USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 71
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In May, 1770, William Crawford, Thomas Gist, Arthur St. Clair and others
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were appointed justices of the peace for Cumberland county. A year later, on the erection of Bedford county, he was appointed to the same position, and was moreover appointed its first prothonotary and clerk of the courts. About this time he began to advocate the erection of a new county west of Laurel Hill, and in his correspondence with the Proprietaries urged it mainly because of the long distance the settlers in this region had to travel to reach the seat of justice. Finally, when the project materialized in the formation of Westmore- land county (1773), he was appointed justice, prothonotary and clerk of the courts of the new county as he had been in Bedford county. Prior to the be- ginning of the Revolution he was the leading if not the sole agent of the Penns. The reader will recall his participation in Dunmore's war. This haughty Lord demanded that St. Clair be delivered into the custody of the Virginia authori- ties. This the Governor most peremptorily refused, and he stated further that the Proprietary government was responsible for St. Clair's official acts. St. Clair's greatest work in Dunmore's war was as a private citizen to induce the inhabitants of Westmoreland not to leave their homes as many of them were doing. With the Indians and Dunmore's outlaws, the county was in a very unsettled condition to say the least, and was in great danger of being depopu- lated. He organized the ablebodied men into a militia for self-defense, and promised to pay them, and actually did pay them with his own money. It was then that a chain of blockhouses along the river was constructed. Forbes in his report in 1758 had recommended that a military road be built from Ligo- nier to Kittanning for frontier protection. This was at length constructed under St. Clair's supervision, and a strong fortress was built at Kittanning, which he named Fort Armstrong, in memory of Colonel Armstrong, the victor over the Indians at that place in 1756. Even at this time St. Clair had great power with the Indians. He often held conferences with them, and urged matters with them in plain words which he was careful to make good. They therefore, while not always guided by his advice, had the utmost confidence in him. The Indians and their agents frequently visited with him at Ligonier, and thus he accomplished a great deal for the safety and advancement of the white settlers in Westmoreland county.
His correspondence at this period with the leading men of Boston, Philadel- phia, and the east, shows that though he had been an English army officer he was not in any danger of being a Tory, and that he had most pronounced views on the impending difficulties between Great Britain and the Colonies. Else- where we have considered the Hannastown Resolutions of May 16, 1775. St. Clair was undoubtedly the leading spirit of that convention, though he was too modest and unobtrusive to say so. The impartial reader cannot but regard his espousal of the American cause as one of the most independent and signifi- cant acts in his eventful life. With centuries of royal blood in his veins, his every tie of kindred and youthful affiliation, his services in the royal army, and his long and intimate association with the Penns and other Tories of Philadelphia, apparently bound him indissolubly to Great Britain. But these
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bonds were as gossamer threads to him when they conflicted with the rights of the oppressed colonies.
In 1775 the Indians in the west had been very troublesome and had repeat- edly adopted Pontiac's tactics in making long raids on the east. Congress therefore appointed commissioners to meet at Fort Pitt to treat with them, and St. Clair was selected as secretary of the commission. But the conference was barren of immediate results, and St. Clair was appointed by the commission to raise an army to chastise the Indians in the Detroit region. They gave him no financial aid, but that never mattered to St. Clair. He enlisted about five hun- dred young men who were to furnish their own horses, arms, forage and provisions and to march at once. At that time General Benedict Arnold was storming Quebec, and all interests centered there. When Arnold's expedition failed, St. Clair went to Philadelphia to urge his project on the Continental Congress. But, instead of sending him and his army to Detroit, he was called into the Revolution, where it was thought he would be of greater use. In this way he entered the great war. His first assigned duty was to make arrange- ments and preparations for war rather than to actively engage in it. He was commissioned a colonel in the Continental army. His duties were in and around Philadelphia, where he recruited, drilled and provisioned volunteers. Even then he began to advance money which was only paid back to him after the war had been ended many years.
His first duty in the actual field of war was to take six full companies to Quebec, where Arnold had been the victim of misfortune. General Mont- gomery, chief in command, was killed, and was succeeded by Arnold, who, be- ing severely wounded, was succeeded by General Thompson, after whose early death came General Sullivan. St. Clair was already familiar with the St. Law- rence strongholds. He at once suggested the fortification of a point at Three Rivers to prevent the British transports from reaching Quebec. To his sur- prise St. Clair was the one appointed to guard this important point. Sullivan afterwards reinforced St. Clair's army with many of Thompson's troops, but they were all beaten back to their original headquarters. Though unlooked-for misfortunes alone prevented their victory, they retired from Canada with colors flying.
St. Clair was next at Ticonderoga, and on Sunday, July 28, 1776, he read to his soldiers the Declaration of Independence, which had just reached him. In his report he says that "they threw their hats in the air and cheered for the cause of the United Colonies."
In August, St. Clair was made a brigadier-general, and was called to Wash- ington's army, then in his well managed retreat before General Howe across New Jersey. He was now for the first time under the eye and direct command of the great chief, and was with him and fought under his direction at White Plains, Trenton and Princeton. It is claimed by most of St. Clair's biographers that he suggested to Washington the movements which culminated in this most glorious victory, but Bancroft labors hard to prove that he did not do so. No ·one denies, however, that he directed the details of the march, and that his
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brigade-composed of the New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts troops, with two six-pounders-marched at the head of the advancing army ; nor do they deny that this was one of the few great victories won by Washing- ton's army during the Revolution. For St. Clair's part in it he was forthwith made a major-general on the recommendation of Washington.
In the early months of 1777 the outlook was a very gloomy one for the American colonies. Washington's army had scarcely been able to get away from Long Island, and the unpaid, unfed and unclothed army was almost ready to disband. This condition of affairs actuated the British army to still greater efforts, hoping thereby to at once stamp out the rebellion. They therefore set about to divide the colonies by a line beginning at New York, thence up the Hudson and by Large George and Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence river. General Burgoyne had his army already in Canada, and he was to march by the way of Lake Champlain. General Clinton was to go up the Hudson and unite with Burgoyne as he came down. This division, we need not say, would have greatly weakened each section of the Colonies by stopping all communication, and it would further have perhaps hopelessly divided the Continental army.
Ticonderoga was then a strong fort in the hands of the Colonial army, and was situated between Lake Champlain and Lake George. While it was held by the Continental army, Burgoyne's army could not come south to join Clinton's army going north. It was therefore at that time a most important point. St. Clair's success at the battle of Princeton had made him a major-general, passing General Schuyler and General Arnold, and he was at once selected by Washing- ton as the one to hold this important point. He was given three thousand men, inadequate of course, but that was all the force which Washington could spare. He was familiar with the situation and its importance, and was instructed to hold it at all hazards.
Burgoyne's army came down to Lake Champlain, captured Crown Point and attacked Ticonderoga in June, 1777. Near by was a high rocky promon- tory called Mount Defiance, which overlooked Ticonderoga and practically com- manded it. This was inaccessible to the Continental, army because of their weakness, and was regarded as also inaccessible to the British army. Bur- goyne stormed Ticonderoga for many days, but was no nearer its capture then than when he began. Then by ropes and tackle he hoisted cannon to the crest of Mount Defiance, until he had sufficient arms and force there to overcome Ticonderoga. St. Clair called his forces together and they all agreed that less than ten thousand men could not hold Ticonderoga with the British firmly fortified on Mount Defiance ; that Mount Defiance should have been seized and fortified by the American army, had they had strength and munitions of war to do so; that not having men sufficient to fortify it in the first place, they were much less able to take and fortify it now, and that it was therefore best to abandon the post. St. Clair accordingly began his retreat, and, like Washing- ton in many instances, showed his finest generalship in getting his army away. They marched to Hubbardstown and Castleton, thirty miles away. The British did not allow them to retreat in peace. No information from St. Clair's army
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could be received for eight days, and the supposition was that Burgoyne had captured it. On the 7th of August his fleeing army was attacked by the British and German forces, which resulted in a loss of about three hundred of St. Clair's army. It was in every way a sadly disastrous campaign, the loss to the American army being not less than one thousand men. All the blame was for a time put on St. Clair, who did not defend himself but quietly asked for a court of inquiry. One was finally granted, with Major-General Benjamin Lincoln as president. It was a very able court. They entirely exonerated St. Clair, and then the tide turned somewhat in his favor. Burgoyne, being compelled to divide his army to pursue the retreating St. Clair, gave General Horatio Gates an opportunity which he seized, and very soon forced Burgoyne to surrender his entire army at Saratoga. The British had depended largely on the division of the Colonies by a union of their armies, but after all their preparations and glowing prospects the result was the loss of Burgoyne's army. Thus our Col- onies were held intact, and it has been said that though St. Clair lost a fortress he saved a State. This is perhaps giving him undue credit, for he could not have foreseen the result when he abandoned Ticonderoga. His object then was to save his army, and in this he succeeded splendidly.
Let us now look further into his reasons for retreating. The facts brought out by the court of inquiry speak very eloquently in favor of St. Clair. Bur- goyne, when he met St. Clair's army, had 7863 men, while St. Clair had 2200. Burgoyne surrendered to Gates 142 heavy guns. St. Clair had less than one hundred second-rate cannon of various sizes, and these were served by inexper- ienced men. It is hardly necessary, therefore, to further defend his retreat in this age of general intelligence. Before the commission he made a defense of which the United States Gasette, in speaking of it, said: "His defense on that occasion is still extant and exhibits a sample of profound generalship. Whilst the English language shall be admired it will continue to be an example of martial eloquence." Pending his trial he was with the army at Brandywine and Valley Forge. Then he was detailed to organize the levies of Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey, and send them to the front as rapidly as possible.
When Arnold turned traitor, Washington scarcely knew whom to trust, but he selected St. Clair to temporarily take command of West Point. On Septem- ber 29, 1780, he was selected to sit with Greene, Lafayette, Parsons, Clinton, Knox, Huntingdon, Stirling, Stark, Hand, etc., as a member of the most noted military jury that ever sat in this county, to try the unfortunate Major Andre. They were selected because of their high character both as soldiers and civil- ians, and because they were educated in the military history of European na- tions. They unanimously reported that Andre should be considered a spy and suffer death.
At the closing scenes of the Revolution, when the war-worn armies had practically surrounded the British at Yorktown, St. Clair was daily in advice with Washington, and was not by any means the least of those illustrious men' who stood guard at the final moment, when the long contest was decided in favor of the Colonies. He had arisen more rapidly in the beginning of the war
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than any officer of the army. In 1783 he became a member of the Su- preme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. In all matters relative to the na- tional policy he was even then a Federalist in principle, though the party had not yet been formed. In 1785 he was elected a member of Congress, not by the people, as we now elect, but by the Assembly, as we now elect United States senators. Two years later, 1787, he was chosen president of the Congress, then practically the highest office in the government, and which can only be com- pared to the present office of President of the United States, a position not then created, but which came with the Constitution of 1787. It was this Congress which provided for the convention of 1787, by which the Constitution of the United States was formed, written of as the ablest State paper yet conceived by the brain of man.
In 1790 St. Clair was the Federalist candidate for Governor of Pennsyl- vania against Thomas Mifflin. This was the first gubernatorial election in Pennsylvania under the new organic law. Mifflin was not only very popular but his party largely predominated in Pennsylvania and he was therefore elected. On October 5th, 1787, the Continental Congress elected St. Clair gov- ernor of the Northwestern Territory, which then embraced all the country west of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio river. On July 9, 1788, he arrived at. Marietta, Ohio, the capital of the Territory. The citizens of Marietta had prepared with great care a residence for the new governor and family, which consisted of his wife, three daughters-Louisa, Jane and Margaret, and his son Arthur. His prerogatives as governor were very extensive. He was not only the executive officer of the Territory, but the law-giver as well. He appointed judges, and these in council with himself had the power to make laws for the government of the territory. He erected counties, appointed officers, held treaties with the Indians, etc. The territory over which he thus ruled now constitutes five of the leading states of the Union, and has a population of about sixteen millions. Yet the salary paid him for his services was less even than his traveling expenses.
Early in June, 1791, he went down the river to Fort Washington and organ- ized a new county and named it Hamilton, a name it still bears, and given it in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the brilliant leader of the Federalists. He also named the new town Cincinnati, in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, then a new organization among the officers of the Continental armies, of which or- ganization St. Clair was a shining light and president of the Pennsylvania di- vision.
In all this new country he again encountered his old enemies, the hostile Indians who, having been driven westward, were just then committing all man- ner of depredations on the Ohio frontiers. General Harmar was accordingly sent out in 1790 to subdue them, but his army was badly defeated. In 1791 St. Clair was appointed commander-in-chief of the army, and vested with a military power in the territory which corresponded with his title. He had an army of two thousand regular soldiers at his disposal in the contest with the Indians, and had authority to increase it as he saw fit by calling out the militia. St.
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Clair visited Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, relative to the ap- proaching campaign, and Washington gave him special caution about the dan- ger of surprises in Indian warfare. The President's parting words were, "Do not let them surprise you." In September, 1791, the army, the largest the west had yet seen, was assembled at Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. It was much better equipped finally than the average Revolutionary army, though it was not by any means an ideal army. There were three regiments of regulars in the infantry, two companies of artillery, and one of cavalry. Six hundred militia should have joined them at Cincinnati, but the greater part of them came in as they journeyed towards the enemy. On September 17th they began marching. They, as usual in new countries, had to cut roads through the wilderness, and it was necessarily an army of slow progress. On the Big Miami river they erected Fort Hamilton, and some distance farther on they erected Fort Wash- ington, and still later came Fort Jefferson. At each post a small garrison was left. They were now nearing the Indian country, and matters began to look as though a battle might scon take place. Shortly after they left Fort Jefferson one of the militia regiments deserted bodily. Washington Irving, in speaking of these militia, says they were picked and recruited from the worst element in Ohio. Enervated by debauchery, idleness, drunkenness and by every species of vice, it was impossible to make them competent for the arduous duties of In- dian warfare. They were without discipline and their officers were not accus- tomed to being under a commander. They were useless in a campaign, yet St. Clair thought it would disband his army or at least greatly impair its usefulness to allow them to desert at will. So he weakened his forces greatly by sending the First Regiment of Regulars in pursuit of the deserters. His army then numbered about fourteen hundred, with perhaps three hundred militia. The main army moved on to a point near the headwaters of the Wabash river, now in Mercer county, Ohio. It was supposed that the main body of the Miami tribe of Indians was about twelve miles from their encampment. Here they meant to entrench themselves behind earthworks and await the arrival of the First Regiment with the deserting militia. They encamped on November 3rd, and the General, with the engineers, immediately laid out the plans for the proposed breastworks. At night sentries were posted and all was quiet. The army was encamped on the banks of a tributary of the Wabash and a small creek. Against regular troops the encampment could easily have been trans- formed into a stronghold by breastworks as contemplated. Several hours be- fore the break of day on the morning of November 4, the General had the reveille beaten and thus brought all troops to line with arms ready for action. Thus they watched till the sun arose when, there being no sign of danger re- ported by the outposts, the soldiers were dismissed to get more rest or breakfast. But scarcely had they reached their places of rest when an irregular volley of rifle shots came from the front. The Indians had arrived and would doubtless have begun the attack sooner had it not been that their advance scouts found the soldiers drawn up ready for battle. The drums beat and the officers formed their men in line. The Indians first struck the line of the militia, which almost
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at once fell back in confusion on the regulars. They were followed by swarms of Indians, some of whom passed beyond the first ranks and actually tomahawked officers and soldiers who had been carried back to have their wounds dressed. In a short time the army of St. Clair was overrun by Indians, who indiscrimi- nately tomahawked and fired on all sides. St. Clair was suffering from a fever. Washington Irving in his charming and exhaustive "Life of Washington," says : "The veteran St. Clair, unable to mount his horse, was borne about on a litter, and preserved his coolness in the midst of the peril and disaster, giving his orders with judgment and self-possession." By his own suggestion he was carried to a place where the firing seemed heaviest, and where Colonel Drake, a Revolutionary officer of great bravery and experience, was trying to overcome the confusion and hold his lines steady. St. Clair directed them to make a vehement charge with bayonets. The charge did some good, for many In- dians concealed in the tall grass fled in confusion, but the soldiers were unable to overtake them. They soon returned again and seemingly in increased num- bers. and a second bayonet charge was followed with the same results. The artillery was practically of no use, for the daring Indians killed the men and horses before they could render any service. The regulars undoubtedly fought bravely and with much more system and effect than one might expct. Never- theless the confusion spread from the militia till it pervaded all of the troops. Behind trees and bushes and concealed in the tall grass were Indians without number. With their bullets came showers of arrows, the latter seemingly more painful and exasperating than bullets. The soldiers were necessarily more or less in line, and this seemed only to aid the Indians and make the loss in killed and wounded so large in proportion to the size of the army. The usual order observed in the formation of military ranks was therefore worse than useless here : in fact, it actually favored the method adopted by the enemy. Two of the field-pieces were thrown into a stream, and the rest were captured by the Indians. Countless acts of hercism and daring courage were performed on that bloody field. They have already challenged the praise and admiration of four generations, and will yet live as long as any war stories of our border his- tory. There was but one thing left to be done, and that was to retreat with as much safety as possible ; at best, the retreat was a confusion. Men threw away their arms and fled towards Fort Washington, glad to escape captivity and cleatlı. When another and more successful army came later to the same lo- cality, they found the path of retreat strewn with military accoutrements, and on the battlefield were the bleaching bones of hundreds of men who must have perished, each one, almost, within touch of an unfortunate comrade. There were five hundred and ninety-three reported killed and two hundred and four- teen wounded. The chief leader of the Indian forces in the battle was Mishi- kinakwa. He was chief of all the remnant united tribes of the Ohio regions. Ile was about six feet high and forty-five years old at the time of the battle. His picture is yet in the War Department at Washington, D. C. He died in 1812, and is buried near Fort Wayne, Indiana.
General St. Clair did not all day require a litter to carry him from place to
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place. When the battle raged and his forces began to wane, the excitement brought back his strength as though the vigor of his youth had been renewed. Eight balls passed through his clothes and hat, one of which cut the hair from the side of his head. Two horses were killed under him just as he had been helped to mount them. For an hour or so, no horse being near, he moved about on foot, and surprised all who saw him by the agility he displayed. When again well nigh exhausted, he was placed on a pack-horse, the only horse that could be procured, and, though he was scarcely able to prick him out of a walk, he rode him during the remainder of the day. Adjutant General Winthrop Sargent. in a private diary, wrote particularly of "St. Clair's coolness and brav- ery, though debilitated by illness." The unfortunate general was among the last to leave the field.
After the result of the battle became known, a bitter feeling arose through- out the United States against St. Clair. The real situation, had it been known as it is now, would have defended him against all blame. The means of cir- culating the real truth were extremely limited. At his own request, therefore, a congressional committee was appointed to investigate the entire affair and re- port their findings. Their report is as follows :
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