History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 55

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IN CIVIL LIFE.

St. Clair came out of the Revolutionary conflict, not with the glory of some, but with the confidence of his great commander, and with the undiminished respect and esteem of his fellow-officers. He imme- diately entered into civil affairs. In 1788 he was elected a member of the Executive Council of Penn- sylvania, this department of the State government

dent, was organised, and after a thorough hearing concluded their find- ing in the following words:

"The Court having duly considered the charges against Major-General St. Clair and the evidence, are unanimously of opinion that he is not guilty of either the charges preferred against him, and do unanimously acquit him of all and every of them with the highest honor."

2 In 1783, at the solicitation of Congress, then in Philadelphia, be went to the new levies (who had marched from Lancaster to the Con- gress to demand their pay, having refused to accept their discharge until they were paid), and succeeded by his personal influence, together with Lafayette as his colleague, in quieting their mutinous spirit and sending them back to Lancaster.

Feb. 24, 1784, he was made auctioneer of the city of Philadelphia by a resolution of the General Assembly. He got into much trouble from this, as will be seen further on, he having appropriated some of the money he collected to pay individual debts,-ball money. The oddos was lucrative. On the 13th of April, 1787, he was relieved of the office.

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reposing in a Council of Censors. He was returned for the county of Philadelphia, with Frederick A. Muhlenberg as his colleague. He made Philadelphia his home, and his family had resided there while he was in the army. He attended all the sittings of the Council. In its proceedings, and in the proceedings incident to the calling of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1791, we have the first visible line between the old political parties whose hostility to each other be- came so great. St. Clair invariably took sides with that party which afterwards was known as the Fed- eral party, and which, under the leadership of Ham- ilton, antagonized the administration of Jefferson.

. In 1785, St. Clair was elected to Congress, the members of that body being returned by the vote of the Assembly. In 1787 he was chosen president of that body. In 1790 he was the Federalist candidate for Governor of the State, but was defeated by Gen. Mifflin. This was at the first election for a chief magistrate under the constitutional form. Mifflin was not only a popular man, but he belonged to the party which was the popular party of the State. But although St. Clair was unfortunate for his own ad- vantage in falling in with the destinies of that party, no one that knows his character would be bold enough to say that he belonged to it without principle. No man could. separate principle from consequences better than he.

Under the act of Congress of July 13, 1787, St. Clair was appointed by President Washington and confirmed by Congress Governor of the Northwestern Territory, the Territory embracing all the region of country lying north and west of the Ohio River.1 On July the 9th, 1788, he arrived at Fort Harmar, now Marietta. At this place, as the seat of the territorial government, he resided with his family.' On the 15th of July he published the order of Congress for the government, and soon after appointed judges and other officers. On January the 2d, 1791, when he arrived at Fort Washington, the site of Cincinnati, previous to his military expedition, he organized Hamilton County, which name he gave it after Alex- ander Hamilton, the Secretary of the United States Treasury, and the beau ideal of the Federalists. Cin- cinnati was called in compliment to the Society of the Cincinnati, organized by officers who had seen actual service in the armies of the continent, and of which society St. Clair was an active member.

The Indians being still hostile to the settlers in the western country where these were unable to resist

them under their strange confederation and the new leaders who had risen among them, Gen. Harmar was sent out with a body of regulars and militia to sub- due them and to destroy their towns. But Harmar was defeated with terrible slaughter among his ranks, and his army was so crippled that a new one had to be organized for further operations. In the following year, 1791, St. Clair, on the recommendation of Presi- dent Washington, was appointed commander-in-chief of the army, and vested with powers aimost dicta- torial within his territory. He had a force of two thousand regulars placed at his disposal, and was em- powered to call out such reinforcements of militia as might be necessary. In September, 1791, an army the largest and most efficient in officers, in numbers, and in equipage of any yet seen in the West was as- sembled at Fort Washington, the site of Cincinnati. This was under command of St. Clair. There were three complete regiments of United States infantry, two companies of artillery, and one company of cav- alry. There were six hundred militia to join him there, but most of these came up after he had left. They commenced their march on the 17th of Septem- ber. They cut a road through the wilderness and erected Fort Hamilton, on the Great Miami, some distance above Fort Washington. On the 4th of October they marched twenty miles farther, and built Fort Jefferson. A garrison was left at both posts. On the 24th of October they marched from the latter post. Shortly after they had left one of the militia regiments deserted, as these not infrequently did when about to meet the enemy, not being under regular discipline, called out only for a short time in an emer- gency, and commanded by officers who disliked supe- rior authority. The First Regiment of regulars was detached in pursuit of these, so that the army was now weakened and did not number above fourteen hundred men. The main body, however, moved for- ward to where Fort Recovery was afterwards erected by Gen. Wayne, now within the limits of Mercer County, Ohio.

The villages of the Miami Indians were supposed to be only about twelve miles in distance from here. At this place, it being the head-waters of the Wabash River, where a number of small creeks flowed in from various directions, the army encamped. The general had it in view to throw up some earthworks in order to hold a secure position, and to protect his baggage and artillery till the other regiment should come up, before advancing farther in the hostile country. This was on the 3d of November. Late that afternoon, and in the evening, the general was engaged with the engineers in planning the proposed works. At night the sentries were posted, and everything appeared quiet. The army was encamped in two lines. The front of the first line was covered by a creek, the one side by the river, while a creek protected the flank of the second line. During the night there was no alarm whatever, and consequently no suspicion of danger.

1 The Congress of which he was president passed the ordinance.

" The citizens of Marietta gave special attention to the preparation of a residence for Governor St. Clair, and in the winter of 1790 his son Arthur, twenty-one years of age, and three daughters, Louisa, Jane, And Margaret, with a middle-aged, sensible colored woman, who acted as cook and housekeeper, took possession. Mrs. St. Clair still remained in the East .- (Life and Public Services, etc., p. 160.)

For a description of Louisa St. Clair, the eldest of these daughters, and of the brilliance of her intellectual accomplishments, etc., sce Hildreth's

"Pioneer History," quoted in " Life and Public Services," etc., p. 160.

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Some few hours before daybreak, under the expecta- tion of an attack, or at least to have the men in a state of readiness, the general had the reveille beaten and the troops paraded under arms. They thus stood watchful till daybreak, when they were dismissed to their tents to get some further rest. But the men had scarcely lain down when a rifle fired from some of the militiamen in front was followed by a sharp irregular volley in the same direction. The drums beat, the officers formed the men, the militia came pouring in from the front, and in a few minutes all was stir and confusion. The militia coming in, pursued by swarms of Indians, broke over the ranks of the regulars, and bore down all before them. The Indians themselves penetrated beyond the first ranks, and tomahawked some of the wounded officers who had been carried back to have their wounds dressed. In no long time the whole body of the army was encompassed by a livid stream of fire on all sides round. St. Clair was suffering from a fever, and was unable to mount a horse, but part of the time during the battle was carried from place to place on a litter. False allega- tions of cowardice were imputed to him; but there is nothing to warrant this. He was not in respect to his person a coward, but the reverse is the truth. During this engagement he had eight bullet-shots through his clothes, and he was among the last to leave the field of battle. He directed the men to carry him to the place where the firing was the heaviest, and where the men were falling on all sides. Here the brave Col. Darke, an officer of Revolutionary distinction, was trying his utmost to allay the consternation of the men and to hold the lines steady. When St. Clair came up he directed the colonel and his men to make a sudden and rapid charge with the bayonet. The charge was made and with some effect, for swarms of the red-backed creatures rose up before the lines of infantry out of the high grass and fled before them. But as the soldiers could not overtake them, they re- covered their courage, and soon after from behind every kind of shelter poured such a fire upon the sol- diers that they in turn were driven back. A second time was the charge with the bayonet made and fol- lowed with the same result. When the artillery was brought up the horses and the men were destroyed before they could do any service.

But we cannot recount the battle at length. It is enough to say that the whites resisted bravely, but were borne back through the wild lands. Discipline availed little. The panic spread to all the troops. Behind every tree was an Indian, and with the bul- lets came flights of arrows, whose murderous wounds made the men shriek out. It is said the savages never showed more bravery. They ran in screaming, and tomahawked the men in the ranks or among their comrades. The men were sometimes huddled together like sheep, whence the slaughter, in respect of the number engaged, was prodigious. The ranks could not be formed in military order, and the field-

pieces of the regulars were of no use. These were finally captured by the Indians, with the exception of two which were thrown into one of the streams. Many died heroically. Acts of daring and of hero- ism which have delighted two generations of readers are recorded in the various tales of the border. It was long reported, and it is yet historically asserted, that the water of the creek to the front was reddened with blood. The men at last gave way, and the re- treat became a panic. A part of the army reached Fort Washington. Few of the munitions were saved, for the men threw away even their arms. When the second army of Kentucky volunteers which after- wards came out took possession of the battle-field, the found within a little space three hundred skull- bones, and for miles the road was strewn with the remains of the army. From the official lists of the adjutant-general, five hundred and ninety-three were reported1 dead and two hundred and fourteen wounded.

The chief of the hostiles in this battle was Mishi- kinakwa, or Little Turtle, a son of a Miami chief by a Mohican woman. He was the chief leader of the warriors of all the tribes in that country. He died in 1812, and his grave is shown to the whites near Fort Wayne. His portrait may be seen in the War Office at Washington.

He has been described by one who saw him at Montreal soon after the defeat. He was at that time a little over forty-five years of age, was six feet high, of a very sour and morose countenance, and appar-

1 Echoes of the Battle .- "On the day of battle Gen. St. Clair was not in his uniform, but wore a coarse caffo cost and a three-cornered hat. He had a long cue and large locks flowing beneath his beaver. Early in the action, when near the artillery, a bull grased the side of his face and cut off a portion of one of his locks. . During the action eight balls passed through his clothes and hat. After his horses were killed he exerted himself on foot for a considerable time during the action with a degree of alertness that surprised everybody who saw him. After being on foot for some time, and when nearly exhausted, a pack-horse was brought to him. This he rode during the remainder of the day, although he could scarcely prick him out of a walk." He had two horses killed, one after the other, in the act of mounting them.

Narrative of the Campaign.

The great Mohawk chief, Tha-yen-da-ne-ge-a (Joseph Brant, alias Capt. Brant), was, so well-informed historians may, in this battle, al- though not suspected on account of the professions of friendship for the Americans. This calls to mind the "legend of Louisa St. Clair," in which the story is that young Brant, the son of the great chief, and who was in love with Louisa St. Clair, was there, and that he ordered his warriors to shoot St. Clair's horses but not him. To this was so- counted the noteworthy reason of his having so many horses killed about him and himself escaping unhurt. This "legend," being nothing but a romantic love story, was once very popular in the Northwest, and is yet to be met with in republications .- See " Life and Public Services," etc., quoted above.

From the Congressional Committee's Report Appointed to Inquire into the Defeat.

" The committee conceive it but justice to the commander-in-chief to say that in their opinion the failure of the late expedition can in no respect be imputed to his conduct, either at any time before or during the action, but that as his conduct in all the preparatory arrangements was marked with peculiar ability and zeal, so his conduct during the action furnishes strong testimonies of his coolness and intrepidity."

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ently very crafty and subtile. His dress was Indian moccasins, a blue petticoat that came half-way down his thighs, a European surtout and waistcoat. His head was bound by an Indian cap, which hung half- way down his back, and almost entirely covered with plain silver brooches, to the number of more than two hundred. He had two ear-rings to each ear. The upper part of each of these was formed by three medals about the size of a dollar; the lower part was formed of quarter-dollars, and fell more than twelve inches -. from his ears, one from each ear over his breast, the other over his back. He had three very large nose - jewels of silver, which were curiously plaited.

St. Clair held the commission of Governor of the Northwestern Territory from 1787 to 1802, a period of fifteen years, when he was removed by President Jefferson. Fault has been found with Jefferson for this act, and those who take exception assert that it was done with a spiteful political spirit. St. Clair was a strong Federalist, an adorer of the political doctrines of Hamilton. He had been indiscreet in his expressions of favor for the unpopular adminis- tration of John Adams, who brought contempt and opprobrium upon his party by the countenance he gave the notorious and justly obnoxious alien and sedition laws. But, taken on the whole, we are of opinion it would necessitate a misconstruction of mo- tives and facts and require yet undiscovered testi- mony to establish authoritatively the assertion that St. Clair's removal was instigated by the malevolence of Jefferson.1

As Governor of that Territory which now exists as five independent States and includes millions of the foremost citizens of the Republic, his duties were ar- duous, his toil unceasing, and the results marvelous.

1 The truth is great opposition had grown up against St. Clair as Gov- ernor on account of antagonism to the formation of a State out of a portion of the Territory, which was the nearly unanimous wish and desire of the inhabitants of Ohio, and also on account of his avowed op- position to the new State's constitution, and of his disagreement with a majority of the Legislature of the Territory. His biographer, the Hon. W. H. Smith, who certainly has not countenanced the action of Jeffer- son in removing St. Clair, says, " It is known that Mr. Jefferson's friend- ship for St. Clair influenced him, and that it was only after it was re- ported to him some months later, upon what seemed to be reliable authority, that Governor St. Clair had spoken against Democratic gor- ernment that he issued the order of removal."-Life and Public Services, etc., vol. i., 240.

"He even entered the lists in a public discussion, and printed a pamphlet in defense of the administration after the blunder of the alien and sedition law, and sent it to Mr. Adams with his compli- ments."-Ibid., 234.

Announcement of Removal. " DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, NOV. 22, 1802. " ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, EsQ. :

"SIR,- The President observing in an address lately delivered by you to the Convention held at Chillicothe an intemperance and indecorum of language towards the Legislature of the United States, and & disor. ganizing spirit and tendency of very evil example, and grossly violating the rules of conduct enjoined by your public station, determines that your commission as Governor of the Northwestern Territory shall cease on receipt of this notification.

" I am, etc., " JAMES MADISON."

For an idea of the duties incumbent on him and the i large discretionary power vested in him, one should examine the ordinances and the laws of Congress relative to the subject. By these he was made not only the executive but the law-giver of that vast extent of country, as he and his judges in council had the power not only to enforce but to make the laws for its government. But he devoted himself here, as be did elsewhere, wholly to the duties of his trust. The early records of the State of Ohio attest his labors. Although his salary was not adequate to cover even his traveling expenses, he never once relaxed his ex- ertions. He seems to have been well aware of the importance and the magnitude of the trust reposed in him. He established laws, erected counties, selected officers, fixed titles, held treaties with the Indians, and saw that justice was administered in due form of law. He refers to this subject in the answer to the ladies of New York, who in his latter days had pre- sented him with a small sum of money :

" I had fondly hoped," says he, " that my military services had been of benefit to my country ; but let that pass. Besides these services, which you have so kindly eulogized, I, at my own expense in a great measure, raised up a colony to the United States from thirty meu to sixty thou- sand ; amalgamated the most heterogeneous mass of population ; carried law, religion, and manners to the extreme bounds of the Territory; made the people happy, and laid the foundation for the continuance of that happiness to millions yet unborn, in the accomplishment of which every faculty of mind and body were unceasingly employed."

And in this he evidences the prescient wisdom of prophecy.

HIS LAST DAYS.

Upon his removal from the governorship St. Clair came back to Ligonier Valley. Here, in the midst of a large tract of land, he had in the latter part of his official career erected a house in anticipation of the time when he should be relieved of public duties ; here part of his family resided before he came back, and here he fondly hoped to pass the remainder of his life in the agreeable ease and rest which the sol- dier in the camp and the statesman in the council- room always anticipates. The building was regarded as a sumptuous and well-apportioned mansion-house for the time. It was handsomely painted and papered, and besides ordinary apartments had a suite of bed- rooms. It was situated about two miles northwest of Ligonier, near Mill Creek. Nothing now remains of the original structure intact except the room which he left with its quaintly-carved mantel-piece and wainscoting. The painting over the fireplace has been destroyed. Here he settled down with his fam- ily, and began to build up in his old days his broken fortune. He erected a furnace, and for a time carried on the manufacture of castings, but after a few years leased the works to James Hamilton & Co. at a rental of three thousand dollars per annum. He also got his mill in running order, and continued actively engaged in business until he was crippled by the executions of his creditors.

The history of his financial embarrassment is not

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devoid of interest. The blind goddess in this as in all things treated him rudely. He got with his wife fourteen thousand pounds (equivalent to seventy thousand dollars). Besides this he had large dona- tions of land from the king, from the Penns, from the State, and from Congress. His investments in real estate, so far as the investments went, were judi- cious, but these all in his sinister fortune melted away like snow in the sunshine. He drew salaries and was in the possession of emoluments and perquisites during all his public life, but these scarcely reached from one accounting day to the next. He was always in a position to invest and speculate in remunerative and safe enterprises, but he never tainted his hands with bribes or touched what bore the semblance of peculation. In a letter to his friend, the Hon. Wil- liam B. Giles, he says that the office of Governor of the Northwestern Territory was forced on him by his friends, who thought it would be an opportunity of replenishing his finances; but it proved otherwise, for he " had neither the taste nor the genius for spec- ulation in land, nor did he consider it consistent with his office." So when he retired here, after his removal from office, he was hopelessly in debt, and some years later was sold out by the sheriff.

It is perhaps true that some of his losses were caused by negligence, and might not have happened had he been more provident, but nearly all his finan- cial embarrassment is chargeable to the zeal with which he served his country, and were debts due and owing by the people of the republic, in whose ser- vice he was employed all his life. When he went to the Revolutionary army he left his mill-the first one erected in the West-to his neighbors for their use while he was gone. When he took possession of it on his return he found it a pile of rubbish. In one of his memorials he states that when he went to the army he could not leave his young wife, born and bred in the city of Boston, of the first connections there, and accustomed to the most fashionable circles, on a frontier so hostile, and was thus compelled to dispose of his principal farm, on which he had ex- pended a large amount of money, at great sacrifice. He sold it for £2000, payable in installments, but so rapid was the depreciation of the Continental cur- rency that of this amount he lost £1900. He then had to purchase a house in the East for his family while he was in the service. This he sold at the end of the war; one-half of the price he lost by the bank- ruptcy and suicide of the purchaser. He indorsed for his friends and fellow officers, and by this lost large sums, which he paid upon demand so far as he was able.

From 1803 to 1813, at various times, St. Clair pre- sented memorials to Congress and to the Assembly of Pennsylvania for relief. In these memorials he him- self gives the cause or occasion which induced him to present them. To the Assembly he says that as early as 1774 he supplied nearly all the forts and block-

houses in Westmoreland County with arms and the means of defense at his own expense. When, in the darkest days of the Revolution, Washington, seeing his army melting away like snow, appealed to him to save to him the Pennsylvania line, the flower of the army, St. Clair immediately responded by advancing the money for recruiting and for bounty, and by St. Clair's and Col. William Butler's individual exer- tions and influence their object was accomplished. To part of this claim the government afterwards pleaded the statute of limitations. He was shut out on this statute by substantially the following argu- ment: "True it is, we, the government of the United States, do justly owe you so and so much, but because you have never asked to be repaid until now the pre- sumption of the law is that you have been repaid." But the indebtedness which was the direct cause of his losing his real property had been contracted during his governorship. , During his incumbency of this office he acted as superintendent of Indian affairs in the Territory, and in that capacity negotiated sev- eral treaties of importance, in the transaction of which to a successful termination it was apparent that the appropriation by Congress was inadequate, whence he was compelled to advance funds out of his own pocket to consummate his ends. In negotiating one of these treaties he expended about $16,000, and for which only $8000 had been appropriated. When the army for the campaign of 1791 had collected together, and it was found that the sum authorized by Congress for the purpose was too small for the exi- gencies of the project, he personally guaranteed to the quartermaster-general, James O'Harra, the re- payment of a large sum in order that the army might be victualed and supplied. When he presented his account in 1799 for payment, he was informed by the Secretary of the Treasury that there " were no moneys appropriated by the Legislature to pay such further disbursements." On this subject St. Clair says that he became personally liable to the contractor, O'Harra, to whom he gave his bond for $7042, on the express promise of the Secretary of the Treasury that it should be repaid with interest. This bond remain- ing unpaid, suit was brought, and judgment obtained against St. Clair by his own confession for $10,632.17, debt and interest. Upon this judgment execution was from time to time issued, and upon it the entire remaining part unsold, which included all his real estate, was sold. The time of sale could not have happened at a more inopportune time. The embargo had driven money out of the country. The valua- tion of that part of his real estate levied upon under these executions has been fixed at $50,000 ; but it did not fetch more than paid the debt and accrued inter- est upon this one judgment. James O'Harra, by his lawyer, bought all the property.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 55

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: