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 2
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Then came the Conspiracy of Pontiac, with which the British had to deal at a great expense of life and money. Much diplomacy was needed also before they were at all comfortable in the hope of securing the Savages as allies in war, which had
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The Ohio Country
been their policy from the first. At different times later, they had a great fear that there would be a federation of all the largest northern and southern tribes against them. As late as February 18, 1771, Sir William Johnson, their greatest Aborigine agent, wrote to the British Secretary of State in part as follows:
"It is really a matter of the most serious nature, for if a verry small part of those people have been capable of reducing us to such straits as we were in a few years since, what may we not expect from such a formidable alliance as we are threatened with, when at the same time it is known that we are not at this time more capable of defiance, if so much, as at the former period. This is in some measure the consequence of their be- coming better acquainted with their own strength and united capacity to preserve their importance & check our advances into their country."
With the allaying of this fear, came a new op- position to the British government in America, from the British colonists themselves; and, as the opposition to the impositions on the colonists increased, the London and local governments felt more and more the desire, and apparent necessity, for greater efforts to ally the Savages firmly to them, and against the colonists. Surely a strong and even savage alliance was being formed to compel subjection of the colonists, and to yet
9
Introduction
further impoverish those who had already been impoverished beyond a reasonable limit by the mother country in her wars to overcome the French.
At this late day, at least, the British govern- ment should have recognized the full worth of the character of the Pilgrims and Puritans; the value of the conscience that drove them into the distant wilderness one hundred and fifty years before, which conscience, with renewed and renewing love of freedom, had been transmitted to their descend- ants through the generations, and had been im- parted to thousands of Great Britain's hardy, good citizens who, during these many years, had followed their countrymen into this new country. It has been many times shown that the British government had seldom, if ever, taken thought of such sentiment, and proper action regarding it.
Those in authority during this period of time, and later, for forty years at least, were not actuated by humanitarian motives, but by a selfish desire to compel those of the blood of their own country- men-who had been born and reared in the atmos- phere of self-sustaining, if not full, freedom-to absolute obedience to force, wholly regardless of the consequences to the colonists. Could any government have been more thoughtless, even
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The Ohio Country
outrageous, in the treatment of its subjects? Could any self-respecting people longer consent to live under such a government? These were the questions uppermost in the minds of the colonists.
It is the office of this Introduction to briefly sketch part of the action of the British authorities in further tutoring the Aborigines in savagery, and more firmly allying them to their efforts to conquer the colonists during the Revolutionary War, as somewhat of a preparation and perspec- tive for what follows.
Detroit was the principal western post of the French, and it became such to the British immedi- ately after their conquest of the French.
When the Revolutionary War seemed immi- nent, the office of Lieutenant-Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs was created for the western country, with headquarters at Detroit. Captain, afterwards Colonel, Henry Hamilton of the 15th Regiment of British troops was appointed to this office. Arriving at Detroit November 9, 1775, he assumed the duties required of him. He proved tactful toward the Savages, cruel and remorseless toward the Colonists.
Previous to this date "war belts " had been sent out from Detroit to the different tribes for their meetings in council; and such "councils" had been
II
Introduction
held, in which rum flowed freely, its insidious effects being supplemented by every incitement calculated to inflame the Savages against the Amer- cans "who were endeavoring to crowd them from their lands, and now had rebelled against the good king, their father, who was distributing so many presents and kindnesses to his Indian chil- dren." Early in September, 1776, the new officer, Hamilton, wrote to Lord George Germain, his superior in office, that "The Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandottes and Pottawatomies, with the Senecas would fall on the scattered settlers on the Ohio and its branches . .. whose arrogance, disloyalty and imprudence has justly drawn upon them this deplorable sort of war."
Lord Germain took pleasure in employing agents who would incite the Savages of the wilderness to "fall on the Americans." He had complained of Sir Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester, Governor of Canada, for not making full use of the Savages; and Carleton later acquiesced in this inhuman work. Carleton wrote to Hamilton, October 6, 1776, to "Keep the Indians in readi- ness to join me in the Spring, or march elsewhere as they may be most wanted."
War parties of Savages, thoroughly equipped, and commanded by British officers, were sent out
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The Ohio Country
from Detroit, east, south, and to the southwest, wherever they could find the most defenceless American settlements in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia, and Kentucky, to plunder and to kill. Places of refuge were attacked and, if the protect- ors could be overcome, all the wounded and feeble were massacred and the others taken captive, per- haps to suffer a more painful death. Governor Hamilton reported to Secretary Germain under date July 27, 1777, that he had sent out fifteen war parties composed of two hundred and eighty- nine Savage warriors with thirty British officers and rangers. He reported to Governor Carleton January 15, 1778, that: "The parties sent from hence have been generally successful, although the Indians have lost men enough to sharpen their resentment; they have brought in 23 prisoners alive, twenty of which they presented to me, and 129 scalps."
Occasionally a war party would number several hundred, but usually they were much smaller, viz .: August 25, 1778, fifteen Miamis were started; September 5th, thirty-one Miamis; September 9th, one Frenchman, five Chippewas, and fifteen Mia- mis, are the statements of a few of the individual reports. Hamilton reported September 16th that his parties "had taken thirty-four prisoners, sev-
I3
Introduction
enteen of which they delivered up, and eighty- one scalps."
All scalps were paid for. When the Savages started out on their raids, the Governor, and some- times the commandant of the post also, encouraged them by singing the war song, by the gift of some weapon, or by passing the weapons of the Savages through their own hands, by this act "taking hold of the same tomahawk" to show full sympathy in the murderous work. On their return to De- troit the Savages were sometimes welcomed by the firing of the fort's cannon. Hamilton was charged with having stated prices for American scalps, but generally none for prisoners.
The flow of rum was so great in Detroit, and the activity of the Savages was so much impaired thereby, that an official inquiry was instituted by Governor Haldimand. Only active persons were wanted; and the British organization and disci- pline pervaded every quarter.
Governor William Tryon of New York wrote to Secretary Germain in London, under date July 28, 1779, that: "My opinions remain unchangeable respecting the utility of depradatory excursions. I think Rebellion must soon totter if those ex- cursions are reiterated and made to extremity."
Captain Lernoult at Detroit did not prove him-
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The Ohio Country
self equal to the demands of his more cruel supe- riors, and he was superseded in October by Major Arent Schuyler De Peyster, a pronounced loyalist from New York.
Efforts were renewed to establish more effective war parties of Savages. Some scalps had been brought in, but the letters of the new command- ant to Governor Haldimand under date of Octo- ber 20th and November 20th show disgust at the great quantities of rum drunk by the Savages; and also at their inefficiency, for the Savages feared to make any more effective raids owing to their dread of American retaliation.
The successes of the Americans, aided by some Frenchmen, at Vincennes and at the Illinois posts under command of the patriotic, brave, and in- trepid Colonel George Rogers Clark, one of which entailed the capture of the notorious Lieutenant- Governor Hamilton, with his command and sup- plies, induced many American families to move from the East in the autumn of 1779; and during the next spring three hundred family boats arrived at the falls of the Ohio River, near the present city of Louisville, Kentucky, with immigrants from the East.
The Savages were generally more inactive dur- ing the cold weather; but they were started out
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Introduction
early in the spring. Colonel De Peyster reported May 16, 1780, that:
"The prisoners daily brought in here [Detroit] are part of the thousand families who are flying from the oppression of Congress in order to add to the number already settled in Kentuck, the finest country for new settlers in America; but it happens, unfortunately for them, to be the best hunting ground of the Indians which they will never give up and, in fact, it is our interest not to let the Virginians, Marylanders, and Pennsylvanians get possession there, lest, in a short time, they become formidable to this post."
May 26th De Peyster wrote to Captain Patt. Sinclair, who had been named Lieutenant-Gover- nor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Mich- ilimackinac (now called Mackinac) for the more northern district, that: "Everything is quiet here except the constant noise of the war drum. All the Seiginies [Saginaw Aborigines] are arrived at the instance of the Shawnees and Delawares. More Indians from all quarters than ever known before, and not a drop of rum!"
June Ist, De Peyster wrote to Governor Haldi- mand that he had already fitted out two thousand warriors and sent them along the Ohio and Wa- bash rivers; and the returns were hundreds of scalps and prisoners.
Various plans were made by the Americans for
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The Ohio Country
the capture of Detroit, but sufficient military force could not be gathered. Appeals were made to General Washington, who fully appreciated the necessity for decided action in this direction, but he replied:
"It is out of my power to send any reinforcements to the westward. If the States would fill their Con- tinental battalions, we would be able to oppose a reg- ular and permanent force to the enemy in every quarter. If they will not, they must certainly take measures to defend themselves by their militia, how- ever expensive and ruinous the system."
The various claims of the Eastern Colonies to the territory west of the Allegheny Mountains, based on old English charters, had been the cause of friction between these Colonies for many years, and it required yet more time to adjust properly this and similar affairs to the Colonies' mutual advantage.
Continued attacks of the Savages on the fron- tier, resulting in great loss of life to the Americans, including the defeat of militia and volunteers sent against the marauders, caused fresh and increased terror among all the frontier settlements. Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, appealed to General Washington for aid and received reply, written at New Windsor December 28, 1781, that:
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Introduction
"I have ever been of the opinion that the reduction of the post of Detroit would be the only certain means of giving peace and security to the whole western frontier, and I have constantly kept my eyes upon that object; but such has been the reduced state of our Continental force, and such the low ebb of our funds, especially of late, that I have never had it in my power to make the attempt."
Other attempts by the Colonies, and settlers in the West, to reduce the British post at Detroit reacted unfavorably upon those making them, from their want of a sufficient number of well dis- ciplined men. Nor could the frontier settlements with their refuge blockhouses be well protected against the great number of thoroughly organized British forces, principally Savages, which were continually being sent out from Detroit up to the close of the Revolutionary War. Even when at- tained, the desired peace was of short duration, as will be told in the following pages.
2
CHAPTER II
BRITISH DIRECT NON-OBSERVANCE OF TREATY OF PARIS, AND THEN SIGN THE TREATY
The First Years Following the Revolutionary War-The First Northwestern Boundary Line-The Aborigines Willing to be Friends of the United States-Causes of their Alliance with the British-The British Continue to Hold Military Posts in Opposition to Treaty-Large Amount of American Property Purloined by the British.
THE Treaty of Paris closing the Revolutionary
War was signed at Versailles September 3, 1783, about ten months after the preliminary agree- ment which stopped hostilities. This treaty dis- tinctly set forth that the territory south from the middle of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, and east from the middle of the upper Mississippi River, should belong to the United States, and that Great Britain should "with all convenient speed" withdraw her troops and be- longings from Detroit and other parts of this territory.
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From 1783-1791
The American Aborigines were willing, as they had been in 1760 at the time of the British suc- cession to the territories of the French, to befriend the nation which gave them presents most mu- nificently and which most freely indulged their sensualities accordingly. In May, 1783, Benjamin Lincoln, the American Secretary of War, sent Ephraim Douglas to the Aborigines of Ohio, and farther west, to encourage, and win, their friend- ship to the United States, they having been "al- lies" of the British during the war, and not inclined to stop hostilities in compliance with the agreement.
Douglas arrived at Sandusky, Ohio, the 7th of June and passed some days in that place with the Delaware Aborigines; he then went among the Wyandots, Ottawas, and Miamis along the lower Maumee River. On July 4th he arrived at Detroit, and there Colonel De Peyster, British commandant of the post, called a council, ostensibly in the American agent's favor, at which the following tribes were represented, viz .: Chippewa, Delaware, Kickapoo, Miami, Ottawa, "Oweochtanos," Pian- kishaw, Pottawotami, Seneca, Shawnee, and Wy- andot. Mr. Douglas reported :
"Most of them gave evident marks of their satis- faction at seeing a subject of the United States in the
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The Ohio Country
country. They carried their civilities so far that my lodging was all day surrounded with crowds of them when at home, and the streets lined with them to at- tend my going abroad, that they might have an op- portunity of seeing and saluting me, which they did not fail to do in their best manner with every demon- stration of joy."
Mr. Douglas returned to Niagara on July 11th and his further reports lead to the inference that he did not comprehend the full cause of the ad- herence of the Savages to the British during the war, or the mercenary cause of their dogging his steps during his visit among them; and that he had no foreboding of the many bloody years that were to follow.
The British allowances to the Aborigines had largely ceased when the agreement preliminary to the treaty was signed. The Savage "allies" were therefore short of rum and provisions; and they hoped to receive from the agent of the conquering nation fresh and more liberal supplies.1
1 The cause of the popularity and continued successes of the British with the Aborigines is plain, and to the discredit of both parties. They outbid the French, and the Americans, in their lavish giving of intoxicants and articles that delighted the palates and eyes of the Savages; and exceeded other na- tions in the general, and special, aid extended the Savages for the free indulgence of their bloodthirsty natures enhanced by strong drink. The British expenditures for this purpose during the Revolutionary War grew apace, and in the view
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From 1783-1791
The British government was fully apprised of the difficulties, and the improper aggressiveness, of its conduct toward and with the American Aborigines, before and after the close of the war. Colonel De Peyster early saw the danger of the course prescribed for him, and he wrote to Gov- ernor Haldimand accordingly.
Also, immediately after the preliminary treaty of Paris, the British began to experience the em- barrassment of their desired relation to the Abo- rigines,-of the difficulties in retaining their full influence over them while lessening expenditures for them. Colonel De Peyster reported from De- troit to Governor Haldimand's secretary June 18, 1783, before the arrival there of the American agent, Ephraim Douglas, that:
"We are all in expectation of news. Everything that is bad is spread through the Indian country but,
of the central office the amounts became "enormous and amazing," aggregating millions of dollars. From December 25, 1777, to August 31, 1778, there were received at Detroit 371,460 barrels of flour; 42,176 lbs. fresh beef; 16,473 lbs. salt beef; 203,932 lbs. salt pork; 19,756 lbs. butter; and great quantities of mutton, corn, peas, oatmeal, rice, and rum. In the summer of 1778 fifty-eight and a half tons of gunpowder were sent to Detroit from Niagara, of which the Savages re- ceived the largest share, as there were in Detroit August 30, 1778, but four hundred and eighty-two militiamen with little use for ammunition in or near the fort. For additional state- ments, see Zeisberger's Diary, and Slocum's History of the Maumee River Basin.
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The Ohio Country
as I have nothing more than the King's proclamation from authority, I evade answering impertinent ques- tions. Heavens! if goods do not arrive soon, what will become of me? I have lost several stone weight of flesh within these twenty days. I hope Sir John [Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs] is to make us a visit."
To prevent complications, and consequent quar- rels, the United States Congress, in 1783, forbade the purchase of land from the Aborigines by indi- viduals or companies. The British, however, con- tinued their machinations with these Aborigines.
Agent Ephraim Douglas reported February 2, 1784, that early in the fall of 1783, Sir John John- son assembled the different western tribes of Abo- rigines on United States soil, at Sandusky, Ohio, and having prepared them with lavish distribution of presents, addressed them in part as follows, Simon Girty being their interpreter, viz .:
"The King, his and their common father, had made peace with the Americans, and had given them the land possessed by the British on this continent; but the report of his having given them any part of their [the Aborigines'] lands was false, and fabricated by the Americans for the purpose of provoking them against their father; that they should, therefore, shut their eyes against it. So far the contrary was proved, that the great River Ohio was to be the line between the Indians in this quarter and the Americans, over
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From 1783-1791
which the latter ought not to pass and return in safety."
It had become evident, in other ways, also, that the British, although defeated in war, yet had ulterior designs against the young Republic. The definitive Treaty of Paris reads in part that:
"His Britannic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same."
The British had not complied with this agree- ment nor made any effort to do so at nine or more posts, viz .: Point au Fer and Dutchman's Point, by Lake Champlain; Oswegatchie near the present Ogdensburg, New York; Oswego, Niagara, Fort Erie, Sandusky, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and perhaps one or two more small places; Detroit being the principal post of all for their purpose.
General Washington had not been pleased with the trend of affairs. In the interest of peace with the British, and between the frontier settlements and Aborigines, he sent Baron von Steuben of the United States Army to Governor Haldimand of Canada, July 12, 1783, to ask that orders be issued for the withdrawal of the British troops from
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The Ohio Country
Detroit and other posts in American territory, whence they persisted in dominating the Aborigi- nes throughout Ohio and the Southwest. The reply was that no orders had been received from his superior for such withdrawal. Governor Clinton was refused the surrender of the posts in New York May 10, 1784, as was Governor Chit- tenden of Vermont, the posts in his State by Lake Champlain. Haldimand afterward wrote that these demands by States were easily answered; "the Treaty being with Congress, a post could not be surrendered to a State "; a point well taken.
A formal demand for the surrender of these posts was sent by General Knox, Secretary of War, by messenger Lieutenant-Colonel William Hull, July 12, 1784. Again Haldimand's reply was that he had received no orders to evacuate the posts, which, while truthful in a sense, was a dissimu- lation, as he had received orders not to evacuate them; and, under the circumstances, he should have had honor enough to so state.
The Treaty of Paris was ratified by Congress January 14, 1784, and by Great Britain April 9, 1784. The British ministry had decided before this time to hold the posts, and the Secretary so notified Haldimand in a letter which was dated the day before the ratification. Here was perfidy and du-
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From 1783-1791
plicity in keeping with many other orders from Great Britain and with acts of her agents in Amer- ica, both before and after this date.
No one could be found to give tangible expla- nation or reason for the non-compliance with the treaty. How different this from the last injunc- tion of Lord Chatham, in his reply to the Duke of Richmond, who, when the British cause in Amer- ica was tottering, said, "if we must fall, let us fall like men!"
In her supreme arrogance, Great Britain dis- dained sending a minister to the United States. John Adams, however, was sent to England in 1785 as Minister or Agent, but was received gen- erally with indifference. Writes one of England's historians:
"The King, who had previously declared to some of his attendants that he looked forward to his first in- terview with this new minister as the most critical moment of his life, received him very graciously, and said to him, with that honest candor which was a conspicuous part of his character, 'I was the last man in the kingdom, sir, to consent to the independence of America; but, now it is granted, I shall be the last man in the kingdom to sanction a violation of it.'"
We read further:
"The King, on coming to the crown, had supposed that he had nothing to do but to study the welfare
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The Ohio Country
of his people; but he soon found that he had also to study the tempers and jealousies of his ministers, who, though they were his ostensible servants, were, in fact, his masters."
This was not the condition of affairs evident in the year 1775, from which time his Majesty's officers in America complied literally, and liber- ally, with his injunction to Lord Dunmore, Gover- nor of Virginia, "to arm the negroes and Indians"; and, also, with his positive orders to Guy Johnson, agent among the Six Nations of Iroquois in New York: "to secure their assistance, to . . Lose no time; induce them to take up the hatchet against his Majesty's rebellious subjects in America. It is a service of very great importance; fail not to exert every effort that may tend to accomplish it; use the utmost diligence and activity."
This was the keynote to one of the most unholy and inhuman alliances known to history. Fail not to exert every effort that may tend to accom- plish the alliance of the American Savages, the worst in history, with the British, was the British slogan throughout the Revolutionary War and for many years thereafter, particularly in the old Northwestern, and Southwestern, Territories.
The conscientious General Washington sug- gested, December 14, 1784, that possibly the non-
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From 1783-1791
payment of individual debts to British subjects might be a reason (he did not say a valid one) for the British retention of American posts; and the British slowly got hold of this idea. Minister Adams, during his efforts in London to get some satisfaction for their non-compliance with agree- ment, could only get an occasional hint about debts. The Marquis of Carmarthen, being pressed by Adams, was led to state that the posts would not be delivered until the debts were paid. Adams warmly replied that such payment was not stipu- lated in the treaty; and that no government undertook to pay the private debts of its subjects. Adams could do no more, in fact nothing, to get what he considered a respectful hearing and proper treatment of this or of other questions relating to the best interests of the two countries, or to the United States, and he returned home.
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