Clark County, Indiana - Chapter 15: The Military History of Clark County, 1909

Chapter 15: The Military History of Clark County

The earliest history of Clark county is military. The settlement at Clarksville had as its nucleus a stockade called Fort Clark, and within easy distance of its protecting walls were clustered the cabins of the settlers. However, the growing hostility of the Northwestern Indian tribes, collectively known as the \\'abash Indians, and the grave political situation which had arisen among the people south of the Ohio river, because of the failure of the Union to protect the frontiers, and open the Mississippi river to commerce led the Go\-ernment to establish and garrison the fort just above the rapids of the Ohio. The Indian situation was about as bad as it could be, and reports of murder and robbery were almost daily. The trapper or hunter who \entured back into the dense forests and canebrakes was compelled to match the cunning of the savage or pay the penalty with his life. The settler could at no time feel safe from the murderous attacks of a foe whom our English cousins had armed and incited to deeds of the most revolting crueltv.

Gov. Patrick Henry, of Virginia, was well informed as to conditions, and on "Slay 16, 1786, presented the subject so strongly to Congress that action was soon taken, and on June 30, 1786, the Executive of Virginia was notified that the United States had ordered their commandant on the Ohio to detach two companies to the rapids of the Ohio, with request that the militia of that district be required to co-operate with them in defense of the frontier. Instructions were sent to Colonel Harmar as to the disposition of his forces, under date of June 27, 1786. These were received by him at Fort Pitt, July 13. 1786, by the hand of Major North. Colonel Harmar replied in part as follows : "That in obedience to instructions, he should detach two companies to the rapids of the Ohio, to protect the inhabitants from the incursions of the Indians." He thereupon proposed to detach Finney's and Ziegler's companies from Fort Finney, at the mouth of the ]\Iiami, to the rapids, and close the post at the Miami, there being no trouble below the Muskingum.

Fort Finney had been built in the fall of 1785, but the ground near the mouth of the Miami was very low and the trouble occasioned by floods was so great that it was never used again.

4, 1786, in which he states that, "Agreeable to order of Congress, he had detached two companies to the rapids of the Ohio." This seems to fix conckisively the birth of the new fort, the ist of August. 1786.

The site chosen for the new work was on the north bank of the river, and near the head of the rapids, in what is now the lower end of Jeffersonville. It was named in honor of Major Walter Finney, as was the work closed at the mouth of the Miami. Fort Steuben was a small work about thirty miles below Fort Mcintosh on the Ohio. This was abandoned in June. 1787, and soon after Fort Finney at Jeffersonville was re-named Fort Steui)en, in honor of that Revolutionary hero of Prussian birth.

The location selected by Major Finney was at the lower end of what later on became the original town of Jefiferson\-ille, on a piiint abuut forty feet below what is now the foot of Fort street, and on a level piece of land lying between Front street and the river. It commanded a view up the river for some distance, as well as a view of the Falls, and it was here that the first organized body of white men made their habitation in Jeffersonville. Beyond the fact that it was in the year 1786, neither the war department nor other sources can give us any information. The first commander was Major Walter Finney, 1786 to 1787, and his company with that of Captain Zeigler the first garrison. Following Major Finney came Major Wyllys, who was afterward killed in action with the Indians on the Miami river October 22, 1790.

It became an important garrison and remained under the command of Capt. John Armstrong, U. S. A., until 1790, he having been ordered here from Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg). In shape the fort appears to have been a square afifair of both wood and earthwork. A deep trench was cut from the south side of the work to the river, and this was covered with logs and earth, making a tunnel through which water could be brought and by which escape could be made, if necessary. During the few years of Fort Steuben's existence as a garrisoned fort the little village around it was the scene of more than one military display. Up to 1786 the head and center of military action seems to have been mostly on the Kentucky side of the river, but it shifted to Fort Steuben when that garrison was established and remained here until 1791.

In the year 1787 Colonel Harmar was at Fort Steuben, accompanied by Lieutenants Beatty and Pratt, and about June ist, of this same year. Captain Strong and his company from Fort Harmar arrived to reinforce the garrison. The presence of Colonel Harmar can be accounted for by the fact that he was the commanding officer of the First U. S. Regiment, of which organization the garrison of Fort Steuben was a part. On June loth Lieutenant Denny, Captain Smith and his company. Ensign Sedam with part of Captain Mercer's company. Lieutenant Peters and Doctor Elliott arrived, and on July 2d, Strong's, Mercer's and Smith's companies crossed the Ohio to the Virginia side and niarclied down to encamp below the Falls. The next day Captains Finney and Zeigler, with their companies, left the fort and joined the others in camp. These troops, together with Captain Ferguson's battery of artillery from Fort Alclntosh, formed the body of a peaceful expedition from Fort Steuben to Post Vincennes, under command of Colonel Harmar and Major Hamtramck, and it was upon their return to Fort Steuben on October 28, 1787, that Harmar received his commission as a brigadier-general. Soon after this all of these, with the exception of Major Wylly's with Finney's and Mercer's companies, who remained to garrison the fort, left for Fort Harmar.

The depredations of the Indians became so bold north of the Ohio that settlement was hazardous in the extreme, and to give better protection to that tract known as Clark's grant and its vicinity. General Harmar sent reinforcements back to the garrison of Fort Steuben in 1788.

On August 26, 1789, about two hundred mounted troops, under Col. John Hardin, left the Falls to attack the Indian towns on the Wabash, and returned on September 28th, of the same year, without the loss of a man.

A day of martial display, no doubt, was that of January 8,. 1790. when Gov. Arthur St. Clair and Winthrop Sargeant, secretary of the territory, arrived on their way to the Illinois country. This official party seems to have made Fort Steuben their headquarters, for the Governor's letters to Major Hamtramck, the commanding officer of Post Vincennes, are dated from here. The Governor and his party remained at Fort Steuben until January 27, 1790, and while here made the following appointments :

It was in this same year that the Governor, being vested with power by President Washington, called for one thousand militia from Virginia and five hundred from Pennsylvania. Kentucky (which was still a part of Virginia) sent one hundred and twenty-fi\e men from Lincoln county and fifty men from Jefferson county to Fort Steuben. These troops assembled here on September I2th. and soon after left for Vincennes for action against the red men.

On June 14, 1791, Brig. -Gen. Charles Scott arrived at Fort Steuben at the head of eight hundred mounted and armed men, having finished a successful expedition against the Wabash tribes. He deli\-ered to Captain Ashton, of the First U. S. Infantry commanding the fort, forty-one prisoners of war. This was the largest body of mounted troops in this vicinity during this period, and even at the present day it would be no inconsequential force. Their approach to Fort Steuben was either by way of that trail that led westwardly from the fort past the whirlpool to the Vincennes trail, or by the upper trail, leading back through the virgin forest a short distance above the fort, and afterward named Spring street. Their triumphal return from a sue- cessful campaign against a savage foe so feared by all, with forty-one braves as prisoners of war, was no doubt an improsing entry, and brought a feeling of satisfaction and safety to the minds of those who lived in almost daily dread of capture, murder or torture. On August 21st of this same year Brig.-Gen. James Wilkinson arrived at Fort Steuben with five hundred and twenty-five men, having made an expedition similar to that of General Scott, and equally as successful. These troops, although small in number, and armed with old flint-lock muskets, were a formidalile body for those days, and their march to the old fort must have been a great event in the little hamlet so unused to scenes such as these.

In May, 1791, the garrison was reduced to sixty-one men. The seat of trouble having moved northward and other forts having been established closer to the northern boundary, the old fort was soon after discontinued as a garrisoned post. The last mention of a garrison is that Captain Ashton, of the First U. S. Infantry, was in command, and then we find that on July 15, 1791, "the whole of the First U. S. Regiment" arrived at Fort Washington to participate in an expedition which established several forts to the northward. This evidently was the last garrison of regular troops, for the fort is never mentioned as such again, although the month after this (August 21st) was the date of the arrival of Wilkinson's expedition.

Travelers have mentioned the fort after this date as being still in existence, i. e., Francis Baily, an English traveler in Louisville in 1797. writes: "The Ohio here is nearly a mile wide and is bounded by an open champaign country, where there is a fort kept up for the protection of the infant colony and called Fort Steuben." But its garrison was no doubt part of the militia of the territory, as this organization was a ver^' effective body at that time. The commanding officers of Fort Steuben were Major Walter Finney, who constructed it, but who remained only a year: I\Iaj. David Wyllys, Capt. John Armstrong, and then for a short while Capt. Joseph Ashton.

Capt. John Armstrong, although an officer in the regular establishment, returned to Clark county and settled here after a long and honorable career in both the military and civil service of his country. He is buried on a farm opposite the Grassy Flats, in Clark county, and a monument marks his last resting place, inscribed as follows :

"Sacred to the memory of Col. John Armstrong, who was born April 20, 1755, and died February 4, 1816. He entered the Army of the United States at the commencement of the Revolutionary war and served liis country seventeen years as a soldier and an officer. During his services in the army he was in thirty-seven skirmishes and four general actions, among which were the battles of Trenton, Stony Point, Monmouth, and the Siege of Yorktown.

Baird S History Of Clark Co., Ind. I4I

the garrison (Fort Steuben) at the Falls of the Ohio for several years, making frequent excursions against the Indians. At an early day he selected for a farm the tract of land where his remains are interred, and formed a settlement on it of several families in the year 1796."

The family still remains in JelTersonville. one of the oldest pioneer families, and his great-grandson. Capt. Frank Spear Armstrong, a native and a citizen of Clark county, and a graduate of West Point, is at present an officer in the regular army on his second long period of foreign service in the Philippines with his regiment, the Ninth Cavalry.

The soldiers of the garrison of Fort Steuben who died while stationed there were given burial in a little plot of level ground that extended out in front of the present ferry office. They lay here undisturbed by the march of civilizaton for many years. In 1843. when Haiwey ]\IcCampbell was engaged in grading down the bank to make a wharf which would meet the requirements of a growing town, and which would afford access to the river, it became necessary to dig away the whole of this sacred spot. In accordance with the dictates of decency and respect. Dr. Samuel Merriwether, a member of the City Council, ofifered a resolution on October 12, 1843, to remove the bodies to the old ]\Iulberry street cemetery, and the work was ordered done. The grave is now marked by an oak tree planted by the ladies of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Old Fort Steuben, with its earthworks and its tunnel, its garrison and its equipment, its quarters and its supplies, disappeared many years ago, and not the slightest trace of its location remains, nor can a single relic of its existence be found. The scene of the usual routine of a garrisoned fort, it more than once furnished the characters for stirring acts, and was often the center of excitement when expeditions were leaving, or of great demonstrations upon their triumphal return. Even the plot of ground upon which it was erected has been swept away by the turbulent floods of the river, and only an occasional account serves to remind us that at Front and Fort streets veterans of the Revolution guarded the lives and property of the dwellers in the little village around them, or boldly forced their way northward through the forests to drive back the savages and claim the territory for their own race and flag.

From the abandonment of Fort Steuben by the United States troops, in 1 79 1, until the battle of Tippecanoe, the record of the militia in and around Jeffersonville is meagre, the appointment of officers being about the only beacons by which we know of the existence of such a body. The old militia law of July 25, 1788, was the authority by which all the military organizations in the state were governed. This law required all citizens between the ages of sixteen and fifty to be enrolled in the militia. They were divided into two classes, the senior and junior. The senior class was composed of all who had held commissions in the U. S. army or were graduates of mil- itary schools. The law required every man to provide himself with "musket and bayonet or rifle, cartridge box and pouch or powder horn, and bullet pouch, with forty rounds of cartridges, or one pound of powder and four pounds of lead, priming wire and brush, and six flints." The companies usually consisted of sixty-four men rank and file, one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer and one fifer. Eight companies formed one battalion and two battalions one regiment.

Clark county was the fifth county to organize her militia under the new law of December, 1800. Governor Harrison turned his attention to militarv affairs February 6, 1801, by the appointment of his staff, and the first aid-decamp commissioned was Henry Hurst. On September 20. 1803, the militia of the county was organized and IMarston G. Clark was commissioned lieutenantcolonel commanding. Joseph Bartholomew was appointed major and five companies were organized with the following officers First company, captain, John Owens : lieutenant, William Plaskett ; ensign, David Owens. Second company, captain, George W^ood; lieutenant, Isaac Shelby; ensign, Barzillai Baker. Third company, captain, \\'illiam Goodwin: lieutenant. Robert Burge; ensign, William Stacy. Fourth company, captain. William Smith; lieutenant, \^'illiam Prather; ensign, John Morris. Fifth company, captain, Davis Floyd; lieutenant, John Jackson ; ensign, Rezin Redman.

On September 22, 1804, John Berry and Matthew Rider were commissioned lieutenants, and Josiah Ekin an ensign in the First Regiment of Clark county. On May 25, 1805. James Bland was appointed captain and Thomas Bland, ensign, to succeed John Owens and David Owens, resigned. In this same year a new company was organized with William Herrod as captain, George Newland as lieutenant, and Joel. Cortlly, as ensign. In December, 1805, Lieut. Col. Marston G. Clark removed from the county, and Maj. Joseph Bartholomew succeeded him.

On January 10, 1806, Lieut. William Prather was promoted to the captaincy made vacant by the death of William Smith, and John \\'ork, Jr., was appointed a lieutenant vice Rider, resigned. On this same day Davis Floyd was promoted major.

On August 16, 1806. the first troop of horse in Clark county, and the second in the state, was organized in Jeft'ersonville with Charles Beggs as captain. Aamn Prather. first lieutenant: James Lemon, second lieutenant, and Peter Bloom, cornet.

On this same dav John Owens was made major of the second Ijattalion. On November i8tli. Ensign Rezin Redman was commissioned captain, vice Goodwin, resigned, and Robert Robertson was promoted captain, vice \\'ood. resigned, and Josiah Aiken was promoted captain, vice, Owens, promoted. John Anderson was appointed captain; John McCoy was appointed lieutenant: Eli Robertson was appointed lieutenant : Jacob Fonts was appointed lieutenant.

Baird S History Of Clark Co., Ixd. I43

Absalom Hart was appointed ensign : Thomas Chappel! was appointed ensign ; Joseph Bowman was appointed ensign, and David Fonts was appointed ensign, all on November i8, 1806.

On April 18, 1807. John Johnson and Enoch Boon w-ere commissioned captains ; John Smith and Paul French, lieutenants, and James Hickman and Robert Denbow, ensigns. On July 8, John Shields was appointed captain : ^^'illiam Smith, lieutenant, and Fielding Qromwell. ensign. On August 22, Gresham Lee was made captain ; Joseph Howard lieutenant, and John Griffin ensign. On November 3, 1807. several promotions were made on account of resignations, and a new company was 'mustered into the service with ^^'illiam Herrod as captain. George Newland as lieutenant and Joel Combs, as ensign.

On March 25. 1808. the names of Lieutenants George Roberts and James Hickman appears in the promotions, and William Pennington and John Hickman in the appointments. On July 6. 1808. the commission of Maj. Davis Floyd was revoked. No cause can be found for this action in the records but as he had been associated with Aaron Burr in his treasonable acts, this was undoubtedly the real cause. Burr"s forces lay at Jeft'ersonville during the winter of 1807 and 1808. and his secret scheming, carried on while seemingly working in the interests of a canal around the Falls of the Ohid on the Lidiana side, was a matter of very great concern to the territorial authorities. Charles L. Byrns was appointed captain, vice Johnston, resigned, and Robert Denbo and Elijah Hurst were appointed lieutenants. John Parkinson and Robert Rusk were appointed ensigns.

On October 22. 1808. Capt. ^^'illiam Prather received his majority, vice Davis Floyd, relieved, and Samuel Latton was appointed cornet in the Jeffersonville troop of horse. On March 7, 1809, Major Owens and INIajor Bartholomew recommended the following commissions : Robert Evans to be captain ; Jacob Fonts to be captain ; John Norris to be captain : John Thompson to be captain : Peter Covert to be lieutenant : \\'illiam Kelly to be lieutenant : John Crockett to be ensign ; John McNaught to be ensign ; John McClintock, Jr., to be ensign. On November 29, 1809, Rezin Redman received his majority, and Samuel Smock was appointed captain ; John Blenard, lieutenant : Squire Hall, lieutenant and Andrew Gelvick lieutenant. On October 10. 1810, a new Clark county company was organized with James RIcFarland as captain. Booth Thomas, lieutenant, and James Gaddass, ensign.

The various companies were called together on certain days, called "muster days." for drill and instruction, but these days became times of such drinking and carousing that on December 10, 181 o, the Legislature passed a' law which forbade officers treating their men with "ardent spirits" and prohibited the sale of such within two miles of the muster place, except in licensed inns.

Patrick, captain ; John McCoy, captain ; William Montgomery, captain ; James Bigger, captain ; John Jenkins, lieutenant ; John Herrod, lieutenant ; Henry Socles, lieutenant; John Chuns, lieutenant; Thomas Jacobs, ensign; Joseph Carr, ensign ; Joseph Bowers, ensign ; Joseph Stillwell, ensign. Walter Taylor was commissioned captain ; George Twilley, lieutenant, and Joseph Stroud, ensign. The last mention of county regiments was made when Robert Robertson was commissioned as colonel of the Clark county regiment April 13, 1812.

The year 181 1 was made memorable to the people of Clark county, by the battle of Tippecanoe, Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, had formed a confederacy of Indian tribes, and their strength and depredations had become such that an aggressive policy was decided on by Governor Harrison. A considerable number of troops were assembled and a march on the Prophet's town was decided on while Tecumseh was in the South. The part that Clark countv took in this memorable campaign is one that reflects the highest credit on the soldiers who went from here. The following is a list of officers from Clark county, who served through the expedition :

The expedition consisted of about eleven hundred men and officers, organized as follows: Nine companies of U. S. Infantry (Fourth Regiment); Six companies of Indiana militia ; three companies of Indiana mounted riflemen ; two companies of Indiana dragoons ; one company of Indiana riflemen ; two companies of Kentucky mounted riflemen ; one company of scouts; a total of twenty-four companies, of which Indiana had thirteen companies of militia. Of this force two hundred and seventy men were mounted. Col. John P. Boyd brought his regiment, the Fourth L". S. Infantry, from Pittsburg to the Falls and marched from there to Vincennes. Captain Geiger's company from Jefferson county, Kentucky, passed through Jeffersonville Septemher iith on their way to X'incennes. Clark county furnished three fuU companies, besides the officers on staff duty. Captain Norris's company of infantry was a drafted company. It was raised Ijetween Charlestown, Jeffersonville and Utica, and was sworn in at Springville. Captain Bigger's company was raised in Charlestown and vicinity and was sworn in at Charlestown. Captain Beggs's company was mounted. They were raised in Jeffersonville and vicinity and were sworn in at Jeffersonville. That these companies were in the thick of action their casualties show. Norris's company had three killed and one wounded ; Bigger's company had two killed and three wounded and Beggs's company had one killed.

Shawnee Indians were chief among the tribes in the confederacy, both Tecumseh and Elkswatawa (The Prophet) being Shawnees. There were besides the Shawnees at the battle, Wyandottes, Kickapoos, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Sacs and Miamis. This campaign had the effect of increasing the interest in the militia, and aroused the people to a keener sense of their danger from the Indians. The part played by Clark countv officers was not small.

Alarston G. Clark was one of the first settlers in Jeffersonville. He was a Virginian by birth, and a cousin of Gen. George Rogers Clark. He held many offices in Clark county and was brigade inspector on the staff of General Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe. As a soldier, he was said to have been insensible to fear, often leading men in the pursuit of Indians who had committed depredations. He served as Indian agent under President Jackson and was appointed messenger to carry the electoral vote of Indiana to Washington in 1840. He is buried at Salem, Indiana. He was one of two officers who were sent forward by General Harrison to select the camping ground the night before the battle. The general said of him in his report to the Secretary of War eleven days after the battle : "Brigade Major Clark was very sen-iceably employed."

]\Iaj. \\'illiam Henry Hurst was an aid-de-camp on the staff of General Harrison and Dr. Samuel JNIerriwether was acting as surgeon, although not appearing on the official rolls as such at Washington. General Harrison, in a letter, said: "My two aids-de-camp. Majors Hurst and Taylor afforded me essential aid as well in the action as throughout the campaign." The admiration of the general for these two aids-de-camp caused him to have them act as his personal escort when he rode through the streets of Washington to the capitol to be inaugurated President of the United States. Hurst and JNIerriwether resided in Jeffersonville for many years afterward, examples of honor, integrity and civic virtue which we of later years could emulate with benefit to ourselves and the city.

tholomew, a very valuable officer, commanded, under Colonel Boyd, the militia infantry. He was wounded early in the action and his service lost to me." He was one of the foremost citizens of the county for many years and received many marks of honor and esteem at the hands of the citizens of the county. Harrison said of one of Clark county company, "Xorris's companv also behaved well."

Davis Floyd, the adjutant, has the proud distinction of being the best advertised man in his day and locality. Nothing seemed to dishearten him for he always bobs up serenely after any difficulty, and usually takes the most prominent position in whatever is going on. A prominent militiaman, he was an important officer at Tippecanoe. He represented Clark county in the Legislature in 1805. He kept a tavern and operated a ferry in Clarks grant. He was appointed Recorder of Clark county in 1801 and Sheriff in 1802 by General Harrison. He became involved in Aaron Burr's conspiracy and was sentenced to three hours in jail. He served as secretary of the Springville Anti-Slavery convention. In the Legislature he was elected Clerk of the House, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1816.

General Harrison was severely criticised by many of his political enemies after the battle of Tippecanoe, who claimed that it was an unnecessary campaign, and that even when he had reached the vicinity of the Lidian town he allowed the enemy to select his camping ground. The general visited Jeffersonville and Charlestown in 1835 and at the latter place, in answer to a request for a speech on "Tippecanoe," said: "When I left Vincennes for the Indian countr\' on the Tippecanoe, it was under positive instructions from the War Department not to attack them if they showed a willingness to comply with the demands of the General Government. As to the Indians selecting my encampment, there is not a particle of truth in that statement. Gen. Marston G. Clark and Col. Davis Floyd were detailed to select the ground."

In those days a keen eye for the peculiarities of the red brother was quite necessary, and precautionary measures were still kept up in the outlying districts. The militia garrison, which from meagre accounts, seems to have been kept in old Fort Steuben for several years after its abandonment by the U. S. troops, was not the only defense available. As late as 1807 a letter by Waller Taylor (afterwards A. D. C. on General Harrison's staff) written to Governor Harrison, January 12th, in speaking about Burr's mysterious doings in Jeffersonville and the excitement occasioned by his presence, says: "There are stationed at this place about two hundred militia, who examine all boats that descend the river."

On the bank of the Ohio, at Whirlpool Point, was a stockade which was used as an outpost for Fort Steuben. Another outpost of Fort Steuben was about where the "junction" is situated. It was a place for the soldiers to meet on their rounds, and here the settlers used to come for safetv when fear of the

Indians drove them from their cabins and clearings. This point was called the "Corner Post" for many years after. The last settler murdered by the Indians in the first decade of the centun- was a trapper named Springer. He had traps set on Springer's Gut (now in New Albany) and was surprised and slain by Wyandottes and Pawpaws, while running them.

The Indian phase of the War of 1812, which was no small thing to the western settlers, was of more moment to them than a consideration of danger from purely British sources. To l)e sure, the atrocities of the savages, to a great extent, were instigated by the British to the north, but from British troops themselves, no real danger was ever anticipated. The Pigeon Roost massacre, September 3, 1812, was the last trouble ever experienced in this vicinity, but it had the effect of awakening the settlers to the danger of unpreparedness and resulted in the establishment of a line of some fifteen or twenty stockades, beginning at the one called the "Corner Post" and extending by Charlestown back to the Ohio at the east of the town.

The Pigeon Roost massacre was not an Indian raid as has been so often stated. The Indians passed through the little hamlet which was the nucleus of Vienna and never harmed a soul, while there. There had been bad blood between the Collins family and the Indians for some time. The Collins boys had stolen a fawn from the Indians and refused to give it up, and from this cause and possibl}' some other, the whole trouble originated. Those other than Collinses were killed only because they lived in that neighborhood. Neither before nor after the massacre were other white people harmed, showing conclusiveh' that it was only a local fight and giving no cause for alarm to other settlers.

The Indians, who were Delawares and Shawnees, are said to have crossed White river at Sparksville. They crossed three or four at a time and after all had crossed formed together and directed their way to the spot now hallowed in the memory of the early victims. During the afternoon of the same day they reached their destination, and Jeremiah Payne, who lived near Vienna, was warned of danger when his cows came bellowing home with arrows stuck in their sides. Taking his wife and only son to the fort at Vienna, the father started on foot to warn his brother, Elias, but when he arrived at the cabin he found the dead and mutilated bodies of the wife and seven children. Elias and his brother-in-law, Isaac Coffman, were in the woods at the time hunting bee trees. They were surprised by ten or twelve Indians and Coffman was instantly killed and scalped. Payne was pursued over two miles before he was overtaken and mortally wounded. Mrs. Richard Collins and her seven children soon fell victims to the redskins' thirst for blood, and Mrs. Henr}' Collins, although pregnant, was murdered and scalped and the child taken from the womb and scalped, and then laid across her breast. The incentive to such a diabolical deed was the five dollar British reward offered for each scalp. The fiends later massacred the mother, wife and only child of John Morris, and the escape of other settlers was almost miraculous.

A part of Clark county militia under Alaj. John McCoy and Captain Devault pursued the Indians and killed one. In June, 1813 some Clark county militia, under Col. Joseph Bartholomew, went on an expedition to punish Indians who were hostile, and returned without any casualties.

At the close of the War of 18 12 the militia of Clark county, as in the rest of the state, was in excellent condition. The Second Regiment was originally the Clark county Regiment, and as such it was under the command of Col, Robert Robertson. It was one of the most complete regiments in the service and included many special organizations, one of which was the only artillery company mentioned in the territorial records.

Colonel Robertson resigned in 181 1 and Maj. Joseph Bartholomew was commissioned to succeed him October 21st, of that year. Colonel Bartholomew sei~ved until March 30, 1814, when Joel Combs was commissioned colonel. Rezin Redman was lieutenant-colnnel, and was commissioned as such June 10, 1813,

In 1814, the Ninth Regiment, which was composed of companies in Clark county, was commanded by Col. John Depau, with headquarters in Jeffersonville, and the records report it as being one of the best organized in the state.

With the passing of the Indian the subjects considered by the Legislature concerning the militia seem to have materially changed. In 181 5, an act was passed restricting the militia age to eighteen to forty-five and specified the uniform for the officers, Alajor and Brigadier Generals should "wear a French militaiy hat, blue cloth coat turned up with buff or scarlet, with gold epaulettes, white small clothes, also boots and spurs." Cluster days were Saturdays in April and September. The interest and energy which had formerly been directed against the Indians was now turned to clothes, and the citizen soldiery was neglected and allowed to become a dormant and practically useless body.

For about two years after the battle of Tippecanoe, the territorial Government maintained several companies of rangers to protect the people of the state from the depredations of marauding bands of Indians. One of these companies was composed of Clark county men, and was commanded by Capt, James Bigger, of Tippecanoe sen-ice, and he had as first lieutenant, John Carr, and as second lieutenant, James Curry,

In the month of June, 1813, an expedition composed of about one hundred and thirty-seven mounted men under the command of Col. Joseph Bartholomew, moved from Valonio toward the Delaware towns on the west fork of the White river, with the intention of surprising and punishing some hostile Indians, who were supposed to be hirking about those viUages. All or a larger part of Captain Bigger"s company was in this expedition, and thev destroyed a great deal of corn found in the half-burned and deserted villaees alona: the ri\er. Colonel Bartholomew said of this : "We conceived it was more necessary to do this as the corn would, if not destro3'ed, enable considerable bodies of the enemy to fall upon and harass our frontier."

On July I, 1813, Col. William Russell of the Seventh United States Regiment, at the head of a force amounting to five hundred and seventy-three men, set out on an expedition against the Indian villages, which were situated at and about the mouth of the Mississinewa river. As Colonel Bartholomew and several companies of rangers were in this force, evidently Bigger's company was among them. They found no Indians and the rangers returned home. The service of these companies of rangers was most valuable and should be given the same prominence in history that the Tippecanoe campaign received, for their service was equally as hazardous and equally as valuable to the settlers who lived in the remoter parts of the territory.

We hear little of the militia of Clark county from this time on. That the organization of state troops was kept up there can be no doubt, but their duties were nil, and the only milestone we have to guide us through this period are the mention of events where the militia turned out to do escort duty to some prominent visitor or for some gala occasion. In May, 1825, several companies of militia were under arms, and acted as the escort to General LaFayette when his official visit to Indiana was paid at Jefifersonville. Captain Parker's company from Charlestown was one of these, and the cracker story of one of his men has been passed down as classical. From the fact that cannon were used in saluting our illustrious visitor, we might infer that Clark county possessed artillery, but of this we are not certain.

By the treaty of 1804, the Sacs and Foxes had sold all of their land in Ilhnois to the United States. The provisions of this treaty were confirmed by Keokuk, their head chief, in subsequent treaties in 1822 and 1830: but Black Hawk refused to consider these treaties valid. The British agents assured him that the Indians still owned the land and this, together with the fact that he had become the leader of the wildest braves in the tribe, led to events which culminated in what is known as the Black Hawk war in 1832. This Indian war was fierce and sanguinary, but affected either Clark county or Indiana but little. However, there was a company of United States mounted rangers raised around Charlestown by Capt. Lemuel Ford, and they served until after the middle of 1833. This company was commanded by Capt. Lemuel Ford : first lieutenant, Meedy Shields, and second lieutenant, John Gibson. When this body of men left Charlestown July i, 1832. it numbered one Iiundred and fifteen men. They assembled in the court-house yard and started on their campaign with the plaudits of an admiring crowd of citizens, many of whom remembered the earher cruelties of the savages in Clark county. They camped near Memphis, the first night out, and then started north, marching to within twenty-five miles of Fort Dearborn (now Chicago) where a halt of three weeks was made on account of the prevalence of Asiatic cholera at the fort, where General Scott with the Regulars was waiting for the arrival of the rangers. The route taken by the rangers was changed to lead to Dixon's ferry on Rock river, Illinois. The company was inspected and mustered in by Captain Anderson, U. S. A., later of Fort Sumpter fame. The march was then taken down the river to within one and one-half miles of the mouth, and three miles below Rock Island or "Old Fort Armstrong," where they crossed to the north side of Rock river and marched up to the island. There the rangers met their commanding officer, Colonel Dodge, and General Winfield Scott, commanding the expedition. The cholera was very bad then at Fort Armstrong and the company lost three men : Peter Hall, Doctor Johnson and Shelby.

It was at this point that General Scott in his round of inspection of camp and hospital, berated the medical stafif roundly and threatened to hang some of the M. D.'s for neglect of duty toward the stricken. He went into the tents and examined patients with his own hands, and elevated the abode of his Satanic majesty, as only the old general could.

The command crossed into Iowa Territory and then back into Illinois, following the Mississippi river to Quincy, and thence to Jefferson City, Missouri, then a town of about five hundred. From here they marched to Booneville, forty miles above, and from there to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, one mile above the mouth of Grand river. They went into winter quarters for the winter of '32-'33, one mile below the mouth of Grand river on the Arkansas river in log cabins. On May 6, 1833, they received marching orders, and the command consisting of Captain Ford's company from Indiana, Captain's Beem's company from Arkansas and Captain Boone's company from Missouri, all under the command of Colonel Manny, U. S. A., with about three hundred regulars, took a southwesterly course to Red river. It was on this march that the great buffalo hunting was done. The Captain Boone here mentioned was the son of Daniel Boone, of pioneer Kentucky fame.

These troops returned to Fort Gibson July i, 1833, where the rangers were mustered out, disbanded and started for home and arrived at Charlestown just when the cholera was at its worst. The officers and a partial list of the members of this Clark County company were as follows :

Baird S History Of Clark Co., Ind. I51

They saw little or no active service so far as extended fighting was concerned, but their long marches and their hardships entitle them to a high place in the early military annals of Clark county. They served until Black Hawk had been captured. The service which they gave was the last ever given by a Clark county organization in Indiana warfare. Black Hawk stands in history as the "Last native defender of the soil of the Northwest."

The ominous clouds of war hanging like a pall over the land were not necessary to influence the manhood of Clark county to enlist. The officers who had served during the Black Hawk war knew the temper of our Hoosiers, and that they made soldiers second to none. Capt. Lemuel Ford, in 1836, came to Charlestown to recruit men for the United States Dragoons. Li the issue of "The Lidianian," of Charlestown, dated Friday, October 28, 1836. appears the following: "Wanted for the First Regiment of L'nited States Dragoons, able bodied citizens between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years, being not less than five feet, six inches high, of good moral character, and of respectable standing among their fellow citizens. None need apply to enter the service but those who are determined to serve the period of their enlistment, which is only three years, honestly and faithfully.