Wayne County, Ohio - Chapter 2: Indian Tribes and Military Campaigns, 1910

Chapter 2: Indian Tribes and Military Campaigns

From the time of the organization of the government of the Northwest Territory, in 1788, until the ratification of the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the attitude of many of the Indian tribes towards the white settlers was that of extreme and unrelenting hostility. The military organizations which had marched against them, before the establishment of civil government in the great Northwest, had signally failed to subjugate them or secure a permanent cessation of hostilities. The disastrous expedition of General Braddock in 1755, of Major Wilkins in 1763, of Colonel Bradstreet in 1764, of Colonel Lochry in 1781 and of Colonel Crawford in 1782, and the disgraceful and murderous expedition against the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas, the last named year, only tended to inflame the hostile Indians and inspire them with greater courage in their hostile movements and aggressive measures against the white settlers. The fruitless, if not abortive, campaigns of Colonel McDonald in 1774, of General McIntosh in 1778 and of General Broadhead in 1781, of course led to no salutary results. Even the successful campaigns of Colonel Boquet in 1763-4, of Lord Dunmore and General Lewis in 1774, and of George Rogers Clark in 1788, failed to secure peace with the western tribes. The inhabitants of the Northwest Territory were therefore, from the 7th of April, 1788, when the first immigrants arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, until the treaty of Greenville was concluded in August, 1795, constantly liable to the stealthy but deadly attacks of the perfidious, merciless savages of the Northwest. But they met their deadly, cruel, relentless foes in the spirit of genuine manhood - of true, determined, unflinching heroism. They were men worthy of the heroic age of the West. Bravely did they bear themselves during those seven years of toil and privations, of dread and apprehension, of suffering and sorrow, of blood and carnage.

To secure the speedy termination of these savage atrocities the national government early organized a number of military expeditions, the first of which being that of General Harmar, in 1790, who was then commander- in-chief of the military department of the West. He had a few hundred regular troops under his command, stationed chiefly at Fort Harmar and Fort Washington, which served as the nucleus of his army. The great body of his troops, however, numbering about fourteen hundred, were Pennsylvania and Kentucky volunteers, the former being under the immediate command of Col. John Hardin and the latter of Colonel Trotter. The expedition left Fort Washington and marched to the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers (now Fort Wayne, Indiana), where detachments of the army, under command of Colonel Hardin, on the 19th and 22d of October, encountered the enemy and suffered mortifying defeats. Of course, the campaign failed to give peace or relief from apprehended barbarities.

The next year General St. Clair, the Governor of the territory, who had had a Revolutionary record of patriotism and ability, organized an sole purpose of this military movement was to destroy the common enemies expedition, whose strength exceeded somewhat that of General Harmar's. It met with a most disastrous defeat, November 4, 1791, near the headwaters of the Wabash, now in Mercer county, Ohio, the battlefield now being known as Fort Recovery. Of fifteen hundred men in the battle, more than half of them were either killed or wounded, and it was indeed a great calamity to the disheartened and greatly harassed pioneers of the Noi'thwest Territory.

Immediately upon the defeat of General St. Clair, the federal government took the preliminary steps to raise a large army to operate against the hostile tribes for the purpose of finally and permanently subjugating them. Military preparations, however, progressed slowly, and the summer of 1794 had nearly passed before the confederated hostile Indians were met in battle array by General Wayne's army. The battle was fought at the Maumee rapids at Fort Meigs, in Wood county, Ohio. The same is known as the battle of Falling Timbers, though sometimes called battle of the Maumee. Wayne's army numbered about three thousand men, well disci- ]fiined and al)ly officered, sixteen hundred of whom were mounted volunteer troops from Kentucky, commanded by Gen. Charles Scott, of said state, who was the second ranking officer of the army. The choice, however, fell upon Gen. Anthony Wayne, the old comrade-in-arms of the President, and to him is justly ascribed the honor of defeating the Indians commanded by tlie celebrated chief, Blue Jacket, on the Maumee. August 20. 1794, ami of permanently breaking the power of a very formidable Indian confederacy. Cessation of hostilities followed the victory and a peace was secured which the general government had vainly sought by friendly negotiations - a peace that continued for many years, even until after the Northwest Territory had ceased to be and the important incidents and events connected therewith had passed into history.

Second Grade Of Territorial Government

The Territory of the Northwest having reached a position where it contained five thousand free male inhabitants, on the 29th of October, 1798, preliminary steps were taken to cause it to take on its second grade in governmental affairs, by proclaiming a call for an election of territorial representatives, the same to be held the third Monday in December, 1798. The representatives from Wayne county were Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar and Charles F. Chabert. These, with nineteen other representatives, met at Cincinnati January 22, 1799, and nominated ten men, whose names they forwarded to the United States Congress, five of whom were to be selected by that body to constitute the Legislative Council of the territory. They then adjourned, to meet September 16, 1799.

March 22, 1799, either Congress or the President (it is not known which) chose from among the names already mentioned, including those from A\Uyne county, the following gentlemen to compose the first Legislative Council of the Northwest Territory, their term of office to continue for five years, any three of wdiom to form a quorum: Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati,

Hamilton county; Henry Vanderburg, of Vincennes, Knox county; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington county; James Findley, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county; David Vance, of Vanceville, Jefferson county.

The Ordinance of 1787 named Congress as the authority in whom was vested the right to select five from the list of ten persons to constitute the Territorial Council. But it will be borne in mind that said ordinance was passed by a Congress that legislated in pursuance of the articles of confederation, while yet we had neither President nor L^nited States senators, hence authority was given to Congress to make a selection. But it is highly probable that the aforesaid authority Avas later transferred to the President, or to the senate, or to them jointly.

First Council And House Of Representatives

Both the Council and the House of Representatives met at Cincinnati, September 16, I799- ^'id effected a permanent organization. The president of the Council was Henry Vanderburg; the secretary was William C.

Schneck; doorkeeper, George Howars, and sergeant-at-arms, Abraham Cary. The officers of the first House of Representatives were : Speaker of the

Thirty bills were passed at the first session of the Territorial Legislature, but the Governor vetoed eleven of them. They also elected William Henry Harrison, then secretary of the territory, a delegate to Congress, by a vote of eleven to ten that were cast for Arthur St. Clair, Jr., a son of General and Governor St. Clair. The first session of the Territorial Legislature was prolonged until November, 1800, at which time they reassembled at Chillicothe, which place had been made the seat of the territorial government. The second session only lasted about one month.

On May 9, 1800, Congress passed an act establishing Indiana Territory, with boundary including the present states of Indiana and Illinois, and William Henry Harrison having accepted the office of governor of that territory, it devolved upon the Territorial Legislature, at its second session, not only to elect a delegate to fill the vacancy occasioned by his resignation, but also to elect a delegate to serve during the succeeding Congress. William McMillan, of Cincinnati, was elected to fill the vacancy, and Paul Fearing, of Marietta, was elected to serve from' March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1803. They were both reputed to be men of superior ability.

By the organization of Indiana Territory, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory, and with them, of course, Henry Vanderburg, of Knox county, president of the Council; also Shadrack Bond, of St. Clair county; John Small, of Knox county, and John Edgar, of Randolph county, members of the popular Legislature. 3 t-r 4

November 23, 1801, the third session 01 me ¥eVrTforial Legislature was commenced at Chillicothe, pursuant to adjournment. The time for which the members of the House of Representatives were elected having expired, and an election having been held, c|uite a number of new members appeared. The Council remained nearly as it was at the previous session, there being but two changes, that of Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, Wayne county, who took the place of Llenry Vanderburg, thrown into the new territory; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, was chosen president of the Council.

Wayne county, as then constituted, was represented in the third session by Francois Joncaire Chabert, George McDonald and Jonathan Schieffelin. d'his was the last session of the Territorial Legislature of the Northwest

Territory, with Ohio as a part, because Congress, on April 30, 1802, passed an act "to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the Ohio river to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes.'' Members of the constitutional convention for Ohio met at Chillicothe, November i, 1802, to perform the duty assigned them.

The territorial government was ended by the organization of the state government, March 3, 1803, when the history of the state of Ohio commenced in fact.

In the late Ben Douglas's history of Wayne county, issued in 1878, the description of the various campaigns of a military nature that have taken place on and near Wayne county soil has been so fairly and correctly treated from a true historical standpoint that it has been thought wise to incorporate much of the chapter in this work, as Mr. Douglas was selected as one of the writers, furnished some of the material for this work and died before the work was completed.

Crawford's expedition was under direction of the United States government, and not under the black flag, as has sometimes been stated. The of the frontier, but not, as has sometimes been supposed, to destroy the Indian tribes who were innocent of any crime. Mr. Butterfield, in his "Crawford's Campaign Against Sandusky,'' cleared up many of the hitherto mysteries touching this much-talked-of campaign.

As a matter of history, startling and interesting to us all, and to expel uncertainty concerning the occupancy of Wayne county by soldiery prior to and during the early settlement of it, this brief chapter is introduced. It will be necessary to summarize, as this section was not the theater of any signal exploits, hut simply on the line of transit to the subsequent tragic field. Researches along this line were instigated in a measure by the fact that in the minds of many people they have been associated with the war of 1812. In this search for material there have been frequently pointed out a score of exact spots where Crawford encamped, the precise place where he crossed Killbuck, the Indian trail that he followed, or the road that he had cut through the woods, etc. All of which opinions are honestly entertained, but altogether incorrect. Heckwelder, Doddridge and dozens of others have denounced and defamed the organization as bandits, a troop of murderers, intent on slaughtering the rest of the Christian Indians, and repeating the massacre of Gnadenhutten, with which the brave Whlliamson was identified. To place Crawford and the purpose of his campaign fairly before the public, it is only necessary to allude to the instructions of Gen. \^hlliam Irvine, commlander of the western department, located at Fort Pitt, addressed to the officer that might be appointed to command the expedition against the Indian town, or in proximity to Sandusky :

"The object of your command is to destroy with fire and sword (if practicable) the Indian town and settlement at Sandusky, by which we hope to give ease and safety to the inhabitants of this country ; but if impracticable, then you will doubtless perform such other seiu'ices in your power as will, in their consecjuences, have a tendency to answer this great end. * * *

"And it is indispensably necessary that subordination and discipline should he kept. The whole ought to understand that, notwithstanding they are volunteers, yet by this tour they are to get credit for it in their tours of military duties ; and that for this and other good reasons they must, while out on this duty, consider themselves to all intents subject to military laws and regulations for the government of the militia when in active service. You must always have in view laws of arms, of nations, or independent states."

The volunteers constituting the force, numbering about four hundred and eighty men, were principally Pennsylvanians, in the vigor and bloom of their active life. Butterfield asserts that two-thirds of them were from Washington county, Pennsylvania. In a manuscript letter, written November lo, 1799, General Irvine says: "The troops were volunteer militia, part Pennsylvanians and part Virginians, and a few continental officers whom I sent."

By the 25th of May, 1782, the river had been crossed and the men mustered at the old Mingo towns west of the Ohio. Immediately an election was had for officers, William Crawford being chosen colonel, by five of a majority, over David Williamson, his competitor, who had many persistent friends.

The dauntless com/mander of the ill-starred expedition was of Scotch- Irish parentage, but a native of Orange county, Virginia, where he was horn in 1732. Fie was a com]ianion and associate of Wshington, with whom he had acquired a knowledge of land surveying. Fie was commissioned an ensign when twenty-three years old, in 1755, by the governor of \'irginia. Subsequently he served under General Foiffies, and in January, 1776. as a lieutenant-colonel, he joined the Revolutionary army. Fie crossed the Dela-

But soon a scheme was discussed, in view of the threatening aspect of the border and Indian troubles, especially the tribes in the vicinity of Sandusky. Against his fixed determination to remain in private life were arrayed the public exigency, his powerful impulse of patriotism, and the warm friendship he had for General Irvine. With severe reluctance he accepted the command to which he had been elected May 24, 1782. So it was that the sunlight of the following morning found William Crawford, then fifty years of age, at the head of an army of four columns marching from Mingo Bottom for Sandusky, its objective point, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. Here the description of Mr. Butterfield concerning the movement of this campaign will be given in his own language, as follows :

"The route lay through what is now the counties of Jefferson, Harrison, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Ashland, Richland and Crawford, nearly to the center of Wyandot county, Ohio. A direct course would have led near the present towns of New Philadelphia, Millersburg, IxDudonville and Gabon, but, as will hereafter be seen, this straight line was not followed. The whole distance, except about thirty miles at the end of the route, was through an unbroken forest.

"The principal impediments to a rapid march were the hills, swamps and tangled growth of forests. The Muskingum. Killbuck, forks of the Mohican and Sandusky were the streams to be crossed, all of which, at this season of the year, and especially in the spring of 1782, were not fordable without difficulty. As the cavalcade moved up over the bluff, an almost due west course was taken, striking at once into the wilderness, now deepening and darkening around it. The army progressed rapidly at first, moving along the north side of Cross creek, which had already received the name it still bears. After leaving what is now Steubenville township, it passed through the present township of Crosscreek, and Wayne, to the western boundary of Jefferson county, as at present defined, crossing into what is now Harrison county, in German township ; thence across the summit to the spot where the town of Jefferson now stands. From this point a straight course would have led them, at no great distance, into what is now Carroll county. But their horses had tired under their heavy loads in the hills and swamps. This obliged them to incline to the southward, toward the wasted Moravian towns, into a more level country, though more frequented by hunters and warriors. This alternative was accepted by Crawford with great reluctance, as his policy was to avoid trails and the region infested by the enemy.

relying for success, as already stated, upon effecting a surprise. Otherwise he would have followed Williamson's trail from Mingo Bottom to the Muskingum, which led along a considerable distance south, near where Smithsfield, in Jefferson, and Cadiz, in Harrison counties, now stand, through a region not so difficult to be traversed, but on the line of the Indian traces between the Ohio and Muskingum rivers."

From the moment of starting, every precaution was taken against surprises, or ambuscades, and this too although, as yet, not an Indian had been seen. The wily nature of the savage was too well understood by the commander of the expedition to allow of any confidence of security because no foe had been discovered. Nothing worthy of note transpired until Monday night, the 27th, while at their third encampment. Here a few of the men lost their horses, and as their continuing with the army, unable as they were to carry little besides their arms, would only prove a source of embarrassment, they reluctantly, therefore, retraced their steps to Mingo Bottom.

Sixty miles had been made in four days' march, when the fourth encampment was made upon the charred remains of New Schonbrunn. "During the evening," continues the same author, "Major Brinton and Captain Bean went some djstance from camp to reconnoiter. When but a quarter of a mile away they espied two savages, upon whom they immediately fired, but without effect. These were the first hostile shots fired at the foe. It w'as supposed by Crawd'ord that the army had not before been discovered by the enemy. Fallacious belief! Secrecy now' being out of the question, as the two Indians had made their escape, it only remained for Crawford to press forward, with all possible dispatch, to afford the enemy as little time as possible for defensive preparations. The march w'as therefore continued on the morning of the 29th, rapidly, but with greater precaution than had previoush' been observed. The guides, taking a northwest course through the wilderness from the Muskingum, brought the army to the Killbuck, some distance above the present town of Millersburg, the county seat of Holmes county. Thence they marched to the Killbuck. At a short distance the army reached a large spring, later known as Butler's or Jones' spring, near the line of Wayne county, ten miles south of Wooster, where, on the evening of May 30th, the volunteers encamped. At this spring one of the men died and wvas buried, his name being cut on the bark of a tree close by his grave.

"From this point the army moved w'estw'ard along the north side of wfiiat is known as Odell's lake, passing between two small lakes, where they found the heads of two large fish, freshly caught, lying on the ground, w'hich awakened suspicion that Indians were near. Thence they passed the .spot where afterward was founded the Tillage of Greentown, in Ashland county, as now known. From this point they struck across to the Rocky Fork of the Mohican, up which stream they traveled until a spring was reached, near where the city of Mansfield now stands, in Richland county; thence a little north of west, to a fine spring five miles farther up in what is known as Spring Mills, on the line of the present Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad, eight miles east of the town of Crestline, in Crawford county. The army halted and pitched camp there for the night.

"It forcibly pressed forward into what is now Crawford county, to a point on the Sandusky river a short distance west of Crestline, where a brief halt was made and enjoyed. Although on the enemy's threshold, being then but twentv-five miles from the contemplated point, there was not visible the face of a solitary red devil. Their march was vigorously conducted, leaving Bucvrus about three miles to the north, when a rest was made near the present village of Wyandot. After extraordinary caution and the most circumspect care, on the morning of the 4th of June the expedition - then but ten miles from its destination - opened march.* This was executed with considerable celerity, and the Wyandot town was soon in possession of Crawford and his men. But the artful and wary Copper Cheeks were not there ! The cunning of the wily sa\'ages was demonstrated and the sur]irise 'Strategy forestalled and outwitted!

"The abandoned Indian village was occupied but a few brief hours by the somewhat disappointed but indomitable commandant and his troops. He resolved upon pursuit, which was commenced. But before much progress in this respect had been made, and for prudential and grave reasons, he checked his advance and convened his subordinates for purposes of consultation. The substance of their deliberations was to not much longer continue in the pursuit, as the absence of the Indian force on the plain lands induced the sober conjecture that they were concentrating their hordes for bloody and stubborn opposition. For such is the antithesis of the Indian character, such its fecundity of plot and design, such its fertility in original conception, that to circumvent it is no easy task - and with this vast central fact was Crawford familiar. As a consequence a body of light horse was utilized as scouts. Their reconnoiterings soon developed the locality and position of the tawny warriors, of which fact Crawford was immediately apprized. The advance of the savages was slow but determined. Crawford prepared for battle and ordered a forward movement. Sharp volleys from his ranks soon caused them to withdraw from a grove which they had selected, a most favorable position. Captain Pipe, or The Pipe, commanded the Delawares, the van o4 the assailants, and with him were Girty and Wingenund. Soon the Delawares were reinforced by the Wyandots, the whole force being under the command of the infamous Elliott, a white demon, who ordered a flank movement, which for a while tasted miightily like disaster to the brave boys who mustered on Mingo Bottom. But the American position, in spite of the craft of the enemy, was valorously maintained. From four o'clock, when the gauntlet of the battle was accepted, until the shadows of the night were descending the conflict was carried on, and very frecjuently with ambiguous success to our arms. However, as night approached, the firing perceptibly diminished and by daybreak it had substantially subsided.

"The victory was clearly with the Americans, and although Crawford was left in full possession of the battlefield, yet the Indians were far from being dispirited. They well knew that reinforcements were hastening to their relief - that these would certainly reach them on the morrow.

"The next day, June 5th, irregular and random interchanges of musketry were indulged in without serious 'hurt or inconvenience' to either side. Meanwhile plans had been consummated for a desperate and decisive assault.

"This project was dashed in its inception, crushed in embryo. Mounted Assyrians from a British camp made their appearance in the interests of the barbaric wretches whom they were inciting to cruelty and revenge. Here was an element of resistance on which Crawford had not calculated, and which had not excited the remotest suspicion. That night a council of war resolved that prudence dictated retreat, and when orders were issued to that effect, the same took place at 9 P. M. Suspecting a retreat and general backward movement, the Indians began a sharp fire, which produced some temporary confusion and consternation, but which was unaccompanied with any stirring results. This was but a slight impediment to the retreat, as it was .soon undertaken, with Crawford in the front. The Delawares and Shawnees interposed prompt and stout resistance. Flank and rear of the army were sorely harassed. A portion of it had become considerably demoralized. For the first time it was now discovered that Colonel Crawford was missing, as was also Doctor Knight, the surgeon of the command.

"David Williaimson, on whom devolved the control of the force, displayed great activity and zeal in restoring order and dispelling confusion. Nor was the jewel of good luck to be awarded him either, for, on tlie 6th of the month, he wns 'brought up standing' hy his persistent pursuers. 'S'et he delivered heroic battle, and although attacked on the front, left (lank and rear, his assailants soon inclined to withdraw. As the retreat continued, at intervals the enemy would pour a destructive fire into our ranks, but through the chivalrous efforts of Williamson and Lieutenant Rose any rout or stampede was avoided.

"After the final shots were exchanged the boys who had escaped the torment and the tormentors were permitted to return to the Ohio as best they could through the wilderness, without any serious molestation or fear."

Of this ill-turned military campaign it is useless to write further, than to describe as best we can from the writings of others the harrowing catastrophe which befell the bold and gallant leader, Crawford.

The Burning Of Colonel Crawford

Col. William Crawford's capture and cruel death by burning paints one of the darkest pictures in the great Indian warfare o-f this country. His capture resulted from the confusion incident to the retreat and the solicitude he had for his son John, his son-in-law and nephew, from whom he had become separated. He was ambuscaded by a gang of Delawares about twenty-eight miles east of the battlefield, and borne to an Indian camp where, besides the Colonel and Dr. Knight, were nine other prisoners. On the loth of June the prisoners were marched to Sandusky, over thirty miles distant, accompanied by seventeen Delawares, who carried the scalps of four white men. The next day. The Pipe and Wingenund visited them, The Pipe painting the faces of all the prisoners black. They were then marched to Wyandot, a distance of eight miles, and thence to Tymochtee creek, where it was distressingly evident that their doom was sealed. Here an Indian took possession of Knight, who was to escort him to the Shawnees' towns, distant, as the Indian said, forty miles. The Doctor became somewhat sociable with his red companion, and, as it was the 12th of June, the mosquitoes were rather bothersome, so they concluded to build a fire to banish the little tormentors. The Doctor, in poking up the fire, managed to secure a good dogwood club and, vigilant of an opportunity, delivered a staggering blow upon the head of his custodian, precipitating him to the ground. Recovering from the blow, the Indian sprang to his feet and scampered away, yelling in true Indian fashion. This was Knight's moment of escape, and gloriously did he embrace it. Narrow indeed was his escape from the fagot and the tormentor's flame ! Doctor Knight, after passing through Wayne county, reached Fort Pitt July 4th, just twenty-one days after his escape.

But no such story is to be recorded concerning poor Colonel Crawford. Butterfield describes the inhuman burning of Crawford in these graphic words :

"Crawford was stripped naked and ordered to sit down. The Indians now beat him with sticks and their fists. The fatal stake - a post about fifteen feet high - had been set firmly in the ground. Crawford's hands were bound behind his back, and a rope fastened, one end to the foot of the post and the other to the ligature between his wrists. The rope was long enough for him to sit down or walk around the post once or twice, and return the same way. Crawford then called to Girty and asked if they intended to burn him. Girty answered 'Yes.' He then replied he would take it all patiently. Upon this Captain Pipe made a speech to the Indians, wdio, at its conclusion, yelled a hideous and hearty assent to what had been said.

"The spot where Crawford was now to be immolated to satisfy the revengeful thirst of the Delawares for the blood of the borderers, was in what is now Crawford township, Wyandot county - a short distance northeast from the present town of Crawfordsville.

"About four o'clock in the afternoon, on Tuesday, June ii, 1782, the awful torture began. The Indian men took up their guns and shot powder into Crawford's naked body, from his feet as far up as his neck. It was the opinion of Knight that not less than seventy loads were discharged upon him ! They then crowded about him and, to the best of Knight's observation, cut off both of his ears, for when the throng dispersed, he saw blood running from both sides of his head.

"The fire was about seven yards from the post to which Crawford was tied. It was made of small hickory poles, burnt quite through in the middle, each end of the pole remaining about six feet in length. Three or four Indians, by turns, would take up, individually, one of these burning pieces of wood and apply it to his naked body, already burnt black with powder.

"These tormentors presented themselves on every side of him, so that whichever way he ran around the post, they met him with the burning fagots. Some of the squaws took broad boards, upon which they carried a quantity of burning coals and hot embers, and threw the same on him, so that in a short time he had nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk on.

"In the midst of these extreme tortures, Crawford called to Girty and begged of him to shoot him. Girty, by way of derision, told him he had no gun, Crawford, at this period of his suffering, besought Almighty God to ha\-e mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with the most manly fortitude. He continued in all the extremities of pain for an hour and three-quarters or two hours longer, as near as Knight could judge, when at last, being almost spent, he lay down upon his stomach.

"The savages then scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp into the face of Knight, telling him that was his great captain. An old squaw whose appearance, thought Knight, every way answered the ideas people entertain of the devil, got a board, took a parcel of coals and ashes and laid them upon his feet and began to walk around the post. She next put burning sticks to him. but he seemed more insensible of pain than before. Knight was now taken away from the dreadful scene.

"The next morning in passing the spot, Knight witnessed the bones of his old comrade and commander lying among the debris of the wasted flames of the day before.

"Who that admires valor in the human breast can fail to appreciate, aye even love, the God-like fortitude of this man. To be shot in battle, to be stabbed to the heart by an assassin, would be a glorious release from the bondage of a life compared with the damnable and diabolical process of dispossessing the startled soul of its raiment of flesh."

While it is true that the Indians did not follow the retreating army as a liody farther than the eastern line of Crawford county, some of the stragglers were pursued much farther. A party of six was overtaken in Wayne county by some Shawnee scouts, and two of them murdered. Their names are not now known.

The story of Philip Smith, who was shot in his arm and who became separated from the command, is one of unusual interest. He was but a youngman, a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1761. He was likewise a pioneer of Ohio, and came to Wayne county in i8ii. He was the father of Nathan W. Smith, of Wooster township.

Isaac Newkirk, of- Washington county. Pennsylvania, grandfather of John W. Newkirk, of Clinton township, and Narcissa L., wife of Benjamin Douglas (recently deceased), was a volunteer in this expedition, and it is believed that it was he who discovered, during their encampment there, near Odell's lake, the widely known Newkirk spring. He was so delighted with it and the beautiful surrounding prairies and wooded uplands, that he subsequently entered a section of these lands.

The above account of the famous Crawford campaign has been largely quoted from the extracts and radical historical points, as given in Butterfield's and Ben Douglas's account of it, and will no doubt ever be considered the true statement of fact as to the points visited and the movements made by this little pioneer army who sought to defend the frontier settlers as against the cruel Indian tribes.

What was and is still referred to as "Beall's army," consisted of a regiment of raw, undisciplined Ohio militia, with, perhaps, an ingredient of similar material from some of the western counties of Pennsylvania. But little can be obtained from the government archives or state papers concerning this campaign - indeed Ben Douglas almost gave the task up as useless. However, to his labors are we indebted for the knowledge we do possess, and which is here imparted to the reader.

Prior to the war of 1812 General Beall, who had served in the regular army and who had removed to Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1803, was made colonel of the militia of said county, and subsequently a brigadier-general. After the surrender of Hull, August 16, 1812, a terrible consternation seized upon the whole community, whereupon a detachment of the militia was organized under Beall and turned in the direction of the western frontier. He marched his detachment to Canton, Stark county, Ohio, where additions were made to it from Stark and Jefferson counties, etc., enlarging its rank and file to the dimensions of a full regiment. No time was lost in organizing the new militia companies, when a regular frontier campaign was inaugurated. Reaching the Wayne county line, they passed through Sugarcreek township and Paint township, thence on to Wooster where they made a brief encampment ; thence to the northwest, crossing the Big Killbuck a few rods north of the old salt works, on the line of the Indian trail; thence west and south to the farms of John A. Lawrence, Esq., and Joshua Warner, Sr., about two miles west of Wooster; thence due west, near the line of tlie state road, passing through or near the present site of Jefferson and Reedsburg, in Plain township; thence on to Jeromeville, and going to the north of Hayesville, Ashland county; thence to the Huron, Sandusky and Fort jMeigs. Throughout this march General Beall accompanied the army to Camp Huron, where he joined the troops of the Western Reserve, under Gen. Elijah \Vadsworth and Gen. Simon Perkins. Here they were personally visited by the commander-in-chief, Gen. William Henry Harrison, who organized all the troops into a single brigade, devolving the command upon General Perkins. From this point General Beall returned home.

A detachment of three hundred men, under Major Cotgreve, were at one time ordered to the relief of General Winchester, but, hearing of the disaster that had befallen that officer, they retreated to the Rapids where General Harrison was stationed, and who retired to Carrying river, for the purpose of forming a junction with the troops in the rear and favoring the convoy of artillery and stores then coming from Upper Sandusky. What proportion of the army of General Beall was at the siege of Fort Meigs is not now known, but possibly all of them. His army was an eager, patriotic band, composed largely of farmers and their sons, though their march was seemingly an irregular one and at times widely scattered and without the order of military discipline, but their patriotism was none the less genuine. As far as Camp Huron it presented but few obstacles, and was characterized by sudden alarms, scouts, scares and skirmishes. Beyond that, its part in the drama is only seen by dim lights and almost disappears in the excitement of the actors in the heavier scenes.

There can be no doubt that the transit of this army through the country was a source of terror to the Indians, and that its very presence was a great protection to the early settlers against their murderous invasions.

Thomas Eagle, who settled in Mohican township, then Wayne, but now in Ashland county, in May, 1809, piloted Beall's army from Wooster to Jeromeville and on farther west, and it was by the direction of this officer that the old fort at Jeromeville was built. He also took the Jerometown Indians prisoners, and Baptiste Jerome's wife and daughter, who shortly after died, an act for which the General was criticized.

General Beall, during the earlier stages of the war, caused the arrest of Jerome on the grounds of disloyalty and had him incarcerated in Fort Stidger for a short period.

Battue Of The Cow Pens

The following concerning the battle of the Cow Pens is the account given in Knapp's History of Ashland County, and also verified by others :

"In the summer of 1812 General Beall passed through Ashland county with the army, composed mostly of the militia and mounted volunteers, on their way to Fort Meigs. They encamped for two weeks upon what is now known as the Griffin farm, about one mile and a half northeast of the present village of Haysville. While there one dark night, when it was raining, when the army was wrapped in slumber and not dreaming of war, when nothing was heard but the patter of the rain and the sentinel's cry 'All is well,' there came, borne upon the damp night air, the sharp, shrill crack of a rifle. The sentinels rushed in and reported the enemy upon them. The drums beat to qrms, horses neighed, bugles sounded. The ground trembled with the dull thud of squadrons tramping. The order was given to 'Fire,' and never before or since was such a noise and din heard in Vermillion as there was on that eventful night. The cavalry charged in the direction of the supposed enemy, but, finding no person or thing, they returned from the charge and reported that the foe had retreated ; but when the first gray of morning appeared, the outposts discovered that they had been firing upon a herd of cattle belonging to the settlers, which had been roaming through the woods, and had slaughtered seventeen. This was afterward known among the soldiers as 'The battle of the Cow Pens,' and was the only engagement in which many of them were employed, although others gave vent to the patriotism that filled their bosoms and yielded up their lives upon the bloody ramparts of Fort Meigs."

Fortunate indeed it was that the early settlers did not have to fight and defend themselves against the savage Indians as did the pioneers in other sections of Ohio and farther west, especially in Indiana, where the Prophet and his brother, old Tecumseh, made long and bloody war upon the whites. But little Indian blood was shed by the early settlers among the few skirmishes that occasionally took place.

The Delawares, VVyandots. Shawnees, etc., were among the most numerous and the last tribes of the red race to roam over Wayne county soil, as they gave a last farewell look upon this fertile and goodly domain and receded to the far-ofif West.

The Delawares

According to Heckwelder, the Moravian, the Delawares, from a tradition of their tribe, possessed the western portion of this continent, - the Lenni Lenape supposed to be residing there, - but in the distant and recedingages they traveled eastward to the Mississippi, where they encountered the warlike Iroquois, with whom they formed a league against other tribes.

Successful in their achievements, they arrogated to themselves all the territory east of the Mississippi, whereupon a division rvas made, in which the Delawares extended themselves to the Potomac, Susquehanna, Hudson and Delaware rivers.

In 1650 the Five Nations subjugated them and they were again reduced to vassalage by their old confederates, the Iroquois. A westward movement was afterwards made by the larger portion of them, when they recrossed the Alleghany mountains and finally, about 1768, made their chief settlements in Ohio. In the Revolutionary struggle with England these Indians stood with Great Britain. They grew riotous over the defeat of St. Clair and danced and yelled and got drunker than King Bacchus himself.

In 1795 the United States obtained possession of their lands on the Muskingum and they were removed to the Wabash valley in Indiana, where they remained until 1819, when they went toward the setting sun. Some of the branch trilies did not follow the main tribe, however, but for a time remained in the East, hovering around Pittsburg, but ultimately journeyed West. The WMlf tribe was one of the branches of which Captain Pipe was a notable chief, and who experienced much savage, delirious joy in the roasting of Colonel Crawford, mentioned elsewhere in this chapter. Of this tribe and quality were the Delarvares, who roamed over Wayne county at an early day and were here when the wEites first came in.

The Wyandots

These Indians were a fragmentary tribe from out the Tobacco nation of the great Hurons. Judge Jeffries is authority for the following concerning these people.

"In the dispersion of the Hurons, after halting for a time at Michillimackinac, being there attacked by the Iroquois, they removed to the islands at the mouth of Green hay, where they fortified on the main land. Here they were pursued by the Irocjuois and for safety went southward to the domains of the Illinois, from thence westward to the Mississippi and country of the Sioux, where their stay rvas very short, as the Sioux soon drove them beyond their lines. Their next place of residence was at the southern extremity of Lake Superior, which country they abandoned in 1671 and emigrated to INIichillimackinac. They did not remain upon this land, but located in the northern part of Michigan, and later many of the tribe settled near Detroit and on the Sandusky river in Ohio. There they went by the name of the Wyandots. They wielded great influence over the neighboring tribes. Tra- dition traces them back no farther than the landing of the French at Quebec in 1535. They were many years neighbors and friendly with the Senecas, and left their ancient lands and took up a residence near Green bay. After the French had supplied the Senecas with guns, powder and lead, they made another attack upon the Flurons at Green bay and at first were entirely successful, but by the strategem of the Flurons all the Senecas were cut off, not one of the war party remaining alive to tell the sad tale of blood.

"The VVyandots thereafter, also being furnished with arms and munitions of war, resolved to return to their own country in the vicinity of Detroit. On the way thither they encountered the Senecas on the lake, in the vicinity of Long Point, where a desperate battle was fought upon the water, in which the Wyandots were victors. Not a single Seneca escaped and the Wyandots' loss was very heavy. This was the last battle between the Wyandots and Senecas. The former took an active part on behalf of the French in the war which resulted in the reduction of Canada by the English, and were a potent power against the English in Pontiac's war.

"By the timely treaty of September 29, 1817, between the Wyandots and the federal government there was granted to the former a body of land twelve miles square, the center of which was the fort, now the site of Upper Sandusky, the county seat of Wyandot county, Ohio. Also, at the same time, was granted them a tract of a mile square on Broken Sword creek. They occupied these lands until July, 1843, when they emigrated to- their present place of residence west of the Mississippi river, having disposed of their lands by treaty in 1842. At the time of their emigration they numbered about seven hundred."

The Shawnees

The Shawnees were called the Bedouins of the American wilderness, and were a savage, bloodthirsty and warlike trilie. Their blood leaped with the hot blood of the South, whence they came. From Georgia they were driven to Kentucky by other and more peaceful tribes, and from Kentucky they came North, some of their number settling in Chillicothe, on the Scioto river, while others centered near Pittsburg. Pennsylvania. Their territory extended from Sandusky and westward toward the great Miami. They were ever at war. The great war chief, Tecumseh, was of this tribe, as was also his brother, the great Indian Prophet, who fought the famous battle of Tippecanoe, in Indiana, November 7, t8tt, against General FTarri.son.

Taylor in his "FTistnry of Ohio," says, "For forty years the Shawnees were in almost perpetual warfare with America, either as British colonics or as independent states. They were among the most active allies of the French during the Seven Years war, and after the conquest of Canada, continued, in concert with the Delawares, hostilities which were only terminated after the successful campaign of General Boquet. Under the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, they lost nearly the whole of the territory which they held from the Wyandots, and a part of them, under the guidance of old Chief Tecumseh, again joined the British standard during the war of 1812-14."

Thus it will be observed that the Delawares, Wyandots and Shawnees - the first to occupy the valley of the Muskingum and thence to Lake Erie and the Ohio river, asserting possession over nearly one-half of the domain contained now within Ohio - were asserting possession through a stubborn antagonism to the American people and the cause of our national independence. Their fiendish cavorts, warring and plundering raids included vast areas, and to this hour fading and unfading drops of blood mark the line of their accursed marauds.

The Indians that inhabited Wayne county, as now bounded, when the first settlers came in to make for themselves homes and to develop the country, seemed to exist by an implied tenure. A dread of the whites, akin to fear, apparently possessed these Indians. Something like a haunting memory of the crimes of their race was ever upon them. Not mutual or even tribal relations existed among them, and their pacific dispositions- towards the early settlers presented but another distinctive characteristic of the Indian - the cunning caution and self-interest begotten of fear itself. They roamed in pairs, or squads of a half dozen, though in some of their villages and settlements they would collect together to the number of two hundred, three hundred and sometimes as high as four hundred. In Clinton, East Union, Franklin and Chippewa townships they congregated in largest numbers. Their sudden disappearance from the county was most remarkable, occurring, as it were, in a single night, and that, too, soon after the war of 1812-14 had been announced. They scented the bad breath of the coming carnival and hastened westward to deepen the blood stain of their hands.

The trail of the American Indian was to be plainly seen on every hand when the first pioneers came to Wayne county, but with the passing of the decades they have become forever lost, living only in tradition and for the most part in surmise. In Hutchins' history of the celebrated expedition of General Boquet against the western Indians in 1764, in which the English marched an army of one thousand five hundred men into and through what is Tuscarawas county, Ohio, to the forks of Muskingum river, he refers to five different routes from Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) through the Ohio wilderness. The route that most concerns this county and its people was as follows :

"Second route, west-northwest, was twenty-five miles to. the mouth of Big Bever, ninety-one miles to Tuscaroras in Stark county, sixty miles to Mohican John's Town (in Mohican township, near Jeromeville), forty-six miles to Junandat, or Wyandot Town; four miles to Fort Sandusky, twentyfour miles to Fremont, Sandusky county. The total distance from Fort Pitt was two hundred and sixteen miles to Fort Sandusky; to Sandusky river two hundred and forty miles."

This trail penetrated Wayne county in section 12, Paint township; thence in a northwesterly direction, crossing over sections 32, 31 and 30 in Sugarcreek township; thence entering East Union township on section 25, bearing north to section 24; thence more directly west, passing about a mile north of Edinburg; thence to Wooster township, entering it from the east in section 13, and thence to the Indian settlement south of Wooster and on the site of the old Baptist burying ground. From that point in a northwesterly direction, cutting zig-zag through the southwestern part of what is now the city of Wooster, crossing the Henry Myers farm, passing the old salt-lick; thence crossing the Killbuck creek a few rods north of the public bridge on the Ashland highway ; thence west across the old Hugh Culbertson farm ; thence for quite a distance along the line of the Ashland road ; thence in a northwestern direction to Reedsburg, in Plain township; thence to Mohican John's Town, and thence on to Fort Sandusky.

Indian Chief Killbuck

This noted Indian was of the Delaware tribe and was much displeased at the action of Braddock's army, and at a war council he, in conjunction with another chief, Shingiss, made the following scathing speech :

"We know well what the English want. Your own traders say that you intend to take all our lands and destroy us. It is you who have begun the war. Why do you come here to fight? How have you treated the Delawares? You know how the Iroquois deceived us into acting as peace mediators; how thev shamed us. and took our arms; put joetticoats on us; called us women, and made us move three times awav from our homes. And whv?

Because the English paid them a few heads and blankets, and paint, and when their senses were stolen away with fire-water they sold our lands ; but we tell you this must cease. We are no longer women, but," striking his breast, "men - men who can strike, and kill and - Yes," hissed out old Shingiss, springing to his feet, rising to his full stature, his wicked little eyes flashing a venomous fire, "we are men and no longer women! We have thrown off the petticoat of the sc^uaw, and have seized the keen tomahawk of the brave. I speak," stamping his foot, "as one standing on his own. ground. Why do you come to fight on our land? Keep away! French and English. The English are poor and stingy. They give us nothing but a few beads, some bad rum, and old worn-out guns, which kick back and break to pieces; and their traders cheat us and fool us and our squaws and maidens. But I tell you we won't suffer it longer."

Massacre Of Sixteen Indians At Wooster

The following account of an Indian massacre at Wooster was so graphically given in Ben Douglas's History of Wayne County (1878) that it is here reproduced :

"As we have said, our early settlements were made pretty generally in peace, and therefore we are barren of anything thrilling and startling in way of border strife. One hostile demonstration, however, occurred, which we propose to narrate, within the present corporation of Wooster, with the circumstances and details of which but few if any of the surviving pioneers of Wayne county have any knowledge.

"This incident itself so little resembles a fierce Indian struggle, the heroes of which sensational and resolute narrators too frequently seek to invest with apotheosis, that only in its more liberal interpretation can be embraced in the catalog of great border exploits. It is the only violent collision that we have to chronicle transpiring within the present limits of the county between the pale and the copper faced.

"A gang of Indians intent on a foraging expedition started from the region of Sandusky in an easterly direction, and in the course of their hunting and predatory peregrinations succeeded in reaching the white settlements on the banks of the Ohio and near Raccoon creek, some distance from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Their sole object being plunder and theft, without regard for sacrifice of human life, they crossed the river in bark canoes and for a while mingled with the whites, in apparent friendship, who had established (|uite a colony there. When opportunity, 'foul abettor,' furnished a safe occasion for it, these remorseless devils and incarnate fiends, with their antipathy and hatred of the pale face, pounced upon and murdered five of their number, and burned to the ground seven dwellings, together with the families they sheltered. This act of diabolism and hellish slaughter very naturally aroused the community. Blood called for blood. The insulted silence of the air broke into echoes of revenge.

"A company of thirty men, fearless of flints and fate, was immediately organized for the purpose of pursuit and punishment. The command was taken charge of by Capt. George Fulkes, the peer of Brady in Indian warfare. Better indeed than Brady did he know their character, for at the age of three years he had been stolen by the Indians from his father, then living on the Raccoon creek, they retaining charge of him until he was a man, when his father bought him from them and restored him to his family. Later Brady became an expert Indian fighter. After crossing the river with their plunder, and apprehensive that they might be followed, the Indians observed the precaution of cutting the bottoms out of their canoes, and made great haste to retrace their steps in the direction from which they came. Could they but reach Sandusky with their stolen goods they would be safe enough.

"Keenly alive to the immediate pursuit that might take place and determined to run down and exterminate the murderers, no time was lost in the outset. The river was dashed over. The track of the fleeing assassins was soon scented. Indications eventually pointed to the fact that they were in proximity to the fugitives, but whether the Indians knew this or not we are not apprized. Late one evening. Captain Fulkes and his men, from what is known now as Robinson's Hill, a short distance south from Wooster, discovered the camp fires of the enemy on what is now the Point, or Flat-iron, at the intersection of South Bever street and Madison avenue, in the present limits of the city of Wooster. Avoiding all rashness and adopting the policy of caution, he concluded to make no attack that evening. So. to elude detection, the}^ crossed over to Rice's hollow, remaining there for the night, or until the moon arose, when preparations were made for the assault. The arrangements completed, the advance was made and the Indian camp surrounded. At a given signal they fired upon them, killing fifteen, all of the party with the exception of one who had gone to the bottoms to look after the traps. Hearing the noise of the musketry he rushed in the direction of the camp and, calling to Captain Fulkes, who understood some dialect, asked, 'What's the matter?' 'Come on,' shouted Fulkes. 'nothing is the matter.' The Indian advanced toward Fulkes, but when within a few paces of him an unruly lad perforated his carcass with a bullet.

"A shallow grave was scooped upon the Point before described, and here the sixteen Indians were rolled together and earthed over, their spirits having been unceremoniously delivered to the keeper of the Happy Hunting Ground.