USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 51
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
General Harrison now found it necessary to withdraw his army from the Rapids of the Maumee about eighteen miles east to Port- age River. The retreat commenced on the 2d of March. A vol- unteer from Pittsburgh, in a letter to a friend, thus describes the sufferings they endured.
" Early the next morning, at two o'clock, our tents were struck, and in half an hour we were on our way. I will candidly confess that on that day I regretted being a soldier. We marched thirty miles in an incessant rain. For eight miles of that thirty the water was over our knees, and often up to the middle. The black swamp, four miles from Portage River, and four miles in extent,
«
-
630
HISTORY OF OHIO.
would have been considered impassable by any men not deter- mined to surmount every obstacle. The water on the ice was about six inches deep. The ice was very rotten, often breaking through where the water was four or five feet deep That night we encamped on the best ground we could find, but it was very wet. It was next to impossible to kindle fires. We had no tents, no axes, our clothes were perfectly soaked through, and we had but little to eat. Two logs rolled together, to keep me out of the water, was my bed."
General Harrison was very anxious to gain Detroit that Winter. if it were possible. Therefore assembling all the troops he could on the Sandusky, early in February he returned to the Maumee. It was, however, by this time evident that the enterprise must for the present be postponed.
Here General Harrison established his extreme advance post in the Northwest, on the left banks of the Maumee. There were at this time sixty-seven white families residing at the foot of the rapids, within the circumference of about ten miles. Quite a spacious fortress was erected here, which was called Fort Meigs, after the distinguished Governor of Ohio of that name. The British Fort Malden, on the eastern banks of the Detroit River, not far from its entrance into the lake, was distant from Fort Meigs but two or three days' march.
Early in February General Harrison had about two thousand men at that post. A friendly Indian brought intelligence to the fort that six hundred Indian warriors were encamped on the shore of Maumee Bay, about twenty miles north of Fort Meigs. It was bitter cold weather, in the very heart of Winter. That very night the enterprising general took a select band of eleven hundred men, and marched down the river on the ice, which was apparently as solid as if it had been a bed of eternal granite. They soon came in sight of the camp-fires on the north side of the river ; but the Indians had all fled. The Indians ever kept their scouts, on the alert. Seldom could their foes make any movement what- ever without its being immediately reported at their encampment.
The morning had not yet dawned. The fires, still burning, proved that the Indians could not be far distant. Cold as it was, it was decided, without stopping to warm themselves, immediately to pursue the fugitives. Many, however, were so exhausted that they could go no farther. They were directed to make themselves
631
HISTORY OF OHIO.
as comfortable as they could through the night, and follow on the next day.
The remainder of the indomitable little band resumed its march. They had proceeded but about two miles when they came to the head of the Maumee Bay. Here they were exposed to the full force of the freezing blasts which swept the whole breadth of Lake Erie. The ice, also, upon the expanded waters became more thin. Their only cannon, with the horses attached, broke through. It was still two hours before the dawn of the morning. The moon, which had thus far shone upon their icy path, was now sinking behind the forests. Three of the men, in attempting to extricate the horses, were also plunged into that terrible bath, and narrowly escaped drowning. It was not safe to proceed without the cannon, and that could not be recovered until the light of day. The soldiers, waiting for two hours of midnight dark- ness on the bleak ice, without shelter and without fires, suffered intensely. As soon as the gun was recovered they pushed on toward the River Raisin, which empties into the extreme western border of the lake. Near here they learned from their scouts, about sunrise, that the fleet-footed Indians were far away in their retreat, and would soon be behind the walls of Fort Malden. The weary, half-frozen band, having accomplished nothing by all their sufferings, returned to Fort Meigs just as the evening gun had been fired. They had performed a march of forty-five miles on the ice in less than twenty-four hours.
A few days after this another expedition was undertaken, which we knew not whether to designate as heroic or desperate. On Friday, the 26th of January, General Harrison called for volun- teers to set out on a secret enterprise, which he informed them was important but hazardous in the extreme. Two hundred and fifty men volunteered. He told them that they would not be informed of the nature of the enterprise until they were at some distance from the fort.
About fifty miles east of Fort Meigs, on the Sandusky River, where the Town of Lower Sandusky now stands, there was a block- house called Fort Saunderson. It was garrisoned by two compa- nies of militia. This little band took up its line of march for that fort. On the 2d of March they left the log-house with six days' provisions. Captain Langham was in command. When they had proceeded about half a mile he ordered a halt. He
632
HISTORY OF OHIO.
then revealed to them the object of the expedition. It was to march along Lake Erie, on the shore and on the ice, as best they could, till they reached the banks of Detroit River oppo- site Fort Malden. Quite a large British fleet, laden with provisions, was frozen in at but a short distance from the fort. In the darkness of a winter's night they were to cross the river on the ice and set fire to the fleet, and the store-houses on the shore, with combustibles which they bore with them. They were then to retreat as rapidly as possible to the head of Maumee Bay, where General Harrison would meet them with a large force and escort them safely back to Fort Meigs. This surely was infat- uation, not courage. The success of the enterprise depended upon so many contingencies that it could not reasonably have been expected.
Having explained the plan Captain Langham gave liberty to all who deemed it too hazardous to withdraw. Twenty of the mili- tia and seven of the Indians availed themselves of the liberty. The whole party, officers and men, now consisted of but two hun- dred. Of these twenty-four were drivers of sleds, and fourteen were Indian guides and scouts. It was known that the fort at Malden was strongly garrisoned by British troops, and that a body of nearly a thousand Indian warriors was encamped near by.
Captain Langham and his party marched as rapidly as possible down the western shores of Sandusky Bay. It was the wintry, windy, stormy month of March. Some marched on the land, and crossed the peninsula through the rugged wilderness to Portage River. Others took the smoother, but far more circuitous path, on the ice. A fierce tempest arose of rain and sleet. The soldiers were not provided with tents. They encamped in the storm, and through an awful night of suffering were drenched and half frozen. The next day, March 3, they pushed their adventurous way on the ice out in the lake to Middle Bass Island, about seventeen miles from their encampment of the preceding night. Just before they left the land for this island, about twenty men, including sev- eral Indians, utterly disheartened, deserted. The wind was then blowing fiercely from the north, and a smothering storm of snow beating into their faces, impeded their progress.
Early in the afternoon they reached the northwest side of the island, when the weather began to moderate. It was supposed that one continuous sheet of ice would extend from there across
DAVID TOD Governor 1862 64.
-
4
635
HISTORY OF OHIO.
the lake to Malden. But it was found that the ice north of the island was weak, and in the distant north the ice seemed to be broken up. There were also marks upon the ice. Some persons, probably spies, had recently passed that way to give the British warning of their approach.
Their plan had been to go by what is called the Western Sister Island. But the guides now gave it as their opinion that it was impossible in that way to reach Malden. They said that the lake from the Middle Sister Island was doubtless broken up, as was also the River Detroit. From the Middle Sister Island the dis- tance to the mouth of the Detroit River was eighteen miles. To avoid being seen it would be necessary to perform that march in the dark. But as the weather was stormy and the ice soft, it might not be possible to accomplish this. Moreover there was great danger that a northerly wind might blow up, and they might be caught on the breaking, crashing ice, or if they should reach an island they might be there hopelessly cut off. The guides, therefore, unanimously and peremptorily declared that they did not consider it safe to go any farther; and that if Captain Lang- ham persisted to advance he must himself assume the whole re- sponsibility.
The captain then called the men together and stated to them frankly the opinion of the guides. "The enterprise," said he, "is one of great importance. Still it is possible that all may be lost in the lake by the breaking up of the ice. And thus the country will be deprived of very choice troops without obtaining any service in return."
The soldiers were then called upon to express their opinion. These heroic men, with one voice, replied : "We are ready to go wherever you are ready to lead us. We leave the decision with you."
Very wisely the ill-judged expedition was abandoned. They directed their steps as rapidly as possible towards the land. They were confirmed in the wisdom of their decision by seeing before they reached the shore in the distance the dashing billows of the lake. General Harrison met them at the point of landing and escorted them in safety back to Fort Meigs.
General Harrison was very anxious to regain Detroit, whose surrender was deemed an indelible disgrace to our arms. But he was disappointed in the re-enforcements which he had expected to
636
HISTORY OF OHIO.
receive. In addition to this his force was considerably diminished by the expiration of the term of service of many of the troops under his command. Thus he was virtually shut up in Fort Meigs, and compelled to act only on the defensive.
Early in the Spring, the British officer, General Proctor, with three thousand two hundred men, eighteen hundred of whom were Indians, laid siege to Fort Meigs. The Indians were under the command of Tecumseh. Proctor had so large a force that he felt confident that the fort would be compelled immediately to surren- der as soon as his troops should appear beneath its walls. He thought that General Harrison would imitate the example of General Hull. He had also promised Tecumseh that General Harrison should be delivered up to him as his captive.
Early in the afternoon of the 26th of April, as several of the officers of the fort were conversing together on the parade, they saw two strangers, finely mounted, riding along the bank on the opposite side of the river. As it was a very unusual thing to see travelers in that wild country, and as it was manifest that they were very carefully surveying the works, it was inferred that they were spies. One of the guns was immediately brought to bear upon them, and a shot was sent whistling through the air, which tore up the earth at their feet. They immediately spurred their horses to flight. It subsequently appeared that the two visitors were the British General Proctor and the Chief Tecumseh.
The garrison was immediately employed in preparing for an attack. The tents within the fort were struck and subterranean caves were dug for lodgings; for it was known that Proctor could bring to the assault heavy siege guns, and that he could throw down a shower of bomb-shells upon them. The fort was surrounded with an embankment twelve feet high, upon a basis of twenty feet. A British officer who accompanied Proctor's army gives the following account of its organization :
"General Proctor ordered an expedition to be in readiness to move for the Maumee. Accordingly, towards the close of April, a detachment of the forty-first, some militia, and fifteen hundred In- dians, accompanied by a train of battering artillery, and attended by two gunboats, proceeded up that river and established them- selves on the right bank, at the distance of a mile, and selected a site for our batteries. The season was unusually wet. Yet in defiance of every obstacle the batteries were erected the same
637
HISTORY OF OHIO.
night in front of the American fortress, and the guns transported along the road, in which the axle-trees of the carriages were fre- quently buried in mud. Among other battering pieces were. two twenty-four pounders, in the transportation of which two hundred men, with several oxen were employed from nine o'clock at night until daylight in the morning.
" At length, every precaution having been made, a gun fired from one of the boats was the signal for their opening. Early on the morning of the first of May a heavy fire was commenced and continued for four days without intermission, during which period every one of the enemy's batteries were silenced and dis- mantled. The fire of the twenty-four-pound battery was prin- cipally directed against the powder magazine which the besieged were busily occupied in covering and protecting from our hot shot. It was impossible to have artillery better served. Every shot that was fired sank into the roof of the magazine, scattering the earth to a considerable distance, and burying many of the workmen in its bed, from which we could distinctly see their sur- vivors dragging forth the bodies of their slaughtered companions. Meanwhile the flank companies of the forty-first, with a few Indians, had been dispatched to the opposite shore, and had con- structed a battery within a few hundred yards of the enemy's works, from which a galling cross-fire was sustained."
The Indians climbed the trees and poured into the fort a galling fire, which greatly annoyed the garrison. They beset the fort on nearly every side. About eighty were killed and many more wounded. Many of the balls thrown from the British bat- teries were red hot. Wherever they struck they raised a cloud of vapor from the damp soil, with a great hissing. For three days their batteries kept up an incessant shower of balls and shells. On the most active day of the investment five hundred cannon balls and bombs were thrown into the fort. As General Harrison was in want of supplies, he offered a reward for every cannon ball which should be delivered to the magazine keeper. Over a thous- and were brought in.
A heavy rain came on and so deluged the caves that they could not be occupied. The men then had to sleep in the tents. Every now and then the startling cry of bomb, bomb, would rouse them from their slumbers. They would then rush from their tents and watch the fiery messenger of death as it took its flight through the
638
HISTORY OF OHIO.
midnight sky. As it fell they would fall flat upon their faces, for, unless the shell burst in the air it would penetrate the earth quite deeply, and then exploding, would throw its fragments in an angular direction. The soldiers would then return to their tents, only to be aroused again and again by the startling cry. So har- rowing was this, and so accustomed did the men become to the danger, and so overpowering was the desire for sleep, that many of the soldiers, while conscious that the bomb might fall directly upon the tent where they were sleeping, remained undisturbed, determined, as one of them said, " to enjoy his sleep if ten thou- sand bombs should burst all around him."
General Proctor now deeming the situation of the fort utterly desperate, for it was garrisoned by but about five hundred men, sent a summons for its surrender, stating that he had with him a larger number of Indians than had ever before been embodied, and that his army was so strong that the garrison could not hold out against it. General Harrison replied :
" I believe that I have a very correct idea of General Proctor's force. It is not such as to create the least apprehension for the result of the contest. Assure the general, however, that he will never have this post surrendered to him upon any terms. Should it fall into his hands, it will be in a manner calculated to do him more honor, and to give him larger claims upon the gratitude of his government than any capitulation could possibly do."
General Harrison having anticipated this attack sent a messen- ger to both the governors of Ohio and Kentucky, soliciting reën- forcements for the relief of the fort. A young man noted for his bravery, Captain William Oliver, undertook this perilous cómmis- sion. Threading the wilderness he delivered the message, to which both of the governors responded with alacrity. Upon his return he found the fort closely invested by the Indians under Tecumseh. Still, in the darkness of the night, he eluded all their vigilance, and entering the fort at midnight of the fourth of May, brought the joyful intelligence that General Green Clay, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, was descending the Maumee River in boats ; that they were just above the rapids, and would probably be at the fort within two or three hours.
General Harrison immediately sent back word to General Clay to land eight hundred of his men on the right bank of the river opposite the fort, near where the British batteries stood, to spike
639
HISTORY OF OHIO.
their cannon, and then immediately to return to their boats and cross to the fort. These batteries were manned only by the gunners. But they were protected by nearly two thousand soldiers, British and Indians, who were encamped about a mile back from them. General Harrison was therefore emphatic in his direction that immediately after spiking the cannon they should hasten across the river to the fort, before the enemy should have time to march upon them with a crushing force.
The remaining four hundred men were to be landed on the left bank of the river, and to fight their way through the investing force to the fort, while a strong band would sally forth from the garrison to assist them. The arrangements were admirable. Had General Harrison's directions been followed they would have been eminently successful. To make all things sure he sent a very reliable man, Captain Hamilton, in a large canoe, called a pirogue, to ascend the river and land a guide, who should conduct the division of four hundred men to the fort. He was then to take the lead of the boats with the eight hundred men, and land his canoe at the spot where they were to leap upon the shore and spike the guns.
MICH, ENG. CO.
-
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE SIEGE OF FORTS MEIGS AND STEVENSON. ANNIHILATION OF COLONEL DUDLEY'S DETACHMENT - ANGUISH OF GENERAL HARRISON - MASSACRE OF THE PRISONERS- AWFUL SCENE OF SLAUGHTER - NOBLE CONDUCT OF TECUM- SEH - PUSILLANIMITY OF PROCTOR - THE ENCAMPMENT OF THE SAVAGES- TESTIMONY OF A BRITISH OFFICER - RETIRE- MENT OF THE FOE -CAUSES OF THE WAR - SECOND SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS - ADVENTURES OF JAMES DOOLAN - THE SHAM FIGHT-NARROW ESCAPE OF THE GARRISON - SIEGE OF FORT STEVENSON - VAST FORCE OF INDIANS- HEROIC DEFENSE - SLAUGHTER IN THE DITCH - FLIGHT OF THE FOE - MAJOR CROGAN'S HEROISM.
COLONEL DUDLEY, the senior officer, was entrusted with the com- mand of the troops who were to attack the British batteries. General Clay landed his men on the left bank of the river, and after a very severe conflict, succeeded, by the aid of the sortie from the garrison, in fighting his way into the fort. Colonel Dudley effected his landing at the appointed place without diffi- culty. He drove the British from their guns and spiked them. Then his soldiers, raw militia, unaccustomed to obey orders, were so elated with their easy victory that, notwithstanding all the efforts of their commander, they persisted in pursuing a band of saga- cious Indians who were drawing them into an ambush.
General Harrison stood upon the ramparts of the fort in full view of the scene. The cheers of these brave but infatuated men fell upon his ears like the wail of death. He and his officers shouted frantically to them, beckoning them to return; but the thoughtless soldiers deemed these shouts but the applause of the garrison in view of their heroic achievement, and more impetu- ously the tumultuous throng rushed on to destruction. Harrison exclaimed, in tones of anguish, "They are lost, they are lost ! Can I never get men to obey my orders !"
641
HISTORY OF OHIO.
On, on they rushed, till they came into a defile, when suddenly, twice their numbers rose up around them. Their retreat was cut off, and a scene of terrific slaughter ensued. The Indians, pour- ing in a murderous fire, with horrid yells and gleaming toma- hawks, rushed upon their victims. All the troops were now hud- dled together in utter confusion, unable to make any resistance. The British officers and the Indians were commingled in the assaults, while the British did all that they dared to do to arrest the ferocity of their savage allies. The white flag of surrender was raised, and gradually those who had survived the slaughter were regarded as captives.
The British and the Indians commenced leading the prisoners back to the British encampment. But the savages were so nu- merous that they scorned obedience to their civilized comrades. They deemed, and with some plausibility, the victory due to their own prowess. On the march, they began to rob their prisoners, stripping them even of every article of clothing. As they drew near the encampment, the Indians formed a long line, before which they compelled their captives to run, while they whipped, shot and tomahawked them. One of the Americans, who had a bullet first buried in his back, and who ran this terrible gauntlet, writes :
"When I reached the starting place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, and ran near the muzzles of their guns, knowing that they would have to shoot me while I was immediately in front, or let me pass; for to have turned their guns up or down the lines, to shoot me, would have endangered themselves, as there was a curve in their line. In this way I passed without injury, except some strokes over the shoulder with their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch which surrounded the encampment, the man before me was shot, and fell, and I fell over him. The passage, for a while, was stopped by those who fell over the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost at this place I cannot tell; probably between twenty and forty.
"When we got within the walls we were ordered to sit down. A new scene commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated wall, and shot one of the prisoners next to him. He reloaded and shot a second, the ball passing through him into the hip of another, who afterwards died of the wound. The savage then laid down his gun and took his tomahawk, with which
642
HISTORY OF OHIO.
he killed two others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the men, they endeavored to escape from him, by leaping over the heads of each other. Thus they were heaped, one upon another; and they trampled upon me so that I could see nothing that was going on. The confusion and uproar at this moment can not be adequately described. There was an excite- ment and fierceness manifested among the Indians which betok- ened a strong disposition, among some of them, to massacre the whole of us."
Mr. William G. Ewing, who was present on this occasion, writes: "While this bloodthirsty carnage was raging, a thunder- ing voice was heard in the rear. in the Indian tongue, when turning around, I saw Tecumseh coming with all the rapidity with which his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two Indians had an American and were in the act of killing him. He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast, and threw them both to the ground. Drawing his tomahawk and knife, he ran in between the Indians and the Am- ericans, brandishing his weapons with the fury of a madman, dar- ing any one of the hundreds of Indians who surrounded him to attempt to murder another American. They all appeared con- founded, and immediately desisted. His mind appeared rent with passion, and with tears in his eyes, he exclaimed : 'Oh! what will become of my Indians!'"
He then demanded, in an authoritative tone, "Where is General Proctor?" He was pointed out to him in the rear. The chief rode up to the general, and sternly inquired, "Why did you not put a stop to this inhuman carnage?" Proctor replied, "Your Indians cannot be controlled." "Begone," exclaimed the indign- and Indian chieftain, to the British general, "You are unfit to command. Go put on petticoats."
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.