Ashland County, Ohio - Chapter 11: Crawford's Expedition, 1880

Chapter 11: Crawford's Expedition

ExpecTitiorTof Colonel William Crawford to Upper Sandusky in 1782. - His Disastrous Repulse and Flight. - His Capture, Torture, and Death at the Stake, by Captain Pike. - The Object of the Expedition. - The Route of the Expedition Through the Forests of Ohio.

The massacre of the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas., intensified the hate of Captain Pipe towards the border settlers, because they were mostly Delaware's and his kinsmen. " Although he had opposed the pacific principles and faith of the Moravian Indians, and had, to some extent, assisted in persecuting and annoying them in consequence of their refusal to go upon the war-path, yet, when they were attacked by the Pennsylvania volunteers and barbarously slaughtered, his sympathies., were aroused in their behalf, and he resolved to avenge the death of the inoffensive brethren who had been wantonly murdered by the blood-thirsty rangers of Williamson at Gnadenhutten. The Wyandots, the S/iaivnees, the Ottawas, the Miami's , the Mingoes, and the Mohegans rallied to his support, and the borders of Virginia and Pennsylvania were threatened with invasion by the savages of the northwest. Pipe and Half King went from tribe to tribe calling for assistance, and several thousand warriors were collected in the vicinity of Sandusky plains ready to measure arms with the "Long Knives," and go upon the war path to visit summary vengeance upon the whites for the inhuman treatment of the Christian Delon ares.

In the meantime, the border counties of Jperinyslvania and Virginia become great'y excited over the impending 'danger of an Indian invasion. Volunteers were invited tc join a new expedition then organizing to march into territories of Ohio to attack the new settlement of the Christian Indians on the Sandusky, as well as the Wunidnt and Delaware towns located thereon. The enterprise was conducted with as much secresy and rapidity as possible, the volunteers furnishing their own' outfits, and mostly mounted on horses, were supplied with arms and ammunition by the authorities of Washington county, Pennsylvania.

About the twentieth of May, 17S2. the volunteers crossed the Ohio river and rendezvoused at the deserted . \ fin go village below what is now Steubenville. An election for a commanding officer took place. The

William Crawford, the confidential friend of General Washington. Colonel William Crawford received a majority of the votes, and was declared the commander, although he is said to have accepted the command with much reluctance. Colonel Williamson accompanied the | fourth day reached Shoenbrun, on the Tuscarawas, then the Muskingum, and found sufficient corn in the field lor their horses. They continued down the Tuscarawas, and, on the thirtieth, discovered, a few hundred yards in advance, two Indians skulking through the forest, appar- j rently watching the movements of the troops. They j were fired at but escaped. The soldiers were thrown into a fever of excitement and confusion over the circumstance, and expected an ambush and attack ; and Colonel Crawford is said to have expressed apprehensions of the worst consequences, from the evident want of discipline and subordination on the part of the rangers, and afterwards lost all confidence in their courage and capacity to cope with any considerable force of ; Indians. He, as an experienced soldier, was impressed with the fact that the two Indians were acting as spies, and had stealthily followed him from the Ohio river, and were fully aware of his destination and the number of troops composing the expedition, all of which had doubtless been communicated to the villages in their advance, and to Pipe and Half King. Colonel Crawford found ail the Indian villages on his route deserted, and the impression prevalent that no quarter was to be given to an Indian, whether man, woman, or child.

On his route from the Tuscarawas, he passed through White Eyes plains, across the north part of Holmes and the south part of Wayne counties, and over the townships of Lake and Green, in Ashland county, near the present residences of Warring Wolf, David Hunter, Thomas and Benjamin McGuire, north of Alexander Rice, George Guthrie and old Greentown, to the Rocky fork, and up it to where Mansfield now is; thence to Spring mills, and thence to near Pipestown, where they found the Moravian huts or cabins on the sixth of June, deserted, and nothing but desolation to mark the spot. The site was surrounded by tall grass, and the remains of a few huts .were seen. It was well - -for the human tigers that had * feasted on Christian blood at Gnadenhutten, intended to make a dash at the towns of the Moravian Delawares and Ilya //dots upon the Sandusky, where no Indian was to be spared - friend or foe - every red man was to die! This, then, might be considered a second Moravian campaign, as its object was to finish the sanguinary work of murder and plunder commenced on the Tuscarawas. ! Having had a taste of blood and plunder, there, without risk and loss, they had entered upon tire new campaign with high hones of easily extirpating the Delawares and Uyandots.

Finding the Moravian village deserted, the officers called a halt, and held a council, in which the propriety of advancing was fully discussed. Some desired to turn back, as their horses were much wearied by the long and toilsome journey, and needed rest and proper forage. It was finally decided that the army should advance one day further, and, if an enemy could not be discovered, to retreat. The army was again put in motion, and, having crossed the Sandusky, advanced about one mile west to a point about three miles north of Upper Sandusky, where the guard, about two o clock, was attacked and driven in by the Indians, who were discovered in large numbers in the high grass with which the plain was covered. The Indians attempted to take a piece of woods to conceal themselves behind the trees, but were prevented by the rapid movements of Colonel Crawford's forces, and the battle commenced by heavy firing from both sides. The Indians were driven from the timber, and the battle continued with incessant and heavy firing until dark, when both armies kindled large fires along the line of battle to prevent surprise, and rested on their arms during the night. In the morning the battle was not renewed, but the Indians were seen during the day in large numbers traversing the plains in various directions. A council of officers was held, and a speedy retreat resolved on as the only means or' saving the army. Captain Williamson proposed to take one hundred and fifty men and march directly to Upper Sandusky. The proposition was rejected, undei the belief that it would weaken the forces so as to allow them to be cut off in detail, and result in the capture of an empty town. During the day, the dead (three in number) were buried, and arrangements for carrying the wounded were made. At a given signal the retreat was to commence in the evening, after dark. The route is not clearly pointed out, but seems to have been in the direction of Upper Sandusky, the only open point in the Indian lines. The forces moved forward, but were soon thrown into great confusion by an attack by the Indians. While some three hundred men moved forward as directed, Captain Williamson, with about forty men, seems to have separated from the main body and broken through the Indian lines under a severe fire, with some loss, and, on the second day, overtook the army on its retreat. The main army probably passed through Upper Sandusky without pursuit, and then, wheeling to the left, kept up the stream a short distance, crossed o'-er, and continued to retreat in an easterly direction until it again struck the trail by which it had advanced, and followed the same with as much rapidity as possible to the Tuscarawas, and thence to the Ohio river, pursued by the Indians, who cut off ail the I stragglers found on the route. When the retreat commenced., a large number of soldiers believing it to be safer to separate from the main army, scattered over the plains, and were all captured or killed by the Indians. Colonel Crawford having delayed while the troops were passing, in search of his son and other relatives, was joined by Dr. Knight, the surgeon, and failing to meet or hear of the young men, and, having no confidence in the courage of the army, he, Dr. Knight, and two others, changed their course northward, guided h\ the north star, and continued to travel in that direction for nearly an horn, and then, turning cast, soon crossed the San- f ky and pressed forward until daybreak, when their )r,f.es failed and were abandoned. Continuing their nej' on foot they soon fell in with Captain Higgs, who i, ui generously surrendered his horse to a wounded offi- (ir Lieutenant Ashley, and was walking by his side with , riflc in his hand and a knapsack on his shoulders. At * hree o'clock in the afternoon a heavy rain fell, which compelled them to encamp. They constructed a temporary shelter by barking several trees after the manner of the Indians, and spread the bark over poles. Here they passed the night. In the morning they resumed their route and were so fortunate as to find the carcass of a deer neatly sliced and bundled in the skin, and a mile further on fell in with a white man, who had kindled a fire. They breakfasted heartily after the fatigues and abstinence of thirty-six hours, and continued their march. By noon they had reached the path by which the army had marched a few days before, in their advance upon the Indian towns, and some discussion took place as to the propriety of taking that route, homeward.* Biggs and Knight strenuously insisted upon continuing their course through the woods, and avoiding all paths, but Crawford overruled them, representing that the Indians would not continue the pursuit beyond the plains, which were already far behind. Before they had advanced a mile, a party of Delaware Indians sprang up near Colonel Crawford and Dr. Knight, who were some distance ahead of their comrades, and ordered them, in good English, to stop. They surrendered - the rest fled; but Biggs and Ashley were overtaken and killed the next day.f Crawford and Knight were taken to an Indian encampment near by, where they found nine other prisoners.

On the next morning, all were conducted toward the Tymochtee, by Pipe and Wingenund, Delaware chiefs, except four of them, who were killed and scalped on the way, they being about thirty-three miles from Sandusky, on the trail by which the army had advanced. When they arrived at a Delaware town on the Tymochtee, a few miles northwesterly from the site of Upper Sandusky, preparations were made for the buining of Colonel Crawford. In the vicinity the remaining five of the prisoners were tomahawked and scalped by squaws and ooys. The relations of Crawford were executed by the Shawnccs on the Scioto. Upon the arrival of Colonel Crawford on the Tymochtee, he endeavored to enlist the sympathies of the notorious Simon Girty, who was then living with the Indians, but Girty would not or could not exert any influence in his behalf. Indeed, it is said that Captain Pipe rebuked, him for his interference, with a threat of burning him also if he again mentioned the matter. A post about fifteen feet high was set in the ground, where the prisoner was to be burned; and a

After ;i careful analysis of the course of Colonel Cr.twlord an t ! is comrades, we are inclined to believe that this parley took place nearl-. "ti the line of the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne railroad, some two or duve miles northwest of Mansfield, a distanat of about thirty three or thirty -lour miles eat t of the Sandusky river

I It is probable that -' aptniu I'-i;;-, and 1 .ieulenant Ashley were kihe,| somewhere in the -a t part of Milton or the west pan of Montgomery thwnship, in this county.

! large pile of hickory poles, about six yards from if, had ! been burned in the middle, so as to make a bed of coals j and fagots to torture him. When the colonel approached the spot, he was surprised at these preparations, and, Keckewelder says, when Wingenund came up, Crawford addressed him in regard to their intentions, and desired his influence on the ground of a long acquaintance, and j warm friendships. Wingenund said he sympathized with him, and admitted the force of his arguments for | mercy; but that Captain Pipe could not be appeased for the cruel death of his Moravian kinsmen on the Muskingum, and was determined to make a victim of the colonel. When reminded that Colonel C\ aw ford had no part in that dreadful tragedy, he said if they could have ! captured Williamson he thought the life of Crawford would have been spared. But, as the matter then stood, he could do nothing, and would retire from the spot.

Dr. Knight says, when we "went to the fire, the. colonel was stripped naked, ordered to sit down by the fee, and then beat him with sticks and their fiscs. Presently after, I was treated in the same manner. They then tied a rope to the foot of the post, bound the colonel's ! hands behind his back, and fastened the rope to the ligature between his wrists. The rope was long enough : for him to sit down or walk round the post once or twice, and return the same way. The colonel then called to Girty, and asked if they intended to burn him? Girty answered yes. The colonel said he would take it pa- : tientlv." Upon this. Captain Pike made a speech to the ! Indians, about thirty or forty men, and sixty or seventy : squaws and boys. At its conclusion, the Indians gave a i hideous yell of assent; and the Indian men then took j up their guns and fired sixty or seventy loads of powder into the colonel's body, from his feet as far up as his | neck. They then crowded about him and mutilated him; and then, three or four Indians by turns, took up the burning pieces of the poles and applied them to his naked body, already blacked with the powder Some of the squaws took boaids and poured burning coals and hot embers on him, so that in a short time he had noth- ! ing but coals to walk upon. In the midst of these ex- ' treme tortures, he begged Girty to shoot him - but the hardened wretch derisively replied he had no gun, at the j same time turning about to an Indian, laughed heartily, and seemed delighted at the horrid scene. "Colonel Crawford, at this period of his sufferings, besought tne Almighty to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with the most manly fortitude." He j continued tc survive under these extreme tortures for over two hours, when an Indian removed the doctor to Captain Pipe's house, about three quartets of a mile from the place of the colonel's execution. The next morning the doctor was untied and painted black, to be taken to a S/nixauct town, some forty miles distant, to be burned. He was taken, bound to an Indian post, the spot where the colonel had been burned, and says: "l saw his bones lying among the leinaiu.-. of the fit j. almost burned to ashes. I suppose, after lie was dead, they laid his body on the fire. The Indians told me that was unbig captain, and gave the scalp halloo." On the wa; to the Shawnee town, through the foiest, the doctor made j his escape, and finally got safely to Pittsburgh. Thus I ended the disastrous campaign of Colonel Crawford. His j death was the penalty demanded for the slaughter of the j Moravians. He is described as an amiable, intelligent, and chivalrous officer; and the intelligence of his death sent a shudder of horror over the border counties of Pennsylvania and Virginia.*

" Crawford's route from Shoenbrun. two miles south of New Philadelphia, to Odell's, Oi Mohican John's lake, was nearly west. My opini n is that the expedition continued r.ine or ten mile west, up Sugai creek, the mouth of which must be very near where Shoenbrun stood, the valley being for that distance I nearly east and west, broad and level, and beautiful. The south branch falls in there, having run some distance from the west, not far from the line between Wayne and Holmes counties; thence the army may have passed down the Salt creek to Killbuck, near Holmrv'lie, from thence to Mohican John's lake; and thence continued more westerly not far from Loudonville, thence up that branch of Mohican, past Green-town. Since writing the foregoing, I have looked at a map, and find my route between Shoenbrun and Odell's lake would be rather more north than we.-^t, but still it seems to me a very "probable one. '

The actual route was about one and a half miles north oC Loudonville, and about one mile north of the Indian village of Greer.town, which was not. established until 1783. In other words, Colonel Crawford simply followed the old Huron trail leading from Sandusky to the forks of the Muskingum and Fort Da Quesne.

Chatter Xii

A Legend concerning the Abandonment of "Helltown " in 1782, on the Approach of Crawfoi d's Army, .arid the. Founding of "Greentov.n' in 1733, by the Lcnni-Lcnapos or Delawares, by the Aid of a White Tory.

The precise period of the location of the Delaware and Mingo village of Greentown, on the Black fork, some three miles west of the present village of Perrysvillc, in Green township, cannot be fixed with entire certainty. The location of that village was on the north ! side of the Black fork or Armstrong's creek, and on the j present site of the farm of John Shambaugh. The weight j of authority would seem to fix the date of location of the Greentown Indians as early as 1783, one year after Crawford's expedition, and some thirty-five years before the appearance of the white settlers in that region.

lage is very interesting, and is based, .upon the recollections of an old pioneer of Mohican township, Mr. Benjamin Tyler, of Tylerstown, Ohio.* In the spring of 17S2, when Colonel William Crawford invaded the Indian settlements of Upper Sandusky, he passed up the old Indian trail through White Eyes plains, in 'Tuscarawas county, and across the counties of Wayne, Holmes, | Ashland, Richland and Crawford. As he approached ! the banks of the Mohican, he was closely watched by the S Indians who beleagured hi.-, path. \t that time, nr. Indian village by the name of "Helltown,'' existed rear the south line of what is now Green township, on the !

banks of the Clear fork of the Mohican. Its inhabitants having learned the fate of the poor Moravians, their relatives, on the banks of the Tuscarawas, some months prior to the new invasion, fled to Upper Sandusky for safety. This village was the home of 'Thomas Lyon, Billy Montour, Thomas Jelloway, Billy Dowdy, Thomas Armstrong - chief - and other leading Delawares; and the occasional residence of the noted Captain Pipe, who aided in the execution of the unfortunate Colonel William Crawford.

The village probably derived its name from a Pennsylvania captive, who spoke the German language, "Hell," in that vernacular, signifying dear, light or transparent. It was, therefore, the village of the clear stream.

Tradition, as derived from the noted Thomas Lyon, in a conversation with Judge. Peter Kinney, fixes the. location of Greentown the year following Colonel Crawford's expedition, "Helltown" being abandoned as a village site. Thomas Armstrong, the ruling chief, with the original inhabitants of the village on the Clear fork, constituted, with a few Mingoes and Mohawks, the proprietors of the new village. It was situated on a bluff or tongue of land extending to the north banks of the Black fork or "Armstrong's creek, J- .and pretty nearlv surrounded by aider marshes east, south, north and west, and was a strong position. The village site covered from three to four acres. The huts numbered perhaps from one hundred and fifty to two hundred, and were constructed of poles, and covered with bark, and were irregularly placed on the knoll, and surrounded a very handsome play-ground, at the west side of which was a coup. cii house and a cemetery in a grove.

From 1 7 S3 to 1795 this village was a point on the route from Upper Sandusky to Fort Pitt, and many trembling captives passed through it on their way to Detroit or other points in the Indian country. Many captives on their return east mention "Greentown" and " Mohican Johnstown," places to which they were conducted during their captivity.

Having, for along time, been curious to learn why the village should have been named " Greentown," the author accidentally ascertained that Mr. Benjamin Tyler and his ancestors had information concerning the fall of Wyoming that was, as yet, unwritten. We called upon him for the information desired. He stated chat his parents had resided at an early day in the Mohawk valley, where he was born. Mr. Tyler came into Mob Kan township in 1S14, and is now eighty-four years of . ge. In tSog his father, Beniamin Tyler, sr., resided in Cayuga county, New York, and was visited by one Thomas Green, whom lie had formerly known in New England, in company with two Delaware Indians from Ohio, who asked and obtained leave to stay all night. Mr. Tyler, having been acquainted in his boyhood in Connectii ut with Mr. Green, desired to learn, during the conversations of the evening, where he had been for the twenty-five years prior t;> th .1 time. Mr. Tyler had known that Green was regarded as a lory, and had sympathized with the British and Indians in the destruction of the beautiful valley of Wyoming, and had lied to the territory west of the Ohio river and made his home \ among the Delawares. In response to the inquiry, Green gave. Mr. Tyler, in the presence of Ids sons, the late Major Tyler and Benjamin, a full recital of his adventures, among other things stating that He had founded a village on the waters of Mohican, which the Indians in j honor of himself called "Greentown;" and that he j possessed a great deal of influence over his Indian \ brethren. In a few days Green and his companions returned to the wilds of the Black fork, and were never again seen by Mr. Tyler. ^

Mr. Tyler is regarded as a truthful man, and the fact that Billy Montour, .Thomas Jelloway, and Thomas Lyons were at the destruction of Wyoming, gives weight to the legend as detailed by him. We are of opinion his statement is reliable. We may conclude then that the founding of Greentown took place in the year 1783, and that it was so named in honor of Thomas Green, a Connecticut tory who joined the Indians.