USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 68
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The volunteers of Kentucky have, on this occasion, acquitted them- selves with their usual good conduct, but as no opportunity offered for individual distinction, it would be unjust to give one the plaudits to which all have an equal title. I cannot, however, in propriety forbear to express my warm approbation of the good conduct of my Majors M'Dowell and Caldwell, and of Col. Russell, who, in the character of a volunteer, without commission, led my advance ; and I feel myself un- der obligations to Major Adair and Capt. Parker, who acted immediately about my person, for the services they rendered me, by the most prompt, active and energetic exertions.
The services which I have been able to render, fall far short of my wishes, my intention and expectation ; but, sir, when you reflect on the causes which checked my career, and blasted my designs, I flatter my- self you will believe every thing has been done, which could be done in my circumstances ; I have destroyed the chief town of the Ouiatta- non nation, and made prisoners the sons and sisters of the King ; I have burnt a respectable Kickapoo village, and cut down at least four hundred and thirty acres of corn, chiefly in the milk. The Ouiattanons left without houses, home or provision, must cease to war, and will find active employ to subsist their squaws and children during the impend- ing winter.
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Should these services secure to the country which I immediately rep- resented, and the corps which I had the honor to command, the favora- ble consideration of government, I shall infer the approbation of my own conduct, which, added to a consciousness of having done my duty, will constitute the richest reward I can enjoy.
Mr. Charles Vancouvre will have the honor to deliver this letter to your Excellency, who attended me as a quartermaster to the expedition, and rendered me important services. He is able to give a satisfactory idea of the situation of the country over which I passed, and can ascer- tain with precision the course and distance to any point of my route. I recommend him to you as a gentleman of worth.
With the warmest and most perfect respect,
I have the honor to be your Excellency's Obliged, obedient and most faithful servant,
JA. WILKINSON.
His Excellency Major Gen. ST. CLAIR, Fort Washington.
A Talk from Lieut. Col. Commandant James Wilkinson, to the In- dian Nations living on the river Wabash, 6th August, 1791.
The arms of the United States are again exerted against you, and again your towns are in flames, and your wives and children made cap- tives. Again you are cautioned to listen to the voice of reason, to sue for peace, and to submit to the protection of the United States, who are willing to become your friends and fathers ; but at the same time, are determined to punish you for every injury you may offer to their child- ren. Regard not those evil counsellors, who, to secure to themselves the benefits of your trade, advise to measures which involve you, your women and children, in trouble and distress. The United States wish to give you peace ; because it is good in the eyes of the Great Spirit, that all his children should unite and live like brothers. But if you foolishly prefer war, their warriors are ready to meet you in battle, and will not be the first to lay down the hatchet. You may find your squaws and your children under the protection of our great chief and warrior General ST. CLAIR, at Fort Washington; to him you will make application for an exchange of prisoners, or for peace.
Given under my hand and seal, at Kenapacomaqua, the 9th day of August, 1791.
JAMES WILKINSON, Lieut. Col. Com'dt.
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[ NO. XXV. ]
ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT, 1791.
The following message from the President of the United States, to Congress, was presented by his Secretary, Mr. Lear.
UNITED STATES, Dec. 12, 1791.
Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives :-
It is with great concern that I communicate to you the information received from Major General St. Clair, of the misfortune that has be- fallen the troops under his command.
Although the national loss is considerable, according to the scale of the event, yet it may be repaired without great difficulty, excepting as to the brave men who have fallen on the occasion, and who are a subject of public, as well as of private regret.
A further communication will shortly be made, of all such matters as shall be necessary, to enable the legislature to judge of the future meas- ures which it may be proper to pursue.
GEO. WASHINGTON. FORT WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 1791.
SIR :- I have now the satisfaction to inform you, that the army moved from fort Hamilton, the name I have given to the fort on the Miami, on the 4th at eight in the morning, under the command of Gen. Butler. The order of march and encampment I had regulated before, and on the third returned to this place to get up the militia. They marched yes- terday, and consist of about three hundred men, as you will see by the enclosed abstract of the muster. I have reason to believe, however, that at least an equal number will be up here by the 10th, and I have left orders for their following us. The monthly return should have accom- panied this letter, but it was not ready when I left camp, and has not been forwarded since. I have hitherto found it impossible to reduce the officers commanding corps to punctuality with respect to their returns, but they are mending. Our numbers, after deducting the garrisons of this place and Fort Hamilton, are about two thousand, exclusive of the militia. I trust I shall find them sufficient; and should the rest of the militia come on, it would make the matter pretty certain. But the sea- son is now so far advanced, that I fear the intermediate posts, which indeed would have been highly necessary, it will be impossible to estab- lish : in that, however, I must be governed by circumstances, of which I will take care that you shall be apprized in due time. Should the enemy come to meet us, which seems to be expected, and be discomfited there will be no difficulties ; but if they expect us at the Miami villages, the business will wear another face, and the intermediate posts become more essential.
Since the quarter master has been here, and got into his geers, which it took him a little time to do, I am very well satisfied with him, and do believe he will answer the description which you were pleased to give me of him : his business seems now to be well arranged.
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In order to communicate with some degree of certainty with your office, I have directed Capt. Buel, when he arrives, to send a serjeant and twelve men to a house that has been newly erected, half way between this place and Lexington, to each of which two men are to be sent off on every Monday morning to carry dispatches. Those for the war office, or any other public letters, to be put into the hands of Mr. Charles Wilkins, merchant of Lexington, who has engaged to forward all I have occasion to send, regularly once a week ; and should you, sir, think proper to use the same route for any of yours, if they are sent to his care, he will forward them to me. . I have been led to prefer this channel of communication to that of the river, because it appears to be rather the more certain of the two, though it may be a little more tedious and be- cause desertion continues to prevail among the troops, and the sending of small parties to such a distance gives great opportunity to effect it. Gen. Butler informs me that no less than twenty-one went off the night before the army moved from Fort Hamilton.
I am this moment setting out for the army, which I hope to overtake to-morrow evening, and will write to you again as soon as may be.
With great regard and respect, I have the honor to be,
Sir, your very humble servant,
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.
To the Hon. Maj. Gen. KNOX, Secretary of War.
Camp, eighty-one miles advanced of Fort Washington, Nov. 1, 1791.
SIR :- Since I had the honor to write to you on the 21st ult., nothing very material has happened and indeed I am at present so unwell, and have been so for some time past, that I could ill detail it, if it had hap- pened-not that that space of time has been entirely barren of incidents, but as few of them have been of the agreeable kind, I beg you to accept a sort of journal account of them, which will be the easiest for me.
On the 22d the indisposition that had hung about me for some time, sometimes appearing as a bilious colic, and sometimes as a rheumatic asthma, to my great satisfaction, changed to a gout in the left arm and hand, leaving the breast and stomach perfectly relieved, and the cough, which had been excessive, entirely gone. This day Mr. Ellis, with sixty militia from Kentucky, joined the army, and brought up a quantity of flour and beef.
23rd. Two men taken in the act of deserting to the enemy, and one for shooting another soldier and threatening to kill an officer, were hanged upon the grand parade, the whole army being drawn out. Since the army has halted, the country around this, and a-head for fifteen miles, has been well examined ; it is a country, which had we arrived a month sooner in it, and with three times the number of animals, they would have been all fat now.
24th. Named the fort Jefferson, (it lies in lat. 40°, 4', 22", N.) and marched, the same Indian path serving to conduct us about six miles, and encamped on good ground and an excellent position. A rivulet in front, and a very large prairie which would at the proper season afford forage for a thousand horses, on the left. So ill this day that I had much difficulty in keeping with the army.
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ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT, 1791.
25th. Very hard rains last night, obliged to halt to-day, on account of provisions ; for though the soldiery may be kept pretty easy in camp under the expectations of provisions arriving, they cannot bear to march in advance, and take none along with them. Received a letter from Mr. Hodgdon by express ; 13,000 lbs. flour will arrive the 27th.
26th. A party of militia, sent to reconnoitre, fell in with five Indians, and suffered them to slip through their fingers in their camp ; articles to the value of twenty-two dollars were found and divided. The Vir- ginia battalion is melting down very fast, notwithstanding the promises of the men to the officers ; 13 have been discharged by Col. Dark to-day.
27th. Gave orders for enlisting the levies, with the condition of serving out their time in the present corps. Payomingo arrived in camp with his warriors. I was so unwell could only see him and bid him welcome, but entered on no business-considerable dissatisfaction among the levies about their enlistments.
28th. Some clothing sent for to fort Washington for the recruits ar- rived was begun to be distributed, and will have a good effect ; but the enlisting the levies does not meet with the encouragement that might have been expected-it is not openly complained of by the officers, but it is certainly privately, by some of high rank, and the measure of tempting them with warm clothing condemned. Mr. Hodgdon writes me that he is sending forward a quantity of woollen overalls and stocks, by General Butler's orders. I have ordered them to be deposited at fort Jefferson. Some few Indians about us, probably those the militia fell in with a day or two ago-two of the levies were fired upon about three miles off, one killed ; two of the militia likewise, one of them got in and the other missing, supposed to be taken.
29th. Payomingo and his people, accompanied by Captain Sparks and four good riflemen, gone on a scout : they do not propose to return under ten days, unless they sooner succeed in taking prisoners.
30th. The army moved about nine o'clock, and with much difficulty made seven miles, having left a considerable part of the tents by the way, the provision made by the quarter-master was not adequate. Three day's flour issued to them. The Indian road still with us. The course this day N. 25° W.
31st. This morning about 60 of the militia deserted. It was at first reported, that one half of them had gone off, and that their design was to plunder the convoys which were upon the road. I detached the first regiment in pursuit of them, with orders to Major Hamtramck to send a sufficient guard back with Benham (a commissary) whenever he met with him, and follow them about twenty-five miles below fort Jefferson, or until he met the second convoy, and then return and join the army. Benham arrived last night; and to-day, November 1st, the army is halted to give the road-cutters an opportunity of getting some distance a-head, and that I might write to you. I am this day considerably re- covered, and hope that it will turn out, what I at first expected it would be, a friendly fit of the gout, come to relieve me from every other com- plaint.
Yesterday I was favored with yours of the 28th and 29th of Sept. I
P
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have enclosed my communications with the old and new contractors, and their answers. My orders for the post to them are not yet definite ; but they will be very soon. In the mean time, I expect they are both at work.
With great respect, I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.
P. S. Your letters for General Wilkinson, and General Scott, Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown, are sent back, and the public thanks in the name of the president, presented to General Wilkinson agreeably to your directions.
To the Hon. Major Gen. Knox, Secretary of War.
FORT WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 1791.
SIR :-- Yesterday afternoon the remains of the army under my com- mand got back to this place, and I have now the painful task to give you an account of as warm and unfortunate an action as almost any that lias been fought, in which every corps was engaged and worsted, except the first regiment, that had been detached upon a service I had the honor to inform you of in my last dispatch, and had not joined me.
On the 3rd instant the army had reached a creek about twelve yards wide, running to the southward of west, which I believe to have been the river St. Mary, which empties itself into the Miami of the lake* at the Miami village, about four o'clock in the afternoon, having marched near nine miles, and were immediately encamped upon a very com- manding piece of ground, in two lines, having the above-mentioned creek in front. The right wing composed of Butler's, Clarke's and Patterson's battalions, commanded by Major-General Butler, formed the first line, and the left wing consisting of Bedinger's and Gaither's bat- talions, and the second regiment commanded by Lieut. Col. Darke, formed the second line, with an interval between them of about seventy yards, which was all the ground would allow. The right flank was pretty well secured by the creek, a steep bank, and Faulkner's corps ; some of the cavalry and their piquets covered the left flank. The militia were thrown over the creek, and advanced about one quarter of a mile and encamped in the same order. There were a few Indians who ap- peared on the opposite side of the creek, but fled with the utmost pre- cipitation on the advance of the militia. At this place, which I judged to be about fifteen miles from the Miama village, I had determined to throw up a slight work, the plan of which was concerted that evening with Major Ferguson, wherein to have deposited the men's knapsacks, and everything else that was not of absolute necessity, and to have moved on to attack the enemy as soon as the first regiment was come up ; but they did not permit me to execute either, for on the fourth, about half an hour before sunrise, and when the men had been just dis- missed from the parade (for it was a constant practice to have them all under arms a considerable time before daylight) an attack was made
* St. Clair was of the opinion that his defeat occurred upon St. Mary, and it is so stated in his official despatch. It is incorrect. The action took place on a small tributary stream of the Wabash .- McClung.
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upon the militia-those gave way in a very little time, and rushed into camp through Major Butler's battalion, which together with part of Clarke's, threw them into considerable disorder, which notwithstanding the exertions of both, and those officers, was never altogether remedied, the Indians following close at their heels. The fire however of the first line checked them, but almost instantly a very heavy attack began upon that line, and in a few minutes it was extended to the second likewise ; the great weight of it was directed against the centre of each, where the artillery was placed, and from which the men were repeatedly driven with great slaughter. Finding no great effect from our fire, and con- fusion beginning to spread, from the great number of men who were falling in all quarters, it became necessary to try what could be done by the bayonet. Lieutenant Colonel Darke was accordingly ordered to make a charge with part of the second line, and to turn the left flank of the enemy : this was executed with great spirit-the Indians instantly gave way, and were driven back three or four hundred yards ; but for want of a sufficient number of riflemen to pursue this advantage, they soon returned, and the troops were obliged to give back in their turn. At this moment they had entered our camp by the left flank, having pushed back the troops that were posted there. Another charge was made here by the second regiment, Butler's and Clarke's battalions, with equal effect, and it was repeated several times, and always with success ; in all of them many men were lost, and particularly the officers, which, with so raw troops, was a loss altogether irremediable. In that just spoke of, made by the second regiment, and Butler's bat- talion, Major Butler was dangerously wounded, and every officer of the second regiment fell, except three, one of whom Mr. Creaton, was shot through the body. Our artillery being now silenced, and all the officers killed, except Captain Ford, who was very badly wounded, and more than half of the army fallen, being cut off from the road, it became ne- cessary to attempt the regaining it, and to make a retreat if possible : to this purpose the remains of the army were formed as well as circum- stances would admit, towards the right of the encampment, from which by the way of the second line, another charge was made upon the enemy, as if with the design to turn their right flank, but in fact to gain the road. This was effected, and as soon as it was open the militia took along it, followed by the troops, Major Clarke with his battalion cover- ing the rear. The retreat, in these circumstances was you may be sure a very precipitate one-it was in fact a flight. The camp and the artillery were abandoned ; but that was unavoidable, for not an horse was left alive to have drawn it off, had it otherwise been practicable. But the most disgraceful part of the business is, that the greatest part of the men threw away their arms and accoutrements, even after the pur- suit, (which continued about four miles) had ceased. I found the road strewed with them for many miles, but was not able to remedy it; for having had all my horses killed, and being mounted upon one that could not be pricked out of a walk, I could not get forward myself ; and the orders I sent forward, either to halt the front or to prevent the men from parting with their arms, were unattended to.
The route continued quite to Fort Jefferson, 29 miles, which was
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reached at a little after sun-setting. The action began about half an hour before sunrise, and the retreat was attempted half an hour after nine o'clock.
I have not yet been able to get returns of the killed and wounded ; but Major General Butler, Lieut. Colonel Oldham, of the militia, Majers Ferguson, Heart and Clarke, are among the former. Col. Sargent, my Adjutant General, Lieut. Col. Darke, Lieut. Col. Gibson, Major Butler, and the Viscount Malartie, who served me as an aid-de-camp, are among the latter, and a great number of captains and subalterns in both.
I have now, sir, finished my melancholy tale-a tale that will be felt sensibly by every one that has sympathy for private distress, or for public misfortune.
I have nothing, sir, to lay to the charge of the troops but their want of discipline, which from the short time they had been in service it was impossible they should have acquired, and which rendered it very diffi- cult, when they were thrown into confusion, to reduce them again to order, and is one reason why the loss has fallen so heavily upon the officers, who did every thing in their power to effect it; neither were my own exertions wanting, but worn down with illness, and suffering under a painful disease, unable either to mount or dismount a horse without assistance, they were not so great as they otherwise would, and perhaps ought to have been. We were overpowered by numbers ; but it is no more than justice to observe, that though composed of so many different species of troops, the utmost harmony prevailed through the whole army during the campaign.
At Fort Jefferson, I found the first regiment, which had returned from the service they had been sent upon, without either overtaking the de- serters or meeting the convoys of provision. I am not certain, sir, whether I ought to consider the absence of this regiment from the field of action as fortunate or otherwise ; I incline to think it was fortunate : for I very much doubt whether, had it been in the action, the fortune of the day had been turned : and if it had not the triumph of the enemy would have been more complete, and the country would have been des- titute of every means of defence.
Taking a view of the situation of our broken troops at fort Jefferson, and that there was no provisions in the fort, I called upon the field officers, viz : Lieut. Col. Darke, Major Hamtramck, Major Zeigler and Major Gaither, together with the Adjutant General for their advice, what would be proper further to be done, and it was their unanimous opinion, that the addition of the first regiment, unbroken as it was, did not put the army on as respectable a footing as it was in the morning, because a great part of it was now unarmed ; that it had been then found unequal to the enemy ; and should they come on which was probable, would be found so again : that the troops could not be thrown into the fort, both because it was so small, and that there were no provisions in it; that provisions were known to be upon the road, at the distance of one or at most two marches ; that, therefore, it would be proper to move, without loss of time to meet the provisions, when the men might have the sooner an opportunity of some refreshment, and that a proper detachment might be sent back with it to have it safely deposited in the fort. This advice
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was accepted, and the army put in motion again at ten o'clock, and marched all night, and the succeeding day met with a quantity of flour, part of it was distributed immediately, part taken back to supply the army on the march to fort Hamilton, and the remainder (about fifty horse loads) sent forward to fort Jefferson ; the next day a drove of cattle was met with for the same place, and I have information that both got in. The wounded who had been left at that place, were ordered to be brought here by the return horses.
I have said, sir, in a former part of this letter, that we were overpow- ered by numbers ; of that, however, I have no other evidence than the weight of the fire, which was always a most deadly one, and generally delivered from the ground, few of the enemy shewing themselves on foot, except when they were charged; and that in a few minutes our whole camp, which extended above three hundred and fifty yards in length, was entirely surrounded, and attacked on all quarters.
The loss, sir, the public has sustained by the fall of so many brave officers, particularly Gen. Butler and Maj. Ferguson, cannot be too much regretted ; but it is a circumstance that will alleviate the misfortune in some measure, that all of them fell most gallantly doing their duty. I have had very particular obligations to many of them, as well as to the survivors, but to none more than to Col. Sargent. He has discharged the various duties of his office with zeal, with exactness, and with intel- ligence, and on all occasions afforded me every assistance in his power ; which I have also experienced from my aid-de-camp, Lieut. Denny, and the Viscount Malartie, who served with me in that station, as a volunteer.
With every sentiment of respect and regard, I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant,
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.
To the Hon. Maj. Gen. Knox. Secretary of War.
P. S. Some orders that had been given to Col. Oldham, over night and which were of much consequence, were not excuted; and some very material intelligence was communicated by Capt. Slough to Gen. Butler, in the course of the night before the action, which was never imparted to me, nor did I hear of it until after my arrival here.
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