USA > Ohio > The history of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 12
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In June, 1810, an old Wyandot chief, named
209
1810.] EXECUTION OF LEATHERLIPS.
Leatherlips, was executed in Franklin county for witchcraft. It was General Harrison's opinion that his death was the result of the prophet's command, and that the party who acted as executioneers went directly from Tippecanoe to the banks of the Scioto, where the tragedy was enacted. Leatherlips was encamped at that time on the Scioto, twelve miles above Columbus. An Indian council of two or three hours' dura- tion took place. His accusers addressed the as- sembled warriors with warmth and bitterness of feeling. Leatherlips was calm and dispassionate in his reply. An effort was made by some whites, who were present, to save his life, but without success. The sentence of death which had been pronounced before was re-affirmed, and six Wyandots were appointed to see to its exe- cution. The prisoner walked slowly to his camp, partook of a dinner of jerked venison, washed, and arrayed himself in his best apparel, and afterward painted his face. Ilis dress was very rich, his hair gray, and his whole appear- ance graceful and commanding. When the hour appointed for his execution had arrived, Leather- lips shook hands silently with the spectators, and leaving his wigwam, commenced singing his death song with a voice of surpassing melody and sweetness. The Wyandot warriors slowly fol- lowed their victim, timing their march to his mournful music. The white men joined in that
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HISTORY OF OHIO. [1810.
strange procession, until it came to a shallow grave, which unknown to them had been prepared previously by the Indians. Here Leatherlips knelt down, and in elevated but solemn tones addressed his prayer to the Great Spirit. As soon as he had finished, the captain of the In- dians knelt beside him and prayed in a similar manner. After a few moments delay the prison- er again sank upon his knees and prayed as he had done before. When he ceased he still re-
mained kneeling. All the rifles of the party having been left at the wigwam, the spectators were at a loss to conceive how the six Wyandots were to execute their purpose. Suddenly one of them drew from beneath his cloak a keen, bright tomahawk, walked rapidly up behind his victim, and after brandishing his weapon on high for a single moment, struck with his whole 'strength. The blow descended on the crown of the head, and Leatherlips lay in the agonies of death. The Indians now gathered around, and directed the attention of the white men to the drops of sweat which were gathering on the neck and face of the victim, remarking, with much apparent exultation, that it was conclu- sive proof of the sufferer's guilt. Again the executioner advanced, and with the same weapon inflicted two or three heavy additional blows. 13 soon as life was extinct, the body was hastily buried with all its apparel and decorations.
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COLONEL JOHNSON.
1812.]
War was no sooner declared in 1812. between America and England, than Tecumseh was in the field prepared for the conflict. In July, those tribes which were inclined to remain neutral as- sembled in council at Brownstown. A deputa- tion, previously sent to Fort Malden, waited on Tecumseh, and invited him to attend this council. " No," said he, indignantly ; " I have taken sides with the king, my father, and I will suffer my bones to bleach on this shore before I will re- cross that stream to join in any council of neu- trality." He participated in the battle of Brownstown, and having commanded the Indians in the action at Maguaga, his bravery and good conduct procured him the appointment of briga- dier-general in the British service.
In 1811, Colonel Johnson, the Indian agent, was settled with his family at Upper Piqua, in Miami county, the previous eleven years having been spent at Fort Wayne. In the War of 1812, the Indians who remained neutral and claimed the protection of the United States, were placed under the care of Colonel Johnson. He frequently furnished thein with white flags, with suitable mottoes, to enable them to pass outposts and scouts in safety. The militia, on one occasion, fired on one of these parties, while bearing a flag fully exposed to view. Two of the Indians were killed, a third wounded, and the survivors, after being plundered of all they pos-
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1812.
sessed, were taken prisoners to Greenville. Their captors becoming alarmed for the consequences, brought the Indians to Colonel Johnson, at Piqua. He decided to conduct them back to Greenville, restore them their property, and send them back to their nation. He applied to the commanding officer at Piqua for a guard to con- duct them on their journey. The distance was twenty-five miles, the road was entirely unin- habited, and known to be infested with Indians who had recently murdered two females near Greenville, and not an officer or a man dare venture. Colonel Johnson then offered to go himself, provided the commanding officer would accompany him; but this the latter refused. All appeals to pride and patriotism proving unavail- ing, and the case being one which required the promptest action in order to prevent evil im- pressions from spreading among the Indians, Colonel Johnson finally decided to go alone ! Mounting his horse he bade farewell to his wife, whom he never expected to see again, and set out for Greenville, which he reached in safety. Having succeeded in restoring to the Indians nearly all the articles taken from them, he apolo- gized for the wrong they had suffered, and re- stored them to liberty. After another solitary ride across the country, he returned to Piqua in safety, greatly to the surprise of the officers and soldiers of the garrison, who, to cover their own
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SURRENDER OF DETROIT.
1812.]
dastardly conduct, overwhelmed him with con- gratulations and apologies.
Great confidence being reposed in General Hull, in consideration of his Revolutionary ser- vices, he was appointed, at the commencement of the War of 1812, to command the American army destined for the invasion of Canada. About the middle of June, 1812, this army left Urban- na, and marched through the present counties of Logan, Hardin, Hancock, and Wood, into Michi- gan. After cutting a road through the forest, and erecting Forts Findlay and M'Arthur on his route, General Hull arrived on the banks of the Maumee, where he embarked his baggage, in- trenching tools, and hospital stores, to be for- warded by water to Detroit. The vessels con- taining these stores was captured by the British in passing Fort Malden. A day or two later the American troops reached Detroit, where Hull proceeded to fortify himself. The loss of his supplies, the defeat of two successive detach- ments of his army, and his isolated position, so discouraged him, that when General Brock ap- proached Detroit with a very inferior force, Hull, without consulting either his officers or his sol- diers, surrendered that important fortress to the British commander.
When the news of Hull's surrender became generally known, it created the utmost indigna- tion. Hull was tried by court-martial, his own
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1812.
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officers taking the lead in the prosecution, and being found guilty of cowardice, was sentenced to be shot, but recommended to mercy in consi- deration of his advanced age and revolutionary services. The president cancelled the sentence of death, but his name was struck from the roll of officers, a punishment more severe to a soldier, and an honourable man, than death itself.
General Harrison was now invested with the supreme command in the West. The main ob- ject of Harrison was to concentrate the forces under his command at the rapids of the Maumee before winter, to re-capture Fort Detroit from the British, and thus be prepared for the invs- sion of Canada in the spring. In moving on this point he divided his troops into three co- lumns, the right to march from Wooster through Upper Sandusky, the centre from Urbanna by Fort McArthur, on the head of the Scioto, and the left from St. Mary's by the Auglaize and the Maumee, all of which were to concentrate at the rapids. This plan, however, failed. Re- peated orders given to General Tupper, who commanded the centre, and by him received at Fort McArthur, to advance to the Maumee rapids, were not obeyed. In fact, that column, instead of advancing, fell back to Urbanna. The left wing, under General Winchester, suc- ceeded in reaching the rapids on the 10th of
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1812.]
DEFEAT OF WINCHESTER.
January, 1813, and commenced building store- houses and gathering maize from the neighbour- ing fields. But while thus employed, Winches- ter was solicited by the inhabitants of French- town, a small village on the river Raisin, for aid against a party of British and Indians who had posted themselves at that place. A council of war was held, and a detachment sent to their relief. The enemy were driven from the village, and on the news reaching Winchester he marched with another detachment of two hundred and fifty men to strengthen and, if possible, maintain the ground which had been won. Frenchtown being only eighteen mailes from Malden, where the whole force of the British, under General Procter was concentrated, the British troops secretly crossed the frozen surface of Lake Erie during the night, and erected a battery within three hundred yards of Winchester's camp. The morning opened with shot and shell on the American troops, who fled before a fire which mowed them down like grass. Of eight hundred men, one-third were killed and the remainder made prisoners of war. They surrendered on condition of being protected from the fury of the Indians and safely guarded to Malden. Through the negligence of Procter these condi- tions were not fulfilled, and many of the unfor- tunate prisoners were cruelly massacred by the way.
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HISTORY OF OHIO
[1812.
General Harrison was at Upper Sandusky when Winchester reached the rapids. He had heard with much displeasure of the unauthorized movement on Frenchtown from the officer in command at Lower Sandusky, to whom Win- chester had applied for an additional battalion to strengthen the camp on the Maumec. Fore- seeing the disastrous consequence of the move- ment, Harrison pushed a detachment forward to sustain Winchester, and followed rapidly in the same direction with the remainder of his troops. The advancing column soon met the fugitives from Frenchtown, and fearful of being attacked at a disadvantage, Harrison fell back to the encampment at the rapids, and proceeded to strengthen its defences. With the aid of two of his most experienced engineers, Captains Wood and Gratiot, he erected a fort on a rising ground a few hundred yards from the river, and which was named by him in honour of the go- vernor of Ohio, Fort Meigs.
On the breaking up of the ice in Lake Erie, General Procter, supported by Tecumseh and the Indians under his command, prepared to lay siege to Fort Meigs. One afternoon, a short time previous to the advance of the British against the fortress, the soldiers assembled on the parade observed on the western bank of the river two strangers splendidly mounted, who seemed to be taking a calm and deliberate sur-
217
SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS.
1812.1
vey of the works. One of the batteries was im- mediately cleared for action, and the unknown visitors saluted with a shot which tore up the earth around them and caused them to withdraw. The two strangers, it was afterward ascertained, were Procter and Tecumseh. On the 26th of April the British columns appeared on the opposite bank of the river, and under cover of night established their principal batteries on a com- manding eminence. On the 27th the Indians crossed the river, and Procter having at length completed his preparations for the siege, opened his batteries on the Ist of May, to which the Ameri- can guns promptly responded. The British were well supplied with ammunition, and for four days and nights assailed the fort with an incessant storm of shot and shell. A large number of cannon-balls were thrown within the works, and as this kind of ammunition was scarce, General Harrison offered a gill of whiskey for every can- non-ball delivered to the magazine-keeper; above one thousand gills were thus earned by the soldiers during the progress of the cannonade. One of the militia took his station on the em- bankment, and gratuitously forewarned his com- rades of every shot. In spite of all expostula- tions, he maintained his post, and soon became so skilful as to be able to predict, in almost every case, the destination of the ball. As soon as the smoke was seen rising from the battery,
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1812.
he would cry out, "Shot,' or "Bomb," as the case might be. Sometimes he would exclaim, " Block-house No. 1;" or " Look out, main bat- tery !" "Now for the meat-house!" " Good-bye, if you will pass !" At last a shot came which deficd all his calculations. He stood silent, motionless, and perplexed. The next moment he was swept into eternity, a victim to his own foolhardiness.
Before the attack commenced, General Har- rison had made the governors of Ohio and Ken- tucky minutely acquainted with his situation ; and General Clay was at this moment descend- ing the Miami with twelve hundred Kentuckians to relieve him. At twelve o'clock on the night of the fourth, an officer arrived from the camp of General Clay, stating that the latter was within two hours' march of Fort Meigs, and desired to know the commands of General Harrison as to the best disposition of the reinforcements. Harrison at once determin- ed to attack the enemy's batteries. Ile therefore ordered General Clay to land eight hundred men on the right bank of the river, who were to take possession of the batteries planted there, spike the cannon, and immedi- ately return to their boats, and take shelter in the fort; at the same time he ordered a sortie from the fort on the batteries situated on the left bank of the river. Accordingly, at
1812.]
DEFEAT OF KENTUCKIANS.
219
three o'clock on the morning of the 5th, Gene -. ral Clay disembarked his troops, and directed Colonel Dudley to proceed against the bat- teries. The latter immediately advanced to the attack at the head of eight hundred Ken- tucky militia. The success was complete. The disordered flight of the artillerists facilitated the spiking of the guns, which was speedily ac- complished. Elated with their easy victory, the militia immediately gave chase to the fugitives. Harrison, who with a group of officers was watching the progress of events, earnestly sig nalled the detachment to return lest it should be surrounded and cut to pieces by the enemy. Seeing the troops still rushing headlong into the snare, he exclaimed in tones of the deepest an- guish, " They are lost ! they are lost! Can I never get men to obey my orders ?" Ile then offered a reward of one thousand dollars to any soldier who would cross the river and apprize Colonel Dudley of his danger. An officer made the attempt, but before the boat which was drawn up on the shore could be launched, the brave but rash and unfortunate Kentuckians were sur- rounded by the main body of the British army under Tecumseh and Procter. A desperate fight ensued, and a slaughter as terrible as that on the shores of the river Raisin. Of eight hundred Americans, only one hundred and fifty escaped death or captivity. Colonel Dudley himself was
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1812.
among the slain. Notwithstanding this disaster, the sortie of the garrison on the batteries situ- ated on the left bank of the river was eminently successful. The enemy were driven from their artillery, the guns of their principal batteries were spiked, and the troops returned to the fort with more than forty prisoners.
In the mean time, the Indians, enriched with plunder, and tired of a mode of warfare so dif- ferent fron their own, in spite of the entreaties of Tecumseh and his subordinate chieftains, withdrew from the conflict. The Canadian militia also, becoming desirous of returning to their families and their accustomed occupations, deserted in small bodies under the cover of night. General Procter became discouraged, and seeing no immediate prospect of effecting the reduction of the fort, raised the siege on the 9th of May, and retired with his army to Malden.
Leaving General Clay in command at Fort Meigs, Harrison hastened to Franklinton to organize a new army. Here a deputation of Indians waited upon him, and proffered the ser- vices of the various tribes in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Hitherto the United States had ad- vised the friendly Indians to maintain a strict neutrality, and had employed none of them in the army with the exception of a small band commanded by Logan, the nephew of Tecumseh.
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BRAVERY OF LOGAN.
1812.]
- The friendly Indians regarded this advice as a reproach on their courage rather than springing from a sincere desire to promote their welfare; and as their settlements had been recently at- tacked by the enemy, it was deemed right to consent to their wishes and accept such aid as they thought proper to afford.
Logan possessed many estimable moral and intellectual qualities, and fought on the side of the Americans with unwavering constancy. His death, which happened in the fall of 1812, proved him to be a man endowed with the keenest sense of honour. In November, while General Harrison was concentrating his forces on the Maumee, Logan received orders to take a de- tachment of his tribe, and examine the country in the direction of the rapids. Being soon after driven in by a superior force of British Indians, Logan was accused by an American officer of infidelity to the cause of the United States. The noble chief was indignant at the charge, and declared that he would go to the camp of the enemy, and either return with such trophies as should relieve his character from suspicion, or else leave his body bleaching in the woods.
The next morning, accompanied by two faith- ful Indians called Captain Johnny and Bright- Horn, Logan started down the Maumee. While taking a little rest about noon, they were sud- denly surprised by a party of the enemy, com- 19*
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
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manded by a Pottawatomic chief called Win- Demac. Logan made no resistance, but, with great presence of mind extended his hand to Winnemac, who was an old acquaintance, and told him that he and his friends, having become dissatisfied with the American service, were on their way to join the British. Winnemac, fami- liar with Indian strategy, received this explana- tion with suspicion. He disarmed Logan and his companions, and placing his party around the prisoners so as to prevent their escape, started for the British camp at the foot of the rapids. In the course of the afternoon Logan succeeded in gaining the confidence of Winnemac, so that he restored to him and his companions their arms. As they were travelling along, Logan formed the plan of attacking his captors, and succeeded in communicating his intentions to Captain Johnny and Bright-Horn. Their guns were loaded, and they put bullets in their mouths to facilitate them in re-loading. Captain Johnny, fearing that the Indian who walked beside him had observed him do this, endeavoured to remove the impression by adroitly remarking, "Me chaw heap tobac."
After sunset the British Indians encamped for the night; and Winnemac, believing that Logan and his party had really deserted the American service, left the camp with three of his companions to gather berries. As soon as they were out of
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DEATH OF LOGAN.
1812.]
sight, Logan gave the signal for the attack. Two of the enemy fell, the third being severely wounded. The fire was instantly returned by Winnemac and the Indians from the bushes, and the whole party sought the shelter of surround- ing trees. From there being but three of Lo- gan's party to four of Winnemac's, the former could not watch all the movements of the latter. The fourth man of the enemy therefore went cautiously round until Logan was uncovered, and shot him through the body. In the meanwhile. Captain Johnny had mortally wounded Winne- mac, and the gun of Bright-Horn had brought down another of the Indians; this caused the other two to fall back. Taking advantage of their temporary retreat, Captain Johnny mounted Logan, now suffering the pain of a mortal wound, and Bright-Horn, also wounded, on two of the enemy's horses, and started for the American camp, which they reached about midnight. Captain Johnny then went back, secured the scalp of Winnemac, and again arrived safely in camp early the following morning.
The news of this gallant exploit soon spread among the soldiers; and when it was known that Logan was mortally wounded, it created a deep and mournful sensation. No one more sincerely regretted this fatal catastrophe than the officer by whose aspersions it had been brought about. As for Logan, he lived two or
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1813
three days in extreme bodily agony, and then died. He told the officers and soldiers assembled around him, that he prized his honour more than his life, and that having vindicated his reputa- tion he died satisfied. His death was univer- sally regretted. His popularity in the army was great previous to this fatal excursion ; and this noble proof of his fidelity filled the hearts of the soldiers with pity and admiration. Ile was buried by the officers of the army at Fort Win- chester with the honours of war.
CHAPTER XVI.
Second invasion of Fort Meigs-Stratagem of Tecumseh- Major Croghan receives orders to abandon Fort Stephenson -- His reply to General Harrison-Colonel Ball's skirmish with the Indians-Fort Stephenson bravely and successfully defended-Blue Jacket attempts to assassinate General Har- rison at Fort Seneca --- Perry's victory on Lake Erie --- The interment of the dead after the engagement-Biography of Tecumseh in Ohio --- Battle of the Thames.
ALARMED at the progress of the Americans in building a fleet on Lake Erie, Procter was no sooner reinforced by a large body of Indians from the north-west, than he determined to make another attempt to reduce Fort Meigs. On the 20th of July, 1813, the garrison, amounting only
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1813.]
STRATAGEM OF TECUMSEH.
to a few hundred men, discovered the boats of the enemy ascending the Miami. The same night General Clay despatched Captain Mc- Cune, of the Ohio militia, to General Harrison at Lower Sandusky, to notify him of the arrival of the British before the fort. Captain McCune was ordered to return and tell General Clay to be particularly cautious against surprise, and that every effort should be made to relieve him.
On the evening of the 25th, an attempt was made to allure the Americans from the fort by an ingeniously devised stratagem, which origi- nated with Tecumseh. The British infantry were secreted in the ravine below the fort, the cavalry in the woods above, and the Indians were scat- tered through the forest which bounded the San- dusky road. About an hour before dark & sham fight was commenced, in order to impress the garrison with the belief that their reinforcements were being attacked on their route to the fort. The usual Indian yells were heard intermingled with the roar of musketry, and the garrison im- mediately flew to arms. So skilfully was the pretended battle managed, that officers even of the highest grade were deceived and insisted on being led forth to the rescue. General Clay, however, half suspecting the stratagem, refused his permission, and a heavy shower of rain soon put a stop to the fight, and saved the garrison from a general massacre. The enemy remained
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1813.
after this only one day about the fort, and on the 28th, embarked with their stores and pro- ceeded to threaten Fort Stephenson.
They had no sooner abandoned the siege of Fort Meigs than General Clay despatched a mes- senger to Harrison with the intelligence. The latter was then encamped at Fort Seneca, and as all that day the Indians had been thronging the woods in his vicinity, he did not doubt that General Procter was contemplating an attack either upon Fort Seneca or upon the weaker post of Fort Stephenson. He immediately called a council of war, at which it was unanimously resolved that Fort Stephenson was untenable against heavy artillery; and as this could be brought with facility from Malden, and as the loss of the position was not of any consequence, orders were issued to Major Croghan to set the works on fire, and repair with his command to head-quarters.
These orders were received by Major Croghan at a period when to remain was far less hazard- ous than to retreat. The enemy had already surrounded the fortress, and the gallant major, who had just passed his twenty-first year, after consulting his brother officers, returned Harrison the following answer : ----
" Sir : I have just received yours of yesterday 10 o'clock, P. M., ordering me to destroy this place and make good my retreat, which was
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