mississinewa River in Indiana. Here the enemy made sharp oppo- sition, killing eight Americans, and wounding
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forty-two others; also killing one hundred and seven horses. The enemy left fifteen of their dead on the field. On the return to Ohio, it was necessary to carry the wounded on stretchers, and on the way three hundred of the American soldiers were so frost-bitten as to be unfit for duty for several weeks.
CHAPTER XIX
THE SECOND GREAT DISASTER OF THE WAR OF 1812
Advance of General Winchester's Army from Defiance- Safe Arrival at Presque Isle below Roche de Bout- There Builds Fort Deposit-Unwise Advance of Army to the Raisin-Defeat and Massacre-Harrison Gathers a New Army and Takes Command-Fort Deposit Aban- doned-Fort Winchester again the Frontier Post- Fort Meigs Built-Efforts to Strike the Enemy Unavailing.
O N December 22, 1812, flour and other sup- plies, including a partial supply of clothing, were received in fairly good condition, com- paratively, by General Winchester's army in camp near Defiance. Preparations were at once made for the advance of all those able to march. The sick and convalescent were moved to Fort Winchester, and the last days of December, 1812, the stronger soldiers started slowly and wearily down the north bank of the Maumee River, hauling their supplies and equipment by their
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own reduced power on sleds that had been hastily improvised. A deep snow had recently fallen on wet ground that had been made soft by a general thaw. The march by day was distressful, often through water in the numerous gullies; and worse was the protracted difficulty of getting fire with flint and steel, when all fuel was sodden by rain and melting snow, and the enforced wake- fulness from wet clothing and insufficient warmth during the freezing nights.
The army, now reduced to about thirteen hun- dred men, arrived at Presque Isle, the starting place of Wayne's Battle of Fallen Timber, Jan- uary 10, 1813. On the near-by lower ground, a cornfield was discovered, which yielded sufficiently for a good change of diet for the hungry and nearly exhausted men, it being relished at first after being hastily boiled whole, mature and hard as it was. Here an encampment was planned, and fortified to some extent, and a large storehouse for provisions and heavy baggage, to be received, was built within the stockades. The receipt of additional supplies, including clothing, with the warmer camp, soon revived the soldierly spirit.
Reports to, and orders from, General Harri- son were delayed in transit. This advance and
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occupation of the lower rapids of the Maumee by Winchester without opposition by the enemy was reassuring to the officers and to the ranks; and this had much influence in inducing an unwise advance to the river Raisin.
In compliance with several requests for pro- tection received from Frenchtown (now Monroe, Michigan, then a settlement of thirty-three families), Colonel William Lewis, with five hun- dred and fifty soldiers, was dispatched January 17th for that purpose, by General Winchester. A few hours later, Colonel John Allen followed with a force of one hundred and ten men which overtook the former opposite Presque Isle of Maumee Bay, where they were informed that there were four hundred Aborigines then at Frenchtown, and that Colonel Elliott was detaching a force at Fort Malden to proceed against the Americans by the Maumee River. These rumors were dis- patched to General Winchester, and he sent them to General Harrison, together with a statement of the movement of his main force against the enemy.
Colonels Lewis and Allen rapidly advanced over the ice along the shore of Lake Erie, engaged the enemy, about one hundred British troops and four hundred Aborigines, near Frenchtown,
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and drove them across the river Raisin, not- withstanding the opposing howitzer. Winches- ter's officers then dispatched for reinforcements, and began preparations for defence against on- coming superior numbers.
Upon learning of the success of his colonels, Winchester left a guard at his Fort Deposit, and started January 19th, with all his remaining force, two hundred and fifty in number, for Frenchtown, where he arrived in the night of the 20th. He established head-quarters in the com- fortable residence of Colonel Francis Navarre, on the south side of the river, about nine hundred feet from the camp of his soldiers. The next day, he was informed by Peter Navarre and his four brothers, whom he sent out to reconnoiter, that a large force of British and Aborigines from Fort Malden, about twenty-five miles distant, would attack that night. Counter advices, less trustworthy, prevailed, however, and no definite precautions against a night attack were ordered.
Very early in the morning of the 22d, the brave American troops, still weak from their former scant rations, disease, and marchings, were surprised by the stealthy foe, and were quite overwhelmed by superior numbers supported by six cannon. In the first onslaught, and in the
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later direct massacre, and by the burning of the buildings in which the wounded were placed, about three hundred were killed; five hundred and forty-seven were taken prisoners by the British and forty-five by the Aborigines; and only thirty-three escaped.
Winchester, aroused by the guns, strove in the biting cold to join his men. Mounting his host's horse he rode in the direction he supposed to be the proper part of their camp. He was soon captured by Jack Brandy, an Aborigine of Round Head's band, who divested him of his outer clothing, and led him half frozen to Colonel Proctor, the British commander, who persuaded him to order the surrender of his troops. The white flag was started with this order towards the garden pickets, behind which the Americans were well holding their position. They refused to surrender. Three times did the flag pass from the British head-quarters to the American line, once accompanied by Major Overton of Win- chester's staff, before the courageous Major George Madison would surrender; and he then consented only after promises by Proctor of protection from the Savages. How these promises were ignored by the British, in the case of the many soldiers wounded, and captured by the
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Savages; and how fully the intoxicated Savages revelled in the butchery and eating of their help- less victims, leaving the remains to be eaten by dogs and hogs, has been described by many persons whose writings are readily accessible.
Most of the American prisoners who could march with the British were led to Fort Malden the morning of the 23d. On the 26th, they were marched to Sandwich, whence some were sent across the river to Detroit, and the others to Fort George at Niagara, where nearly all of them were released on parole "not to bear arms against his Majesty or his allies [the Savages] during the war or until exchanged." Winchester, Lewis, and Madison were sent to Quebec and, sometime later, to Beauport where they were con- fined until the spring of 1814, when they were exchanged with many others.
Colonel Proctor reported the British loss in this battle as twenty-four killed and one hundred and fifty-eight wounded. No accurate estimate of the loss of their allied Savages could be made. The enemy numbered about two thousand, one half being British regulars and Canadian militia. Round Head and Walk-in-the-Water were the principal chiefs of the Savages. Te- cumseh was then in Indiana. Proctor's report
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and commendation of his Savage "allies" led the Assembly of Lower Canada to extend to him "and his men" a vote of thanks; and the part he acted also led to his promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General.
This great disaster at the river Raisin, though most deeply lamented, was not without good results in its lessons. "Remember the Raisin" became the slogan that decided many other men, as well as Kentuckians, to enlist in the army, and to do valiant service for their country; and it also stimulated the officers to greater thought- fulness, and to a greater sense of responsibility.
General Harrison, at Upper Sandusky, upon receipt of Winchester's report that he was ad- vancing to the Raisin, urged forward troops and artillery from his head-quarters, and from Lower Sandusky. He preceded the troops and, upon his arrival at Fort Deposit, ordered forward General Payne, with the garrison there, to the support of their General. The cold was severe, the snow-covered road was rough, and miry in places, and Harrison's troops were slow in arriving at the lower rapids. As they arrived in small bodies, they were hastened onward toward the Raisin, led by General Harrison in person. They had not proceeded far, however, before some
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fugitives were met who gave the sad report; and farther advancement confirmed the total defeat of Winchester's command. A council of officers in the saddle decided to send scouts forward to aid those escaping, and to return all other of the scattered small bands to Fort Deposit.
It was here decided that this fort's position was untenable against any formidable force; and the troops set fire to the blockhouse the next morning and abandoned the fortification. They retired to the Portage River, about eighteen miles eastward on the road to Lower Sandusky, where they strongly fortified an encamp- ment, and awaited the oncoming regiments and artillery. Copious rains ensued and delayed forward movements.
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