Allen County, Indiana - Chapter 2, 1880

Notwithstanding the three successive expeditions of Gens. Harmar, Scott and Wilkinson against the Wabash Indians during the year 1790, and the first part of the year 1791, had, as a whole, resulted somewhat disastrously to the warlike elements directing the movements of those savage hordes, there still remained a disposition among those ne.ir the head-waters of the Wabash and Upper Eel Rivers to pursue the advantages gained by them in the actions of the 18th and 19th of October, 1790, with the forces under Gen. Harmar, in the vicinity of the Miami towns on the Maumee and St. Joseph. As a consequence, therefore, acts of hostility were not unfrequent, and a spirit akin to defiance actuated the leaders in their warlike demonstrations whenever opportunity offered. Hence, the Gov¬ ernment of the United States, in order to teach these hostiles an important lesson in the attitude maintained toward the white people and to protect the frontier settlements against their murderous attacks, continued to send forward expedi¬ tions into the Indian country.

In the meantime, the Miamis, under Little Turtle, and the Shawanoe hand of Blue Jacket, with Buck-ong-a-he-las, of the Delawares, all occupying territory adjacent to Maumee and the lakes, had formed an alliance with detached band's of the Wyandots, Kickapoos, Pottawatpmics, Ottawas, Chippewas, and kindred tribes, for more extensive operations against the military power of the United States, and to organize a confederacy of these tribes sufficiently formidable to counteract efforts of the Government to maintain its authority in the territory northwest of the Ohio River. In these movement.';, they were aided by the counsel of Simon Girty, a white savage, and influential agents, emissaries of the British Government, from whom, also, they received ammunition and supplies.

Gov. St. Clair left Philadelphia on the 28th of March, 1791, proceeding thence to Pittsburgh, where he arrived on the 16th of April following. Leaving Pittsburgh, he repaired to Lexington, Ky. He remained there a few days, and then departed, arriving at Fort Washington on the 15th of May. The garrison there, at that time, consisted of seventy-nine commissioned officers and privates fit for duty. At Fort Harmar, " the garrison consisted of forty-five, rank and file; at Fort Steuben, there were sixty-one regulars, and at Fort Knox, eightythree." On July 15, the whole of the First United States Regiment, amounting to 299 non-commissioned officers and privates, arrived at Fort Washington, under orders from Gov. St. Clair, Commander in Chief. About the same time, also, Gen. Richard Butler, second in command, under an act of Congress at the pre¬ vious session, began to raise the number of regular troops to fill the quota. The recruits for this purpose were principally drawn from New Jersey. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Early in September following, the main body of the army, under Gen. Butler, moved toward Fort Washington, halting for a time and erecting Fort Hamilton meanwhile. From there, marching in the direction of the Miami village, a distance of about forty-two miles, where he halted again, and, erecting Fort Jefferson, some six miles to the southward of Greenville, in Darke County, Ohio. Subsequently, the army took up its line of march toward the site upon which Fort Recovery was afterward erected - the main army, at this time, November 3, consisting of about fourteen hundred effective men. " Here, on the head-waters of the Wabash River, among a number of small creeks, the army encamped. The right wing of the army, commanded by Maj. Gen. Butler, and composed of the battalions under Majs. Butler, Clarke and Patterson, lay in front of a creek about twelve yards wide, and formed the first line. The left wing, composed of the battalions under Bedinger and Gaither, and the Second Regiment, under the command of Lieut. Col. William Darke, formed the second line. Between the two lines, there was a space of about seventy yards, which was all that the ground would allow. The right flank was supposed to be protected by the creek ; and the left was covered by a steep bank, a corps of cavalry, and some piquets. The militia marched over the creek and encamped in two lines, about one-quarter of a mile in advance of the main army. There was snow on the ground ; and two rows of fires were made between Butler's and Darke's lines, and also two rows between the lines of the militia. While the militia were crossing the creek, a few Indians were seen hovering about the army, but they fled precipitately as soon as they were discovered. At this time, the Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, Buck-ong-a-lie-las, and other Indian chiefs of less distinction, were lying a few miles distant from St. Clair's army, with about twelve hundred warriors, awaiting a favorable moment to begin an attack. Simon Girty and some other white men were with the Indians."

The following is the official account of the engagement which took place on the morning of November 4, 1791 , and which resulted in a most disastrous defeat, at the point above indicated, and contains, perhaps, the most brief, as well as the most lucid, account of the transaction. The report is dated on the 9th of Novem¬ ber, 1791, and is in these words:

« At this place, which I judged to be about fifteen miles from the Miami village, I determined to throw up a slight work, the plan of which was concerted that 'evening with Maj. Ferguson, wherein to have deposited the men's knapsacks, and everything else that was not of absolute necessity, and to have moved on to attack the enemy as soon as the first regiment came up. But they did not per¬ mit me to execute either ; for, on the 4th, about half an hour before sunrise, and when the men had been just dismissed from parade (for it was a constant practice to have them all under arms a considerable time before daylight), an attack was made upon the militia. Those gave way in a very little time, and . rushed into camp through Maj. Butlers battalion (which, together with a part of Clarke's, they threw into disorder, and which, notwithstanding the exertions of both those officers, was never altogether remedied), the Indians following close at their heels. The fire, however," of the front line checked them, but almost instantly a very heavy attack began upon that line, and in a very few minutes it was extended to the second likewise. The great weight of it was directed against the center of each, where the artillery was placed, and from which the men were repeatedly driven with great slaughter. Finding no great effect from our fire, I and confusion beginning to spread from the great number of men who were fallin" in all quarters, it became necessary to try what could be done by the bayonet. Lieut. Col. Darke was, accordingly, ordered to make a charge with part of the sec¬ ond line, and to turn the left flank of the enemy. This was executed with great spirit. The Indians instantly gave wav. and were driven back three or four hun¬ dred yards ; but, for want of a sufficient number of riflemen to pursue this advantage, they soon returned, and the troops were obliged to give back in their turn. At this moment they had entered our camp by the left flank, having pushed back the troops that were posted there. Another charge was made here by the Second Regiment, Butler's and Clarke's battalions, with equal effect, and it" was repeated several times, and always with success ; but in all of them many men were lost, and particularly the officers, which, with so raw troops, was a loss altogether irremediable. In that I just spoke of, made by the Second Regiment and Butler's battalion, Maj. Butler was dangerously wounded, and every officer of the Second Regiment fell except three, one of which, Mr. Greaton, was shot through the body.

" Our artillery being now silenced and all the officers killed, except Capt. Ford, who was very badly wounded, and more than half of the army fallen, being cut off from the road, it became necessary to attempt the regaining of it, and to make a retreat, if possible. To this purpose the remains of the army was formed as well as circumstances would admit, toward the right of the encampment, from which, by the way of the second line, another charge was made upon the enemy, as if with the design to turn their right flank, but, in fact, to gain the road. This was- effected, and, as soon as it was open, the militia took along it, followed by the troops, Maj. Clarke, with his battalion, covering the

" The retreat, in those circumstances, was, you may be sure, a very pre cipitate one. It was, in fact, a flight. The camp and the artillery were aban¬ doned, but that was unavoidable, for not a horse was left alive to have drawn it off had it otherwise been practicable. But the most disgraceful part of the business is that the greater part of the men threw away their arms and accouter¬ ments, even after the pursuit, which continued about four miles, had ceased. I found the road strewed with them for many miles, but was not able to remedy it; for. having had all my horses killed, and being mounted upon one that could not be pricked out of a walk. I could not get forward myself ; and the orders I sent forward, either to halt the front or to prevent the men from parting with their arms, were unattended to. The rout continued quite to Fort Jefferson, twentynine miles, which was reached a little after sunset.

"The action began about half an hour before sunrise and the retreat was attempted at half an hour after 9 o'clock. I have not yet been able to get returns of the killed and wounded; but Maj. Gen. Butler, Lieut. Col. Oldham, of the militia, Maj. Ferguson, Maj. Hart and Maj. Clarke are among the former; Col. Sargent, my adjutant general, Lieut. Col. Drake, Lieut. Col. Gibson, Maj. Butler and the Viscount Malartie, who served me as an aid-de-camp, are among the latt< r ; and a great number of captains and subalterns in both." An after statement of the results of the engagement just recited, shows the loss to have been thirty-nine officers killed and five hundred and ninety-three men killed and missing. Twenty-two officers and two hundred and forty-two men were wounded. The officers killed were Maj. Gen. Richard Butler, Lieut. Col. Oldham, of the Kentucky militia; Majs. Ferguson, Clarke and Hart, Capts. Bradford, Phelon, Kirkwood. Price, Van Swearingen, Tipton, Smith, Purdy, Piatt, Guthrie, Cribbs and Newman, Lieuts. Spear, Warren, Boyd, McMath, Read, Burgess, Kelso, Little. Hopper and Lickens, Eusigns Balch, Cobb, Chase, Turner, Wilson, Brooks, Beatty and Purdy. Quartermasters Reynolds and Ward, Adjt. Anderson and Dr. Grasson. The officers wounded were Lieut. Cols. Gibson, Darke and Sargeant (Adjutant General). Maj. Butler, Capts. Doyle, Trueman, Ford, Buchanan, Darke and Hough, Lieuts. Greaton, Davidson, De Butts, Price, Morgan. McCrea, Lysle and Thompson, Ensign Bines, Adjts. Whisler and Craw¬ ford and the Viscount Malartie, volunteer aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief. "Several pieces of artillery and all the baggage, ammunition and provisions were left on the field of battle and fell into the hands of the Indians. The stores and other public property lost in the action were valued at $32,810.75.* The loss of the Miamis and their confederates has never been satisfactorily ascertained ; but it did not probably exceed one hundred and fifty in killed and wounded."

I Clair and the unfortunate results attending it, states that " there were about two hundred and fifty women " who accompanied their husbands, following their for¬ tunes in the experiences which the campaign brought forth Other authorities, however, place the number much below bis estimate. In the slaughter conse¬ quent upon the terrible conflict, they suffered in common with the men, being sometimes subjected to the most unheard-of cruelties and brutal indignities, the bodies of the living and dead alike mutilated and deformed

In giving an account of a visit made to the scene of this disaster, for the purpose of burying the dead and recovering the artillery carriages, some three months after, Capt. Buntin, who accompanied the expedition, says : " We left

Fort Jeflerson about 9 o'clock on the 31st (January) with the volunteers, and arrived within eight miles of the field of battle the same evening, and the next day we arrived at the ground about 10 o'clock. The scene was truly melan¬ choly. In my opinion, those unfortunate men who fell into the enemy's hands, with life, were used with the greatest torture, having their limbs torn off ; and the women have been treated with the most indecent cruelty, having stakes as thick as a person's arm, drove through their bodies. The first, I observed when burying the dead ; and the latter was discovered by Col. Sargent and Dr. Brown. We found three whole carriages; the other five were so much damaged that they were rendered useless. By the General's orders, pits were dug in different places and all the dead bodies that were exposed to view, or could be conveniently found (the snow being very deep) were buried. During this time, there were sundry parties detached, some for our safety and others in examining the course of the creek ; and some distance in advance of the ground occupied by the militia, they found a large camp not less than three-quarters of a mile long, which was sup¬ posed to be" that of the Indians, the night before the action. We remained on the field that night, and next morning fixed gearing horses to the carriages and moved for Fort Jefferson. * * * As there is little reason to believe that the enemy have carried off the cannon, it is the received opinion that they are either buried or thrown into the creek, and I think the latter the most probable ; but as it was frozeu over with a thick ice and that covered with a deep snow, it was impossible to make a search with any prospect of success."

The defeat of this expedition, upon which large expectations were based by the Government, was a disappointment for which the public, especially the inhab¬ itants of the exposed frontiers, was illy prepared. The prevailing distrust and alarm had a tendency to check for a time the tide of emigration directed toward that region from the Middle and Eastern States.

In view of the situation then, the General Government, seeing that a larger, better provided and better disciplined force was necessary to give confidence to the pioneer settlers and put a quietus on the movements of the Indians along the Miami and the valley of the Wabash, took immediate steps toward reforming and re equipping the military force designed to operate on the Western frontier. New officers were appointed and fresh troops enlisted and properly disciplined before entering the field. Under this regulation, the army was to consist of 5,120 non-commissioned officers, privates and musicians. This formidable force, designed to operate as we have seen, was called the Legion of the United States, and subsequently placed under the command of Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne, a native of Chester County, Penn.