USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Upland > The record of the court at Upland, in Pennsylvania, 1676 to 1681, And a military journal, kept by Major E. Denny, 1781 to 1795 > Part 13
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Perhaps there was some excuse for the Prussian mar- tinet, in the fact, that a dispute on a point of military etiquette had arisen among the general staff at head- quarters, in which Lafayette and Rochambeau took op-
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posite sides ; the Marquis contending that he should "take the flag," and the Count claiming the right for the Baron Steuben.
In no part of his diary or correspondence does he allude to the subject of two duels, in which he was concerned as second. One of these affairs grew out of some offense given to the surgeon of the regiment, by a brother officer. The aggressor, as was his custom, when he thought he had offended an officer of lower grade, was seen in camp next day without his epaulets, to show that he waived his rank, and was ready to give satisfaction. The sur- geon, like many other surgeons in the Revolutionary army, was a brave man, and expert with the pistol; nev- ertheless, at the hostile meeting which followed, they exchanged shots without effect, very much to the sur- prise of the challenged party, who at first accused his friend of having loaded the pistols only with powder ; but on being shown the trees directly behind them, freshly barked by the balls, recovered his good humor, and requested him to "prime and load." Lieutenant Denny, instead of doing so, assured his friend that he was in the wrong, and succeeded in reconciling the com- batants before they left the field. They walked back to the camp, arm in arm, the officer congratulating himself that he had not killed his doctor.
It will be recollected that they were officers of the army-at a time when dueling was more than now the fashion-were on the soil of Virginia, where the custom was indigenous-and in the presence of our allies, the French chivalry.
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Ensign Denny, as appears from his journal, was after- ward with Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Harmar, and the First Pennsylvania regiment, in the Carolinas-under the command of General St. Clair, and at Charleston, during its investment, and after its evacuation.
In the order book of Lieutenant-Colonel Harmar, dated Philadelphia, August 27th, 1784, we find him ar- ranged as ensign in Captain M'Curdy's company of infantry. From that time, throughout the campaigns of Harmar and St. Clair, and his own expedition to Presqu' Isle, his diary is a sufficient sketch of his life for that period. The Adjutant of Harmar and the Aid-de-camp of St. Clair, no one had better opportunities of obtaining authentic information.
When the United States Commissioners were at Fort Finney, waiting for the Shawanees to come in to the treaty, General Clark kept aloof from his colleagues. There appeared to be some jealousy and coolness between them. But to the young commandant, Lieutenant Denny, he was like a father. He invited him to pass his evenings at his tent; threw off his reserve, and talked about his own adventures. He told him that frequently, at night, when his soldiers lay upon their arms, he has crept, on all fours, to the neighboring lick, with only his tomahawk, for fear of alarming the Indians, watched for the deer to pass, and selecting a young one, killed it, and carried it back to the bivouac for the supper of his men. He was a stout, rather short, square man, with a high, broad fore- head, sandy hair, blue eyes, and heavy, shaggy eye-brows. With his personal prowess, hardihood and capacity for
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detail, there was always comprehensive wisdom in his plan and purpose. He raised his force and supplies promptly. He knew exactly, and therefore never over- rated the dangers in the way. He marched quietly to his distant object and took it by surprise. There was no martial pageant, no ostentatious and pompous parade. He threaded the forest silently-or. on his Chickasaw ponies galloped across the prairies, and gave the first notice of his presence to the savages by his flag sup- planting that of their great allies. Hence that prestige, that renown amongst them which was of such value to carry on hostilities or dictate a peace. When he was present, the great warriors never noticed any other General.
The night on which his little party from Kentucky reached the Kaskaskia river at Menard's Gap, they saw on the opposite bank the Jesuits' seminary lighted up, and heard issuing from it the sounds of the violin. Clark, leaving his horses and most of his men on the eastern side, waded across at the warm ford. It was a ball given by the British officers to the French inhab- itants. He placed one of his men quietly at each door, outside, with orders to let none pass. He himself, wrap- ped in his blanket capot, his arms folded, leaning against the door-cheek, looked in upon the dance. An Indian who lay on the floor of the entry, intently gazing at his features in the light reflected from the room, suddenly sprang to his feet and gave the war-whoop. The dancing ceased, the ladies screamed, and the Frenchmen rushed to the door. Clark, without moving from his position,
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or changing his grave expression, desired them to go on with the dance. "The only difference is," said he, "you now dance under Virginia, instead of Great Britain." . At day-light he and his mounted men were opposite to Fort Chartiers, on the crest of the bluff, and by marching along its profile so as to be seen from the fort, countermarch- ing out of sight and again showing themselves in a con- tinuous file, his force appeared so large that the much more numerous enemy capitulated without a shot.
The massacre of the Blue Licks recalled him to Ken- tucky. He described to Lieutenant Denny the panic in the settlements, in the face of which he beat up for vol- unteers ; and what no other man could have done, he promptly raised a party and hung on the bloody flanks of the enemy. His masterly march on the Wabash and capture of Post St. Vincent, he related somewhat dif- ferent from, and without the flourish of history.
After his conquest of Illinois, he was voted a sword by the State of Virginia. The bearer of it met the grave and discontented hero on the bank of the Wabash. He was anxiously waiting for news that the House of Dele- gates had passed his accounts, and had voted money to pay them, to enable him to make good his engagements, on sudden emergencies, for supplies to his men. He was disappointed. He took the sword-drew it from its scab- bard, and placing the point to the ground, thrust it deep in the soil he had conquered, and broke it off by the hilt. Throwing away the glittering handle, he said, "I asked Virginia for bread, and she sent me a sword!"
During the campaign of 1790, and at the battle of the
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Maumee towns, the Journal and letters of Major Denny, who was in fact the acting Adjutant-General of the army, state so fully every military occurrence, and his deposi- tion before the court of inquiry, on the conduct of the commander, is so clear a summary, that it is only neces- sary to refer to them.
The reader will see that there runs through the whole a vein of loyal attachment to the gallant and accom- plished Harmar, which has the ring and lustre of the pure metal, and does honor to them both.
On the 14th December, 1790, President Washington communicated to Congress a military dispatch from the Governor of the North-Western Territory, dated Novem- ber 6th, in which General St. Clair says : "Mr. Denny, the gentleman who takes General Harmar's dispatches, I beg leave to mention to you in a particular manner; and if you will be pleased to do so to the President in his favor, you may be assured he will not disappoint any expectations that may be formed. He has every quality that I could wish a young man to possess, who meant to make the army his profession. There are, however, some other traits in his character as a man, that are not generally known, that would endear him. Out of the little pittance he receives, he has maintained two aged parents for a long time." 1
In Brigadier-General Harmar's dispatch to the Secre- tary of War, dated November 4, 1790, after giving an account of the battle, he says : "The bearer, Lieutenant Denny, is my Adjutant. It will afford me great satisfac-
1 American State Papers, vol. iv. on Indian Affairs, page 104.
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tion to know that some mark of honor will be shown him. His long and faithful services merit it. There is a vast deal of business in this western country. If there is no impropriety in giving me an aid-de-camp, I wish him to be the person." At the foot of the General's letter he says : "N. B. My Adjutant is really and truly an officer."
Major Denny's habitual reserve on the events of his military life, was by no means lessened on the subject of the melancholy scenes of the 4th of November, 1791. As he says in his Journal, he recurred to them with pain and reluctance.
The unfortunate commander himself, modest and dig- nified as he was, more frequently conversed on the sub- ject, in his retirement at Chestnut Ridge. To his neigh- bor, still living, the venerable Alexander Johnston, he said that nothing had ever given him more concern than his having dispatched his aid-de-camp, Major Denny, whose worth, and the value of whose life, no one more appreciated, upon a most desperate mission, from which, on reflection, he had no hope of ever seeing him return alive. This was probably at the commencement of the attack on the 4th of November, when with Colonel Old- ham he rode forward to the creek, where the Indians had driven in the militia, and vainly endeavoring to arrest their flight, that brave Kentuckian was shot by his side and fell from his horse, execrating the cowardice of his men.
1 Documents, Legislative and Executive, Congress United States, 1st to 3d Session of the 13th Congress.
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In the confusion of the battle, when the officers were nearly all killed or wounded, John Morgan, the aid of the disabled Butler, rode up to Major Denny and asked for orders. His horse, covered with blood, rubbed his wounded face on the Major's pantaloons. This was not noticed at the time; and afterward General St. Clair observing the blood, said to his aid-de-camp, "Major, you are wounded." The latter dismounted, drew off his boot, but finding no wound, recollected Morgan's horse. The General smiled and said, "Don't you remember the Irish beauty ?"-alluding to the young officer at the bat- tle of James River, who perceiving his pantaloon stained in the same way, supposed himself wounded, and was carried off the field. This was told to the writer by his father, as an instance of General St. Clair's coolness and self-possession in the midst of the panic.
After General Butler had received his first wound, he continued to walk in front close along the line, with his coat off and his arm in a sling, encouraging the men, and retired only after receiving a second wound in the side. The Commander-in-chief sent Major Denny, with his compliments, to inquire how he was. He found him in the middle of the camp, in a sitting posture, supported by knapsacks-the rifle balls of the Indians, who now surrounded closely the whole camp, concentrated upon that point. One of the wounded General's servants and two of his horses were shot there. He seemed, however, to have no anxiety, and to the inquiry of the aid-de- camp, he answered that he felt well. Whilst making this reply, a young cadet from Virginia, who stood at his
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side, was hit on the cap of the knee by a spent ball, and cried so loudly with the pain and alarm, that General Butler actually shook his wounded side with laughter. This satisfied Major Denny that the second wound was not mortal, that the General being very fleshy, the ball might not have penetrated a vital part. He always be- lieved that he might have been brought away and his life saved. Probably his own aid-de-camp, Major John Morgan, may have offered to bring him off, as was his duty, and the wounded General declined, conscious that his weight and helplessness would only encumber his brave young friend for no use, and hinder him from saving himself.
It is among the traditions of the family at Carlisle, that as their relative rode in the rear of the retreating army, a woman caught his horse by its long tail, and held on, although threatened with hoof and sword. She was rewarded for her confidence in his generosity by being taken up behind, and carried in safety to Fort Jefferson.
The first intelligence of the disastrous termination of St. Clair's campaign was brought to Philadelphia by his aid-de-camp, who rode down Market street on the gal- lant little horse which had borne his tired rider night and day from Fort Pitt, and now reined up, bespat- tered with mud, at the President's mansion. General Washington had a party at dinner that evening. A servant came up stairs, and said that a young officer from the army had a letter for the President. The private secretary, Mr. Tobias Lear, was sent down to receive it.
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The officer said that his orders were to give the dispatch to the President only, which being told to Washington, he came down to the ante-room and received it. He had not read more than a few lines, until he perceived its import, and broke out in expressions, which the young officer did not set down in his diary, but which Mr. . Tobias Lear, the private secretary, recorded in his private journal, to be published at this late day, and cited in confirmation of the probable truth of the allegation, that Washington swore profanely at that traitor, Lee, in the battle of Monmouth.
In a most violent passion, says the secretary, he ex- claimed, " Did I not in the last words I said to him, warn him against a surprise ?" As if a surprise was the only thing to be feared, the only advantage needed by an enemy, brave by nature, and trained to war from child- hood, to enable them to vanquish an equal number of undisciplined troops, raw from the jails of the cities, poorly equipped, hurried off, late in the season, to fight them, united in their forest home-and to be "sur- prised "-as indeed they were-only because the second in command, the officer of the day, would not permit the information, regularly had, that the enemy were near the camp in unusual numbers, "to go beyond his own tent." His bravery, his exertions during the day to redeem it from the consequences of his fault, and his fate, made some atonement.
But there was no excuse for the President attaching to the expedition an officer of his high rank and preten- sions, without giving him the command-in-chief. There
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was no excuse for his sending against the Indians, all united under Brant, a force not more numerous than them, and so irregular and mutinous that it took the best regiment to protect the convoys of provisions from the deserters.
After Major Denny's resignation and retirement to civil life, he married, on the first of July, 1793, Nancy Wilkins, also a native of Carlisle; the youngest daugh- ter, by the first wife, of John Wilkins, Sr., formerly of that place, who was a captain of a volunteer company in the Revolution and at the battle of Brandywine. Be- fore removing to Pittsburgh, Captain Wilkins resided for some time at Bedford, and represented Bedford county in the Convention of 1777, which formed the first Constitution of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Denny was the sis- ter, by the same mother, of John Wilkins, Jr., a sur- geon's mate in the Revolutionary army, afterward Quarter-master General; of Charles Wilkins, of Lexing- ton, Kentucky; and of the Hon. William Wilkins, of Homewood.
In 1794, Ebenezer Denny was again commissioned a captain, and commanded the expedition to Le Bœuf, the ostensible object of which was to protect the commission- ers in laying out a town at Presqu' Isle- but the real and important purpose, to prevent the Six Nations uniting with the Miami Indians against Wayne.
Major Denny, as instructed by Governor Mifflin, kept a journal, in which he entered minutely every occurrence on the expedition. In transcribing his original diary, he thought many of the details not worth preserving. But
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it is believed that even the daily entries of the weather on French Creek, sixty years ago, are not without inter- est at present.
In the years 1795 and 1796, Major Denny resided with his young family at his farm and mill, about six miles from Pittsburgh, near the Monongahela, about half a . mile from the river, where the road to M'Keesport crosses Street's Run. Whilst residing there he was ta- ken up as a candidate for the State Legislature. His opponent was John B. C. Lucas, a native of France, only recently an emigrant from that country. The result shows the force at that time of party spirit. On one side was a native of the State, a Revolutionary officer, who but lately served with credit in three expeditions against the Indians ; the last one of which he himself command- ed. Many of the early settlers in the election district, and most of the influential men amongst them, had served under him. On the other hand, a foreigner, speaking the English language with difficulty - but a short time from Europe - his family not attempting to conciliate the prejudices of their puritanical neighbors- having himself the reputation of being an "avowed Atheist " - his wife "plowing on Sunday."
Lucas' farm was about half a mile lower down the Monongahela, on the brow of Coal Hill, the high bluff which flanks that river on the south side. They were near neighbors. On the morning of the election, Lucas, on his way to the polls, passing the mill, exchanged friendly salutations with his rival. "Your father," (I shall give Judge Lucas' own words,) "your father asked
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me to wait until he got his horse; he supposed I was going to the election, and said he would go along. We rode together to the place in Mifflin township where the election was held. Arriving on the ground, the country people shook hands with him, inquired about his health and his family, but spoke not a word to me-no man spoke to Lucas - not one. Your father, being a modest man, said to me, 'Lucas, we have no business here ; let us vote and go home.' We did so. On my return, Mrs. Lucas said, 'Well, Lucas, how goes on the election ?' I re- plied, 'Oh! they are all for Major Denny. They greeted him in the kindest manner- no one spoke to Lucas.' She agreed with me that my chance was bad. However, next morning the return judges calling with us on their way to town, stated that I had a majority in the town- ship-in fact I was elected. Next year, or year after, your father was a candidate for Commissioner of the county, and received nearly every vote -that not being then considered a party question." This was about three or four years after the meeting of the insurgents at Braddock's Field, to which convention no small delega- tion went from Mifflin township. The greater part of the voters had indeed been "Whisky Boys." "Your father," said Lucas, "was the 'family candidate'-the brother-in-law of General John Wilkins, the obnoxious Quarter-master who would not buy the illicit whisky." Calumnies circulated on the ground to the prejudice of Lucas were promptly and warmly contradicted by Major Denny, to whom a few confidently referred those who be- lieved that he killed his son in a fit of passion, and that
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his wife, during his absence in France, had "plowed on Sunday."
It was well known that Lucas, as well as Gallatin, was identified with the popular cause. No one knew better how to avail himself of rural political prejudices. At the same time neither he nor Gallatin were in favor of extreme measures. Mr. Gallatin, on his way to and from Pittsburgh, on the road home to New Geneva, was ac- customed to stop and spend the night with Lucas. After the convention at Pittsburgh, he called as usual and re- mained all night. He had with him a fresh proof of the resolutions adopted by the meeting. He showed them to Lucas, and asked what he thought of them. "In my opinion," he replied, "they are too strong." "I think so too," said Gallatin; "it was not my fault that they are SO."
The next year Major Denny being elected Commission- er of the county, returned to his residence in town. Lu- cas and he sold their farms - Lucas to go to the newly acquired territory of Louisiana as a Territorial Judge. The five thousand dollars which he got for his Mononga- hela farm, he laid out in a Spanish grant, then adjacent to St. Louis-now the finest part of that city-and worth nearly as many millions of dollars. Whilst sitting as a judge in the territorial court, there came on for trial a case in which his old neighbor, Ebenezer Denny, was plaintiff, and Alexander M'Nair defendant. M'Nair was one of the first settlers, was married to a lady who be- longed to one of the most influential French families. He was well known, very popular, and was elected the
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first Governor of the State of Missouri, beating Gen- eral William Clark. On the other hand, Ebenezer Den- ny was a non-resident, not present at the trial, and per- sonally unknown to the jurors. Seeing, therefore, such odds against him, Judge Lucas undertook to charge the jury, which he did in French and English: "When I lived," said he, "in Pennsylvania, I was the next neigh- bor to the plaintiff; we differed in politics-we were opposing candidates for office, but there never was a more honest man. It is impossible that he could set up any claim that was not just and true." The jury, without leaving the box, found a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount he claimed.
Although it appears from his correspondence, that he was an applicant for office at the organization of the new counties in Western Pennsylvania, it is very certain that he never received any civil appointment whatever from the government, State or Federal. This may have been owing to a diffidence which kept him in the background, or a soldierly stiffness which made him a bad courtier. In his letter of the 14th December, 1796, to General Harmar, the intimate personal friend of Governor Mif- flin, he says quite as much for his competitor, George Thompson, as he does for himself.
About the beginning of the present century, he entered into partnership in business, with Anthony Beelen, a Belgian, introduced to him by his father, the Austrian Minister, Francis, Baron de Belen Bartholf. Denny and Beelen were concerned with Lafleur, or "Falure," a Frenchman, in a glass works, probably the second or
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third factory of the kind established at Pittsburgh. It was on the north bank of the Ohio, opposite the ripple at the head of Brunot's, the first island; hence the name- " Glass-house Riffle."
In 1803, he was Treasurer of Allegheny county. He. appears first on the list of the County Treasurers - and was again Treasurer in 1808.
In 1804, Ebenezer Denny was appointed a Director of the Branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania, established that year at Pittsburgh. This was the first bank west of the mountains. "The Miami Exporting Company " was not then a bank, and did not become so until after- ward. Three years subsequently a bank was started in Kentucky, under the name of "The Kentucky Insurance Company." It was, in reality, an institution for banking purposes. Like the bank established the same year in Nashville, it failed, as did the Bank of Kentucky and its branches, some years after.
The Branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania at Pitts- burgh was subsequently transferred to and merged in the office of the Bank of the United States. Thomas Wilson, who had been a Teller in the Bank of Pennsyl- vania, subsequently, through the influence of Langdon Cheves, was made principal Cashier of the Bank of the United States in Philadelphia. In this capacity Wilson again visited Pittsburgh during the great money pres- sure and general insolvency of 1819. He came out with full powers to settle with the debtors of the western offices. Major Denny, then a Director of the Branch of the Bank of the United States, was engaged by several
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of the principal debtors of the Branch, to endeavor to induce Wilson to accept of property in settlement. He was selected for this purpose, from his own perfect solvency and freedom from debt to the bank, and from the confidence which Mr. Wilson had, when in the office here, reposed in his judgment and integrity. Notwith- standing that the property of the Pittsburgh debtors was offered at a low valuation, it was refused. Similar offers in Cincinnati were, fortunately for the bank, ac- cepted.
In the first Board of Directors of the Branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania at Pittsburgh, five of Major Denny's associates had been officers in the army of the Revolution : Presley Neville, Abraham Kirkpatrick, Adamson Tannehill, George Stevenson and John Wil- kins, Jr. James O'Hara, who succeeded John Wilkins, the first President, was the President when the Branch Bank of Pennsylvania was transferred to, and merged in the office of the Bank of the United States. Al- though not an officer in the Revolutionary war, he was a Commissary and Quarter-master General during the subsequent Indian hostilities, and at least a coadjutor with the army in the Indian prolongation of the War of Independence. James O'Hara was a man of fore- sight and enterprise. In partnership with Major Isaac Craig, he established the first glass works, and was the pioneer in that branch of Pittsburgh manufactures ; which next to, if not more than even iron, is the staple of the place.
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