USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 52
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All accounts agree in speaking in praise of Tecumseh's conduct on this occasion. "After the surrender," another one writes, "and all resistance had ceased, the Indians, finding five hundred prison- ers at their mercy, began the work of massacre with the most savage delight. Tecumseh sternly forbade it, and buried his tomahawk in the head of one of his chiefs who refused obedience. This order, accompanied with this decisive manner of enforcing it, put an end to the massacre."
Another writes, describing Tecumseh's appearance, as he rode
JOHN BROUGH Governor 1864-65.
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upon the field. "This celebrated chief was a noble and a dignified personage. He wore an elegant broadsword, and was dressed in the Indian costume. His face was finely proportioned, his nose inclined to the aquiline, and his eyes displayed none of that sav- age and ferocious triumph common to the other Indians on this occasion. He seemed to regard us with unmoved composure, and I thought a beam of mercy shone in his countenance, tempering the spirit of vengeance inherent in his race against the American people. I saw him only on horseback."
A British officer, who took part in this conflict, wrote, in the London New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826 :
"On reaching our encampment the prisoners were met by a band of cowardly and treacherous Indians, who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, guided by the savage instinct of their nature, approached the column, and selecting their victims, com- menced the work of blood. In vain did the harassed and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their destroyers. The frenzy of these wretches knew no bounds. An old and excellent soldier, named Russell, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest a victim from the grasp of his mur- derer.
"Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen beneath the steel of these infuriated savages, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was going on, rode up at full speed, and raising his tomahawk, threatened to destroy the first man who refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of coercion had hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasperated chieftain, produced an instantaneons effect; and they retired, at once humiliated and confounded.
" The survivors of this melancholy catastrophe were immediately conveyed on board the gunboats, which were moored in the river, and every precaution having been taken to prevent a renewal of the scene, the escorting party proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom the rites of sepulture were afforded even be- fore those of our own men who had fallen in the action. Colonel Dudley was among the number of the slain.
"On the evening of the second day after this event I accompa- nied Major Muir in a ramble through the encampment of the In- dians, which was distant a few hundred yards from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view was at once of the most ludic- 38
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: rous and the most revolting nature. In various directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken in the boats of the American di- vision; and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their riches, carefully examining each article and attempting to di- vine its use. Several were decked out in the uniform of officers. And although embarrassed to the last degree in their movements, and dragging with difficulty the heavy military boots with which their legs were for the first time covered, they strutted forth, much to the admiration of their less fortunate comrades. Some were habited in plain clothes. Others had their bodies clad with clean white shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner with the swarthi- ness of their skins. All wore some articles of decoration. Their tents were ornamented with saddles, bridles, rifles, daggers, swords, and pistols, many of which were handsomely mounted and of cu- rious workmanship. Such was the ridiculous part of the picture.
"But mingled with these, and in various directions, were to be seen the scalps of the slain drying in the sun. They were stained on the fleshy side with vermillion dyes, and were dangling in the air as they hung suspended from the poles to which they were attached. There were also hoops of various sizes, on which were stretched portions of human skin taken from various parts of the body, principally from the hands and feet, and yet with the nails of those parts attached. Scattered along the ground were to be seen the members of the body from which they had been separat- ed, serving as nutriment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accompanied.
, " As we continued to advance into the heart of the encampment, a scene of a still more disgusting nature arrested our attention. Stopping at the entrance of a tent occupied by the Minoumini tribe, we observed the Indians seated around a large fire, over which was suspended a kettle containing their meal. Each war- rior had a string hanging over the edge of the vessel. To this was suspended food, of which it will be presumed we did not hear without loathing. It consisted of the flesh of an American. Any expression of our feelings, as we declined the invitation which they gave us to join in their repast, would have been resented by them without ceremony. We had therefore the prudence to excuse ourselves under the plea that we had already taken our food; and we hastened to remove from a sight so revolting to humanity.
"Since the affair of the fifth the Americans continued to keep
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themselves shut up within their works. The bombardment, though carried on with vigor, had effected no practicable breach. From the account given by the officers captured during the sortie, it ap- peared that the Americans, with a perseverance and toil peculiar to themselves, had constructed subterranean passages to protect them from our shells, which, sinking into the clay, softened by the incessant rains, instead of exploding were speedily extinguished.
"Members of the militia, impatient of privations, and anxious to return to their families, withdrew themselves in small bodies under cover of the night. The majority of the Indians, enriched by plunder, and languishing under a mode of warfare so different from their own, with less ceremony left us to prosecute the siege as we could. Tecumseh, at the head of about four hundred of his tribe, the Shawanese, remained.
"The British troops also were wore down with constant fatigue; for here, as in every other expedition against the Americans, few, even of the officers, had tents to shield them from the weather. A few pieces of bark stripped from the trees, and covering the skeleton of a hut, constituted their only habitation. They were merely separated from the damp earth on which they lay, by a few scattered leaves, upon which were spread a blanket by the men, and a cloak by the officers. Hence frequently arose all those various sicknesses to which an army encamped on the wet ground is inevitably subject. Fortunate was he who possessed the skin of a bear or a buffalo, on which he could repose his weary limbs, after a period of suffering and privation which those who have never served in the wilds of America can with difficulty comprehend.
"Such was the condition of the contending parties towards the middle of May, when General Proctor, despairing to effect the reduction of the fort, caused preparations to be made for raising the siege. Accordingly the gunboats ascended the river and anchored under the batteries, the guns of which were conveyed on board under a heavy fire from the enemy. The whole being secured, the expedition returned to Malden. The Americans remained tranquil within their works, and suffered us to depart unmolested."
Of the eight hundred men who composed Colonel Dudley's division, only one hundred and fifty escaped. All the rest were either killed or captured. Many of the prisoners the Indians
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claimed, and carried off with them to their towns to treat them there as they pleased. The loss of the garrison during the siege amounted to one hundred and eighty-nine. And now the question must arise in every thoughtful mind, What was the cause of this horrid war between England and America, which, destroying all the happiness and peace, created such suffering, slaughter and misery ?
On the part of the British it was because their government demanded the privilege, whenever one of their men of war met any American vessel at sea, to send a lieutenant on board, sum- mon the whole crew before him, and to take from that crew who- ever he was disposed to declare to be a British subject, and to impress him as a sailor beneath the British flag. In this way more than a thousand American citizens had been kidnapped. The American government deemed this an outrage which no nation which respected itself could tolerate. Hence the war.
On the part of the Indians, they joined the British because the United States government claimed the privilege of purchasing immense extents of territory of an individual tribe, without con- sulting other tribes. The Indians were forbidden to unite for mutual protection, as Tecumseh and his party wished to unite them, following the example of the United States. The immedi- ate occasion of the war which this question created was the treaty of Fort Wayne. By this treaty a few chiefs surrendered to the white men the whole of a vast and very attractive territory between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, with three hundred miles front on the Ohio, and one hundred and fifty on the Wabash. Tecumseh claimed that these few chiefs had no sufficient authority to cede these immense hunting grounds which belonged, as he maintained, alike to many other tribes. Are these questions again to come up for final decision before God's tribunal.
General Harrison having repaired, as far as possible, the dam- age which the fort had received during the siege, repaired to the interior and southern portions of the State to organize and forward reinforcements. General Proctor made vigorous preparations at Malden to send out another and more formidable force for the capture of Fort Meigs. General Green Clay, who was left in command of the works, during the absence of General Harrison, discovered through his scouts, on the 20th day of July, that the enemy in great force, in crowded boats, were ascending the Mau-
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mee. The army of British and Indians, under Proctor and Tecumseh, amounted to five thousand. The number of Indians was greater than had ever before been assembled during any period of the war. It is said that they counted four thousand. There were but a few hundred men left to defend the fort.
General Clay immediately dispatched a courier across the country, through the forest, to Sandusky, to inform General Harrison of the peril of the fort. The general sent back word that he would hasten to his relief as soon as possible, with a detachment of four hundred men. In the meantime he urged General Clay to practice the utmost caution to guard against sur- prise. It was General Harrison's plan to take a select number of four hundred men, and, approaching the fort at midnight, by a secret route, to cut their way at every hazard, through the investing lines into the fort. The courier, Captain McCune, of Ohio, reached the fort on his return, just at the break of day, on the 25th of July. He had one companion, James Devlan, a French Canadian. In the night they lost their way, and consequently reached the fort at a later hour than they had intended.
Around the fort there was a space two or three hundred yards in width, which was cleared of trees. Just as McCune and his companion entered the cleared ground, well mounted, but with exhausted steeds, a band of Indians caught sight of them, and came rushing upon them on horse-back, with hideous yells. The following account has been given of their escape :
"They immediately took to the high bank with their horses, and retreated at full gallop up the river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also mounted, until they came to a deep ravine ; putting up from the river, in a southerly direction, when they turned upon the river bottom, and continued a short distance, until they found their further progress in that direction stopped by an impassable swamp. The Indians perceiving their dilemma, from their knowledge of the country, and expecting that they would naturally follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. McCune guessed their intention, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the fort, gaining by this manœuver several hundred yards upon their pursuers. The Indians gave a yell of chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just as they neared the fort, McCune dashed into a thicket across his course, on the opposite side of which, other Indians had huddled,
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awaiting their prey. When this body of Indians had thought them all but in their possession, again was the presence of mind of McCune signally displayed. He wheeled his horse, followed by Devlan, made his way out of the thicket, by the passage he had entered, and galloped around into the open space between them and the river, where the pursuers were checked by fire from the block-house, at the western angle of the fort. In a few minutes after their arrival their horses dropped dead from fatigue. The Indians had orders to take them alive, as they had not fired until just as they entered the fort; but in the chase McCune had great difficulty in persuading Devlan to reserve his fire until the last extremity, and they therefore brought in their pieces loaded."
The Indians could not be relied upon in the least in any attempt to storm a fort. They would fight very valiantly from behind a tree, stump or rock. But nothing could induce them to come out into the open field, and expose their unprotected persons to the bullets of their foes. For three days many stratagems were resorted to to draw out the garrison, but they were all in vain. One very ingeniously devised stratagem of Tecumseh came very near involving the garrison in destruction. He knew that General Clay was hourly expecting the arrival of reinforcements, who would endeavor to cut their way through the investing lines, and thus greatly strengthen the defenders of the fortress.
He therefore caused a strong party of British infantry to be stationed secretly in a ravine, and at a little distance from them, in a dense grove, a squadron of well mounted cavalry. A large body of Indians were then posted in the forest at a little distance from the fort, on both sides of the Sandusky road, from which direction the reinforcements must come.
About an hour before dark the Indians commenced among themselves a sham fight. They raised hideous yells, and the bat- tle was apparently very hotly contested. The design was to de- ceive the Americans into the belief that a deadly struggle was going on between them and a reenforcement endeavoring to gain an entrance to the fort. Thus it was hoped that the garrison might be enticed to sally out to the aid of their friends, who, while rushing to their assistance were in danger of being cut off. Should they do so, they would be instantly surrounded and cut to pieces by overwhelming numbers.
The measure was managed with so much skill, that the garris-
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son instantly flew to arms. The roar of musketry and the resounding war whoops convinced them that a fierce battle was raging. Such a battle could only be between the British forces and their approaching friends. The soldiers clamored to be led forth to the aid of their comrades, who, without such aid, might all perish. Many of the officers of the highest grade were of that opinion, and almost demanded to be led out, as the uproar of the advancing and receding conflict fell upon their ears. There was almost a revolt in the garrison, in consequence of Gen- eral Clay's refusal to suffer them to march out to the rescue of their friends.
The situation of General Clay was embarrassing in the extreme. Should it prove to be true that a reenforcement was struggling to enter the fort, and that they were left unaided to be tomahawked by the savages, the whole community, in its blind indignation would demand that General Clay should be shot as a coward and a traitor. And perhaps every officer and soldier in the garrison would join in that demand.
On the contrary, should it be a ruse to draw the garrison into an ambuscade, every man engaged in the sortie would be inevitably cut down, and the fort, with all its contents would fall into the hands of the enemy. This would be a loss second only to the loss of Detroit. These must have been moments of anguish with the brave and heroic general. It was the fortunate arrival of McCune which alone saved the garrison. The intelligence he brought from General Harrison, on the Sandusky, led General Clay to deem it impossible that General Harrison with reënforce- ments could even have left Sandusky so soon. And he was certain that no reinforcements could come from any other quarter. There- fore, while he could not account for the firing, he did not deem it possible that any friends were approaching the fort. The com- mon soldiers would listen to no such reasoning. They were indignant and almost mutinous in their demand to be led forth.
It was a very narrow escape for the garrison. But for the firmness of General Clay, all must have perished. It is said that during this siege, when five thousand men surrounded the little band within the fortress, General Clay and his men resolved that they would not fall into the hands of General Proctor, who would hand them over to be tomahawked, scalped, and burned at the stake by the savages. Preparations were therefore made to fire
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the magazine, in case the enemy should succeed in taking the fort by storm. The terrific explosion would involve all, friend and foe, in common destruction. This alternative was deemed prefer- able to perishing at the disposal of the savages.
The soldiers in the garrison often beguiled the hours in singing patriotic songs. A verse from one of them will show their general character :
" Freemen ! no longer bear such slaughter ; Avenge your country's cruel woe, Arouse and save your wives and daughters ; Arouse and expel the faithless foe. Chorus -Scalps are bought at stated prices, Malden pays the price in gold."
General Proctor, finding it impossible to draw the garrison out from the fort, and not deeming it safe to attempt to carry it by storm, on the 28th of July embarked his British troops on board his boats, and sailing down the Maumee, directed his course along the southern shore of the lake to the mouth of the Sandusky. His immense bands of Indians, under Tecumseh, filled the woods with their parties, as they traversed the swampy wilderness which spread out between the two posts.
General Harrison was then at Lower Sandusky. It is said that the meaning of the Indian word Sandusky is, At the Cold Water. This valley was in past ages a favorite residence of the Indians. It was occupied by a powerful tribe of Wyandots who were called The Neutral Nation. They had erected not far from each other two strongly-fortified towns, which were called cities of refuge. All who met there laid aside for the time their ani- mosities and met as friends. "The ground," writes Hon. Lewis Cass, "on which they stood was holy. It was a beautiful institu- tion, a calm and peaceful island, looking out upon a world of waves and tempests."
When the French missionaries reached the lake two centuries ago, the Neutral Nation was still in existence. Major Stickney writes, in a lecture delivered at Toledo in 1845 : "The remains of extensive works of defense are now to be seen near Lower San- dusky. The Wyandots have given me this account of them. At a period of two centuries and a half ago, all the Indians west of this point were at war with all the Indians east of it. Two walled towns were built near each other, and each were inhabited by
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those of Wyandot origin. They assumed a neutral character, and the Indians at war recognized that character. All at the west might enter the western city, and all of the east the eastern. 'I'he inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other that war parties were there; but who they were, or whence they came, or anything more, must not be mentioned. The war parties might remain there in security, taking their own time for departure. At the western town they suffered the warriors to burn their prisoners near it. But the eastern would not permit this. An old Wyandot informed me that he recollected seeing, when a boy, the remains of a cedar post or stake at which they used to burn prisoners. The French historians tell us that these neutral cities were inhab- ited, and their neutral character respected when they first came here. At length a quarrel arose between the two cities, and one destroyed the inhabitants of the other. This put an end to all neutrality.
Where the town of Lower Sandusky now stands there was a picketed fortification, embracing about an acre of land, called Fort Stevenson. It was both a garrison and a trading house. The works were not sufficiently capacious to accommodate more than about two hundred men. The defense of this fort was entrusted to a heroic young man, Major George Crogan, but twenty-one years of age. There were one hundred and sixty privates in the garrison. The officers were bold, vigorous, enthusiastic young men. The fort was on the west bank of the river, about twenty miles from its mouth. The only piece of artillery in the fort was one six-pounder.
About twelve miles above Fort Stevenson there was another stockade called Fort Seneca. It was garrisoned by one hundred and forty men. General Harrison had selected this position as the best at which to rendezvous the troops which he was daily expecting from the interior. From that point he could dispatch his forces either up or down the river, to protect the large amount of property which was collected in the Valley of the San- dusky.
General Clay immediately sent word to General Harrison that the enemy had left Fort Meigs, and had directed his course to- wards the Sandusky. A council of war decided that Fort Ste- venson was not tenable against a force approaching it with heavy artillery. General Harrison sent an order by Mr. Connor and
FORT SENECA
-
VIM
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two Indians, to Major Crogan to abandon Stevenson, set fire to the fort, destroy all the property he could not bring away with him, and retreat to Seneca. But in the night the messenger became lost in the forest and did not reach the fort until II o'clock the next day. But then it was too late to retreat, as Indian bands were already hovering around the fort in considerable force. General Harrison had previously said to him :
" Should the British troops approach you in force with cannon and you can discover them in time to effect a retreat, you will do so immediately, destroying all the public stores. You must be aware that the attempt to retreat in the face of an Indian force would be vain. Against the Indians you would be safe in garri- son, however great the numbers."
Major Crogan, finding that he could not retreat, sent back the following answer, which he worded in reference to the great prob- ability that it would fall into the hands of the enemy. He wished to deceive the enemy into the conviction that he had ample force to repel any of his attacks :
"SIR - I have just received yours of yesterday, 10 o'clock. P.M., ordering me to destroy this place, and make good my retreat. It came too late to be carried into execution. We have deter- mined to maintain this place, and by heavens we can."
General Harrison not understanding the motive which dictated. this response, was much displeased. He immediately sent another order by Colonels Wells and Ball, supported by a corps of dra- goons. The spicy order, signed by the adjutant general, was as follows :
" July 30, 1813.
" SIR - The general has received your letter of this date inform- ing him that you had thought proper to disobey the order issued from this office, and delivered to you this morning. It appears that the information which dictated the order was incorrect; and as you did not receive it in the night, as was expected, it might have been proper that you should have reported the circumstance and your situation, before you proceeded to its execution. This might have been passed over. But I am directed to say to you that an officer who presumes to aver that he has made his resolu- tion, and that he will act in direct opposition to the orders of his general, can no longer be entrusted with a separate command. Colonel Wells is sent to relieve you. You will deliver the com-
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mand to him, and repair with Colonel Bell's squadron to this place.
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