USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 36
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 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
(1) Breckenridge's History of the late War, pp. 54, 55.
C
f
326
EARLY HISTORY
raging of the flames, altogether produced a terrific scene. Despair seized upon the boldest, and two soldiers, giving up all for lost, leaped over the pickets, for the purpose of escaping, and one of them was in- stantly cut to pieces by the Indians. Captain Taylor did not lose his presence of mind, but coolly ordered the roofs of the adjoining barracks to be taken off, and a breast-work raised opposite the burning building. This was done, and a breast-work raised eight feet high, to cover the open space which would be left by the burnt block-house. The other buildings were then preserved, and the garrison saved from massacre. The firing continued until daylight, when the Indians retired, after suf- fering great loss. The loss in the fort was only three killed, and one or two wounded. The Indians, foiled in their attack upon the fort, fell upon the settlements on a fork of White River, and murdered twenty-one men, women and children.
On the sixteenth of September, Colonel Russel arrived to the relief of the fort with a reinforcement of six hundred mounted Rangers and five hundred Infantry.(1) For this gallant defence Capt. Taylor received a Major's commission.
A large army of four thousand mounted Riflemen, was raised chiefly in Kentucky, for an expedition against the Kickapoo and Peoria Indian towns on the Illinois river, and placed under the command of Major General Hopkins. The army marched from Vincennes to Fort Harri- son, and from there proceeded west, through open plains covered with tall grass, which at this time was dry and combustible. The distance from Fort Harrison to the Peoria towns, was about one hundred and twenty miles, and to the Kickapoo villages one hundred and eighty. Murmurs and discontent began to show themselves in this unwieldy and independent body, which was kept together by no discipline or authori- ty. In this effervesence of chivalry every one consulted his own will, without restraint. It had hardly been four days on its march, when they halted, and a Major rode up to Gen. Hopkins, ordered him to re- turn, and lead back the troops. An idea began to prevail that the guides were ignorant of the country, and that they were pursuing the wrong course. Just at this time, the wind arose blowing violently towards them, the grass was on fire, and the flames approaching them with great velocity. This was supposed to be an Indian attack. By setting fire around their camp, they arrested the progress of the flames, and saved themselves. The next morning, a council of officers was called, and the General, seeing the state of the army proposed to proceed with five
(1) Powell's Life of Zachary Taylor, pp. 30, 35.
1
an
F F S
327
OF THE WEST.
hundred men, if that number would volunteer. Not a man agreed to accompany him. He then requested to direct the operations of that single day. This was agreed to ; but when orders were given to march, they all turned round, and pursued their course towards home, leaving him in the rear. Thus terminated the expedition.(2)
At the same time, another army destined to meet Gen. Hopkins at the Peoria towns, was raised in Illinois. It consisted of a corps of Riflemen under the command of Ninian Edwards, Governor of the ter- ritory, and three companies of United States Rangers, under Col. Russel. Notwithstanding the failure of Gen. Hopkins to co-operate, they perse- vered in the enterprise, destroyed one of the towns, and pursued the Indians into a swamp, where they fled for shelter. The troops waded into the swamp, in some places the water being up to the middle, for several miles, and killed upwards of twenty of the enemy, in this place upon the bank of the Illinois. Pamitaris' town, a populous and flour- ishing village, was completely destroyed, together with all the Indians' provisions for the winter.
Gen. Hopkins, determined to wipe off the disgrace of his lost expe- dition, and therefore, led another army, better disciplined against the Indian towns, on the head waters of the Wabash. On the eleventh of November, he set out from Fort Harrison, with about twelve hundred men ; while at the same time, seven boats, under the command of Lieut. Col. Butler, ascended the river with supplies and provisions. On the nineteenth, Gen. Hopkins arrived at the Prophet's town, and immedi- ately sent Col. Butler with three hundred men, to surprize the Winne- bago towns on Ponce Passu creek. He came upon the place about daylight, but found it evacuated. The Winnebago towns, the Prophet's town, and a large Kickapoo village, containing one hundred and twenty cabins, were burned, and their winter provisions of corn destroyed. No Indians were discovered until the twenty-first, when they fired upon a small party and killed a man by the name of Dunn. The next day about sixty horsemen went to bury the dead, when they were suddenly attacked, and eighteen men killed and wounded. The Indians then evacuated their camp, and retreated, when the army returned.
About the time, that the Indians were repulsed by Capt. Taylor, at Fort Harrison, a large Indian force had invested Fort Wayne, and also Fort Defiance. Gen. Harrison reached Fort Defiance on the twelfth of September, and the Indians immediately disappeared. On the sixth and ninth, they had attacked the fort with great fury, resorting to every
(2) Breckenridge's History of the late War, pp. 60, 61.
d
t e
328
EARLY HISTORY
stratagem, and attempting several times to take it by assault, but were compelled to retire. Gen. Harrison then resolved to lay waste the In- dian country. One detachment proceeded against a Potawatomee town, on the river St. Joseph, which discharges itself into Lake Michigan ; and the other against the Miami villages. Both of the detachments were successful, the bark and wooden huts of nine villages were burned, the inhabitants having abandoned them, and their corn was cut up and de- stroyed.
General James Winchester, at the head of about two thousand men, was ordered to take post at the Rapids of the Maumee, while General Harrison repaired to Fort St. Mary, for the purpose of organizing the ulterior movements of the army. General Winchester was obliged to advance slowly in consequence of the great difficulties of the route, and to avoid surprise. His route lay through a country covered with deep forests, close thickets and marshes, in which the horses sunk to the knees at every step in the mire. Colonel Jennings had been ordered to proceed with the supplies by the river Au Glaize. After six days march, the army arrived at Fort Defiance, and the British and Indians who had again laid seige to it, precipitately retreated down the river in boats.
General Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia county, Ohio, had raised about one thousand volunteers for six months duty, and his brigade was at- tached to the command of General Winchester. Orders were now given to General Tupper by General Winchester, to proceed immediately to the Rapids, and drive the enemy from that place. On the route General Tupper sent out a small party to reconnoitre. This detachment pursued the Indians six or seven miles, and returned without finding the enemy. General Winchester was offended, and ordered General Tupper to send out a larger force, but the troops with their half-starved horses refused to go. General Winchester in a rage, ordered General Tupper himself to go with all his mounted men. Obeying this order, as he was just about to march, Colonel Allen came up with a commission from General Win- chester to take this command. This so irritated General Tupper and his brigade, that they left the camp afterwards and applied to General Harrison to be allowed to serve under him. (1)
General Tupper having returned to Urbania with his mounted men, organized another expedition for the purpose of proceeding to the Rapids. His force consisted of about six hundred men, and was furnished with six days provisions. He found the place in the possession of the Bri- tish and Indians, and a number of boats and small vessels lying below.
(1) Atwater's History of Ohio, pp. 197, 198.
329
OF THE WEST.
He halted at sunset, with a view of crossing the river and making an at- tack the next morning by daybreak. But the current was so rapid that many of the men attempting to cross, were swept down the stream, and the plan was abandoned. It was now resolved to resort to stratagem, and if possible decoy the enemy over. A few men then showed themselves, which caused the vessels to slip their cables and the Indian women to run for the woods. A fire was then opened upon the Americans with musketry and a four pounder. At first only a few Indi- ans crossed, but soon a number were seen crossing higher up the stream. General Tupper being fearful the Indians would gain his rear, fell back. In a short time a body of mounted Indians rushed forward, killed four men, and attacked the rear of the right flank. The column then opened a brisk fire which caused the savages to give ground. The Indians ral- lied, and passing along the rear guard, made a charge upon the rear of the left column. This column sustained its position, poured in a well directed fire, and in twenty minutes the Indians again retired. General Tupper then ordered the right column to move up in order to prevent an attack on the right flank. A battalion was now ordered to charge upon numbers crossing the river. The charge was successful-many were shot from their horses in the river, and the savages routed. General Tupper then returned to Fort McArthur.
On the twenty-fifth of November, 1812, General Harrison ordered a detachment of six hundred men to march from his head-quarters at Franklinton, to destroy the Indian towns on the Mississinewa river, one of the tributaries of the Wabash. The detachment consisted of Colonel Simeral's regiment of Kentucky volunteers ; Major James Ball's squadron of United States dragoons ; Captain John B. Alexander's company of riflemen from Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl. vania ; Captain Joseph Markle's, troop of horse from Westmoreland, Pennsylvania; Captain James Butler's light infantry company of Pitts- burgh Blues ; Captain Elliot's company of infantry ; Captain Garrard's troop of horse from Lexington, Kentucky; Captain Pierce's troop of horse from Zanesville, Ohio; Lieutenant Lee's detachment of Michigan volunteers.
These troops were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John B. Camp- bell of the nineteenth United States regiment. After great hardships, in this inclement season of the year, in passing through the wilderness, they reached the Mississinewa about the middle of December. This stream they followed downwards, until arriving within twenty miles of the first Indian town, when Col. Campbell called a council of war, to ask the advice
1
330
EARLY HISTORY
of his officers. Their advice was to march all night and take the enemy by surprise. Just as they were entering the town, one of the Kentuck- ians gave an Indian yell which gave the alarm and prevented the sur- prise. Notwithstanding this, eight warriors were killed, and forty two men, women and children taken prisoners. Pressing onward they de- stroyed three other towns lower down, and returned to the site of the first. At this place, on the eighteenth of December, they were attacked by several hundred Indian warriors. They were concealed in the edge of the forest, behind some old fallen timbers, and opened a heavy fire on the troops. The dragoons were immediately led to the charge, driving the savages from their coverts with great slaughter, and causing them to fly with great precipitation. Forty dead warriors were left on the batile ground, and the remainder were carried off. The Americans had twelve killed and about thirty wounded. Among the slain were the brave Cap- tain Pierce, of Zanesville, and the gallant Lieutenant Waltz, of Captain Markle's troop of horse.
The troops then returned home, and suffered intensely from fatigue, hunger and cold. No less than one hundred and eighty men had their limbs frozen. This expedition was a heavy blow upon the hostile In- dians, and prevented them from attacking the settlements. Every offi- cer and soldier behaved with great bravery, and endured with fortitude the sufferings of the campaign. It was one of the best conducted cam- paigns of 1812.
0
331
OF THE WEST.
CHAPTER XIX.
IN THE BEGINNING OF 1813 GENERAL HARRISON AT FRANKLINTON-HIS PLAN OF CAMPAIGN-GENERAL WINCHESTER DISOBEYS ORDERS, AND MARCHES TO THE RIVER RAISIN-VICTORY OF THE KENTUCKY TROOPS AT THE RIVER RAISIN, ON THE EIGHTEENTH OF JANUARY-ARRIVAL OF PROCTOR, WITH FIFTEEN HUN- DRED MEN-DESPERATE BATTLE, AND FINAL SURRENDER OF THE AMERICANS- HORRID MASSACRE OF THE PRISONERS-SEIGE AND SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE OF FORT MEIGS, BY GENERAL HARRISON-MAJOR CROGHAN'S GALLANT DEFENCE OF FORT STEPHENSON-PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE- BATTLE OF THE THAMES, AND VICTORY OF THE AMERICAN ARMY UNDER GENERAL HARRISON, OVER THE COMBINED BRITISH AND INDIAN ARMY, UNDER PROCTOR AND TE- CUMSEH.
In the beginning of the year 1813. General Harrison had established his head-quarters at Franklinton, from whence he could with greater facility organize the troops, and distribute the supplies to the different divisions of the army. Having determined upon a winter campaign, for the recovery of Detroit and Michigan Territory, it was his intention to occupy a line of posts, from Fort Wayne to the foot of the Rapids. General Winchester was to occupy Fort Wayne and Fort Defiance, and General Perkins was sent forward to occupy Lower Sandusky. Having formed a plan of the campaign, he sent orders to General Winchester, " to move forward to the Rapids, and erect block-houses, as if to winter there ; and also to build sleds, as if to bring on provisions from the inte- rior for the support of the army during the winter."
On the tenth of January, General Winchester descended the Maumee, and established his quarters on the north bank, just above Wayne's bat- tle-ground, on an eminence. His encampment was well chosen. He then erected a large store-house, and filled it with corn from the fields around him. On the thirteenth of the same month, he received infor- mation that the Indians threatened to burn Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, twenty-six miles from Detroit. The inhabitants claimed the protection of the United States, and on the fourteenth, sent an urgent re- quest for relief. On the sixteenth, two messengers arrived, and piteously begged immediate assistance, as the only means of saving their town from conflagration, and themselves from massacre. A council of war advised General Winchester to march to their assistance, and accord- ingly on the seventeenth of January, Colonel Lewis and Colonel Allen, of the Kentucky Volunteers, were sent with six hundred and ten men, on the expedition. They encamped the first night, twenty miles from the camp of General Winchester, when an express from the River Raisin arrived, with the information that the British and Indians had already
. e
I
332
EARLY HISTORY
taken possession of Frenchtown, and an additional force was soon ex- pected. Colonel Lewis sent a messenger back to the Rapids with the news, and continued his march. As the troops drew near the town, the enemy became apprised of their approach, and prepared for their recep- tion. Colonel Allen commanded the right wing, Major Graves the left, and Major Madison the centre. On reaching the river, which was bridged with ice, they displayed, and moved forward under a fire from a howitzer, and a discharge of musketry. Majors Graves and Madison, with their battalions, were ordered to dislodge the enemy from the houses and picketing, which they in a moment effected, under a shower of bul- lets, and drove the British and Indians to the woods. Colonel Allen made a simultaneous movement upon their left, and after several spirited charges, the enemy gave way and fled. Availing themselves of the fences and fallen timber in the neighboring wood, they attempted to make a stand ; but were again attacked, and after an obstinate conflict, gave way. Being pursued, they charged furiously in turn, but were not able to break the American line. A severe conflict now ensued ; but the enemy were finally beaten, pursued with a continual charge for seve- ral miles, and entirely dispersed. The American loss was twelve killed, and fifty-five wounded. The enemy left fifteen dead in the open field ; but as the conflict was mostly in the woods, about dark, the ap- pearance of the ground the next day, showed that a large number had been carried off by the Indians.(1)
The volunteers having thus gallantly effected their object, encamped on the spot, where they remained until the twentieth, when they were joined by General Wilkinson, with two hundred and fifty men, increasing the force to about eight hundred. Six hundred men were posted within the pickets, and the remainder encamped in the open field.
On the morning of the twenty-second of January, a combined British and Indian force of about fifteen hundred strong, under Colonel Proctor and the Indian Chiefs, Round-Head and Split-Log, having taken a posi- tion within three hundred yards of our army, opened a heavy fire upon it suddenly, at daylight, with six pieces of artillery, accompanied with musketry. The body of men belonging to the encampment, and com- posing the right wing, were soon overpowered by numbers, and endea- vored to retreat across the river. Two companies of fifty men each, seeing the situation of their comrades, sallied out of the breast-work to their relief, but were overpowered with them, and were either cut off or surrendered themselves to the British, under the promise of protection.
(1) Breckenridge's History of the Late War, pp. 87, 88.
0
ca re
the mi di
the
333
OF THE WEST.
More than one hundred of these men had gained the woods, where they were instantly surrounded by Indians, scalped and tomahawked. Hor- rible destruction overwhelmed the fugitives on all sides. Captain Simp- son was shot down and tomahawked. Colonel Allen, although severely wounded, attempted several times to rally his men. He had escaped two miles, where exhausted with loss of blood, he seated himself upon a log. An Indian warrior approached and ordered him to surrender .- Another Indian approached with a raised tomahawk, to strike him, whom the Colonel instantly killed. A third Indian then shot him dead. Cap- tain Mead was killed in the commencement of the action. (1)
'The snow was deep, and prevented the escape of nearly all. Gene- ral Winchester and Colonel Lewis, were taken prisoners at a bridge, three-fourths of a mile from the town, and after being stripped of their coats, were conducted by their captors to Colonel Proctor.
At the same time, amidst all this desolation and death, Major Madison and Major Graves maintained their position behind the pickets, with ut e. ve en p- more than spartan valor. Colonel Proctor finding it useless any longer to assail this little band of heroes, withdrew his forces, and posted him- self in the woods, beyond the reach of their rifles. But having secured General Winchester as prisoner, he determined to get possession of Major Madison and Major Graves without further contest. General ad Winchester instantly agreed to surrender these brave men. Major Overton, his Aid, accompanied by Procter himself, and several British ed officers, carried a flag of truce and an order from General Winchester, ere directed to Major Madison and Major Graves to surrender themselves ng and their men to the enemy. The flag passed three times-the Ameri- in cans being unwilling to surrender with arms in their hands, until they received a positive engagement from the British Colonel that they should ish not be murdered, and that they should have the privilege of burying tor their dead. Thirty-five officers, and four hundred and fifty non-com- osi· missioned officers and men, still remained after fighting six hours against pon discharges of artillery and musketry, amid the yells of thousands of ith savages. After some altercation, the British commander agreed to the om- following terms of capitulation : - " that private property should be re- lea spected-that sleds should be provided on the next morning to convey the wounded to Amhersburg, near Malden-that in the mean time they should be protected by a guard-and finally, that the side arms of the
(1) Atwater's History of Ohio, p. 207; Breckenridge's History of the Late War, p. 38.
e 0
ach, to for ion.
334
EARLY HISTORY
officers should be restored to them at Malden." On such terms, they relied upon British honor, and surrendered. (1)
Scarcely had the Americans surrendered, under the stipulation of pro- tection from Colonel Proctor, than these brave men discovered too late, that they were reserved to be butchered in cold blood. Of the right wing, but a small number had escaped; the work of scalping and strip- ping the dead, and murdering those who could no longer resist, was suf- fered to go on without restraint. The infernal work was now to begin with the brave men under Major Madison and Major Graves. The in- famous Proctor and the British officers turned a deaf ear to the remon- strances of these unhappy men. Their swords were taken from the sides of the officers, and many of them were stripped almost naked and robbed. The brave dead were stripped and scalped, and their bodies shockingly mutilated, and the tomahawk put an end at once to the suf- ferings of many of the wounded who could not rise. With few excep- tions, the prisoners who now remained, instead of being guarded by the British soldiers, as stipulated, were delivered to the charge of the Indi- ans, to be marched in the rear of the army to Malden, and the greater part of these ill-fated men were murdered on the way, through mere wantonness. All who became weak for want of nourishment, or from excessive fatigue, or their wounds, in this most inclement season of the year, were at once struck down with the tomahawk. Small was the remnant of this little army that ever reached the British garrison .- The greater part of the prisoners were carried off by the savages to be roasted at the stake. (2) About sixty of the wounded, many of them officers of distinction, had been suffered to take shelter in the houses of Jean B. Jerome and Gabriel Godfrey, and two of their own Surgeons were permitted by Proctor to attend them. They also obtained a pro- mise that a guard should be placed to protect them, and that they should be carried to Malden the next morning on sleds. But no guard was left, and on the next day instead of sleds to convey them to a place of safety, a party of Indians returned to the field of battle, raising their frantic yells, they began to plunder the houses of the inhabitants. They next broke into the houses where the wounded were, and plundered, tomahawked and scalped them without mercy. They then set the houses on fire. Several who were able to crawl, endeavored to escape at the windows, but they were tomahawked, pushed back into the houses
(1) Atwater's History of Ohio, p. 208; Breckenridge's History of the Late War, pp. 88-89.
(2) Breckenridge's history of the late war, p. 91.
335
OF THE WEST.
and consumed in the flames. Others were killed in the street and thrown back into the burning houses. For these horrible outrages un- precedented in civilized warfare, Colonel Proctor was raised to the rank of Brigadier General in the British army. (1)
In this action the Americans lost in killed, wounded and missing, two hundred and ninety men. The British captured five hundred and forty - seven prisoners ; the Indians forty-five, and thirty-three escaped to the Rapids. The British and Indian loss was between three and four hundred.
The news of this melancholy affair soon after reached Gen. Harrison, who was exerting himself by forced marches to reach Gen. Winchester. He had heard with chagrin the movements of that officer, and appre- hensive of the consequences had ordered a detachment of men to march to his relief. Hearing of the disaster when on their march, and meeting some of the fugitives, they fell back upon the Rapids. The plan of operations now being deranged by the disobedience of orders and defeat and destruction of the army under Winchester, it was now determined to build a strong fortification at the Rapids, and organize an army to take the field in the spring.
This fortress was called Fort Meigs. It was situated on the south- east side of the Maumee, and near the battle ground where Gen. Wayne defeated the Indians in 1794. The fort was situated upon a rising ground, surrounded by a prairie about one hundred and fifty yards or more -- succeeded by a piece of woods and prairie beyond. The whole winter was spent in organizing troops for a vigorous campaign, as soon as the spring opened.
Fort Meigs was now left in command of Gen. Leftwitch, with his Virginia volunteers, and about two hundred and fifty troops from Penn- sylvania, and Gen. Harrison went to Cincinnati, to urge forward rein- forcements. Capt. Wood, of the Engineers, was engaged in constructing the defences.
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.