Sandusky County, Ohio - Chapter 6: Lower Sandusky in the War of 1812, 1909

Chapter 6: Lower Sandusky in the War of 1812

Tippecanoc - England's Offensive Acts - Hull Appointed to Command of Troops - War With England Declared - Hull's Surrender of Detroit - Battle of the Peninsula - Post at Lower Sandusky Abandoned - Protection of the Frontiers - Movements of Troops Under Gen. Harrison in the Sandusky and Maumee Valleys - Stockade at Lower Sandusky Repaired and Gen. Perkin's Brigade Sent There - Harrison's Plan for Invasion of Canada - Gen. Winchester's Disaster at River Raisin - Fortifying Position at Camp Metgs - Langham's Desperate Expedition - Colonel Johnson's Mounted Regiment- - Fourth of July at Lower Sandusky - Siege of Fort Meigs Abandoned - Preparation to Atiack Fort Stephenson - Order to: Major Croghan to Abandon the Fort and his Reply - Croghan Relieved of and Restored to his Command - Ball's Battle Ground - Defense of Fort Stephenson - Names of Defcnders - Description of the Fort and its Site and Origin of Name - Perry's Victory - Invasion of Canada - Success of Our Army - Defeat

Prior to and following the defense of Fort Stephenson by Major George Croghan, Lower Sandusky was the theater of important and interesting events closely related to the War of 1812.

The peace which followed the treaty of Greenville was not as permanent as had been hoped for. The British continued their intercourse with the Indians, and schemed to excite and keep alive in them hostile feelings against the Americans. The chiefs, Little Turtle and Blue Jacket were the leaders among the Northwestern tribes. After the treaty of Greenville, however, Little Turtle had continued friendly, but his influence was not sufficient to induce these tribes to follow him in his friendly attitude. Blue Jacket was hostile in his feelings and thirsted for revenge against the Whites, and hoped by the promised aid of the British, to regain the lands which had been ceded by the treaty of Greenville. His influence increased while that of Little Turtle decreased. He associated with him the noted Shawnee chief, Tecumseh. Their leading principles and policy were to combine all the tribes together in one confederacy; to prevent the sale of their lands by any single tribe, and to join the British in the event of the then expected war with the United States, with a view to revenge and the recovery of their ceded lands. They claimed that the United States had, by the Greenville Treaty, acknowledged title jointly, in all the tribes, and therefore had no right to purchase lands from any single tribe, without consent of the other joint owners.

Blue Jacket having died, Tecumseh pursued their schemes with great industry and ability. He visited all the tribes west of the Mississippi, and on Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie; in his effort to induce them to join his conspiracy against the Americans. It is believed upon a well-founded tradition, that he visited Lower Sandusky in his itinerary, and endeavored to. induce the Wyandots here to join him, but without success.

His operations at first were confined mostly within the Wabash country, and culminated there as to that part of the country in the battle of Tippecanoe, Indiana, in 1811, where the Indians met defeat. Tecumseh was not present at this engagement, but absent on his nussion of conspiracy among the tribes. While this defeat quieted generally the hostile tribes in that region, it did not have the effect of changing the purposes of Tecumseh and his followers among the savages. In the spring of 1812, they began to put their threats into execution, and depredations were committed against the. frontiers of Indiana Territory and Ohio. Settlers were massacred and a general feeling of alarm and insecurity of life and property prevailed.

In the meantime, our relations with Great Britain were becoming more critical. England, as we know, was then engaged in a war with France, and it was with difficulty' she could get her own people to enter her navy; it was customary to send gangs of sailors ashore in England in the night time to seize and force men into her service. She would stop our ships and take American seamen out of them and force them to fight her battles. Her excuse was that they were British subjects who had deserted and entered our service, which was probably the fact in some cases, but England made no discrimination, and took any able-bodied sailor she chose. England denied that a British subject could become an American citizen. Thousands of our citizens had been thus kidnaped, and England refusing to desist from these outrages, Congress, in the summer of 1812, declared war against her. It was the purpose of the government in the event of war, to attack Canada, and if we were successful, to annex it to the United States.

General William Hull, governor of Michigan Territory, had been ordered to proceed to Urbana, Ohio, and with the troops which were provided and to be placed at his command, to march to Detroit. This was before the actual declaration of war by Congress. Hull had served in the Revolution, and Washington had spoken of him as an officer of great merit.

had been declared. The enemy, however, had heard it ard had cut off most of the supplies of provisions and powder that he was expecting to secure on his arrival. This made his situation a serious one. The forests back of Detroit were full of hostile savages; in front was the English general, Brock, with a force of Canadians and Indians. Brock demanded a surrender, which was granted by Hull without the firing of a gun, and thus Detroit and the whole territory of Michigan capitulated to the British. It is not within the scope of this work, to go into further particulars concerning this disgraceful affair. Hull was court-martialed, tried, convicted of cowardice, and sentenced to be shot, but President Madison, April 26, 1814, pardoned him on account of his services in the Revolutionary War, and on that day his name was stricken from the military rolls at Washington.

Hull's surrender left the frontiers of northwestern Ohio at every point exposed to the depredations of the merciless savages, and consternation prevailed everywhere in all the settlements.

Among 'he first hostile demonstrations of the Indians in our region, was on the peninsula near the site of Port Clinton, where a severe skirmish occurred, an interesting account of which we give from Hardesty's Atlas of Ottawa County.

Battle Of The Peninsula

KE. W. Bull died in the city of Cleveland in the autumn of 1812 from fever which he brought on by exposure and over-exertion in fleeing before the Indians when they attacked the peninsula after Hull's surrender. Prior to this event - Hull's surrender - the inhabitants of this peninsula, although suffering many privations and enduring hardships peculiar to life in the wilderness, nevertheless succeeded well, all things considered, and were looking forward hopefully, even sometimes joyfully, to the better days and brighter prospects which fortunately are always just before us. But when this barrier which stood up to protect them from the foe (the savage, merciless Indian, goaded on by the British authorities) fell, they saw nothing left them but in flight. While thinking of this and counseling toyether they saw vessels loaded with men nearing the shore, and supposing them to be British and Indians, they were filled with consternation and resolved upon a speedy exit from the peninsula. There were in all thirtcen families, who, seizing boats, canoes and anything upon which they could float, started for Sandusky, then known as Ogontz Place, where there was

The names of the parties thus fleeing to Ogontz Place, as given by Dr. A. H. Agard, to whom we are indebted for these facts and to whom we desire here to express our obligations, were Benajah Wolcott and family, Charles Peck, E. W. Bull, H. Patch, Saunders, with wife and two babies - twins; Major Parsons, George Bishop, Joseph Ramsdell, Abiathar Sherley, Dr. Parks, Col. Peter P. Ferry, Ezra Lee, and Messrs. Herrick, Cooper and Woolsey.

The next day they learned that the men whom they had seen approaching the shore in vessels were our own soldiers who had been surendered by Hull and had been paroled by the British and were on their way to their homes. But this news only postponed the event for a few days, for the Indians, as soon as the surrender was known to them, began to prepare for hostile operations in this direction. The settlers returned with their boats to carry away or conceal their property as best they could, knowing that all would be destroyed or carried off by the enemy if not speedily secured. A volunteer company under Capt. Joshua Cotton came on to the peninsula in September, 1812. He was ordered by General Perkins early in September to proceed in boats with a number of soldiers across the bay and to land on the peninsula and proceed from thence to the "Two Harbors" on the opposite side to look after some wheat and other property there. On landing, a guard was detached by Captain Cotton to take care of the boats. On his march back toward the boats he was attacked by the Indians who were concealed in the high grass. On reaching the Bay the guard, believing that "distance would lend enchantment to the view," had fled with the boats, leaving their companions to the uncertain chances of battle and the mercies of a wild and savage foe. The surviyors took possession of a log house (not the blockhouse, for it had been destroyed) and resisted as best they could during the night. The cowardly creatures who had escaped with the boats related the peril of their comrades and John S. Read and Captain Quigley, who had heard the news the next morning, at once started to the field of battle, calling upon every man they met to join them, and on the entire route not a man refused the call. At the mouth of Huron River they met Amos Spafford moving his family to Cleveland. At their request Mr. Spafford unloaded his boats and they all started. for the peninsula, where they arrived at midnight, and concealed themselves until morning, when they made for the log-house and found, to their joy, thirty-seven of our brave boys alive but nearly starved, having had nothing to eat for over three days. F ;

In this skirmish Valentine Ramsdell, Danicl Mingus, Alexander Mason and a man named Simmons were killed. Those wounded were Judge Eldred, severely; Mr. Mandham, slightly; and Captain Ramsdell, a Revolutionary soldier. :

Horace Ramsdell gathered up all the bones of these slain heroes that he could find, two years after they had fallen, and buried them at a point near Fox's Dock. The place is marked by a stone bearing their names, erected to their memory by Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, who participated in this battle, being then but 19 years of age.

Mr. Giddings will long be remembered as a prominent anti-slavery leader in Congress. He and the survivors of this battle agreed to meet on the tragi¢ spot fifty years from that day, if alive. Just fifty years from the date of the battle Mr. Giddings alone appeared on the ground, the balance of the little company having stacked their arms on 'the eternal camping ground on the other shore, where the great soul of Mr. Giddings has since joined them. Peace to their ashes! He visited Danbury Township in 1862 and erected the stone which bears the names of the killed in the battle, at the time of this visit. aN

After the declarations of peace, the settlers, many of them, returned to their homes on the peninsula, or rather, to the sites of their former homes, for everyping of value was either carried off or destroyed by

Rasch Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, in an asticle published in "The Firelands Pioneers," May, 185%, on this skirmish has the following reference to Lower Sandusky:

_ "About the 25th of September, Major Frazier with about one hundred and fifty men, was detached with orders to proceed as far as Lower Sandusky. At. that place there had been a stockade erected for the defense of those who resided there. \This post was deserted upon the surrender of General Hull at Detroit and remained unoccupied until Major Frazier took possession. This stockade was extended during the winter following and dignified by the name of Fort Stephenson. Fro this point Major Frazier sent forward tain. Parkes with about twenty volunteers as far as the mouth of Portage River. After the declaration of war, and while Hull was in possession of Detroit, provisions to a small amount had been collected at Sandusky, to be forwarded on for the support of his army. These provisions had been left when the fort was abandoned."

To do justice to the history of Lower Sandusky, relative to events military in character, would require more space than can be allotted to that subject in our volume, considering the other important matters requiring space. We are therefore giving only the more important facts and incidents connected with that part of our history; and for these which follow, where not otherwise noted, we are indebted largely to the pages of a rare and reliable work entitled, "History of the Late War in the Western Country," by Robert B. McAfee, Lexington, Kentucky, published in 1816. The author was an officer in the War of 1812-15 with Col. Richard M. Johnson's regiment of mounted men. He was therefore qualified from perscnal knowledge and association with Colonel Johnson and Genera! Harrisori and others to write an accurate history of the events narrated by him in his history, ©.

The troops moving on the line of operations which passed from Delaware by Upper to Lower Sandusky, composed of the brigades from Virginia and "Pennsylvania, and that of Perkins from Ohio, were now designated. in general orders and commonly known as the Right Wing of the army. General Harrison continued his headquarters at Franklinton and Delaware. Early in October, 1812, he ordered all the recruits of the regular army in the Western States to be marshaled to the frontiers. Those in Ohio were to be commanded by Colonel Campbell; the Tennessee recruits by Colonel Anderson, or some field officer of his. regiment.

Harrison was informed by Generals Perkins and Beall, belonging to a detachment of Ohio Militia under General Wadsworth in the northwestern parts of the state, that the opening of a road from a point near Mansfield to Lower Sandusky, in which they had been engaged by orders of Governor Meigs, was forbidden by General Wadsworth, and that a road from, Sandusky to the Rapids would be impassable unless causewaved for a distance of fifteen miles. This information induced General Harrison to set out immediately to make a personal examination into the state of affairs in that quarier, He found Wadsworth commanding 800 men near the mouth of Huron River and 500 more under Beall, near Mansfeld, The two corps were consolidated under Perkins, with orders to proceed to Lower Sandusky and open a road thence to the Rapids, making the catiseways required. Harrison, writing to the War Department, November isth, says :

An idea ean scarcely be formed of the * difficulties with which land transportation is effected north of the 40th degree of latitude in this country. The country beyond that is almost a continual swamp to the Lake. Where the streams run favorable to your course a small strip of better ground is generally found, but in crossing from one river to another the greater part of the way at this season is covered with water. Such is actually the situation of that space between the Sandusky and the Miami Rapids, and from the best information that I could acquire whilst I was at Huron the road over it must be causewayed at least one-half of the way."

Stockade At Lower Sandusky Repaired In

Early in December, 1812, a detachment of Perkins' Brigade arrived at Lower Sandusky and repaired an old stockade which had been erected to protect an Indian store, formerly established at that place by the Government. Soon afterwards the whole of the brigade arrived at that post.

"Considering the Miami Rapids as the first point of destination, provisions were ordered to be accumulated along a concave base, extending from St. Mary's ou the left to the mouth of the Huron and afterward Lower Sandusky on the right. From this base the Rapids could be approached by three routes or lines of operation, two of which were partly effectually secured by posts which were established and the positions taken upon the third. My plan of operation has been and now is to occupy the Miami Rapids and to deposit there as much provisions as possible; to move from thence with a choice detachment of the army - make a demonstration toward Detroit, and by a sudden passage of the strait upon the ice an actual investiture of Malden."

On January roth, Genera! Winchester arrived with his army at the Rapids and established his camp, of which he informed General Harrison by express sent to Lower Sandusky, but the message was delayed before reaching Harrison who was then at Upper Sandusky and was not received till the 14th of January. General Winchester on the 17th detached Colonel Lewis with 500 men for the River Raisin. A few hours afterward Lewis was followed by Colonel Allen with 110 more, who came up with him late in the evening, when he had encamped at Presque Isle. Information was received from Colonel Lewis. at Presque Isle a distance of twenty miles in advance, that there were 400 Indians at the River Raisin, and that Colonel Elliott was expected at Malden with a detachment to attack the camp at the Rapids

A dispatch to General Harrison by the way of Lower Sandusky was forwarded concerning these matters. January 16th, General Harrison received a letter from General Perkins from Lower Sandusky, enclosing one he had received from Winchester of the 15th wanting Perkins to send him a battalion from the Lower Sandusky. This intelligence alarmed Harrison and he immediately gave orders for the artillery to advance by the way of the Portage River, accompanied by a guard of 300 men commanded by Major Orr. An express was dispatched to the Rapids by General Harrison for information with orders to return and meet him at Lower Sandusky, for which from Mouth of Portage River, South. Also Military Trails from Ft. Stephenson (1812) to Ft. Meigs (1813) id to Ft. Seneca (1818). 1. Landing Place of French and Indians from Detroit, and Gen. Harrison's Embarkation for Canadian Campaign (1813).

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place he set out the next morning himself, and arrived there on the following night. He found that Perkins had prepared a battalion with a piece of artillery to be commanded by Major Cotgrove, which was ordered to march on the 18th. General Harrison now determined to follow it himself and have a personal consultation with General Winchester. At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 19th he received the letter in which Winchester informed him of the advance to the river Raisin. He immediately ordered the remaining regiment of Perkins' brigade to march to the Rapids and proceeded there himself. He arrived on the morning of the 20th at the Rapids and found there that General Winchester had proceeded the evening before to the river Raisin.

"Cotgrove was so retarded by a swamp on the road and other obstacles to his progress, that he reached no farther than the Maumee Bay on the night of the 21st. By marching early next morning he arrived within fifteen miles of the river Raisin where he was met by the fugitives from the massacre; at that terrible disaster our loss was about three hundred killed, massacred and missing. Only thirtythree escaped to the Rapids. The British took 547 prisoners and the Indians about forty-five. The loss of the enemy is believed to have been in killed and wounded between three and four hundred." Movements against Malden were in consequence of Winchester's defeat abandoned for the season.

"The attention of Harrison was now directed to the fortifying of his position at the fort of the Rapids; to the distribution of the troops which would remain after discharge of the Kentucky and Ohio Corps; and to the accumulation of provisions at his present post for the next campaign. It was necessary to wait for the opening of the river the next spring to bring down by water the immense stores accumulated at St. Mary's and Auglaize. From Lower Sandusky there was some progress made in transportation by going round on the ice of Sandusky and Maumee Bays and border of the lake. At Upper Sandusky a company of regulars was placed, and another at Lower Sandusky. The balance of all the troops, except those mentioned, and troops at

St. Mary's and Auglaize and on the Hull Road, were placed at the Rapids, when they amounted to fifteen hundred or eighteen hundred men, which General Harrison deemed not sufficient for such an important post. Instructions for putting up picketing and building block houses were given, which being done it was named Camp Meigs. aK * ak " 3 % * xs * * * "\ sham battle by the enemy occurred near Fort Meigs having for its object to draw out the force from the fort, but it failed of its purpose and on the 28th the British and Indians raised the siege and embarked for the Sandusky Bay." LANGHAM'S DESPERATE EXPEDITION. General Harrison while at Fort Meigs, considering the destruction of the enemies' vessels at Malden as an object of great importance, and one that might be accomplished by an expedition over the ice, prepared for such an expedition. The force was placed under the command of Captain Langham, consisting of regulars, Virginia aiid Pennslyvania militia, and a few Indians, making with the officers, 242 men, who had volunteered, not knowing the nature of the expedition, only that it was perilous. On the 26th of February, General - Harrison addressed them and informed them that they when had got a sufficient distance from the fort they would be informed of the errand they were upon, and then that all who wished to return might do so, but not afterwards. The corps took up their line of march and concentrated at the site of Lower Sandusky, where there was then a blockhouse, garrison by two companies of militia. On March 2, they left the blockhouse with six days' provisions, and when they had proceeded about half a mile Captain Langham ordered a halt, and informed them of the object of the expedition, which was to move down to Lake Erie, cross over to Malden on the ice and in the darkness of the night to destroy with combustibles the British Fleet and the public stores on the bank of the river. This done, they were to retreat in their sleighs to the point of the Maumee Bay, where their retreat was to be covered by .a force under Harrison. Captain Langham gave liberty for all who judged it too hazardous to withdraw. Twenty of the militia and six or seven of the Indians availed themselves of the privilege. The force moved down the river in sleighs, and took the land on the west side of the bay, passing through and across the peninsula to the lake. The party encamped near the lake and being without tents, were thoroughiy wet by the snow and rain which was falling. On March 3d they proceeded on the ice to Middle Bass and seventeen miles from their encampment; just before they left the lake shore, an ensign, thirteen militia, several Indians, a chief being one of them, deserted. During their progress to the island the weather was stormy, wind blowing and snowing. They arrived at the northwest side of the island early in the afternoon, when the weather moderated. In the course of the afternoon sled tracks were discovered on the ice, going in the direction of Malden, presumed to have been made by two Frenchmen who left Lower Sandusky the day before the corps of Langham. They had then stated they were going to the river Huron, which being in an opposite direction, the officers now felt assured that they were enemies on their way to give notice to the British of Langham's approach. It being the intended route to go by the Western Sister Island to elude the spies of the enemy, the guides gave it as their opinion that it was now totally impossible to go to Malden; that the Detroit River, and the lake from the Middle Sister were doubtless broken up, and the distance from the Middle Sister, even if that could be reached, to the river, was too great to be accomplished after night, and the probabilities were that the lake would entirely break up and leave them on one of the islands. This caused Captain Langham to hold a council at which it was the unanimous opinion that it would be improper to proceed and that they should return. A return was accordingly decided upon. which was accomplished by the way of Presque Isle, at which point they met General Harrison with a body of troops and from thence they proceeded to Fort Meigs in safety. In the course of their journey back they found the lake open near the Western Sister Island. (See Howe's Historical Collection of Ohio, Vol. II,

"In the latter part of June, 1813, while General Harrison was at Franklinton, news came that Fort Meigs was again to be attacked. He set out on the next morning for Lower Sandusky and immediately addressed letters to the War Department and Governor Meigs, expressing it as his blief that it was not Fort Meigs that was to be attacked, but Lower Sandusky, Cleveland or Erie, and ordered the Twenty-fourth Regiment, United States Infantry, under command of Col. Samuel Anderson to proceed immediately to Lower Sandusky. Major Croghan with a part of the Seventeenth was ordered to the same place, and also Colonel Ball with his squadron of Cavalry who had been at Franklinton. General Harrison followed and on the evening of the 26th overtook the Twenty-fourth Regiment on its way and immediately selected 300 of its strongest men for a forced march to Fort Meigs under Colone] Anderson. General Harrison arrived at Fort Meigs on the evening of the 28th and in a few hours afterwards the detachment under Anderson also made its appearance. On July ist, General Harrison deeming it unnecessary for him to remain any longer at Fort Meigs, proceeded to Lower Sandusky with an escort of seventy mounted men commanded by Captain McAfee, where they arrived by dark, although the road was a continual swamp.

On the evening of the 2d, Colonel Ball's squadron arrived at Lower Sandusky and on the next day proceeded with General Harrison to Cleveland, where he went to make arrangements for the better security of the provisions and of the boats which were constructing there. * * * * * * x *x * ok *

"The mounted regiment, Col. Richard M. Johnson commanding, had been ordered to proceed by way of Lower Sandusky to the river Huron to rest and recruit their horses. They marched from Fort Meigs on the 2d, but did not arrive at Lower Sandusky until the evening of the 3d. The Fourth of July (1813) was celebrated by the soldiers in the fort in a patriotic manner. Colonel Johnson delivered an eloquent address, toasts were drank and cheered, small arms were fired to- gether with a six-pounder from the fort (which latter doubtless was our 'Old Betsy'). Considerable exertions were now being made to finish the works of the fort, which had been planned and commenced in April of this year (1813) by Major Wood. They were soon after completed so as to contain a large garrison and make a more formidable resistance."' ng ow = i, a a ie ee ee ee ee

"Dear Sir: I arrived at this place last evening with a part of the mounted regiment after two days' march from Camp Meigs, leaving two companies four miles in the rear who were unable to reach this place; besides about twenty horses left on the way, which I am in hopes will be able to get back in Camp Meigs or come to this place in a few days where we can keep them together and recruit them. Having been in the most active service for upwards of forty days and having traveled upwards of 700 miles, much of it forced marching, it is 'natural to conclude that most of the horses are weak; and we feel great pleasure and obligations to you in finding your arrangements such as to enable us to recruit the horses of the regiment. To be ready to move with you to Detroit and Canada against the enemies of our country is the first wish of our hearts. Two great objects induced us to come - first, to be at the regaining of our own territory and Detroit and at the taking of Malden, and secondly to serve under an officer in whom we have such confidence." * * * * x * * x * x

"General Harrison had returned from Cleveland several days before the arrival of the enemy, and received at that place, from the express, the information that Camp Meigs was again invested. He then immediately removed his headquarters to Seneca Town, about nine miles up the Sandusky River, where he constructed a fortified camp, having left Major Croghan with 160 regulars in Fort Stephenson, and taken with him to Seneca 140 more under the immediate command of Colonel Wells. A few days afterwards he was reinforced by the arrival of 300 regulars under Paul and Colonel Ball's Corps of 150 dragoons, which made his whole force at that place upward of 600 strong. He was soon joined also by Generals McArthur and Cass, and Colonel Owings with a regiment of 500 regulars from Kentucky was also advancing to the frontiers.

"It was ascertained that the forces of Proctor and Tecumseh brought against the Americans, were about five thousand strong, and included the greatest force of Indians ever before brought against us at any one time during the whole war.

"The British sailed around the Bay, while a competent force of savage allies marched across through the swamps of Portage River to co-operate in a combined attack on Lower Sandusky, expecting no doubt that Harrison's attention would be directed toward Winchester and Meigs.

"On the evening of the 29th of July, 1813, General Harrison received intelligence by express from General Clay that the enemy had abandoned the siege of Fort Meigs; and as the Indians on that day had swarmed in the woods around his camp, he entertained no doubt

McArthur, Cass, Ball, Paul, Wood, Hukill, Holmes and Graham, who were unanimously of the opinion that Fort Stephenson was untenable against heavy artillery, and that as the enemy could bring with facility any quantity of battering cannon against it, by which it must inevitably fall, and as it contained nothing the loss of which would be felt by us that the garrison should therefore not be reinforced, but withdrawn and the place destroyed."

"Sir: Immediately on receiving this letter you will abandon Fort Stephenson, set fire to it, and repair with your command this night to headquarters. Cross the river and come up on the opposite side. If you should deem and find it impracticable to make good your march to this place, take the road to Huron, and pursue it with the utmost circumspection and dispatch."

This order was sent by Mr. Conner and two Indians who lost their way in the dark and did not reach 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. Major Croghan therefore immediately returned the following answer:

"T have just received yours of yesterday, 10 o'clock p. m., ordering me to destroy this place and make good my retreat, which was received too late to be carried

It is believed that Major Croghan in writing this note, had in view the probability of its falling into the hands of the enemy, and therefore used stronger language than would otherwise have been consistent with propriety.

Croghan Relieved Of His Command

This letter reached the Commanding General the same day, and the apparent disobedience of orders by Major Croghan, was the cause of the following order from General Harrison:

"Sir: The General has received your letter of this date, informing him that you had thought proper to disobey the order issued from this office and delivered to you this morning. It appears that the information which dictated the order was incorrect; and as you did not receive it in the night as was expected, it might have been proper that you should have reported the circumstance and your situation, before you proceeded to its execution. over, but I am directed to say to you, that an officer who presumes to aver that he has made his resolution and that he will act in direct opposition to the orders of his General, can no longer be entrusted with a separate command.

"The squadron of dragoons consisting of about one hundred horses, under Colonel Ball on their way to Lower Sandusky, fell in with a body of Indians and fought what has since been called Ball's Battle. Israel Harrington, a resident of Lower Sandusky at the time of the battle and one of the first associate judges of Sandusky County, said that 'three days after he passed the ground and counted 'thereon thirteen dead Indians awfully cut and mangled by the horsemen. None of the squadron were killed and but one slightly wounded.' The scene of this battle is about one and a half miles southwest of Fremont on the west bank of the river, near what is now the residence of Birchard Havens. There was an oak tree on the site of the action within the memory of persons still living, with seventeen hacks in it to indicate the number of Indians killed; but this tree has unfortunately disappeared as have many other monuments of those stirring times. Howe says: 'The squadron were moving toward the fort when they were suddenly fired upon by the Indians from the west side of the road, whereupon Colonel Ball ordered a charge and he and suite and the right flank being in advance first came into action. The colonel struck the first blow. He- dashed in between two savages and cut down the one on the right; the other being slightly in the rear, made a blow with a tomahawk at his back, when, by a sudden spring of his horse, it fell short and buried deep in the cantel and pad of his saddle. Before the savage could repeat the blow he was shot by Corporal Ryan. Lieutenant Hedges (General Hedges of Mansfield) following in the rear, mounted on a small horse and pursued a big Indian and just as he had come up to him his stirrup broke, and he fell headfirst off his horse, knocking the Indian down. Both sprang to tleir feet, when Hedges struck the Indian across his head, and as he was falling buried his sword up to its hilt in his body. At this time Captain Hopkins was seen on the left side in pursuit of a powerful savage, when the latter turned and made a blow at the captain with a tomahawk, at which the horse sprang to one side. Cornet Hayes then came up, and the Indian struck at him, his horse in like manner evading the blow. Sergeant Anderson now arriving, the Indian was soon dispatched. By this time the skirmish was over, the Indians who were only about twenty in number, being nearly all cut down; and orders were civen to retreat to the main squadron. Colonel Ball dressed his men ready for a charge, should the Indians appear in force, and moved down without further molestation to the fort, where they arrived about 4 p. m. Among Colonel Ball's troopers was a private, James Webb, the father of Lucy Webb Hayes, whose old flint-lock rifle and hunting-horn are among the treasures of Spiegel Grove.

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"Major Croghan returned with the squadron, Colonel Wells being left in command of Fort Stephenson. Croghan remained over night and having made satisfactory explanation of his actions was permitted to return to to his.command the following morning, with written orders similar to those before given him, but the proximity of the enemy prevented their execution."

General Harrison's opinion of Major Croghan may best be shown by his letter of August 2, 1813, to Governor Meigs while the sound of the cannon at Fort Stephenson was reaching him at Fort Seneca.

The enemy have been since last evening before Lower Sandusky and are battering it with all their might. Come on, my friend, as quickly as possible, that we may relieve the brave fellows who are defending it. I had ordered it to be abandoned; the order was not obeyed. I know it will be defended to the last extremity, for earth does not hold a set of finer fellows than Croghan and his officers. I shall expect you tomorrow, certainly.

"On the evening of July 31st, a reconnoitering party from the fort discovered about twenty miles distant from the same the approach of the enemy by water. The enemy reached Lower Sandusky in the afternoon of August 1st. The Indians first showed themselves on the hill over the river. They were saluted from the fort by a 6-pounder, the only piece of artillery in the fort, which soon caused them to retire. In half an hour the British gunboats came in sight, and the Indian forces displayed themselves in every direction with a view to intercept the garrison should a retreat be attempted. The 6-pounder was fired a few times at the gunboats, which was returned by the artillery of the enemy. A landing of their troops with a 5%4-inch howitzer was effected about a mile below the fort, and Major Chambers, accompanied by Dickson, was dispatched toward the fort with a white flag and was met on the part of Major Croghan by Ensign Shipp of the Seventeenth Regiment. After the usual ceremonies Major 'Chambers observed to Ensign Shipp that he to spare the effusion of blood, which he could not do, should he be under the necessity of reducing it by the powerful force of artillery, regulars and Indians under his command, Shipp replied that the commandant of the fort and its garrison were determined to defend it to the last extremity; that no force, however great, could induce them to surrender as they were resolved to maintain their post or to bury themselves in its ruins. Dickson then said, that their immense body of Indians could not be restrained from massacreing the whole garrison in case of success - "of which we have no doubt," rejoined Chambers, "as we are amply prepared." Dickson then proceeded to remark, that it was a great pity so fine a young man should fall into the hands of the savages: "Sir, for God's sake surrender and prevent the dreadful massacre that will be caused by your resistance." Mr. Shipp replied that when the fort was, taken there would be none to massacre. It will not be given up while a man is able to resist. An Indian at this moment came out of an adjoining ravine, and advancing to the ensign took hold of his sword and attempted to twist it from him. Dickson interfered, and havime restrained the Indian affected great anxiety to get Shipp safe into the fort.

The enemy now opened their fire from their 6-pounders in the gunboats, and the howitzer on shore, which they continued through the night with but little intermission and with very little effect. The forces of the enemy consisted of 500 regulars and about eight hundred Indians commanded by Dickson, the whole being commanded by General Proctor in person. Tecumseh was stationed on the road to Fort Meigs with a body of 2,000 In-

Major Croghan through the evening occasionally fired his 6-pounder, at the same time changing its place occasionally to induce a belief that he had more than one piece. As it produced very little execution on the enemy, and he was desirous of saving his ammunition he soon discontinued his fire. The enemy had leveled their fire against the northwestern angle of the fort, which induced the com- mandant to believe that an attempt to storm his works would be made at that point. In the night Captain Hunter was directed to remove the 6-pounder to a block house from which it would rake the angle. By great industry and 'personal exertions Captain Hunter soon accomplished -this object in secrecy. The embrasure was masked and the piece loaded with a half charge of powder and double charge of slugs and grape shot. Early in the morning of the 2d the enemy opened their fire from their howitzer and three 6-pounders, which they had landed in the night and planted in a point of woods about two hundred and fifty yards from the fort. In the evening about 4 o'clock they concentrated the fire of all their guns on the northwest angle, which convinced Major Croghan that they would endeavor to make a breach and storm the works at that point; he therefore immediately had that place strengthened as much as possible with bags of flour and sand, which were so effectual that the picketing in that place sustained no material injury. Sergeant Weaver with five or six gentlemen of the Petersburg Volunteers and Pittsburg Blues who happened to be in the fort, was intrusted with the management of the 6-pounder. Late in the evening' when the the fort, the enemy proceeded to make the assault. Two feints were made toward the southern angle, where Captain Hunter's lines were formed; and at this same time a column of 350 men were discovered advancing through the smoke within twenty paces of the northwestern angle. A heavy galling fire of musketry was now opened upon them from the fort, which threw them into some confusion. Colonel Shortt, 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 port-hole was now opened and the 6-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 lire commanded by Captain Hunter. The whole of them fled into the adjoining wood, beyond the reach of our small arms. During the assault, which lasted half an hour, the enemy kept up an incessant fire from their howitzer and five 6-pounders. They left Colonel Short, a lientenant (Gordon) and twenty-five privates dead in the ditch; and the total number of prisoners taken was twentysix, 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 be less than 150 killed and wounded. "When night came on, which was soon after the assault, the wounded in the ditch were in a desperate situation. Complete relief could not be brought to them by either side with any degree of safety. Major Croghan however relieved them as much as possible - he contrived to convey them water over the picketing in buckets, and a ditch was opened under the pickets through which those who were able fort. All who were able preferred of course to follow their defeated comrades, and many others were carried from the vicinity of the fort by the Indians, particularly their own killed and wounded; and in the night about 3 o'clock the whole British and Indian force commenced a disorderly retreat. So great was their precipitation, that they left a sail boat containing some clothing and a considerable quantity of military stores; and on the next day seventy stand of arms and some braces of pistols were picked up round the fort. Their hurry and confusion were caused by the apprehension of an attack from General Harrison, of whose position and force they had probably received an exaggerated account. "Tt was the intention of General Harrison, should the enemy succeed against Fort Stephenson, or should they endeavor to turn his left and fall back on Upper Sandusky, to leave his camp at Seneca and fall back for the protection of that place. But he discovered by the firing on the evening of the Ist inst. that the enemy had nothing but light artillery, which could make no impression on the fort; and he knew that an attempt to storm it without making a breach could be successfully repelled .by the garrison; he therefore determined to wait for the arrival of 250 mounted volunteers under Rennick, being the advance of 700 who were approaching march against the enemy and raise the siege, if their force was not still too great for his. On the 2d inst. he sent several scouts to ascertain their situation and force; but the woods were so infested with Indians that none of them could proceed sufficiently near the fort to make the necessary discoveries. In the night a messenger arrived at headquarters with intelligence that the enemy were preparing to retreat. About 9 o'clock Major Croghan had ascertained from their collecting about their boats that they were preparing to embark. and immediately sent an express to the commander-in-chief with this information. The general now determined to wait no longer for reinforcements, and immediately set out with the dragoons, with which he reached the fort early in the morning, having ordered Generals McArthur and Cass, who had arrived at Seneca several days before, to follow him with all disposable infantry at that place, and which at this time was about seven hundred men, after the numerous sick, and the force necessary to maintain the position were left behind. Finding that the enemy had fled entirely from the fort so as not to be reached by him, and learning that Tecumseh was somewhere in the direction of Fort Meigs with 2,000 warriors, he immediately ordered the infantry to fall back to Seneca, lest Tecumseh should make an attack on that place, or intercept the small reinforcements advancing from the Ohio.

"Tn his official report of this affair, General Harrison observes that, 'It will not be among the least of General Proctor's mortifications to find that he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, Gen. George R. Clarke.'

"Captain Hunter, of the Seventeenth Kegiment, the second in command, conducted himself with great propriety; and never was there a set of finer young fellows than the subalterns, viz., Lieutenants Johnson and Baylor, of the Seventeenth; Anthony, of the Twenty-fourth ; Meeks, of the Seventh, and Ensigns Shipp and Duncan, of the Seventeenth.

"Lieutenant Anderson, of the Twentyfourth, was also mentioned for his good conduct. Being without a command, he solicited Major Croghan for a musket, and a post to fight at, which he did with the greatest bravery.

"*Too much praise,' says Major Croghan, 'cannot be bestowed on the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates under my command for their gallantry and good conduct during the siege.'

"The brevet rank of lieutenant colonel was immediately conferred on Major Croghan by the President of the United States for his gallant conduct on this occasion. The ladies of Chillicothe also presented him an elegant sword accompanied by a suitable address.

"On the oth of August, at Lower Sandusky, a British boat was discovered coming up the river with a flag. When it landed below the fort, Captain Hunter was sent to meet the commander, who proved to be Lieut. LeBreton, accompanied by Dr. Banner, with a letter from General Proctor to the commandant at Lower Sandusky, their object being to ascertain the situation of the British wounded - and afford them surgical aid. Captain Hunter invited them to the fort. LeBreton seemed to hesitate, as if he expected first to be blindfolded, as usual in such cases; but Captain Hunter told him to come on, that there was nothing in the fort which there was any reason to conceal; and when he introduced him to Major Croghan as the commandant of the fort, he appeared to be astonished at the youthful appearance of the hero, who had defeated the combined forces of his master." seventy-eight names out of the 160 in the fort at the time. The war records at Washington do:not show the names of the volunteers, who were detached and assigned to this service ; hence it was impossible for him to obtain their names: Major George Croghan, Seventeenth U. 'Ss. Infantry, :ommanding.

_ First lieutenant, Benjamin Johnson; second lieutenant, Cyrus A. Baylor; ensign, Edmund, Shipp; ensign, Joseph Duncan, all of the Seventeenth U. S. Infantry. ' First lieutenant, Joseph Anthony, Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry.

From An English Viewpoint

"St. Davids, Niagara Frontier, August 25 (1813 ) - Major General Proctor having given away to the clamor of our Indian allies to act offensively, moved forward on the 2oth ult. with about three hundred and fifty of the Fortyfirst Regiment, and between three thousand and four thousand Indians, and on the 2d inst. atternpted to carry by assault the blockhouses and works at Sandusky where the enemy had concentrated a considerable force. The Indians; however, previous to the assault, withdrew themselves out of reach of the enemy's fire. The handful of His Majesty's troops employed on this occasion, displayed the greatest bravery; nearly the whole of them having reached the fort and made every effort to enter it; but a galling and destructive fire being kept up by the enemy from within the blockhouses and from behind the_ picketing which completely protected them and which we had not the means to force, the major general thought it most prudent not to continue longer so unavailing a combat; he accordingly drew off the assailants and returned to Sandwich with the loss of twenty-five killed, as many missing, and about forty wounded. Amongst the killed are Brevet Lieutenant Shortt and Lieut. J. C. Gordon, of the Fortyfirst Regiment."

In the published' plan of the environs of Fort Sandusky, the spot where the British officers, Lieutenant Colonel Shortt and Lieutenant Gordon, were buried, is marked. The high school building now covers this spot;

. and in 1891, while excavations for the building were being made, graves and bones of two soldiers were found. Metallic buttons were also found in these graves, bearing the number of the regiment, 41, stamped on them, which appeared to be buttoms usually belonging to the uniform of British officers. -

Colonel Shortt was the commanding officer of the Forty-first Regiment of British Regulars, and Lieutenant Gordon was an officer in the regiment.

Further indications that these bodies were those of officers appeared in the fact that they had been buried in caskets, remains -of which were also found in the graves.

Mr. Dorr, soon after finding these buttons, was showing them to President Hayes, who informed Mr. Dorr that he had read in some book of a foreign bishop named Gordon, who was reported as saying that the sorrow of his life was the loss of a son in a battle in an obscure point in North America, called Fort Sandusky, by which name the British designated the fort.

The father of Lieutenant Gordon was James Bentley Gordon (1750-1819), of Londonderry, Ireland, who graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1773, took Holy Orders, and subsequently was presented with the living, first of Cannaway on Cork and finally that of Killegney in Wexford, which he retained till his death in April, 1819. He was a zealous student of history and geography and a voluminous writer of books on such topics, among which were "Terraquea, or a New System of Geography and Modern History," "A History of the Rebellion in Ireland in 1798," "A History of the British Islands," "An Historical and Commercial Memoir of the North American Continent." . He married in 1779, a daughter of Richard Bookey, of Wicklow, by whom he had several children. His eldest son, James Geo. Gordon, entered the army and was killed at Fort Sandusky in August, 1813.

Site And Name Of Fort

The fort was erected on what became River Lot No. 9, fifty-seven acres, according to the plat by the United States Government, of the historic two-mile square tract made in 1816, accompanying this chapter. The body of the fort was about three hundred feet long east and west and 150 feet in width north and south, and situated on that part of the Park ground nearest to what is now Croghan Street, and lengthwise covered more ground than now lies between Arch and High Streets, which is only 264 feet. It will be remembered that when the fort was erected, and when the battle occurred, there were no streets there. The fort projected into what is now High Street, about two rods, its northwestern angle, where the assault was made, reaching a point near the ravine which passed in a northeasterly direction through what is known as the Dr. Wilson property, lately purchased for a high school building, and thence along what is now Croghan Street, and being the ravine between the rising ground of the fort and that immediately north of Croghan Street. ;

In 1881, when the west retaining wall of the Park ground was built indications of the local-' ity. of the water well of the fort were found, which would support the above statement as to its western extremity.

As to the name Fort Stephenson, it appears from the military records that Colonel Stevenson at one time commanded the post, for, on May 14, 1813, the following.order was issued :

"The troops which form the garrisen at Lower Sandusky will be relieved today by a detachment furnished by his excellency, General Meigs, to the senior officer of which Colonel Stevenson will deliver the post and public property in his possession.

And in the report of the adjutant to Governor Meigs, furnished under the preceding order, we find the name Fort Stephenson first appearine officially : 3

"Sir: Agreeably to your orders I have forwarded all the articles specified therein. Considerable manual labor has been done on the garrison since you left this place and improvements are daily making. One person has been buried since you left this place. He came from Fort Meigs with a part of the baggage of Major Tod. R. E. Post, Adjutant." DESCRIPTION OF FORT STEPHENSON AND "OLD

The following interesting recollections of the fort and reference to the cannon, are taken from proceedings of the "Ninety-third Anniversary of the Battle of Fort Stephenson," published in Vol. XVII, Ohio Archeological and Historical Society Publications and contributed by J. P. Moore:

"James Kirk and a man named Figley, both of whom worked on the old fort before the battle of August 2, 1813, have visited me here in Fremont and while visiting the fort and going over the ground in its vicinity have graphically described to me the location and construction of the fort and many incidents connected with its building and its defense against the British and Indians. kl ledey Theda TR ee RD eS On and worked on the fort until mustered out at Cleveland on June ist of that year. He related to me how the pickets were drawn by oxen from the vicinity of Stony Prairie to the fort and points sharpened and the posts set in the ground close up one against the other. Many of the oxen engaged in drawing them died of starvation or were devoured by the wolves howling _ around the fort.

"The company to which James Kirk belonged came to the fort June 1, 1813, and worked here until the arrival of the British and Indians the day before the battle. James Kirk himself had been detailed to carry dispatches to Fort Seneca the day before the battle so that he was not present but came down early on the morning of August 3d and helped bury the British dead. He distinctly heard the firing of the British cannon and howitzers and noticed that some discharges were louder than others.

"Kirk was 25 years old at that time and after his discharge opened a blacksmith shop in Lower Sandusky in 1818 and in 1828 went to Port Clinton. He said that the well in the fort was not a good one, so that the garrison got their water from a spring at the foot of Garrison Street, bringing it through a small

"T sent my son Theodore to visit James Kirk in 188 - and get a description of the fort. Kirk said, "Mark off a square plat of ground containing half an acre with a blockhouse on the northeast corner and one in the northwest corner: this was the original fort. In June, 1813, when we came here the fort was found te be too small. He said, "mark off another square on the west side of the old square and this you will see will place the northwest blockhouse in the center of the north line of the enlarged fort. This was the blockhouse from which "Old Betsy" cleared the ditch when it was filled with Colonel Shortt's men. There was a Sealed log house in the new part filled with biscuit for Perry's fleet. This house was knocked down ievel with the pickets by the British cannon balls. The northeast blockhouse was in the center of Croghan and Arch Streets. The center blockhouse was about opposite the monument. The northwest angle of the fort extended out about 15 feet into High Street. There were many extra guns in the fort, as a company of Pennsylvania soldiers had deposited their guns there a few days before the British brought their cannon up this ravine. They would load their cannon and then run them up out of the ravine and after discharging them, back them down again to reload out of range of the guns of the fort. The next ravine south of this ran up Croghan Street, turning to the southwest at High Street, thence northwest through the northwest corner of the Presbyterian church lot. This ravine formed the north boundary of the plateau or ridge on which Fort Stephenson was located and on which ridge ran the Harrison trail to the southwest up through Spiegel Grove and on to Fort Seneca. The next ravine south of this extended between Birchard Avenue and Garrison Street, one branch ran towards the Methodist church through the Dorr and McCulloch property. It was from this last named ravine that the British Grenadiers made a feint against Captain Hunter's company just beiore Colonel Shortt made his assault on the northwest corner of the fort.

"Lieutenant Colonel Shortt and Lieut. J. G. Gordon, of the Forty-first Regiment, were buried near the south entrance of the high school building.

"Our first knowledge of the gun is upon the occasion of the first Fourth of July celebration ever held in this place, which occurred in 1813. On the 3d, a mounted regiment under Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, "the man who killed Tecumseh"' and the future vice president, marched from Fort Meigs to Lower Sandusky to recruit their horses here. cS * *x * * * * * * * *

"After the war in which the gun did such valiant service it was removed to the Pittsburg arsenal. Later Congress ordered its return to Lower Sandusky. The ingenious Thomas L. Hawkins, commissary officer at Fort Stephenson during the campaign, identified the gun in Pittsburg, recognizing it by the scar on its breach which he believed was made by a cannon ball while in action, during the old French and Indian war. Owing to the was sent to Sandusky City, which for many years after the battle was called Ogontz's Place, and of course had no claim to the gun. The authorities there tried to keep it, and for better concealment buried it under a_ barn. Mayor B. J. Bartlett, of Lower Sandusky, traced the gun and sent men and a wagon to bring it home. This home-coming of Old Betsy was just prior to the 2d of August celebration of 1852, when the Tiffin Fire Department came down to join in the festivities. William H. Gibson, clad in the red shirt and white trousers of the fire brigade uniform, delivered the stirring address of the day, in the woods back of the Rawson House on State Street."

Preparing For The Invasion Of Canada

"About the first of September, the troops were enabled to proceed in the business of transportation, about thirty wagons and a brigade of pack horses having arrived for that purpose. The greater part of the regiment had arrived at Fort Winchester on the gth of September, a day which had been appointed by the President as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. Those who chose to observe it in that manner, were encouraged to do so. * * * On the evening of this day a number of little parties were seen in different parts of the lines, paying their devotion to the God of armies, and chanting his praises with plainness, sincerity and zeal; whilst their less pious, but moral and orderly compatriots, preserved around them the strictest order and decorum. A pleasing tranquility pervaded the ranks, and the patriot soldier seemed to feel a cheering confidence that the God of battles would shield him in the hour of danger * * * while nobly fighting in the cause of justice and humanity. Such were the harmony and good order constantly prevailing in this regiment. and such the mutual confidence and good will between the officers and men, that there is scarcely an individual among them who does not look back to those davs as the happiest of his life, and who did not love and respect his commandant as an elder brother.

campaign (Perry's victory), was spent by the regiment in training and in fighting sham battles, the exact miniature of that which they were soon to fight in reality. A line of infantry was formed and the horses were practiced to charge through it at full speed; and such was the tractability and force of custom of this noble animal, that in a little time there was scarcely a horse in the regiment that would flinch at a line of infantry enveloped in a blaze of fire and smoke. Those who are unacquainted with the docility of this animal would scracely believe that he could be brought to have so much contempt for danger, to understand so well the different sounds of the trumpet, and seemingly to participate in the sentiments and views of his rider. The beautiful description of the horse, which is given in holy writ, was fully verified in our trainings: 'He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength ; he goeth to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, and the glittering spear, and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage; neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.' "

"You will find arms at Upper Sandusky; also considerable quantity at Lower Sandusky. I set out from this place in an hour. Our fleet has beyond all doubt met that of the enemy. The day before yesterday an incessant and tremendous cannonading was heard in the direction of Malden, by a detachment of troops coming from Fort Meigs. It lasted two hours. I am all anxiety for the event. There will be no occasion for your halting here. Lower Sandusky affords fine grazing. With respect to a station for your horse, there is the best in the world immediately at the place of embarkation. The Sanduskv Bay, Lake Erie and Portage River form a peninsula, the isthmus of which is only one mile and a half across. A fence of that length and a sufficient guard left there, would make all the horses of the army safe. It would enclose fifty or sixty thousand acres, in which are many cultivated fields, which having been abandoned, are now grown up with the finest grass.

Within half an hour after the above letter was written, the general received the following laconic note trom the commodore, by express from Lower Sandusky:

"UY. S. Brig. Niagara, off the Western Sister, etc. September 10, 1813, 4 p. m. "Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours - two ships, two brigs, one schooner and a sloop. "Yours with great respect and esteem, Oliver Hazzard Perry."

"This exhilarating news set Lower Sandusky and Camp Seneca in an uproar-of tumultuous joy. The general immediately. proceeded to Lower Sandusky and issued his*orders for the movement of the troops and transportation of provisions, military stores, etc., to the margin of the lake preparatory to their embarkation for Canada."

Governor Shelby on receipt of the letter from Harrison, had proceeded with his suite from Upper Sandusky in advance of his troops and met the news of the naval victory at Fort Ball (Tiffin).

Perry'S Victory On Lake Erie

"After remaining a few days at Put-in-Bav, Commodore Perry had returned in full view of Maiden, and offered battle again to the British fleet, which they again declined; but they now appeared to be making great exertions to get ready for a contest. The commodore then withdrew, and came dewn to the lake off Sandusky Bay, in hopes that the .enemy would follow him, or at least come out on the lake. While ai this station three American citizens, who had made their escape from Detroit, arrived at the fleet in an open boat, from whom it was ascertained that the enemy had been greatly straitened for provisions, since our fleet had been on the lake. They had previously brought up a considerable portion of their supplies on the lake from Long Point. By the same persons the force of the enemy was stated to be 800 regulars, 1,000 militia, and nearly two thousand Indians. On the 5th of September. the commodore informed General Harrison in a letter from Sandusky Bay. that his men were suffering very much by sickness, and that his fleet could not transport more than 3,000 men, with which number he would be so crowded as to be unable to use any of his guns. A few days afterwards he returned to Put-in-Bay to wait for the sailing of the British fleet.

immediately weighed anchor and proceeded to meet them. It was the intention of Commodore Barclay to engage his opponent before he could clear the islands near the head of the lake; and the wind, being in the southwest, was favorable to this plan; but before 10 o'clock the American fleet had gained the open lake, between the islands and the mouth of the river Detroit. About the same time the wind changed to the southeast, and thus brought the American squadron to the windward. Our commodore then formed his line of battle, and bore up against the enemy. An hour of awful suspension ensued. All hands stood ready, as soon as the winds could bring the hostile fleets together, to commence the desperate conflict, which was to decide the command of the Upper Lakes, and sink or save a British province. The fleets were new, and traversed a new theatre of war. The British commodore, however, was old in experience and well advanced in years. He had bled in the battle of Trafalgar, and had imbibed the naval tactics of Nelson. The American was young, and had never heard the thunder of a hostile ship; but skilled in the theory of naval war, and teeming with the courage and enterprise of an American freeman, he was ready for the contest with a foe superior in force and experience.

At fifteen minutes before twelve, the enemy opened his fire; but it was not returned for ten minutes by the American fleet, which was much inferior in long guns. The battle then commenced on both sides; but owing to the superiority of the British long guns, their fire was found to be the most destructive, and being chiefly directed against the Lawrence, the foremost ship, in which the commodore sailed, he was induced to make every exertion to close with the enemy, directing the other vessels to follow his example. In a short time every brace and bowline of the Lawrence was shot away, and she became unmanageable, notwithstanding the great exertions of her sailing master. In this situation she sustained the conflict with the Detroit and Queen Charlotte, upwards of two hours within cannister distance, until every gun was rendered useless, and the greater part of her crew either killed or wounded. The commodore now finding that she could no longer annoy the enemy, conceived the bold design of leaving her, and passing in an open boat to the Niagara, which the lowness of the wind had long prevented, with the lighter vessels, from coming into close action. At 2:30 the wind increased and enabled Captain Elliott to bring up the Niagara in gallant style. The commodore then consigned the Lawrence to the command of Lieutenant Yarnall, whose bravery already displayed was a sure pledge that he would do everything in his power for the honor of the flag ; and proceeded toward the Niagara, standing erect in an open boat, a fair mark for the musketry of the enemy, within the range of which he had to pass, bearing his flag with the motto, "Don't give up the ship." His men, more careful of his life, pulled him down by force from the dangers of an incessant fire, directed at him by the enemy. ,When safe on board the Niagara the remnant of his crew in the Lawrence gave three cheers for joy at his success. He then expressed his fears to Captain Elliott that the victory was lost, by the lighter vessels remaining at so great a distance in the rear. The captain replied that he hoped not, and immediately tendered his services to bring them up to a position, where they could render effectual service. The Niagara was now at the head of the line and Captain Elliott had to proceed on this service, down the whole line of the enemy, in a small boat exposed to their incessant fire; yet he accomplished the perilous enterprise uninjured, though completely soaked with the water thrown upon him by the balls which struck around him. He brought up the remotest gun boats and placed them under the sterns of the heaviest vessels of the enemy, where they were enabled to do much execution. In the meantime the commodore in the Niagara, which had been but little injured, made the signal for close action and determined to pass through the enemy's line. He bore up and ran ahead of their two ships and a brig, giving a raking fire to them from his starboard guns, and to their large schooner and sloop on the larboard side, at half pistol shot distance. By this bold project of breaking through the line of the enemy all the guns of the Niagara were brought, at the same moment, to bear on his vessels in the most effectual manner; and at the same time the gunboats were brought by Captain Elliott, to pour destruction into the sterns of his large ships, and the other small vessels to play upon them within grape and cannister distance. Such a galling destructive fire could not be long sustained by the British - their two ships, a brig and a schooner quickly surrendered. The sloop and the other schooner attempted to escape by flight; but the American schooners soon compelled them to strike. The whole squadron was thus captured, not a vessel having escaped to carry the dismal news to Malden.

"The loss on board the Lawrence was twenty-two killed and sixty-one wounded. The loss in the whole fleet was twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded. The loss of the enemy was seventy-two killed and about double that number wounded, and upwards of three hundred prisoners."

Perry's victory opened the way for the invasion by the Americans of Upper Sandusky, which soon occurred, succeeded by the defeat of the British and Indians at the battle of the Thames. Proctor escaped in flight, and Tecumseh was killed. The power of the enemies in the northwest, British and Indian, was broken and permanent peace to the harassed frontier inhabitants was at last assured.