Auglaize County, Ohio - Chapter 9: Harrison's Campaign, 1905 (part 1 of 2)

As the news of the surrender of Hull spread through Ohio and Kentucky, it created an excitement and alarm as great as that that followed the defeat of St. Clair. As soon as Governor Scott, of Kentucky, received the report of Hull's surrender, he invited Governor Harrison to visit Frankfort and consult with him on the defense of the northwestern frontier. As a result of the conference, Harrison was appointed a major-general of three regiments that had already been enlisted for service on the frontier. On the 25th of. August he left Frankfort, escorted by Lieutenant Colonel Martin D. Hardin, of Allen's regiment, and by riding all night, reached Cincinnati at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 2.7th. XJpon taking command of the Kentucky regiments, he issued the following general order, which gives an idea of the kind of discipline and tactics that were practiced on this campaign :

"The commandants of the several corps will at every convenient opportunity commence drilling their men to the performance of the evolutions, contemplated by the commander-in-chief for the order of march and battle. The principal features in all these evolutions, is that of a battalion changing its direction, by swinging round on its center. This, however, is not to be done by wheeling, which by a large body in the woods, is impracticable. It is to be performed thus : the battalion being on its march in a single rank, and its center being ascertained, the front division comes to the right about, excepting the man in the rear of that division, who steps two feet to the right ; at the same time the front man of the second division takes a position about six feet to the left of the man in the rear of the front division, and dresses with him in a line at right angles to the line of march. These two men acting as markers or guides for the formation of the new alignment, at the word - 'from the new alignment, march,' the men of the front file round their guide and form in succession on his right. At the same time the men of the rear division file up in succession to left of the guide, and dress in a line with him and the guide of the front division. This maneuver may be performed by any number of men - by company and plattoon as well as by battalion.

On the morning of the 30th of August General Harrison left Cincinnati, and overtook the regiments he was to command, about twenty miles south of Dayton, on the morning of the thirty-first. As he pasesd from rear to front he was saluted with three hearty cheers. He afterward spoke of this reception, as it was an evidence that they would cheerfully fight under his command. On the 1st of September the army passed through Dayton, and some time in the afternoon General Harrison was overtaken by an express, bearing a message from the War Department, informing him that he had been appointed brigadier general in the United States army, to command all the troops in Indiana and Illinois territories, with instructions to consult and co-operate with General Hull, and with Governor Howard, of Missouri territory. But, as the commission had been issued before the War Department had the news of the surrender of Detroit, General Harrison declined to accept the appointment, until he could hear the determination of the government, after the surrender, and the character in which he was then acting, had been reported to the War Department.

On the 3d of September the army reached Piqua, where the general received information that Fort Wayne was about to be besieged by the British and Indians. Colonel Allen's regiment and three companies from other regiments were dispatched immediately, with instructions to make forced marches for the relief of the garrison.

"On the evening of the 4th, General Harrison received further information that British and Indian forces had left Malden on the 1 8th of August to reinforce the besieging forces at Fort Wayne." Upon receiving this information, Colonel Adams with his regiment of seven hundred mounted men was ordered to advance as far as Shane's crossing on the St. Mary's River.

In the meantime General Harrison having received notice that General Winchester had been ordered by the War Department to take command of the troops destined to reinforce the northwestern army, he wrote to General Winchester from Piqua, asking to be relieved of his command, but upon receiving information of the critical situation of Fort Wayne, he decided to retain the command until the fort should be relieved.

At an early hour on the morning of the 5th, the remainder of the troops were paraded when the general addressed them, in which he stated that "Fort Wayne was in imminent danger, and that it was absolutely necessary to make forced marches to relieve it. He read several articles of war, prescribing the duty of soldiers, and explained the necessity for such regulations. He then observed, that if there was any person, who would not submit to such regulations, or who was afraid to risk his life in defense of his country, he might return home, as he did not wish to have any person with him who was afraid or unwilling to discharge his duties. One man only said he wished to return ; and his friends having obtained leave as usual to escort him on his way, he was hoisted on a rail and carried to the Big' Miami, in the waters of which they absolved him from the obligations of courage and patriotism, and then gave him leave of absence.

"The troops were detained here (Piqua) until the 6th for want of flints, a very small, yet indispensable article. On that day they marched, leaving the greater part of their clothes and heavy baggage at Piqua, and overtook Colonel Allen's regiment at Girty's town (St. Mary's) on the St. Mary's river, where they were ordered to halt and construct block-houses in which to deposit provisions and care for the sick. The troops at this point were put on half rations. In the evening of the same day Major R. M. Johnson of Kentucky, arrived with a corps of mounted volunteers, consisting of the companies of Captains Arnold and Johnson, and a company from Mason county, under the command of Captain Ward. The army was now about two thousand two hundred men.

"While the troops were at Piqua, Mr. Johnson, the Indian agent, at the request of General Harrison, procured some Shawanee Indians to go down to the mouth of the Auglaize - the site of old Fort Defiance, and examine whether any British force had passed up to the siege of Fort Wayne. A Shawanee from Wapakoneta, a half blood, by the name of Logan, who had received this name in consequence of his having been taken prisoner when a boy, by General Logan in an excursion from Kentucky, had also been sent by the agent, to ascertain the situation of the fort. He was an Indian of great merit, and a chief warrior in his tribe. He was about six feet high, and robust, with broad shoulders and a prominent forehead. He was much attached to General Harrison and a warm friend to our cause, which ha promoted by acting as a guide and a spy for the army. On his trip to Fort Wayne, he eluded all the vigilance of the enemy, got into the fort, and returned with the information of its being besieged. He also brought intelligence that Stephen Johnson, a brother to the Indian agent, had been killed in sight of the fort, while attempting to escape as an express, and that the Indians had tried every strategy to get possession of the fort. This information was important, as well as the report of the Indians from the Auglaize, that there was no appearance of a British army having gone up the Miami (Maumee) of the Lakes.

The hostile Indians were taking similar measures to obtain information of Harrison's movements. On the night of the 8th, while the army lay in tolerable open order, at St. Mary's, the besiegers at Fort Wayne sent their spies to examine it. They did not get around the camp before daylight, and returned with a report that 'Kentuck was coming as numerous as the trees.' "

"On the morning of the 9th the army marched for Fort Wayne, with the exception of the mounted volunteers, who remained until 12 o'clock to rest their horses, and to elect a major to command the corps. R. M. Johnson was chosen for this office, and Benjamin S. Chambers was appointed quartermaster, and the Reverend James Sugette adjutant to his battalion. The army arrived at Shane's crossing in the evening and encamped with the regiment of Colonel Adams. Major Johnson came up in the night and encamped half a mile above the main army. A delay occurred on the morning of the 10th, caused by necessary repairs of broken wagons. During the delay every department underwent a personal inspection by the general. The different corps wrere paraded and drilled. Major Johnson's battalion was drilled on horseback by Captain James Johnson, whose zeal and military knowledge was surpassed by few men of his age and -opportunities.

"After the completion of repairs the army marched in the following manner: The 17th United States Regiment, Colonel Wells, and the rifle regiment, Colonel Allen, formed the right column, at the distance of two hundred yards from the road; Colonel Lewis and Scott's regiment, the left column, at the same distance from the road on the left. The wagons and pack-horses were on the road in the center. The horsemen from Ohio, under Colonel Adams, formed the right flank ; and the mounted riflemen from Kentucky, under Major Johnson, the left. A battalion from the former, commanded by General Lytle, acting as major, constituted the advance; while Captain Garrard's troop of horse from Kentucky framed the rear guard. Spies were placed from half a mile to a mile in front, and also beyond the right and left flanks.

* "On the nth, Lieutenant Sugette, Adjutant of Johnson's battalion, was sent with twenty men from that battalion to reconnoiter in advance. Logan and two other Shawanese went with them as guides. They fell in with a party of Indians, who fled immediately, leaving a young Potawatamie chief mortally wounded. In the evening they returned to the army; and their little encounter being the first that had occurred, had some effect in raising the spirits of the troops. As soon as the army encamped in the evening the General, with his aids and the officer of the day, Colonel Allen, rode around the grounds and inspected the whole encampment, which without delay was strongly fortified with a breast-work of logs, and the underbrush cleared away to the distance of thirty paces on the outside. The mounted men were encamped within the lines. During the night there were a number of alarms, caused by the Indians attempting to approach and examine the camp. The army was now within twenty miles of Fort Wayne, at which it would be able to arrive the next day.

"Early on the morning of the 12th, the army was in motion, every man being prepared for action,* and expecting to meet the Indians at a well known swamp, about fifteen miles distant. As the army approached it, the horsemen under Johnson and Adams were sent round it to the right and left. It was about a mile long and three hundred yards wide, except where the road crossed it, at which place it was not more than one hundred yards wide. At this season, it was tolerably dry, and no enemy was to be seen, nor any appearance of one, except a recent encampment, immediately beyond the swamp." Brice in his history of Fort Wayne, says that "at the first gray of the morning of the 10th (the date is wrong, it was the 12th) of September, the distant halloos of the disappointed savages revealed to the anxious inmates of the fort the glorious news of the approach of the army. Great clouds of dust could be seen from the fort, rolling up in the distance, as the valiant soldiery, under General Harrison, moved forward to the rescue of the garrison ; and soon after daybreak the army stood before the fort. (The time of arrival, as stated, is a mistake. Captain McAfee who accompanied the army states that they arrived about two hours before sunset.) The Indians had beat a hasty retreat to the eastward and northward, and the air about the old fort resounded with the glad shouts of welcome to General Harrison and the brave boys of Ohio and Kentucky." troops in destroying the Indian towns on the Wabash and Elkhart rivers. Colonel Wells led a body of troops to the latter place, and the General, in person- headed those destined to the former. At both places the Indian settlements were broken up and large quantities of corn were destroyed. After the return of the troops to Fort Wayne, General Winchester arrived and took command of that portion of the army which had been assigned to him by the War Department, composed of the regiments of Allen, Lewis and Scott, of the Kentucky troops, Garrard's troop of cavalry of the same state, and a part of the 17th United States regiment of infantry, under Wells. The command of the remainder of the Kentucky troops, embracing Simrall's regiment of cavalry, and the regiments of infantry under Colonel Jennings, Poague and Barbee, were retained by General Harrison, they having been placed under him- as governor of Indiana, by the Secretary of War. This change of commanders was not very acceptable to the first named detachment, the troops having become attached to General Harrison. From the general order, issued by him at Fort Wayne, on the 19th, upon resigning the command to General Winchester, the following paragraph is taken :

"If anything could soften the regret which the general feels at parting with troops which have so entirely won his confidence and affection, it is the circumstance of his committing them to the charge of one of the heroes of our glorious revolution ; a man distinguished as well for the service he has rendered the country, as for the possession of every qualification which constitutes the gentleman."

It required, indeed, all the influence of General Harrison and the officers of the detachment, to reconcile the men to this change of commanders.

On the evening of the 19th General Harrison departed from' Fort Wayne for St. Marys, following the road up the St. Mary's river traversed by General Wayne in 1794. Pursuant to a call made by Governor Meigs and General Harrison, early in September, regiments under Colonels Joshua Barber, Thomas Poague and William Jennings and three companies of mounted riflemen under Captains Roper, Bacon, and Clark ; and a corps of mounted men from Ohio, rendezvoused at Dayton on the 15th of September. These troops were mobilized to take part in an expedition against Detroit and Indian towns along the Maumee. These troops were commanded by Colonel Findlay, who had entered the service again after being surrendered by General Hull. The regiment of Colonel Wm. Jennings and the mounted men were dispatched to St. Marys to await the arrival of General Harrison, who reached the fort on the evening of the 20th.

On the 2 1 st Colonel Jennings received orders to cross the St. Marys, and to proceed down the Auglaize river and establish an intermediate post between St. Marys and Fort Defiance. After proceeding a distance of thirty miles from St. Mary's, so many signs of the presence of Indians were discovered that it was deemed advisable to halt and erect a fort, which was called Fort Jennings. It was intended as a post for the protection of troops, and a depository for military stores for future use in the north. In the evening of the 21st Colonel Jennings' spies returned and reported that the enemy were encamped at the mouth of the Auglaize in force. Whilst Colonel Jennings was occupied in the construction of block-houses Colonel Findlay was sent with three hundred and fifty mounted men to destroy the Ottawa towns on Blanchard's fork of the Auglaize.

In the meantime General Harrison proceeded to Piqua to hurry up an accumulation of supplies for the army, and mature arrangements for the contemplated attack on Detroit. On the 24th of September General Harrison received a dispatch from the War Department announcing to him that the President had appointed him to the command of the whole western department of the army. Connected with this appointment, was the following order : "Having provided for the protection of the western frontier, you will retake Detroit- and with a view to the conquest of Upper Canada, you will penetrate the country as far as the force under your command will justify."

"The final arrangement for the march of the army towards Detroit is as follows : The right column, composed of the Pennsylvania and Virginia troops, are directed to rendezvous at Wooster, a town upon the head waters of Mohecan, John's creek, thirty-five miles north of Mount Vernon, and forty-five miles west of Canton, and proceed from thence by Upper Sandusky, to the rapids of the Miami. The middle column, consisting of twelve hundred Ohio militia, will march from Urbana, where they now are, taking General Hulls road to the Rapids (Rapids of the Maumee) ; and the left column, composed of a detachment of regulars, under Colonel Wells, and six Kentucky regiments,, will proceed' from Fort Defiance down the Miami, to the Rapids. The mounted force, under an officer, whom I shall select for that purpose, will take the route mentioned in my former letter, from Fort Wayne up the St. Joseph's, and across the waters of the river basin. Upon reflection, I am induced to abandon the scheme of attacking Detroit; for should it be successful, as the infantry will not be in readiness to support them, it must necessarily be abandoned, and the inhabitants be more exposed to the depredations of the Indians than they now are. A more useful employment will be, to sweep the western side of the strait and iake> of the Indians who are scattered from Brownstown to the Rapids, rioting upon the plunder of the farms which have been abandoned."

One of the most difficult conditions with which General Harrison had to contend was the deficiency of supplies. On the 27th day of September, he dispatched an express to Pittsburgh, ordering artillery and supplies to be sent to Georgetown on the Ohio river, and from thence by way of New Lisbon and Canton to Wooster. Such supplies as Ohio could furnish he preferred to purchase in the state, as it saved much in the cost of transportation. The troops were nearly destitute of clothing. Many of them were dressed in summer clothing, and were without socks, mittens or shoes. An application was made to the government for such supplies, but fearing delay in the transportation of the goods, the General addressed a letter to the citizens of Ohio and Kentucky, appealing to them to contribute these articles of clothing forthwith to their patriotic defenders. The citizens responded to the appeal in a very liberal manner. It could not be said that "the soldiers were dressed in uniform," but they were comfortably clad.

After preparing the plan of the campaign General Harrison returned to St. Marys and dispatched Captain Hite to Fort Wayne with orders for the mounted troops under Colonel Simrall and Major Johnson to report at St. Marys. Such was the promptness with which the order was obeyed, that the advance battalion arrived in St. Marys in thirteen hours from the time the order was received, a distance of sixty-three miles.

"The forces at St. Marys at this time amounted to about three thousand. On the 30th the companies of Captains Roper, Clark and Bacon received orders to elect a major and form a battalion; which associated with Johnson's would constitute a regiment and elect a colonel. Roper was elected Major by the battalion, and R. M. Johnson was elected Colonel by the regiment. Captain Arnold was elected Major in the place of Johnson, and Lieutenant Ellison was elected to command Arnold's company." The new brigade was organized to scour the country in the direction of Detroit. The same day that the brigade was organized, a dispatch was received from General Winchester, stating that his march down the Maumee had been impeded by the Indians, and that upon his arrival at a point near Fort Defiance, he discovered that they were accompanied by British troops, having with them some pieces of artillery. A few minutes afterward a letter was received from Governor Meigs, containing a dispatch from General Kelso, who was stationed at a post on Lake Erie, stating that two thousand Indians and British regulars had left Malden on the 16th of September on an expedition against Fort Wayne.

Within three hours after the reception of the dispatches, all the forces at St. Marys were in motion to join General Winchester, who was supposed to have met the allied forces of British and Indians at some point between Fort Wayne and the mouth of the Auglaize river.

On the second day of the march, October 1st, a heavy rain set in which caused the roads to become very muddy, and rendered the march very uncomfortable and tiresome. In the evening the army reached Fort Jennings, where the troops halted over night, exposed to a cold rain, without tents or other shelter. "Beech brush was the substitute for a bed and answered the purpose of keeping the men out of the mud and water."

The foot troops were ordered to remain at Fort Jennings for the present, whilst the mounted troops continued the march. On the evening of the second General Harrison met another express from General Winchester, who brought information that the enemy had retreated. The general then sent back orders for Colonel Barbee to return with his regiment to St. Marys, and Colonel Thomas Poague to cut a road from Fort Jennings to Defiance. The general and his troops were displeased when they discovered that the intelligence sent them was more alarming than was warranted by the circumstances. The troops encamped in the evening within three miles of the Winchester forces, and in the morning proceeded down the river to the mouth of the Auglaize, where they encamped near the ruins of the old fort.

A party of six hundred and fifty men under Major Joseph Robb were ordered to build a new fort eighty yards up the Auglaize river. At the same time General Winchester moved his command to a point about a mile above, whilst Major Robb's force was constructing the fort. On the 5th of October General Harrison, accompanied by Colonel Johnson and his battalion, returned to St. Marys, where the troops were honorably discharged, their term of enlistment having expired. "Colonel Poague was ordered, after cutting the road to Defiance, to return to the Ottawa towns on the Auglaize, about twelve miles from St. Marys, and erect a fort, which he did and named it Fort Amanda, in honor of his wife.

"The command of the left wing was now confided to General Winchester, who accepted it on the solicitation of General Harrison. His principal employment for the present was to be the transportation of supplies to Defiance for the main expedition. He was also instructed to occupy the Miami Rapids as speedily as possible, for the purpose of securing a large quantity of corn, which had been raised at that place by the inhabitants, who had now fled to other settlements for safety."

Soon after General Harrison's return to St. Marys, he visited Piqua, Urbana, and Franklinton (now Columbus), which was the line of march of the right wing of the army. The main object of his tour of inspection was to hasten the supplies of provisions, clothing and ammunition, and make other arrangements for the of the troops. While at St. Marys, on his way to Franklinton, he received information that Fort Wayne was undergoing a second siege. He forthwith dispatched Colonel Allen Trimble, with five hundred mounted riflemen, to the relief of the place. At Franklinton, he received a dispatch from Colonel Trimble, informing him of the partial failure of the expedition, in consequence of the defection of one-half of his troops, who abandoned him upon reaching Fort Wayne. He proceeded, however, with the remainder of his force and destroyed two Indian villages.

with a force of six hundred and fifty men to the Maumee Rapids, to attack a force of several hundred Indians and British troops who were engaged in gathering corn at that point. General Winchester had been informed of the intended movement, and it was expected that he would join General Tupper at that point. General Tupper reached the Rapids on the evening of the 13th, and made an effort to cross the river in the night, intending to attack the enemy the next morning. After failing to cross the river he sent an express to General Winchester's camp, he was informed that a detachment of four hundred men had been sent under the command of Colonel Lewis to General Tupper 's support. The detachment moved down the left bank of the river on the 15th, and in the course of the night Ensign Charles S. Todd was sent with a few men by Colonel Lewis to apprise General Tupper of his approach, and to arrange a time and manner of forming a junction of the two corps. When the ensign arrived at Tupper's camp, he found that it had been evacuated. He also found the bodies of two men, who had been killed and scalped. When the ensign returned with this information, Colonel Lewis returned to Winchester's camp. "If this expedition did not accomplish all that was expected of it, it was of service in one particular. The detachment of British and Indians, consisting of about four hundred of the latter, and seventy-five of the former, fell back upon the river Raisin, and gave up the idea of removing the corn from the abandoned farms at the Rapids, which was the object of their being at that place.

"About the period of this enterprise, General Harrison sent an expedition against the Indian towns on the Mississiniway river, one of the branches of the Wabash. The detachment was placed under Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, of the 19th United States regiment. It was composed of six hundred mounted men. They left Franklinton (Columbus) on the 25th of November, passed Greenville on the 14th of December, and reached the first village on the Mississiniway on the 18th, which was attacked, and eight men killed and forty-two prisoners taken. Two other towns were visited and destroyed, the inhabitants having fled. Before day on the following morning, the Indians attacked Colonel Campbell's camp. A severe action of an hour ensued, when the Indians were finally charged with great spirit and dispersed. They left fifteen dead on the ground ; others were thrown into the river or carried off. Colonel Campbell had eight killed and forty-eight wounded. When the detachment reached Greenville, on their return, one-half of it was unfit for duty, being either wounded, frostbitten, or sick."

In compliance with an order from General Harrison, General Winchester on the ioth of January moved his forces to Grand Rapids and erected buildings in which to quarter his men. General Harrison was then at Upper Sandusky, and General Tupper with the central division at Fort McArthur. "On the 13th and 16th messengers arrived at Winchester's camp from the inhabitants of Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, representing the danger to which that place was exposed from the hostility of the British and Indians, and begging for protection. These representations and petitions excited the feelings of the Americans, and led them, forgetful of -the main objects of the campaign, and of military caution, to determine upon the step of sending a strong party to the aid of the sufferers.

"On the 17th, accordingly, Colonel Lewis was dispatched with five hundred and fifty men to the river Raisin, and soon after Colonel Allen followed with one hundred and ten more. Marching along the frozen borders of the bay and lake, on the afternoon of the 1 8th, the Americans reached and attacked the enemy, who were posted in the village, and after a severe contest defeated them. Having gained possession of the town, Colonel Lewis wrote for reinforcements, and prepared himself to defend the position he had gained. And it was evident that all his means of defense would be needed, as the place was but eighteen miles from Malden, where the whole British force was collected under Proctor.

"Winchester, on the 19th, having heard of the action of the previous day, marched with two hundred and fifty men, which was the most he dared to detach from the Rapids, to the aid of the captor of Frenchtown, which place he reached on the next evening. But instead of placing his men in a secure position, and taking measures to prevent the secret approach of the enemy, Winchester suffered the troops he had brought with him to remain in the open ground, and took no efficient measures to protect himself from surprise, although informed that an attack might be expected at any moment. The consequence was, that during the night of the 2 1st, the whole British force approached undiscovered, and erected a battery within three hundred yards of the American camp. From this, before the troops were fairly under arms in the morning, a discharge of bombs, balls, and grape-shot informed the devoted soldiers of Winchester of the folly of their commander, and in a moment more the dreaded Indian yell sounded on every side.

"The troops under Lewis were protected by the garden pickets, behind which their commander, who alone seems to have been upon his guard, had stationed them. Those last arrived were, as has been said, in the open field, and against them the main effort of the enemy was directed. Nor was it long so exerted without terrible results ; the troops yielded, broke and fled, but under a fire which mowed them down like grass. Winchester and Lewis, (who had left his pickets to aid his superior officer), were taken prisoners. Upon the party who fought from behind their slight defenses, however, no impression could be made, and it was not till Winchester was induced to send them what was deemed an order to surrender, that they dreamed of doing so." The snow was deep, and the cold was intense. Winchester and Lewis were both taken prisoners, and were carried to the tent of Proctor. Conscious that the continuation of the struggle was only prolonging the slaughter of their own men, they agreed to surrender. They were surrounded by three times their own number, and their ammunition was expended. The captured troops were marched off to Malden. They numbered five hundred and forty men. A large number were left behind, so severely wounded that they could not be removed.

The next morning two hundred Indians came down from Malden. They were painted black, and it is scarcely possible that the British officers should not have known the mission upon which they had entered. By the terms of the surrender, General Proctor agreed to protect his captives by a guard. No such guard was furnished the wounded.

The savages at once, with frantic yells, commenced the work of plunder and slaughter. Everywhere was to be seen the gleam of the murderous tomahawk and the scalping knife. There were two large log houses, crowded with the wounded. The Indians set them both on fire, and the poor creatures were consumed in the flames. Some who tried to crawl out of the windows were tomahawked and thrown back into the glowing furnace. In these awful scenes of battle and of massacre two hundred and ninety Americans perished. These were generally young men, from the best families of Kentucky and Ohio. The wife of Henry Clay lost a brother here, who was killed and scalped by the savages. The few who- were judged able to march, were saved and taken off towards Malden ; but as often as any of them gave out on the way, they were tomahawked and left lying in the. road. Major Wolfork, secretary to General Winchester, had found an asylum in the house of a French citizen; but he was discovered by the Indians, who placed him on a horse and were carrying him away. They took him by the house of Lasalle, a man who had been suspected of giving intelligence to the British before the battle, to whom he promised a large sum of money, if he would purchase him from the Indians. Lasalle replied that it was out of his power, but that probably his brother would, who lived in the next house. The Indian who had taken him, being willing to sell him, had turned to go there, when another savage shot him through the head. He was then tomahawked and scalped, and left to the hogs for two days, by which he was partly devoured before the inhabitants removed him.

"The circumstances respecting the fate of Captain Hart have been fully ascertained. When the Indians first entered the house, where he lay with Captain Hickman, Major Graves and others, and before the massacre had commenced, he was carried by Doctor Todd into an adjoining house, which had been plundered of its contents. An Indian then met them, who knowing the profession of the doctor, inquired why the surgeons were left with the wounded. He was told that it was by the direction of Colonel Proctor; and that Captain Elliott was a friend to Captain Hart, and had promised to send for him that morning. The Indian shook his head and observed, that Proctor and Elliott "were damned rascals, or they would have taken care of them last evening." He then said, "you will all be killed - but keep still - the chiefs are in council, and maybe the wounded only will be killed." Captain Hart offered him a hundred dollars to carry him to Malden ; but he replied, you are too badly wounded. The savages now began to tomahawk the prisoners ; and Doctor Todd was tied and taken to Strong creek, where there was a camp of the wounded British. He informed Captain Elliott and the surgeon of what was going on at Frenchtown, and requested them to send back and endeavor to save some of the wounded. Captain Elliott replied that it was too late ; that those who had been badly wounded were killed before that time ; and that all who were still preserved by the Indians were now safe. Doctor Todd spoke of Captain Hart in particular, and stated that many who would be saved in the first instance, being unable to march far, must ultimately be sacrificed, unless means were taken to preserve them. To which Elliott replied, that charity began at home ; that his own wounded must first be conveyed, and that if any sleds then remained, he would send them back. Doctor Todd was so anxious to get some person of influence sent back, that he tried to excite the avarice of the surgeon, by informing him that the surgical instruments, which were very valuable, were in the house with the wounded. He soon found that he had now touched the master passion of the British soul. An interpreter was immediately sent back for the instruments ; but the conflagration had consumed everything before he arrived. The conversation of Captain Elliott clearly proved that the British officers had deliberately resolved to abandon the wounded prisoners to an indiscriminate massacre, in direct violation of their solemn engagements at the surrender. If they did not instigate, they at least permitted the horrible scene without regret.

"After Doctor Todd had been taken from Captain Hart, one of the Indians agreed to carry him to Malden for a hundred dollars. The Indian placed him on a horse, and was going through the commons of the town, when he met with another, who claimed the Captain as his prisoner. To settle the dispute they agreed to kill him and divide the remainder of his money and clothes between them. They accordingly dragged him off his horse and dispatched him with a war club. When he found that his destruction was inevitable, he submitted with fortitude and composure to his fate."

The foregoing history of the defeat and massacre at the river Raisin is taken from General Robert E. McAfee's "History of the Late War in the Western Country," published in 1816, and is, probably, as reliable an account of that sad reverse as has ever been given.

Of the American army, numbering about eight hundred, two hundred and ninety men were killed, massacred and missing. Thirty-three, only, escaped to the Rapids. Five hundred and forty- seven were taken prisoners by the British and about forty-five by the Indians. From the best information that can be obtained it is believed that the British loss in killed and wounded amounted to between three and four hundred. The loss was heaviest among the Indians, and the 41st regiment of British regulars "was very much cut up."

"The whole British force amounted to two thousand, onehalf regulars and Canadians, commanded by Colonels Proctor and St. George ; and the other, composed of Indians, commanded by Round-Head and Walk-in-the-Water. Tecumseh was not there - he was still on the Wabash collecting the warriors in that quarter."

On the 23d, the American prisoners were hurried to Amherstburg, where they were crowded into a muddy woodyard, and exposed all night to a heavy cold rain, without tents or blankets. After leaving the battleground Proctor gave no attention to the wounded and slain, which he had promised in the capitulation ; nor would he pay any attention to the subject, when repeatedly reminded of it by General Winchester and Major Madison. Captain Elliott once replied to their solicitations, that "the Indians were very excellent surgeons."

"The prisoners were detained at Amhersthurg until the 26th, when they were divided into two parties, the first of which marched on that day, and the other on the day following. They proceeded up the Detroit and Thames rivers, through the interior of Upper Canada, to Fort George on Niagara strait. On the journey they suffered great hardships from the severity of the weather, the want of provisions, and the inhumanity of the guards. At Fort George they were paroled, and returned home by way of Erie and Pittsburgh, and thence down the Ohio river. The condition of the parole was, not to bear arms against his majesty or his allies, during the present war, until regularly exchanged. When some of the Kentuckians inquired, who were his majesty's allies - they were answered, that "his majesty's allies were known," from which it appears that some of these tools of British baseness were ashamed of the association which their sovereign had formed.

-detained and sent to Quebec, at which place, and at Beaufort in its vicinity, they were confined till the spring of 1814, when a general exchange of prisoners took place, and they returned home."

At the time of the engagement at the river Raisin General Harrison was at Upper Sandusky. On the evening of the 16th of January he received information by express that Winchester had reached the Rapids and that some important movement was meditated. He at once proceeded with all possible speed to Lower Sandusky, and on the 18th ordered forward a battalion of troops to support Winchester. On the 19th he learned for the first time the character of the meditated movement. He immediately dispatched a regiment, the only remaining troops then at Lower Sandusky, to make a forced march to the Rapids. The General himself immediately set out across the Black Swamp to join Winchester.

"He started in a sleigh with General Perkins, to overtake the battalion, attended by a single servant. As the sleigh moved very slow from the roughness of the road, he took the horse of his servant and pushed on alone. Night came upon him in the midst of a frozen swamp, which was so imperfectly frozen that his horse sunk to his belly at every step. He had no recourse but to dismount and lead his horse, himself jumping from one sod to another which was solid enough to bear him.

Early on the morning of the 20th he reached Winchester's camp at the Rapids, having traveled over forty miles. Nothing could be done but wait the arrival of the reinforcements from Lower Sandusky as Winchester had left the night before."

On the evening of the 22d Colonel Perkin's regiment and the battalion of militia arrived at the Rapids, and later in the evening the news of Winchester's defeat, also reached the Rapids. A council of officers was immediately called by General Harrison to consider the situation. The unanimous opinion of the council favored a retreat to Portage river, a distance of eighteen miles, and the decision was immediately carried into effect. The retreat commenced on the 2d of March. A volunteer from Pittsburgh, in a letter to a friend, thus describes the suffering they endured :

"Early the next morning, at two o'clock, our tents were struck, and in half an hour we were on our way. I candidly confess that on that day I regretted being a soldier. We marched thirty miles in an incessant rain. For eight miles of that dis- tance the water was over our knees, and often up to the middle.. The Black Swamp, four miles from Portage river, and four miles in extent, would have been considered impassible by any men not determined to surmount every obstacle. The water on the ice was about six inches deep. The ice was very rotten, often breaking through where the water was four or five feet deep. That night we encamped on the best ground we could find, but it was very wet. It was next thing to impossible to kindle fires* We had no tents, no axes, our clothes were perfectly soaked through, and we had but little to eat. Two logs rolled together, to keep me out of the water, was my bed."

The desire of General Harrison to retake Detroit before spring, was the cause of much suffering among the troops. He assembled all the available troops he could at Lower Sandusky, early in February and returned to the Maumee. It now became apparent to him that the enterprise for the present must be postponed.

To make the ground at the foot of the Rapids a depot for troops, stores of subsistence, and artillery, Captain Wood, of the Engineers was ordered to fortify the position. A spacious fort was erected and called Fort Meigs, in honor of the Governor of Ohio. The distance of Fort Meigs to Fort Malden on the eastern bank of the Detroit river was only a three days' march.

The army now, at Fort Meigs, including the three hundred men left by General Winchester, to guard his stores, amounted to two thousand men. About the middle of February information was received from friendly Indians that six hundred Indian warriors were encamped on Maumee Bay, twenty miles below Fort Meigs. Upon receipt of the intelligence General Harrison selected eleven hundred men and proceeded down the river on the ice. At a late hour in the night they came in sight of the camp-fires ; but the wily foe had fled. Their scouts had been on the alert.

The weather was exceedingly cold, but cold as it was they did not stop to warm themselves, but immediately started in pursuit of the fugitives. They soon reached the head of Maumee Bay where they were expose'd to the intensely cold wind from Lake Erie. Unfortunately for them it was found that the ice was not as thick on the bay as it was on the river. At an unlucky moment their only cannon, with the horses attached* broke through. "It was still two hours before day, and the moon, which had thus far shone upon their icy path, was now sinking - behind the forests. Three of the men, in attempting to extricate the horses, were plunged into the terrible bath, and narrowly escaped drowning. It was not safe to proceed without the cannon, and that could not be recovered until the light of day. The soldiers, waiting for two hours of midnight darkness on the bleak ice, without shelter and without fires, suffered intensely. As soon as the gun was recovered they pushed toward the river Raisin, which empties into the extreme western border of the lake. Near here they learned from their scouts, about sunrise, that the fleet-footed Indians were far away on their retreat, and would soon be behind the walls of Fort Malden. The weary, half frozen band, having accomplished nothing by all their sufferings, returned to Fort Meigs just as the eveninggun had been fired. They had performed a march of forty-five miles on the ice in less than twenty-four hours."

John S. C. Abbott in his History of Ohio states that "A few days after this another expedition was undertaken, which we know not whether to designate as heroic or desperate. On Friday, the 26th of February, General Harrison called for volunteers to set out on a secret enterprise, which he informed them was important but hazardous in the extreme. Two hundred and fifty- men volunteered. He told them that they would not be informed of the nature of the enterprise until they were at some distance from the fort.

"About fifty miles east of Fort Meigs, on the Sandusky river, where the town of Lower Sandusky now stands, there was a blockhouse called Fort Sanderson. It was garrisoned by two companies of militia. This little band took up its line of march for that fort. On the 2d of March they left the log-house with six days' provisions. Captain Langham was in command. When they had proceeded about half a mile he ordered a halt. He then revealed to them the object of the expedition. It was to march along Lake Erie, on the shore and on the ice, as best they could, till they reached the banks of Detroit river opposite Fort Malden. Quite a large British fleet, laden with provisions was frozen in at but a short distance from the fort. In the darkness of a winter's night they were to cross the river on the ice and set fire to the fleet, and the store-houses on the shore, with' combustibles which they bore with them. They were then to retreat as rapidly as possible to the head of Maumee Bay, where General Harrison would meet them with a large force and escort them back to Fort Meigs. This surely was infatuation, not courage. The success of the enterprise depended upon so many contingencies that it could not reasonably have been expected to succeed.

"Having explained the plan Captain Langham gave liberty to all who deemed it too hazardous to withdraw. Twenty of the militia and seven of the Indians availed themselves of the liberty. The whole party, officers and men, now consisted of but two hundred. Of these twenty-four were drivers of sleds, and fourteen were Indian guides and scouts. It was known that the fort at Malden was strongly garrisoned by British troops, and that a body of nearly a thousand Indian warriors were encamped near by.

"Captain Langham and his party marched as rapidly as possible down the western shore of Sandusky Bay. It was the wintry, windy, stormy month of March. Some marched on the land, and crossed the peninsula through the rugged wilderness to Portage River. Others took the southern, but far more circuitous path, on the ice. A fierce tempest arose of rain and sleet. The soldiers were not provided with tents. They encamped in the storm, and through an awful night of suffering were drenched and half frozen. The next day was March 3d, and they pushed their adventurous way on the ice out in the lake to Middle Bass Island, about seventeen miles from their encampment of the preceding night. Just before they left the land for this island, about twenty men, including several Indians, utterly disheartened, deserted. The wind was then blowing fiercely from the north, and a smothering storm of snow beating into their faces impeded their progress.

"Early in the afternoon they reached the northwest side of the island, when the weather began to moderate. It was supposed that one continuous sheet of ice would extend from there across the lake to Malden. But it was found that the ice north of the island was weak, and in the distance north, the ice seemed to be broken up. There were also marks upon the ice. Some persons, probably spies, had recently passed that way to give the British warning of their approach.

"Their plan was to go by what is called the Western Sister Island. But the guides now gave it as their opinion that it was impossible in that way to reach Malden. They said that the lake from the Middle Sister Island was doubtless broken up, as was also the Detroit river. From Middle Bass Island the distance to the mouth of the Detroit river was eighteen miles. To avoid being seen it would be necessary to perform that march in the dark. But as the weather was stormy and the ice soft, it might not be possible to accomplish this. Moreover there was great danger that a northerly wind might blow up, and they might be caught on the breaking, crashing ice, or if they should reach an island they might be helplessly cut off. The guides, therefore, unanimously and peremptorily declared that they did not consider it safe to go any farther ; and that if Captain Langham persisted to advance he must himself assume the whole responsibility.

"The captain then called the men together and stated to them frankly the opinion of the guides. 'The enterprise,' said he, 'is one of great importance. Still it is possible that all may be lost in the lake by the breaking up of the ice. And thus the country will be deprived of very choice troops without obtaining' any service in return.'

"The soldiers were then called upon to express their opinion. These heroic men, with one voice, replied: 'We are ready to go wherever you are ready to lead us. We leave the decision with you.'

"Very wisely the ill-judged expedition was abandoned. They directed their steps as rapidly as possible towards the land. They were confirmed in the wisdom of their decision by seeing before they reached the shore, in the distance, the dashing billows of the lake. General Harrison met them at the point of landing and escorted them in safety back to Fort Meigs."

After the abandonment of the Detroit campaign, General Harrison entrusted the command of Fort Meigs to General Leftwich, with instructions to complete the unfinished fortifications. The General then departed for the interior to promote the recruiting service, to visit his family, then suffering under severe sickness, and to hasten the movements of the militia from Kentucky, detached to supply the place of the Virginia and Pennsylvania troops, whose period of service was about to expire. On the 30th of March, he received intelligence that the lake would soon be open - at the same time he learned that the militia at Fort Meigs would leave at the expiration of their service. Upon receipt of this intelligence he sent expresses to urge on the militia from Kentucky. The governor of Kentucky responded by sending three companies of militia under Major Johnson. Upon their arrival at Cincinnati, they were mounted on pack-horses, and proceeded with all possible expedition. Proceeding to Lebanon General Harrison ordered Major Ball, and his dragoons who had been quartered at that point ever since their return from the Mississiniway expedition to march to Fort Meigs, where the men could act for a time, as infantry." Harrison then hastened to Fort Amanda on the Auglaize. Here he found Colonel Miller and his regulars, just arrived from Chillicothe, and Colonel Mills of the militia, with one hundred and fifty men who had been building and had completed a fleet of boats. Into these boats the General and these troops and boat builders entered, and in this way, reached Fort Meigs on the nth of April, 1813. The waters were high, out of their banks, and the navigation difficult and dangerous. The fleet, however, arrived in safety. Tarrying near the fort in the boats, over night, and ascertaining that the fort was not invested by the enemy, he and his detachment entered the fort early in the morning of the 12th of April. General Harrison was very much chagrined, to find upon his arrival in the fort that General Leftwich had totally disregarded his orders with regard to the completion of the unfinished works. Instead of doing so, "He pretended that the men could not be made to work, - said they were sickly, that the weather was bad, and what was most vexatious indeed, permitted them to burn the picketing timber for fuel, instead of getting it from the woods. After General Harrison left camp, not a single thing towards finishing the works was done, until Captain Wood returned on the 20th from Sandusky, to which place he had been sent to give directions for its fortification. He had the extreme mortification to find nothing a! all done in his absence, except the destruction of the unfinished lines. This was most perplexing to him indeed, as the ultimate responsibility in case of an attack, would in a great measure attach to him, the fortifying of the camp having been solely committed to his charge. Many young officers, Croghan, Bradford, and Langham, were extremely chagrined and vexed at this old phlegmatic Dutchman, who was

Before reaching Fort Meigs General Harrison learned from a messenger from the river Raisin that Proctor would leave Malden, about the 7th of April, with a large force, well provided with all the munitions of war, to attack Fort Meigs.

On his way from the interior the General wrote back to Governor Shelby for the remainder of the Kentucky drafted troops. The order was in direct violation of instructions from the War Department; but the critical situation of affairs in his opinion authorized the measure. "The most vigorous exertions were now made in the fort to prepare for a siege ; and scouts were constantly sent out to watch for the approach of the enemy. A vigilant eye was directed down the river, and reconnoitering parties were frequently sent in boats to the mouth of the bay to survey the lake. On the 19th a scouting party brought in three Frenchmen from the river Raisin, who stated that the British were still making active preparations for an attack and were assembling an immense Indian force. The Prophet and Tecumseh had arrived with six hundred warriors from the country between Lake Michigan and the Wabash. This intelligence convinced the General that the attack by the Indians was to be expected on the posts in his rear, or on the settlements of the Big Miami and Wabash. He therefore sent an express to Governor Shelby to countermand the march of troops which he had recently requested."

On the 26th of April, as the troops were on parade, the attention of the officers was called to two strangers finely mounted, riding along the bank on the opposite side of the river. It being an unusual thing to see travelers in that wild country, and as it became manifest that they were very carefully surveying the works, it was inferred that they were spies. One of the guns was immediately brought to bear upon them, and a shot was sent whistling through the air, which tore up the earth at their feet. They immediately spurred their horses to flight. It was afterwards learned that the two visitors were the British General Proctor and the Indian Chief Tecumseh." for lodgings ; for it was known that they would be exposed to= heavy shot and shells from the heavy siege guns of the enemy. The fort was surrounded by an embankment twelve feet high with a depth of twenty feet at the base.

On the 28th a reconnoitering party under Captain Hamilton discovered the whole British and Indian force a few miles down the river. The whole force of the enemy consisted of six hundred regulars, eight hundred Canadian militia, and eighteen hundred Indians. The force in the fort did not at any time exceed twelve hundred men, of which about a thousand, or eleven hundred were able for effective duty. As soon as the report of Captain Hamilton was received an express was sent to General Clay who commanded the Kentucky reinforcements, and who was supposed to be approaching by the Auglaize. He also carried letters for the governors of Ohio and Kentucky. The journey was undertaken by Captain Oliver, commissary to the fort, a brave officer, who possessed every necessary qualification for such a perilous enterprise. He was accompanied by a single white man, and an Indian, and was escorted some distance from the fort by Captain Garrard with eighty of his dragoons.

As soon as Captain Oliver left the fort it was invested by the Indians. Captain Oliver found General Clay at Fort Winchester, to whom he communicated the fact of the siege of Fort Meigs, and the urgent importance of forwarding the reinforcement with all practical dispatch.

In the afternoon of the 28th the gunboats of the enemy came in Anew, and approached to the site of old Fort Miami, on the opposite side of the river. After landing and mounting their guns, the boats were employed in carrying the Indians across the river. After they were landed, hideous yells and reports of musketry were to be heard in all directions.

In the night of the 28th and 29th, the British commenced the construction of three batteries on a high bank opposite the fort, at a distance of about three hundred yards from the river. The intervening ground between the river and batteries was covered by water. Such progress was made by them during the night, that they were able to continue the work in daylight. Their progress, however, was much impeded by a heavy fire from the fort. Whilst the British were preparing their batteries, the Indians annoyed the garrison by climbing the trees, a hundred!

yards distant from the fort, and firing upon the soldiers engaged in the construction of embankments. Colonel Wood in writing of the annoyances, humorously remarks : "Their eternal annoyances,, however, proved a great stimulus to the militia ; for although they did their duty with alacrity and promptitude, yet their motions'- were much accelerated by it - and let who will, make the exper- iment, it will be invariably found, that the movements of militia, will be quickened by a brisk fire of musketry about their ears.'-' Colonel Wood also adds: "On the morning of the ist of May, it was discovered that the British batteries were completed ; and' about ten o'clock they appeared to be loading, and adjusting their < guns on certain objects in the camp. By this time our troops had! completed a grand traverse, about twelve feet high, upon a base1 of twenty feet, three hundred yards long, on the most elevated ground through the middle of the camp, calculated to ward: off the shot of the enemy's batteries. Orders were given for all tents in front to be instantly removed into the rear, which was effected in a few minutes, and that beautiful prospect of cannonading and bombarding - our lines, which but a moment before had excited the skill and energy of the British engineer, was now entirely fled, and in its place nothing was to be seen but an immense shield of earth, which entirely obscured the whole army. Not a tent nor a single person was to be seen. Those canvas houses, which had concealed the growth of the traverse from the view of the enemy, were now protected and hidden in their turn. The prospect of smoking us out, was now at best but very faint. But as neither General Proctor nor his officers were yet convinced of the folly and futility of their laborious preparations, their batteries were opened, and five days were spent in arduous cannonading and bombarding to bring them to this salutary conviction. A tremendous cannonade was kept up all day, and shells were thrown till eleven o'clock at night. Very little damage, however, was done in the camp ; one or two were killed and three or four wounded; - among the latter was Major Amos Stoddard of the 1st Regiment of Artillery - a revolutionary character, and an officer of much merit. He was wounded slightly with a piece of shell, and about ten days afterwards died of lockjaw.

On the second and third of May, the British kept up an incessant shower of balls and shells upon the fort. On the night of the evening of the 4th the enemy erected a gun and mortar battery upon the left or Maumee City bank of the river, within two hundred and fifty yards of the American lines. The Indians climbed the trees and poured in a galling fire upon the garrison. In this situation, General Harrison received a summons from Proctor for a surrender of the garrison, greatly magnifying his means of annoyance. This was answered by a prompt refusal, assuring the British General that if he obtained possession of the fort, it would not be by capitulation, and that the post would not be surrendered upon any terms; that should it fall into Ins (General Proctor's) hands, it would be in a manner calculated to do him more honor, and give him higher claims upon the gratitude of his government, than any capitulation could possibly do. As before stated, requisitions had been made upon the governors of Ohio and Kentucky by his messenger Captain Oliver. Fortunately the requisitions had been anticipated by the governors. At twelve o'clock on the night of the fourth, General Harrison was aroused from his tent by a sentinel with the information that there were some men at the gate who desired to communicate with him. When the General reached the gate he found Captain Oliver and Major D. Trimble and a few attendants waiting for admission. Upon their near approach they had found the fort closely invested by the Indians under Tecumseh. Still, in the darkness of the night they eluded the vigilance of the Indians, reached the fort, bringing the joyful intelligence that General Green Clay, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, was descending the Maumee river in boats ; that they were just above the rapids, and would probably be at the fort within a few hours.

"General Harrison immediately determined to make a general sally against the enemy on General Clay's arrival, for which he made immediate preparation, and dispatched Captain Hamilton and a subaltern to General Clay, directing him to detach eight hundred men on the left bank of the river, about a mile above the fort. This detachment, with Hamilton as its guide, was then to be marched to the British batteries, carry them, spike the cannon, cut down the carriages, and then return to their boats and cross over to the fort." The residue of the brigade was to be landed on the right bank of the river, and conducted by the subaltern, who went with Hamilton to the fort. ' It was the design of the General to cause sorties to be made against the enemy on the southeast side of the river, simultaneously with that by the detachment from General Clay, under Colonel Dudley, on the opposite shore. For this purpose, a detachment was prepared and placed under the direction of Colonel Miller, of the 19th United States Infantry, to consist of two hundred and fifty of . the 17th and 19th Regiments, one hundred of twelve months' volunteers, and Captain Seber's company of Kentucky militia. These troops were drawn up in a ravine, under the east curtain of the fort, out of reach of the enemy's fire, to await further orders. In the meantime, General Clay had been detained by the difficulty of passing the Rapids in the night. Captain Hamilton reached him at eight o'clock, and Colonel Dudley was detached with eight hundred men to attack the batteries on the north side of the river. General Clay, with Basewell's regiment, succeeded, after some skirmishing with the Indians, in effecting his entrance into the fort. These troops, with Nearing's company of regulars, and the battalion of volunteers under Major Alexander, were employed immediately in driving off a large body of Indians, who had approached within one hundred and fifty yards of the fort. This duty was executed with gallantry, under the immediate eye and direction of the commanding general, who, from his position, discovered a body of British troops passing from the batteries to the east of the fort,, to the aid of their allies, thus exposing the rear of the detachment. An order for immediate retreat was sent by his aide, John J. Johnson, but his horse being killed under him before its delivery, the intelligence was conveyed by another aide, Major Graham.

"Just as the moment described terminated, the troops in the fort were cheered by the shouts of the Kentuckians in charging* the batteries on the opposite shore. At this point every plan was successfully carried into effect, and nothing prevented the detachments from returning under the bank to their boats and crossing over to the fort, but that the men unfortunately suffered themselves to be drawn into the woods by the fire of scattering Indians, until a reinforcement of British troops from the old fort gained their rear, and killed or captured nearly all of them. About fifty were slain, five hundred and fifty captured, and one hundred and fifty escaped to their boats, and crossed in safety to the fort. After the fall of Colonel Dudley, the command devolved on Major Shelby. As soon as it was seen that the attack by Dudley had induced the enemy to send reinforcements from the east side, the General directed the detachment under Colonel Miller, to advance from the ravine. The British batteries at this point were protected by a company of British grenadiers ; another of light infantry, two hundred strong ; these were flanked by two hundred Canadian militia, and by one thousand Indians under Tecumseh. The detachment advanced with loaded but trailed arms, and in a few moments the batteries, two officers and fifty regular troops were taken ; and when we regard the disparity of force, the advantageous position of the enemy, and the dreadful execution in sofew minutes, it is but justice to this gallant corps, to speak of it ashaving acquired equal honor with that of any other detachment during the war. In the progress of the severe battle fought by this detachment, Captain Seber's company sustained themselves against four times their number, until relieved by the gallantry of a company of regulars, under Major David Gwynne. The return of this detachment to the fort terminated the battles of the- day, and immediately General Proctor sent Major Chambers with a flag of truce, demanding the surrender of the fort. An account of the result of the conference has already been given."

At the close of the engagements of the day, the American prisoners, surrounded by British and Indians were hurried down to Proctor's encampment at Fort Miami. The savages were so numerous and intractable that the commands of their white allies (if any were given) to treat the prisoners with the proper respect, due to them, was unheeded. They deemed, and with some plausibility, that the victory was due to their own prowess. On the march they began to rob their prisoners, stripping them even of every article of clothing. As they drew near the encampment, the Indians formed a long line having the bank of the river on one side with a lane between them and the bank about eight feet in width. Through this lane they compelled their captives to run the gauntlet, while they whipped, shot and tomahawked them. One of the Americans, who had a bullet buried in his back, and who ran the terrible gauntlet, writes as follows :

"When I reached the starting place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, and ran near the muzzles of their guns, knowing that they would have to shoot me while I was immediately in front, or let me pass ; for to have turned their guns up or down the line, to shoot me, would have endangered themselves, as there was a curve in the line. In this way I passed without injury, except some strokes over the shoulder from their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch which surrounded the encampment, the man before me was shot, and fell, and I fell over him. The passage, for a while, was stopped by those who fell over the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost at this place I cannot tell ; probably between twenty and forty.

"When we got within the walls we were ordered to sit down. A new scene commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated walls, and shot one of the prisoners next to him. He reloaded and shot a second, the ball passing through him into the hip of another, who afterwords died of the wound. The savage then laid down his gun and took his tomahawk, with which he killed two others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the men, they endeavored to escape from him, by leaping over the heads of each other. Thus they were heaped one upon another, and they trampled upon me so that I could see nothing that was going on. The confusion and uproar at this moment can not be adequately described. There was an excitement and fierceness manifested among the Indians which betokened a strong disposition, among some of them, to massacre the whole of us/'

"William G. Ewing, who was present on this occasion, writes : 'While this bloodthirsty carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the rear, in the Indian tongue, when turning around, I saw Tecumseh coming with all the rapidity with which his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two Indians had an American and were in the act of killing him. He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast, and threw them both to the ground. Drawing his homahawk and knife, he ran in between the Indians and the Americans, brandishing his weapons with the fury of a madman, daring any one of the hundreds of Indians who surrounded him to attempt to murder another American. They all appeared confounded, and immediately desisted. His mind appeared rent with passion, and he exclaimed : Oh ! what will become of my Indians V "

The chief rode up to the General, and sternly inquired, "Why did you not put a stop to this inhuman carnage?" Proctor replied, "Your Indians cannot be controlled." "Begone," exclaimed the indignant Indian chieftain, to the British General, "you are unfit to command. Go put on petticoats."

General Leslie Combs who was among the prisoners taken by Proctor, also ran the gauntlet, but was so fleet of foot that he passed the line of yelling savages unhurt. In a conversation with the writer in 1874, General Combs gave a thrilling description of the Indian atrocities at Fort Miami. His account of the massacres, and the dramatic entrance of Tecumseh, his command to the Indians, and his reprimand of Proctor, were all corroborative of the statements of Ewing.

"On reaching our encampment the prisoners were met by a band of cowardly and treacherous Indians, who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, guided by the savage instinct of their nature, approached the column, and selecting their vie- tims, commenced the work of blood. In vain did the harassed and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their destroyers. The frenzy of these wretches knew no bounds. An old and excellent soldier, named Russel, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest a victim from the grasp of his murderer.

"Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen beneath the steel of these infuriated savages, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was going on, rode up at full speed, and raising his tomahawk, threatened to destroy the first man who refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of coercion had hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasperated chieftain produced an instantaneous effect, and they retired, at once humiliated and confounded.

"The survivors of this melancholy catastrophe were immediately conveyed on board the gunboats, which were moored in the river, and every precaution taken to prevent a renewal of the scene, the escorting party proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom the rites of sepulture were afforded even before those of our own men who had fallen in the action. Colonel Dudley was among the slain.

"On the evening of the second day after this event I accompanied Major Muir in a ramble through the encampment of the Indians, which was distant a few hundred yards from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view was one of the most ludicrous and revolting nature. In various directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken from the boats of the American division, and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their riches, carefully examining each article and attempting to divine its use. Several were decked out in the uniform of officers. And although embarrassed to the last degree in their movements, and dragging with difficulty the heavy military boots with which their legs were for the first time covered, they strutted forth, much to the admiration of their less fortunate comrades. Some were habited in plain clothes, others had their bodies clad with clean white shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner with the swarthiness of their skins. All wore some articles of decoration. Their tents were ornamented with saddles, bridles, rifles, daggers, swords, and pistols, many of which were handsomely

"But mingled with these, and in various directions, were to he seep the scalps of the slain drying in the sun. They were stained pn the fleshy side with vermilion dyes, and were dangling in the air as they hung suspended from the poles to which they were attached. There were also hoops of various sizes, on which were stretched portions of human skin taken from various parts of the body, principally from the hands and feet, and yet with the nails pf those parts attached. Scattered along the ground were fo be seen the members of the body from which they had been separated, serving as nutriment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accompanied.

"As we continued to advance into the heart of the encampment, a scene of a still more disgusting nature arrested our attention. Stopping at the entrance of a tent occupied by the Minoumini tribe, we observed the Indians seated around a large fire, over which was suspended a kettle containing their meal. Each warrior had a string hanging oyer the edge of the vessel. To this was suspended food, of which it will be presumed we did not see without loathing. It consisted of the flesh of an American. Any expression of our feelings, as we declined the invitations which they gave us to join in their repast, would have been resented by them without ceremony. We had therefore the prudence to excuse ourselves under the plea that we had already taken our food ; and we hastened to remove from a sight so revolting to humanity."

The result of the engagements had been sad enough for the Americans, but still the British General saw in it nothing to encourage him ; his cannon had done nothing, and were in fact no longer of value ; his Indian allies found it "hard to fight people who lived like groundhogs." Proctor finding himself completely baffled, in his attempts to take the garrison, set himself seriously to work to draw off his forces. During the succeeding three days and a half, he labored with this view, and on the 9th of May, 1813, at noon, annoyed seriously by our artillery, he sailed down to the mouth of the Maumee river, where he gave his troops a much needed rest until the 28th.

would not return soon, left the fort and proceeded to Lower Sandusky, where he arrived on the 12th of May. Here he found Governor Meigs and a large force of Ohio militia, ready to march to the relief of Fort Meigs. In passing through Upper Sandusky, Delaware and Franklinton, he found Ohio militia at each of these points pressing forward to raise the siege of Fort Meigs, As they were not needed at the time, General Harrison issued a general order at Franklinton on the 16th dismissing them. The order was drawn up, in highly complimentary terms to their zeal and patriotism. The order gave rise to loud complaint from the militia, who had a patriotic desire to serve the country. The General's action was based on a confidential order received from the Secretary of War forbidding his calling out any more militia, until he had full and free possession of Lake Erie.' After issuing the general order, he made a flying visit to Chillicothe and Cincinnati, inspecting the quartermaster's and commissary's departments as he proceeded. At Newport he found the 24th regiment of United States infantry, from Nashville, Tennessee. These he ordered to Franklinton, and followed them the next day.

"Upon reaching Franklinton he held a council with the chiefs of the friendly Indians, consisting of the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandot, and Seneca tribes. He informed them that circumstances had come to his knowledge which induced him to suspect the fidelity of some of the tribes, who seemed disposed to join the enemy in case they succeeded in capturing Fort Meigs - that a -crisis had arrived, which required all the tribes who remained neutral, and who were willing to engage in the war, to take a decided stand either for us or against us - that the President wanted no false friends - that the proposal of General Proctor to exchange the Kentucky militia for the tribes in our friendship, Indicated that he had received some hint of their willingness to take up the tomahawk against us - and that to give the United States a proof of their good disposition, they must either remove their families into the interior, or the warriors must accompany him in the ensuing campaign and fight for the United States. To the latter condition the chiefs and warriors unanimously agreed ; and they said they had long been anxious for an invitation to fight for the Americans. Tarhe, the oldest Indian in the western country, who represented all the tribes, professed in their name the most indissoluble friendship for the United States. General Harrison then told them he would let them know when they would be wanted in the service - "but you must conform to our mode of warfare. You are not to kill defenseless prisoners, old men, women, or children. " He added that by their conduct he should be able to tell whether the British could restrain their Indians from such horrible cruelty. For if the Indians fighting with him would forbear such conduct, it would prove that the British could also restrain theirs if they wished to do it. He humorously told them he had been informed that General Proctor had promised to deliver him into the hands of Tecumseh, if he succeeded against Fort Meigs, to be treated as that warrioy might think proper. "Now if I can succeed in taking Proctor,, you. shall have him for your prisoner, provided you will agree to treat him as a squaw, and only put petticoats upon him ; for he must be a coward who would kill a defenseless prisoner/' At the conclusion of the conference with the Indian deputations he received information from General Clay, commander of Fort Meigs that the enemy was preparing for a second attack on thefort. The 24th regiment of regulars was at this time at Upper Sandusky. From this regiment three hundred picked men were ordered to make a forced march, to relieve Fort Meigs. General Harrison pressed forward without halting night or day, and arrived at the Fort on the 28th of May at nightfall. Colonel Anderson, Colonel Gaines and their Tennessee detachment reached the garrison a few hours after the General.

The dispatch of General Clay to General Harrison seems to have been a false alarm, as no enemy appeared. As there was nothing to require his presence longer at Fort Meigs, he left that point on the 1st of July and proceeded to Lower Sandusky. Here, on the 2nd, he met Colonel Ball with a squadron of horse and immediately marched to Cleveland to inspect the progress made in the construction of boats for transporting the army over thelake. The boat builders were commanded by Major Jessup of the regular army. Cleveland, at that time, had in its hospital seventy-five of General Dudley's wounded soldiers, who had' been paroled by Proctor. There was also a company of volunteers there, from Chillicothe, who acted as boat builders, and nurses to Dudley's wounded men. After remaining at Cleveland a brief time, General Harrison returned to Lower Sandusky,.

where he learned that Proctor was making preparations to attack Fort Meigs with a force of five thousand men. Later he received a dispatch from General Clay informing him of the perilous condition of the fort. Word was returned by courier that he would hasten to his relief as soon as possible, with a detachment of four hundred. He also cautioned General Clay to exercise great vigilance against surprises. The courier, Captain McCune, of Ohio, reached the fort on his return, just at the break of day, on the 25th of July. He had one companion, James Devlan, a French Canadian. In the night they lost their way, and consequently reached the fort at a later hour than they had intended.

"Just as McCune and his companion entered the cleared ground that surrounded the fort, a band of Indians caught sight of them, and came rushing upon them on horseback, with hideous yells. The following account has been given of their escape l 'They immediately took to the high bank with their horses, and retreated at full gallop up the- river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also mounted on horseback, until they came to a deep ravine ; putting up from the river, in a southerly direction, when they turned upon the river bottom, and continued a short distance, until they found their further progress in that direction stopped by an impassable swamp. The Indians perceiving their dilemma, from their knowledge of the country, and expecting that they would naturally follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. McCune guessed their intention, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the fort, gaining by this maneuver several hundred yards upon their pursuers. The Indians gave a yell of chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just as they neared the fort, McCune dashed into a thicket across his course, on the opposite side of which other Indians had huddled, awaiting their prey. When this body of Indians had thought all but in their possession, again was the presence of mind of McCune signally displayed. He wheeled his horse, followed by Devlan, made his way out of the thicket, by the passage he had entered, and galloped around into the open space between them and the river, where the pursuers were checked by fire from the block-house at the western angle ol the fort. In a few minutes after their arrival their horses dropped dead from fatigue. The Indians had orders to take them alive,.

as they had not fired until just as they entered the fort; but in the chase McCune had great difficulty in persuading Devlan to reserve his fire until the last extremity, and they therefore brought in their pieces loaded.'

By some means, not known, Tecumseh had received information of General Harrison's intention to force his way through his ranks to the fort. He therefore stationed a British force of infantry in a ravine, and at a short distance from them he stationed a squadron of cavalry. A large party of Indians were also posted in the forest at a short distance from the fort on both sides of the road to be traversed by the re-inforcements.

To decoy the troops from the fort, a sham battle was fought. From the hideous yells and sharp musketry it seemed to the troops in the garrison that a hotly contested battle was in progress.

The deception was managed with such skill that the garrison instantly flew to arms. The soldiers clamored to be led to battle. There was almost a revolt when General Clay refused to suffer them to march out to rescue their friends.

The arrival of McCune and the good judgment of General Clay saved the troops from destruction. The intelligence from General Harrison on the Sandusky led General Clay to judge it impossible that General Harrison with reinforcements could even have left Sandusky so soon. And he was certain that no reinforcements could come from any other quarter. Therefore, while he could not account for the firing, he did not deem it possible that any friends were approaching the fort.

It was a very narrow escape for the garrison. But for the firmness of General Clay, all must have perished. It is said that during the siege, when five thousand men surrounded the little band within the fortress, General Clay and his men resolved that they would not fall into the hands of General Proctor, who would hand them over to be tomahawked, scalped, and burned at the stake by the savages.

"General Proctor, finding it impossible to draw the garrison out from the fort, and not deeming it safe to attempt to carry it by storm, on the 28th of July embarked his troops on board his boats, and sailing down the Maumee, directed his course along the southern shore of the lake t° the mouth of the Sandusky. His immense bands of Indians, under Tecurrlseh,

At this time General Harrison was at Fort Seneca, about twelve or fifteen miles up the Sandusky river, from Fort Stephenson. Fort Stephenson was a small stockade, capable of accommodating about two hundred men. The defense of this stockade was under the command of Major George Croghan, a youth, twentyone years of age. His command consisted of Captain Hunter, lieutenants Baylor, Johnson and Meeks; ensigns Ship and Duncan, and one hundred and sixty privates. General Harrison's force at Fort Seneca numbered one hundred and forty men. This post was selected as a convenient point from which reinforcements might be dispatched either up or down the river to protect the military supplies collected at Upper Sandusky. "On the evening of the 29th the Indians swarmed like bees in the woods, about Harrison's camp, and all along the Sandusky shore." At night he received a dispatch from General Clay stating that the enemy had raised the seige and departed down the river. A council of war was called when General Harrison propounded the question, "is Fort Stephenson tenable?" The council decided, "it was not tenable." In accordance with the decision, General Harrison sent orders to Major Croghan to abandon the fort, destroy the public property and retreat to Fort Seneca, provided the enemy were about to invest his fort with heavy cannon.

"The order was sent by a Mr. Conner and two Indians, who lost their way in the dark, and did not arrive at Fort Stephenson before 11 o'clock the next day. When Major Croghan received it, he was of the opinion that he could not then retreat with safety, as the Indians were hovering around the fort in considerable force. He called a council of his officers, a majority of whom coincided with him in opinion, that a retreat would be unsafe, and that the post could be maintained against the enemy at least till further instructions could be received from headquarters. The Major therefore immediately returned the following answer :

"Sir, I have just received yours of yesterday, 11 o'clock A. M., ordering me to destroy this place and make good my retreat, which was received too late to be carried into execution. 'We have determined to maintain this place, and by heavens we can.'

"In writing this note, Major Croghan had a view to the probability of its falling into the hands of the enemy, and on that account made use of stronger language than - would otherwise have been consistent with propriety."

Immediately after the departure of the courier for Fort Seneca, a reconnointering party that had been sent down the river, returned and reported the near approach of the enemy.

The reconnoitering party after reporting passed on their way to Fort Seneca. Three hours after the receipt of the intelligence (July 31st) the boats of the enemy appeared in view carrying one thousand British regulars and as many Indians. The regulars were commanded by General Proctor in person, and the latter by General Dixon. The Indians appeared first, on the opposite side of the river and were saluted by a shot from the six pounder, the only piece of artillery in the fort, which soon caused them to retire. Thirty minutes later the Indian forces displayed themselves in every direction, to intercept the garrison should a retreat be attempted. The vessels anchored a mile below the fort; and Major Chambers accompanied by Dixon was dispatched towards the fort with a flag, and was met on the part j of Major Croghan by ensign Shipp of the 17th regiment. "Chambers and Dixon, besought Shipp to spare the effusion of blood - 'what a pity,' said they, 'that you and Croghan, such fine young men, should be butchered by the enemy.' At this moment an Indian came out of an adjoining ravine, and advancing to the ensign attempted to wrest his sword from him. Dixon interfered, and having restrained the Indian, affected great anxiety to get him safe into the fort."

The enemy now opened fire upon the fort, from his guns jj on the boats and a mortar on the shore. The bombardment was continued without intermission through the night, though it produced but little effect upon the works. The fire was directed against the north-west angle of the fort, which led Major Croghan to suppose that the attempt to storm the works would be made at that point. He withheld his fire as much as possible to save ammunition, and moved, his gun from place to place, to lead the foe to believe that he had many pieces in the fort. In this manner the night passed away. Tecumseh with two thousand warriors lay beside the road leading to Fort Seneca, expecting a reinforcement from that post to save the garrison. He hoped for a victory similar to the one gained over St. Clair. In this he was disappointed, as no such force was sent. During the night the enemy landed three six pounders and a mortar, and stationed them in a grove about two hundred and forty yards from the fort.

The fort was surrounded by a dry ditch, nine feet wide, and six feet deep. Near the middle of the north line of the stockade there was a blockhouse, from which this ditch could be raked, in either direction by artillery. The cannon was placed in this blockhouse, and loaded almost to the muzzle with slugs and grape-shot.

Early in the morning of the 2d, the enemy opened fire from their battery in the woods, which was continued until four o'clock when an assault was made on the northwest angle. Two feints were made toward the southern angle, where Captain Hunter's lines were formed; and at the same time a column of three hundred and fifty men were discovered advancing through the smoke, within twenty paces of the north-western angle. A heavy, galling fire of musketry was now opened upon them from the fort, which threw them into some confusion. Colonel Short, who headed the principal column, soon rallied his men, and led them with great bravery to the brink of the ditch. After a momentary pause he leaped into the ditch, calling to his men to follow him, and in a few minutes it was full. The masked porthole was now opened, and the six pounder, at the distance of thirty feet, poured such destruction among them that but few who had entered the ditch were fortunate enough to escape. A precipitate and confused retreat was the immediate consequence, although some of the officers attempted to rally their men. The other column, which was led by Colonel Warburton and Major Chambers, was also routed in confusion by a destructive fire from the line commanded by Captain Hunter. The whole of them fled into the adjoining wood, beyond the reach of our fire-arms. During the assault which lasted half an hour, the enemy kept up an incessant fire from their howitzer and five six-pounders. They left Colonel Short,* a lieutenant and twenty-five privates

* Colonel Short, who commanded the regulars composing the forlorn hope, was ordering his men to leap the ditch, cut down the pickets, and give the Americans no quarter, when he fell mortally wounded into the ditch, hoisted his white handkerchief on the end of his sword, and dead in the ditch. The total number of prisoners taken was twenty-six, most of them badly wounded. Major Muir was knocked down in the ditch and lay among the dead, till the darkness of the night enabled him to escape in safety. The loss of the garrison was one killed and seven slightly wounded. The total loss of the enemy could not have been less than one hundred and fifty killed and wounded.