Carroll County, Indiana - Chapter 2: St. Claik's Expedition, 1882

Chapter 2: St. Claik's Expedition

St. CLAIK'S EXPEDITION. Movements of Gov. St. Clair - Expedition Against the AValiASii Indians - Line of March - Encamp.iient-Defeat and Terrible Slauoiiter - Consequences.

THE failure of the expedition of Gen. Harmar against the Wa. bash Indians naturally induced a continuance of the hostile spirit manifested by the savages of that locality, and, indeed, of the whole territory northwest of the Ohio.

The leaders of these hostile bands, whenever opportunity offered, never failed to exercise their warlike propensities. Hence, the Government of the United States found it necessary to adopt measures for the relief of the frontier settlements. Accordingly, Gov. St. Clair was directed to prepare for such defense with all possible dispatch. Hence, on the 28th of Mai-ch, 17i)l, he left Philadelphia and proceeded to Pittsburgh, aiTiving there on the Kith of April following. From Pittsburgh he repaired to Lexington, Ky.. where he remained a few days, and departed thence to Fort Washington, arriving there on the 15th of May, the garrison at the latter point consisting then of seventy-nine commissioned officers and privates fit for duty. At Fort Harmar the garrison consisted of fovty-fiv'.i. rank and file: at Fort Steuben, there were sixty-one regulars ; and at Fort Knox, eightythree.

"On the ir)th of July following, the whole of the First Regiment of United States Infantry, amounting to 299 non-commissioned officers and privates, amved at Fort Washington, under orders fi-om Gov. St. Clair, Commander-in-Chief."

! Early in September, the regiment took up its line of march in the direction of the Miami towns at the head of the Maumee, halting on the site where Fort Recovery was afterward j front of a creek about twelve yards wide, and constituted the first line, while the left wing formed the second line. Between these two lines there was a space of about seventy yai-ds, which was all the situation would allow. The right flank was supposed to be protected by the creek, while the left was covered by a steep bank, a cor2)s of cavalry and some pickets. The militia passed over the creek and encamped in two lines, about one-quai'ter of a mile in advance of the main ai-my. Snow was on the ground, and two rowsof fii-es were made between Butler's and Dai'ke's lines, with two rows also between the lines of the militia.

At the same time, and while the army was thus encamped. Little Tiu-tle and Buchongahelas. with other chiefs of less distinction, with about twelve hundi-ed waj-riors, were lying only a few miles distant, awaiting a favorable opportunity to commence the attack. This opportimity was presented about 4 o'clock on the morning of the next day, and the attack was made accordingj ly, with a suddenness and effect seldom equaled, just as the ai-my had been dismissed from parade, in a state bordering on disorganization.

] the white people, the details of which were almost incredible in the degree of barbarous atrocity. The loss was stated to have been 39 officers killed, and 393 men killed and missing; the

The Government then, in view of the situation, seeing that a larger, better provided and better disciplined army was necessary ' to give confidence to the settlers along the fi-ontiers and to put a quietus on the movements of the Indians, took immediate steps toward fitting out an expedition free fi-om all the elements of weakness that characterized the two former.

Tiii: i:\ii i.riK.x (ii:i. AM/IT) AGAINST THE Wabash Indians at Mil Wivlnwxv lii;i.. (lEX. Charles Scott Placed IN CoMM\Mi-lli~ l.iM.oi M A i:rii - Attacked AND Destroyed the \\i:\ AM) Ki> ivAiiH.i Towns - Prisoners Taken - Success of THE Exi'EDiTioN- His Speech tothe Red People on the 'Wabash-Keturx TO FoKT Washington. n~^HE campaign of Gen. Scott against tlie Indians had its origin -L in the same cause that induced the campaigns of Harmar and St. Clair, and was. indeed, a part of the same plan laid out by the War Department of the United States to defend the fi-untier settlements against the stealthy warfare of the savage hordes occupying the Western ten-itory, and to chastise them for the offenses committed. The campaigns of the two former officers were directed more especially against the Indians on the Maumee and Auglaize, while the exjjedition commanded by Gen. Scott was the outgi-o-\vth of a movement suggested by a resolution of the Legislature of Virginia, looking to the protection of her frontier counties, passed by that body on the 20th of December, 1790, by which the Governor was authorized to direct such temporary defensive operations in those counties '' as would secure the citizens thereof from the hostile invasions of the Indian enemy, until the General Government could enter into full and effectual measures to accomplish the same object." Under this authority, the Governor directed the western counties above referred to to raise small companies of rangers for the protection of the frontier settlements. To this end, Charles Scott, Esq., was appointed a Brigadier General of the militia of the District of Kentucky, with the necessai-y power to procure, by vohmtary engagement, 226 men, to range the most exposed parts of the frontier. An account of these proceedings was forwarded to the President of the United States on the 4th of January following, when, by the authority of the Government, a local board of war was constituted for the district of Kentucky, composed of Brig. Gen. Scott, Hany Innis, John Brown, Benjamin Logan and Isaac Shelby. On the 3d of March of the same year. Congress passed " an act for raising and adding another regiment to the military establishment of the United States, and for making fm-ther provision for the protection of the frontiers." Subsequently, Gen. St. Clair was invested with the chief command of about three thousand troops to be raised and employed against the Indians in this territory, and the Secretary of War, on the 21st of March, 1791, issued the necessary instructions to him concerning the regulations that should govern the movements of the expeditions to be fitted out against the Indians on the Maumee and the Wabash. Previously, however, on the 9th of March, the Secretary of War forwarded instructions to Gen. Scott, from which we make the following extract:

" Sir - The issue and consequent eflect of the expedition against the Miami towns, and the situation of afifairs between the United States and the Wabash and other hostile Indians northwest of the Ohio, are well known to you and the inhabitants of Kentucky generally. * * * it would afford high satisfaction to the President of the United States could a firm peace be established without fiu-ther effusion of blood; and, although he conceives the sacred principles of humanity, and a regard to the welfare of the country, dictate that he should take every proper arrangement to bring the deluded Indians to a just sense of their situation, yet he is apprehensive that all lenient endeavors will be fruitless. He is, therefore, constrained to calculate his ultimate measures, to impress the Indians with a strong conviction of the power of the United States, to inflict that degree of punishment which justice may require. That, for this purpose, he avails the public of the offers which you and the delegates of Kentucky and the other frontier counties of Virginia, made, by your me morial of the 4th of December last, to combat the Indians according to your own modes of warfai'e.

" It is the result of information from men of reputation in Indian affairs that a body of 500 picked men, mounted on good horses, by rapid incursions, would be equal to the assault of any of the Indian towns lying on the Wabash River, and that the prolv ability would be highly in favor of sm'prising and capturing at least a considerable number of women and children. In this view of the object, and also estimating the consequent impressions, such as a successful operation would make upon the Indians, by demonstrating to them that they are within our reach and lying at our mercy; and also, considering from the before-recited memorial and other information, that such an opportunity of acting by themselves in an Indian expedition, would be highly gratifying to the hardy and brave yeomanry of Kentucky, the President of the United States hereby authorizes an expedition of the magnitude and upon the conditions hereinafter described.

" The mounted volunteers or militia are to proceed to the Wea, or Ouiatenon, towns of Indians, there to assault the said towns, and the Indians therein, either by siu-prise or otherwise, as the nature of the circumstances may admit - sparing all who may cease to resist, and capturing as many as possible, particularly women and children. And on this point it is the positive orders of the President of the United States that all such captives be^ treated with humanity; and that they be carried and delivered to the commanding officer of some post of the United States upon the Ohio."

This expedition was directed to move from some point on the River Ohio, about the 10th of May, 1791, and to consist of a number of men not exceeding 750. The President, also, authorized the sending of another expedition, and a third one against the W^abash Indians, ju-ovided the Major General or commanding officer on the Ohio should order the same.

Piu-suant to the special instnictions cited above. Brig. Gen. Scott, with a force of about eight hundi-ed mounted and aiTued men, crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentuckv- River, on the 23d of May, 1791, and commenced his march for Ouiatenon on the Wabash. From that time, he jiushed forwai-d with the utmost celerity comjiatible with the character of the country and the kind of weather he had to encounter in his route. From the 23d to the 31st of May. he marched 135 miles, over a country cut by four large branches of the White River, and many smaller streams, with steep, muddy banks, covered in many places with brush and briers so thick as to be almost impenetrable. Rain fell in torrents almost every day. accompanied by frequent blasts of wind and thunder storms. These impediments to rapid marching not only greatly delayed his progress, but jaded his horses and destroyed his provisions.

On the morning of the 1st of June, the ai-my entered an ox tensive prairie, and in the distance obsei^ved an Indian, wh(i proved to be Capt. Bull, on horeeback, but a few miles to the right. It was the purpose to intercept him, and a detachment was sent out with that object, but he escaped, in time, as the sequel proved, to warn the villagers of the ai-my's approach. Finding himself discovered, the General advanced with all the rapidity the condition of his men and horses would ]>prmit. At 1 o'clock, a gi'ove.

bordering on another prairie, was penetrated, when, at a distance of two and four miles to the left, two small villages were discovered. The main town, however, was some four or live miles in front, behind a point of woods that jutted into the prairie. Immediately, Col. John Hardin, with sixty mounted infantry, and Capt. McCoy, with a troop of light-horse, were sent.to attack the villages on the left, while the main body, under Gen Scott, moved on briskly toward the main town, which, instead of being situated at the edge of the plain, was found to be on low ground bordering the Wabash. The summit of the eminence which overlooked the villages on the banks of the Wabash being gained, the Indians were discovered in gi-eat confusion, and endeavoring to escape across the river in canoes. At the word directing the movement. Commandant Wilkinson rushed forward with the Fii-st Battalion and attacked the fleeing savages. He executed the order iiromptly, the detachment gaining the bank of the river just as the rear of the enemy had embarked; and, regardless of a brisk tii-e kept up fi'om a Kickapoo town on the opposite bank, by a well-directed fire from their rifles, they destroyed, in a few minutes, all the Indians with which five canoes were crowded. The Wabash, at the time was high, beyond fording at that point, which made it necessary to detach Co). Wilkinson, with instructions to cross the stream at a ford two miles above. This crossing-place being found to be impassable also, the detachment returned to the town, Ouiatenon.

The enemj' still holding the Kickapoo village, it was determined to dislodge them, and Capt. Iving's and Logsdou"s companies were directed to cross the river lower down, imder the direction of Maj. Barbee. Several of the men swam over, and others crossed the river in a small canoe, which movement being unobserved, the men took post on the bank in the immediate vicinity. As soon as the enemy discovered the situation, they precipitately abandoned the village. In the meantime. Col. Hardin had discovered another and stronger village not far distant, and was proceeding to attack it, when, finding himself already encumbered with prisoners, Capt. Brown was sent to support him ; but, before he reached the point, which was about six miles distant, the work was complete, and Col. Hardin rejoined the main army about sunset, having killed six warriors and taken fifty-two prisoners.

The following morning, a detachment was sent out imder command of Col. Wilkinson, on foot - the horses being too much crippled to be sei-viceable - to destroy the important town of Kethtip-e-ca-nunk, about eighteen miles from camp and on the west side of the Wabash. The detachment left about half past 5 o'clock in the evening, and returned the next day at 1, having in the meantime marched thirty-six miles in twelve hoiu-s, and destroyed the most important settlement of the enemy in that portion of the territory.

To avoid embarrassing his anny with a large number of prisoners, being moved by the impiilses of humanity. Gen. Scott released sixteen, the weakest and most infirm of them, and gave them a written speech, adch'essed to " the Piankeshaws and all the nations of red people " on the Wabash Kiver, instructing them as to the consequences of their method of warfare and recommending them to pui'sue a different course of policy. Having, on the 4th of June, bm-ned and destroyed all the adjacent towns and villages, and growing corn-crops, he began his march to the Kapids of the Ohio, where he aiTived on the 14th, without the loss of a single man by the enemy, and only five woimded; having killed thirty-two, chiefly warriors o'f size and figiu-e, and taken fifty-eight prisoners. As worthy of note, he mentions the fact that no act of iuhiunanity marked the conduct of the Kentucky volunteers; even the inveterate habit of scal2)ing the dead ceased to influence them. In conclusion. Gen. Scott states that he delivered forty-one prisoners to Capt. Asheton, of the First United States Regiment, at Fort Steuben, and took that officer's receipt for them, in accordance with his instructions. Thus ended that brief campaign, having, in about twenty days, accomplished the great work for which it was planned, and retui'ned with the honors of an honorable and humane warfai'e.

Wilkinson'S Expedition

WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION. Orders for thk Expedition Against the Waba.sh Indians at "Old Town " - Instructions from the Board of War - Expedition Leaves Fokt Washington - strknotii of thk FoR<P> SentOut - Line OF March - Keaches 1111, \\' m,\^,i wii Movi -; Toward the Village on Eel Kivii; liii: \ ii i.\(,i. At tacked and Destroyed - SUBSEQUENi .Moximini-^ m ri:i: CojiMANDER - Returns to the Falls of the (iiiio.

TTTHILE Gov. St. Clair was making prepai'ations for his ex- ' ^ pedition to the Indian towns on the Maumee and St. Mary's, on the 25th of June, 1701, he directed the Boai-d of AVar of the district of Kentucky to fit out a second expedition, of not exceeding 500 men, against the Indian towns on the AV^abash. At Danville, Ky., on the 5th of July following, Bi'ig. Gen. James Wilkinson was invested by the Board of War with the command of this second expedition, authorized by Gov, St. Clair, and the troops were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washington by the 20th of July, " well mounted on horseback, well armed, and provided with thirty days' provisions." The expedition left Fort Washington, about five hundred and twenty-five strong, on the 1st day of August, and, moving forward, made a feint toward the Miami village, subsequently directing the line of march toward the Indian village on Eel Kiver called Ke-ne-pa-com-a-qua, since known as " Old Town," about six miles above the jimction of Eel River with the Wabash. The following is the official account of the expedition rendeicd to the War Department:

" I quitted my camp on the 7th (August) as soon as I could see my way, crossed one path at thi-ee miles distance, bearing northeast, and at seven miles I fell in with another, very much used, which I adopted as the direct route to my object, and pushed forward with the utmost dispatch. I halted at 12 o'clock to refi'esh the horses, and examine the men's arms and ammunitions; marched again at half past 1; and at fifteen minutes before 5, I struck the AVabash, about one and a half leagues above the mouth of Eel River, being the very spot for which I had aimed from the commencement of my march. I crossed the river, and, following the path a north-by-east course; at the distance of two and a half miles, my reconnoitering party announced Eel River in fi-ont, and the town on the opposite bank. I dismounted, ran forward, and examined the situation of the town as far as was practicable without exposing myself; but the whole face of the country, from the Wabash to the margin of Eel River, being a continued thicket of brambles, blackjacks, weeds and shiaibs of different kinds, it was impossible for me to get a satisfactory view without endangering a discovery. I immediately determined to post two companies on the bank of the river, opposite to the town, and above the ground I then occupied, to make a detour with Maj. Caldwell and the Second Battalion nntil I fell in with the Miami trace, and by that route to cross the river above and gain the rear of the town, and to leave directions with Maj. McDowell, who commanded the First Battalion, to lie perdue until I commenced the attack, then to dash thi-ough the river with his corps and the advanced guard, and assault the houses in front and upon the left. In the moment I was about to put this arrangement into execution, word was brought me that the enemy had taken the alarm and were flying. I instantly ordered a general charge, which was obeyed with alacrity. The men. forcing their way over every obstacle, plunged through the river with vast intrepidity. The enemy was unable to make the smallest resistance. Six wai-riors and (in the hurry and confusion of the charge) two squaws and a child were killed; thirty- four prisoners were taken, aad an unfortunate captive released, with the loss of two men killed and one wounded.

" I found this town scattered along Eel River for full tliree miles, on an imeven, scrubby oak barren, intersected alternately by bogs almost impassable,' and impervious thickets of plum, hazel and blackjacks. Notwithstanding these difficulties, if I may credit the report of the prisoners, very few who were in town escaped. Expecting a second expedition, their goods were generally packed up and bm-ied. Sixty warriors had crossed the Wabash to watch the paths leading from Ohio. The head chief, with all the prisoners and a number of families, were out digging a root which they substitute in place of the potato; and, about one horn- before my arrival, all the warriors except eight, had mounted their horses and rode up the river to a French store to pm'chase am munition. This ammunition had airived from the Miami village that very day, and, the squaws informed me, was stored al^out two miles from the town. I detached Maj. Caldwell in quest of it, but he failed to make any discovery, although he scoured the country for seven or eight miles up the river.

" I encamped in the town that night, and next morning I cut up the corn - scarcely in the milk - burned the cabins, mounted my young wan-iors, squaws and childi-en in the best manner in my power, and leaving two infirm squaws and a child, with a short talk, I commenced my march for the Kickapoo town in the prairie. I felt my prisoners a vast incumbrance, but I was not in force to justify a detachment, having barely 523 rank and file, and being then in the bosom of the Ouiatenon country, 180 miles removed from succor, and not more than one and a half days' march from tln' l'iiH;nv;i((pmies, Shawanoes and^Delawares."

The expi-ililiwii ilim ilirected its coiu'se toward the Kickapoo village, encouiitiTiiij^- iiuiihtous difficultieB in the way, through bogs and morasses and thick underbrush, Finding the way impassable, the route was changed to the southwestward. On the morning of the 10th of August, some discoveries were made which induced the belief of the near approach to an Indian village. Moving forward rapidly, the Tippecanoe River was reached about 1 2 o'clock, where the enemy, having watched the movements, became alarmed and abandoned the place. This town had been destroyed by the army under Gen. Scott, in June preceding, yet, in the meantime, the Indians had retiu-ned and cultivated their corn and ])ulse, which had nearly reached maturity, and was in much larger quantities than at Old Town on Eel River. Halting here until the next morning, the army resumed its march U)wm-d the Kickapoo town on the prairie, by the j-oad leading fi-om Ouiatenon to that place. It having been ascertained diu-ing the day that the men and horses were not in condition to fiu'ther pursue the course marked out, the design upon tlie Kickapoosof the prairies was abandoned, and the mju-ch continued to the Kickapcx) town near Ouiatenon, destroyed a few months previously. On the 12th, the expedition took route for the Rapids of the Ohio, at which place it aiTived on the 21st of August, having marched, by accm-ate computation, about four hundred and fifty-one miles from Fort Washington, having destroyed the chief town of the Ouiatenons, made prisoners of the sons and sisters of the King, bm-ned a respectable Kickapoo village, and cut down at least four hundred and thirty acres of corn, chiefly in the milk. The commanding officer gives due credit to the Kentucky volunteers, who acquitted themselves with distinguished propriety and habitual good conduct. Especial remark was made in his report, however, of the meritorious conduct of Majs. McDowell and Caldwell, of Col. Russell, and for the jn-ompt service rendered by Maj. Adair and Capt. Parker.