USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 18
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General Washington, in July, 1784, sent Baron Steuben to Canada for the purpose of taking possession of the western posts, under the treaty of 1783, with orders, if he deemed it advisable, to form the French of Michigan into a militia, and place the fort at Detroit in their hands.
The baron was received by Sir Frederick Haldimand with great politeness, but was informed by Sir Frederick that he had received no
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orders to deliver up the posts along the lakes, and, consequently, refused to grant the necessary transports. At this time the numerous tribes scattered along the northwestern territory were greatly alarmed at the prospect of the advance of the white population, and, as a natural result, were daily becoming more uneasy and dissatisfied. The true ground of the existing differences between the Indians and the United States was purely a question of boundary. The Indians main- tained that the boundary line was the Ohio river, and was not to be crossed by the Americans, and as the Indians had not been included in the treaty between Great Britain and the United States, it became a legal question how far the United States had a right to advance upon the territory then occupied by the Indians. The rights of the Indians appear to have been wholly ignored by both of the contracting parties at the time the treaty was made. The posts in Michigan, withheld
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from the possession of the United States, were Detroit and Michili- mackinac. Great Britain, in order to the more effectually guard against the incursions of the Americans, took immediate measures to garrison the fort at Detroit.
In December, 1786, a grand council of the Indians northwest of the Ohio was held near the Huron village at the mouth of the Detroit river, and was attended by six nations of the Indians-the Hurons, Ottawas, Miamis, Shawnees, Chippewas, Cherokees, together with the Delawares, Pottawattamies, and the confederates of the Wabash. At this council it was determined to call a grand council of the Indians, in which the whole ground of complaint between the Indians and the United States should be discussed and, if possible, determined. The grand council was held, and although no records of the proceedings are extant, yet the belief exists that the records were forwarded to Lord Dorchester, the governor of Canada. It is thought that there was a division among them in their deliberations, because two separate treaties were held at Fort Harmar in January, 1789, which were attended only by part of the Indians. These treaties were held by General St. Clair, first with the Five Nations, with the exception of the Mohawks, and second with the warriors and sachems of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawattamie, and Sac tribes .* These treaties were intended to be in good faith on the part of the savages who made them, but were broken in a short time by the confederacy of northern Indians, which had been formed by the noted Mohawk chief, Thayendanega, or Brant. The confederates exhibited their deeply-seated hatred and hostility to the Americans, and their subsequent defeats of Harmar and St. Clair not only created new confederacies in themselves, but spread terror over the whole frontier, and caused the deepest anxiety in the councils of the nation.
One of the first important acts of Governor St. Clair, upon his appointment to his new position as governor of the Northwest Territory in October, 1787, was the Fort Harmar treaties, consummated in Janu- ary, 1789. One of these treaties the confederate nations of the lakes especially refused to acknowledge as binding. In referring to the rejected treaty, the great council, held in 1793, used the following lan- guage: "Brothers, your commissioner (General St. Clair), after having been informed by the general council of the preceding fall that no bargain or sale of any part of these Indian lands would be considered as valid or binding, unless agreed to by a general council, nevertheless persisted in collecting together a few chiefs of two or three nations only, and with them held a treaty for the cession of an immense country, in which they were no more interested than as a branch of the general con- federacy, and who were in no manner authorized to make any grant or cession whatever. Brothers, how then was it possible for you to expect
* Lanman's Michigan, 149-151.
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to enjoy peace, and quietly hold these lands, when your commissioner was informed, long before he held the treaty of Fort Harmar, that the consent of a general council was absolutely necessary to convey any part of these lands to the United States? "
Masas, a noted Chippewa chief, at the treaty of Greenville in 1795, referring to the treaty at Fort Harmar, said: "Elder brother, I was sur- prised when I heard your voice, through a good interpreter, say that we had received presents and compensation for those lands, which were thereby ceded. I tell you now, that we, the Three Fires, never were informed of it. If our uncles, the Wyandots, and grandfathers, the Delawares, have received such presents, they have kept them to them- selves. I always thought that we, the Ottawas, Chippewas and Potta- wattamies, were the true owners of those lands, but now I find that new
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masters have undertaken to dispose of them; so that, at this day, we do not know to whom they rightfully belong. I don't know how it is, but ever since that treaty, we have become objects of pity, and our fires have been retiring from this country."
The fact appears to be that the confederate nations, as a whole, did not sanction either of the Fort Harmar treaties, although the Wyandots and some other tribes acknowledged its binding force.
The status of affairs between the Indians and the United States, prior to the Ordinance of 1787, appears to have stood thus : When hos- tilities ceased between England and the United States, England made no provision for the Indians, but transferred the northwest to the United States without any stipulation respecting the rights of the natives. The
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United States, regarding the lands of the hostile tribes as conquered and forfeited, proceeded to grant them portions of their own land. This produced discontent, and led to the formation of the great confed- eracy headed by Brant. After the treaty of Fort Harmar, transfers of territory had been made by the Iroquois, Wyandots, Delawares, and Shawnees, which were scarcely objectionable, but the Chippewas, Ottawas, Kickapoos, Weas, Piankeshaws, Pottawattamies, Eel River Indians, Kaskaskias, and especially the Miamis, were not bound by any existing agreement to deliver up lands lying north of the Ohio. The confederated tribes had forbidden the treaty of Fort Harmar, and had warned General St. Clair that it would not be binding on the confed- erates. They desired that the Ohio should be a perpetual boundary between the white and red men of the west, and would not sell a rod of land lying north of that line. This feeling had grown so strong that the young men could not be restrained from waging warfare upon the invad- ing "long knives," and attacking the frontier stations throughout the northwest. It was with reason that Washington expressed great doubts as to the justness of an offensive war being waged upon the tribes of the Wabash and Maumee, and, in speaking of these tribes, he says : " In the exercise of the present indiscriminate hostilities, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to say that a war without further measures would be just on the part of the United States."*
In 1785, Brant went to England to solicit aid for his confederacy. He reminded the English authorities of their forgetfulness of their allies, the Indians, the gradual encroachment of the Americans, and the prob- able consequences-war; and asked England's cooperation in repelling the farther advancement of the Americans. He received from the British minister an evasive and non-committal answer, and returned home, where he met the confederated natives in November, 1786. At the council then convened, he informed them that he had received no distinct assurances of aid from England, but the Indian superintendent, John Johnson, and Major Matthews, the commandant at Detroit, in their correspondence with Brant, gave him flattering assurances of countenance and protection in his hostile movements against the Americans. Major Matthews, in May, 1787, writes to Brant, with the apparent sanction of Lord Dorchester, the governor of Canada, in which he says, "In your letter to me you seem very apprehensive that the English are not very anxious about the defense of the posts. You will soon be satisfied that they have nothing more at heart, provided that it continues to be the wish of the Indians, and that they remain firm in doing their part of the business by preventing the Americans from com- ing into their country, and consequently from marching to the posts. On the other hand, if the Indians think it more for their interests that the Americans should have possession of the posts, and be established
*American State Papers. Vol. V., 97.
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in their country, they ought to declare it, that the English need no longer be put to the vast and unnecessary expense and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief object of which is to protect their Indian allies, and the loyalists who have suffered with them. It is well known that no encroachments ever have, or will be, made by the English upon the lands or property of the Indians, in consequence of possessing the posts; how far that will be the case, if ever the Americans get into them, may easily be imagined from their hostile perseverance, even without that advantage, in driving the Indians off their lands, and taking possession of them. * "'
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With such assurances on the part of the British authorities in America, together with the malign influence of such characters as Simon Girty, Alexander McKee, and Mathew Elliot, who had sunk to the lowest depths of humanity, it is not a matter of surprise that the hostility of the confederated natives was engendered and kept alive, and only wait- ing for a favorable moment to break forth with all its terrible fury. General Washington, in the spring of 1790, being desirous of learning the real sentiments of the northwestern Indians, through Governor St. Clair, sent Anthony Gamelin in April, 1790, to hold conferences with several tribes of the northwest. He arrived at the point where the Miamis, Shawnees and Delawares resided, and, on the 23d and 24th of April, he assembled the Indians into a grand council which lasted many
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*Stone's Brant, Vol. II., 271.
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days. Gamelin gave each nation two branches of wampum, and made them a speech in the presence of the French and Indian traders, who were invited to attend the conference; but, with all of his sagacity, the council's deliberations amounted to naught, as the Shawnees and Delawares delivered him back his wampum, while Le Gris, the great Miami chief, told him he might go back when he pleased; that he would not give him a positive answer until all the Lake nations, together with the Detroit commandant, had been consulted. On the 8th of May, Gamelin returned to Fort Knox, and, on the 11th of May, news was received that the northwestern savages had gone upon the warpath against the Americans.
The United States government now adopted a course towards the tribes of the northwest which was no longer peaceable. Governor St. Clair, by virtue of authority granted by congress, by the act of Sep- tember 29, 1789, and in pursuance of an order of the president, dated October 6th, called on Virginia for one thousand, and on Pennsylvania for five hundred militia. The call was made July 15, 1790, and the forces were distributed as follows: Three hundred were to meet at Fort Steuben (Jeffersonville) to aid the troops from Fort Knox (Vincennes) against the Weas and Kickapoos of the Wabash. Seven hundred were to gather at Fort Washington (Cincinnati), and five hundred below Wheel- ing. The latter two parties intended to cooperate with the troops from Fort Washington, under General Harmar. About the middle of Sep- tember, the troops began to arrive at Fort Washington from Kentucky and Pennsylvania. They were ill-equipped, destitute of camp equipage, and with arms wholly unfit for service; among them were old men and young boys hardly able to bear arms, many of whom had never fired a gun, while the numbers which came were short of what had been ordered. To all these disadvantages were added numerous disputes, which arose among them in selecting their officers; many of the militia declaring that they would return home, unless certain individuals were elected to com- mand them. On the 30th of September, General Harmar left Fort Washington, with a force of one thousand, four hundred and fifty-three men, and in due time arrived within thirty-five miles of the Miami villages.
On the 14th of October, the detachment pushed forward and, on the morning of the 17th, arrived at the deserted Maumee towns, which they destroyed, together with about twenty thousand bushels of corn. This work of devastation lasted until the 21st of October. General Harmar then designed to push forward and attack the Wea and other Indian settlements upon the Wabash, but was prevented by the loss of pack-horses and cavalry horses, which the Indian had stolen in conse- quence of the carelessness of the owners. Dropping the plan of the march on the Wabash towns, General Harmar sent Colonel Trotter, with three hundred men, to scour the woods in search of the enemy, as
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tracks of women and children had been seen near by; but the want of energy in the officers, and the entire lack of discipline in the army, rendered the expedition fruitless. The party returned to camp in the night, after having discovered and killed two mounted Indians, who were thought to be sentinels. The next day, General Harmar sent out another expedition in search of the enemy, under Colonel Hardin. This force found where the Indians camped the night before, and, shortly before dusk, the enemy's camp-fires were seen in the distance. The same inefficiency, on the part of the commanding officer, as well as his force, made success a failure; as they were easily drawn into an ambush, and only escaped after a heavy loss, and were compelled to retreat. The jealousy existing between the regular troops and the militia became so great that success was an impossibility, and the army commenced its homeward march late in October, 1790.
Colonel Hardin, not feeling easy after his defeat, prevailed upon General Harmar to send a detachment of three hundred and forty militia back to the villages, under the belief that the Indians had returned. The detachment under Colonel Hardin, consisting of militia, and the regulars, commanded by Major Wyllys, reached the banks of the Maumee, early in the morning of the 22d of October, where the spies reported that the enemy was discovered. According to the plan of attack the enemy was to be surrounded, and the battalions were to support each other, or to mass as occasion required, but in no case to separate. The attack commenced with unusual vigor. The Indians fled in different directions, while the militia, in disobedience of orders, pursued them in the various directions. The regulars, being thus unsupported, fell an easy sacrifice to the Indians. Thus General Harmar's disastrous campaign closed. A campaign from which was expected so much, and resulted in so little. The failure of General Harmar's expedition, immediately followed by the attack of the Indians on the new settlements on the Ohio, prompted the government to take decisive and strong measures whereby a peace should be obtained by force of arms, or secured by prudent negotiation.
The plan adopted by the general government was threefold. (I) to send a messenger to the western Indians, to be accompanied by Iroquois chiefs, with offers of peace; (2) to organize expeditions in the west to strike the Wea, Miami, and Shawnee towns, in case that the peace messenger should fail in his mission, and (3) to prepare an over- whelming force with which to take possession of the country of their enemies, and build forts in their midst .*
Colonel Thomas Proctor was selected as the peace commissioner, and left Philadelphia on March 12, 1791. At Corn Planters' settlement he secured the services of certain Iroquois chiefs to accompany him on his mission. The mission proved a failure, as the British commandant
*American State Papers, Vol. XIII., 36.
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at Niagara would not allow any English vessel to be hired to convey the ambassadors up Lake Erie. General Scott, of Kentucky, was commis- sioned to make war upon the Miamis; Governor St. Clair was to invade and take possession of their lands, while Colonel Pickering was to hold a peace council, for the purpose of burying the hatchet, and establishing permanent peace. *
The policy adopted by the United States is fully explained in the instructions of President Washington, through the secretary of war, General Knox, which is in the following language: "An Indian war, under any circumstances, is regarded by the great mass of people in the United States as an event which ought, if possible, to be avoided. The sacrifices of blood and treasure in such a war far exceed any advantages which can possibly be reaped by it. The great policy, therefore, of the general government is to establish a just and liberal peace with all the Indian tribes within the limits and in the vicinity of the territory of the United States. * * But if all the lenient measures taken, or which may be taken, should fail to bring the hostile Indians to a just sense of their situation, it will be necessary that you should use such coercive means as you shall possess for that purpose. If the Indians refuse to listen to the messengers of peace sent to them, it is most probable they will, unless prevented, spread them- selves along the line of frontiers, for the purpose of committing all depredations in their power. To avoid so calamitous an event, Briga- dier-General Charles Scott, of Kentucky, has been authorized to make an expedition against the Wea or Ouiatanon towns, with mounted vol- unteers, or militia, not exceeding the number of seven hundred and fifty, officers included. * It is confided to your discretion whether there should be more than one of the said expeditions of mounted volun- teers, or militia. * All captives are to be treated with great humanity. It will be sound policy to attract the Indians by kindness, after demonstrating to them our power to punish them on all occasions.
If no decisive indications of peace should have been produced, you will commence your march for the Miami village, in order to estab- lish a strong and permanent military post at that place. * *
* The Indians continuing hostile, you will seek the enemy, and endeavor by all possible means to strike them with great severity."
No news of peace being received, General Scott's command moved on the Wabash towns, and arrived on June 1, 1791. The Indian villages were abandoned upon the approach of the army, although slight skir- mishing occurred at several points. The village of Ouiatanon, wherein lived many French settlers in a state of civilization, was destroyed. This place was in close connection with and dependent on Detroit. Scott's expedition only succeeded in destroying the settlements of the enemy, together with a half-dozen warriors, and took fifty or sixty pris-
*Smith's History of Wisconsin, Vol. I., 191.
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oners. They returned without having reached the higher towns on the Wabash, which occasioned Governor St. Clair to dispatch a second expedition, under Colonel Wilkinson, against the villages on Eel river. This expedition was devoid of any greater results than the Harmar and Scott expedition. A few Indian villages were burned, growing corn cut up, settlements destroyed, a few Indians killed, and some taken pris- oners. No victory had been gained over the Indians, no strong posts had been established in their midst, while the tranquility of the frontier was apparently as far distant as ever.
Governor St. Clair, having received instructions from the general government, proceeded to organize his army, and, on the 15th of May, 1791, he arrived at Fort Washington. At this time, the whole United States troops in the northwest amounted only to two hundred and sixty- four non-commissioned officers and privates, fit for duty. By the 17th of September, the army had been increased, by the arrival of recruits, to twenty-three hundred strong, exclusive of the militia. The army then commenced its march, and at the Great Miami built Fort Hamilton, the first fort in that great chain of fortifications. After its completion, they moved forty-four miles farther, and commenced Fort Jefferson, on October 12th. The troops again resumed their march on the 24th of October, and, on November 3d, they were on a branch of the Wabash, which General St. Clair thought to be the St. Mary or the Maumee. Upon the banks of this creek, the army, now reduced by desertion and sickness to fourteen hundred strong, encamped in two lines. *
Early upon the morning of the 14th of November, just as the men had been dismissed from parade, the Indians made an attack on both of St. Clair's lines, driving the militia into camp, thereby throwing the reg- ulars into disorder. The general ordered a bayonet charge, which drove the Indians back for a time, but they soon rallied and renewed the attack with increased vigor. St. Clair's camp was entered by the left flank, and the troops driven in. Successful charges on the enemy were repeatedly made, with a loss of many men and officers. The artillery was soon silenced, all of the officers except one being killed, while half of the army had fallen. A retreat was now ordered, which soon became a flight. The camp and artillery were abandoned, as not a horse was left with which to draw off the guns. Arms and accoutrements were thrown away by the retreating army, even after pursuit had ceased. The Indians followed the fleeing army about four miles, while the fugitives continued their flight until they reached Fort Jefferson, a distance of twenty-nine miles, which place they reached a little after sunset.
St. Clair's defeat was exceedingly disastrous. It was in its effect a second Braddock's defeat. The hopes of Washington, Knox, and St. Clair were overthrown in this unfortunate, but brief campaign. The causes which led to so fatal a termination of the expedition were at a
*American State Papers, Vol. V., 136.
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subsequent period fully inquired into by a committee of the house of representatives, which expressly declared General St. Clair free from all blame, both before and during the flight. The true causes of the defeat appeared to be that the militia and soldiers were surprised and out- generaled by the savage forces, who were led with ability and valor, and in no recorded battle did the savages ever show themselves better warriors. It is said that one thousand Indians were engaged in this battle,* while St. Clair's forces did not exceed fourteen hundred. Thirty-eight commissioned officers were killed during the battle, and five hundred and ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates were slain and missing ; while twenty-one commissioned officers and two hun- dred and forty-two non-commissioned and privates were wounded, many of whom died.
The exigencies of the times demanded that a new army be immedi- ately raised, and from the list of general officers recommended to com- mand the army, President Washington selected Major-General Anthony Wayne. It was the desire of Washington, that before the government resorted to the last extremity, every effort should be made to prevent bloodshed. Authorized agents were sent into the Indian country, and extended invitations to the different nations to send their representatives to Philadelphia, to meet the congress in session, and shake hands with their newly-adopted father. The great Mohawk chief, Brant, visited the federal capital, and was received with marked attention, as were also the fifty Iroquois chiefs who visited the City of Brotherly Love, and, although the United States commissioners, Lincoln, Randolph, and Pickering, met the confederated tribes of the northwest with their English friends at the rapids of the Maumee, still conciliatory measures were found to be impracticable. The Indians ever insisting that the Ohio should be the boundary between themselves and the encroaching Americans, and strenuously and rightfully maintained that the treaty of peace between England and the United States gave the latter no title to the Indian lands north of the Ohio. The last great council, held at the suggestion of Washington and his advisers, before General Wayne com- menced operations, was at the foot of the Maumee rapids, on August 13, 1793. There were present the chiefs of the following tribes: Seven Nations of Canada, Wyandots, Pottawattamies, Senecas, Shawnees, Cherokees, Miamis, Ottawas, Messasagoes, Chippewas, Munsees, Mohi- cans, Connoys, Delawares, Wantakokies, and Creeks.
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