Chapter IV: Part 4

Among the forest warriors who came to Vincennes, in pursuance of the summons of Governor Harrison, was Tecumseh, the Shawano chief,--conspicuous, then, for his tall and manly frame, his earnest and thrilling eloquence, his hostility to the whites, his boldness, bravery, and sagacity, and his feats of daring in the chase and valor on the war-path; and afterwards celebrated, for the ascendancy he acquired over his red brethren, and for his steadfast devotion to the English cause. Deep rankling in his heart there had long existed a feeling of inveterate hatred towards the American people, which had been carefully nurtured and cherished. Several years previous, he had formed the project of uniting the tribes, north, south, and west of the United States, in a combination, to refuse to sell any portion of their remaining lands, to resist every effort to dispossess them, and, if possible, to drive back the white settlers from the Mississippi valley. Motives of ambition may have been mingled with his aspirations, and it is not improbable, that he looked forward to the day when a grand native confederacy should be established beyond the Alleghanies, with himself as its leader and head.

The project of this “forest-born Demosthenes” was a vast one, and he devoted himself with untiring zeal and pertinacity to its accomplishment. His exertions were powerfully seconded by his brother, Tensquataway--so well known as the Shawnee Prophet, or Impostor. The latter was blind of one eye, and lacked the oratorical powers of Tecumseh; but, claiming to receive direct revelations from the Great Spirit, which, though always possessing a singular resemblance to the public harangues of his brother, he imparted to his savage hearers,--and availing himself of that superstitious reverence, that, in a rude and uncultivated people, renders them so impressible, so credulous, and so easy to be governed and directed, by the practice of rites and incantations which are said to have thrilled and terrified the hearts of those who witnessed them--he acquired an influence second only to that of the chieftain whose ambitious designs he hoped to further. Tecumseh had already visited most of the Northwestern tribes, and was only waiting for the anticipated war with England, to marshal his bands and lead them out under her banner, hoping with her assistance to accomplish the great object he had so much at heart; and he now appeared in the council held at Vincennes, not to bury the tomahawk and smoke the calumet of peace, but to remonstrate against the purchase from the Kickapoos and other tribes, and hurl the gauntlet of defiance.

[Sidenote: SPEECH OF TECUMSEH.]

What excited the indignation of Tecumseh, more than all, was the claim of the white man to superiority, and the arrogance, as he termed it, evinced in calling the Indians his children. Upon the opening of the council, Governor Harrison kindly handed him a chair, saying, at the same time, in a courteous, yet dignified tone, “Your father offers you a seat.” “_My father!_”--exclaimed the chief, while he drew his form up to its full height, and his eye flashed with the fire of insulted pride--“_My father!_--the Sun is my father, and the Earth my mother; she gives me sustenance, and I will rest on her bosom!” Thus speaking he seated himself upon the ground, with as lofty and commanding an air, as if the green sward beneath him had been the throne of the Cæsars.

After the preliminary business of the council was disposed of, Tecumseh rose, and in a strain of impassioned eloquence, which has rarely been equalled, and never, perhaps, surpassed, by any native orator, reviewed the conduct of the whites, and the wrongs of the Indians, from the time when the former first disembarked on the Atlantic coast, to that moment--insisting that the land was given by the Great Spirit to the red men in common, and that no portion of it could be sold without the consent of all. His speech was well calculated to inflame the prejudices, and arouse the passions, of his savage listeners, and when he had concluded, Governor Harrison commenced a reply. While the latter was speaking, Tecumseh, carried away by his emotions, sprang to his feet, and, grasping his tomahawk, boldly charged the governor with having uttered a falsehood. Twenty or thirty of the warriors followed the example of the chief, and instantly arrayed themselves in a hostile attitude.

Governor Harrison was no “weak-heart;”[9] nor was he to be intimidated by menace. Anticipating a sudden outburst of ill-temper, as he had discovered some unfriendly indications, he had posted a guard of soldiers within call. At the signal, they darted forward to take part in the threatened struggle. But Tecumseh was as politic as he was brave; he saw that the time had not yet come for him to strike; and he wisely avoided a conflict. The council was broken up, however; and all hope of securing the neutrality of the Indians was abandoned. The savages returned to their homes in the wilderness, and shortly after renewed their outrages, murdering the frontier settlers, plundering and burning their homes, and destroying or carrying off large quantities of property.

Governor Harrison’s decision was soon taken. Having obtained permission from the government to march into the Indian country with a military force, he made his preparations with his accustomed promptness and energy. Orders were sent to Colonel Boyd, of the 4th infantry, then at Pittsburgh, to join him forthwith with his regiment, and a strong militia force, part of whom were mounted, were imbodied in Kentucky and Indiana--the citizens gladly responding to the call of patriotism--and marched to Vincennes. Leaving that place at the head of about fourteen hundred men, considerably less than one half being regulars, the governor moved up the Wabash. About fifty miles above Vincennes he constructed a stockade fort, afterwards known as Fort Harrison, and then directed his course, without loss of time, to Tippecanoe, the Prophet’s Town, which lay on the west bank of the Tippecanoe river, not far from its junction with the Wabash.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.]

On approaching the Indian town, on the sixth of November, Governor Harrison proceeded slowly and cautiously; as the enemy’s warriors were frequently seen flitting through the woods in advance of the army, and their scouts were discovered posted on the hills in every direction. Within a short distance of the village, he was met by the principal chiefs--Tecumseh himself being absent on a mission to the southern tribes--who, in reply to Harrison’s demand of satisfaction for the outrages which had been perpetrated, proposed that an amicable conference should be held on the following morning, and that, in the interim, neither party should commit any act of hostility. During the day he had made repeated efforts, without success, to bring the Indians to a parley, and he still distrusted their sincerity; but, being willing to grant them favorable terms of peace, if his demands were complied with, he acceded to their request.

Orders were now issued to encamp for the night. Majors Clarke and W. Taylor were sent forward to select a suitable position, and on their report Governor Harrison marched his command to an elevated knoll of dry oak land, rising in the midst of the open prairie, about one mile northwest of the village. The horses were picketed, the guards posted, and every preparation made for the bivouac. Having partaken of their evening meal, the Americans lay down upon the bare earth, to refresh their wearied limbs. From his long acquaintance with the character of Indian warfare, Governor Harrison was familiar with the arts and devices of the savages; and apprehending treachery, and knowing, that, if attacked at all, it would be under cover of the darkness, he required his men to sleep on their arms, and directed that the order of encampment should be the order of battle.

The troops were arranged in two columns, separated on the left, one hundred and eighty yards, and about half that distance on the right. The front line consisted of the first battalion of the 4th infantry, under Major Floyd, flanked, on the right, by two companies, and on the left by one company, of the regiment of Indiana militia, under Colonel Bartholomew; and the rear line was composed of the second battalion of the 4th infantry, under Captain Baer, flanked by four companies of the Indiana militia, under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. Two companies of Indiana and Kentucky rifles, under General Wells, were thrown out to cover the left flank, and Captain Spencer’s troop of Indiana rifles was posted on the right. Two troops of dragoons were stationed in rear of the left flank, and one in rear of the front line, under Major Daviess. The left front and left rear angles,--that flank being the most exposed to an attack,--were turned by a portion of the regular troops. A strong guard was also detailed, each man of which was instructed to be prompt and vigilant. In the event of an assault, the different corps were ordered to maintain their respective positions till they were relieved; and the cavalry were directed to parade on foot, with their swords and pistols, and wait for orders.

[Sidenote: ATTACK ON THE LEFT.]

These dispositions being completed, Governor Harrison lay down among his men, having his horse near him, saddled, and in readiness for him to mount at a moment’s warning. Hour after hour went by in silence. The camp fires gleamed brightly in the distance till long after midnight, when they were suffered partially to die away. The cold chilling wind moaned dismally as it swept through the encampment, gently lifting the locks of many a tired sleeper who had looked for the last time on the setting sun, and fanning into a brighter glow the smouldering embers of the watch-fires. The beams of the young moon struggled almost vainly to pierce through the thick veil of clouds, from which a drizzling rain descended that hissed and sputtered as it fell on the heated ashes. The hour of darkness which precedes the dawn had nearly passed, when the governor rose from his rude couch, and ordered the réveille to be beaten. He then sat down before the fire, and commenced a conversation with some of his officers. While thus engaged, the stillness was suddenly broken, by the sentinels discharging their pieces, on the left of the encampment, and a fierce and hideous yell that roused every man from his slumbers.

Wistful and inquiring glances were at once turned towards the quarter from whence the alarm proceeded; the cry, “To arms!--To arms!” was raised on every side; and the wild slogan of the savage bands, rising higher and higher as the conflict deepened, was echoed far down the valley of the Wabash. For a few moments the encampment presented a scene of confusion; but the active exertions of Governor Harrison, Colonel Boyd, and other officers, soon restored order and discipline.

At first the attack was partially successful. The stealthy approach of the enemy was not observed until they were in the immediate vicinity of the pickets. It was their intention to creep up to the sentinels as close as possible, and then to spring upon them, and kill them, before they could fire; but, on finding that they were discovered, and the alarm given, they gave a deafening yell, rattled their deer hoofs--by which their movements in battle were guided--and rushed furiously on the guard posted on the left flank. The latter gave way almost instantly, and the whole brunt of the onset was sustained by Captain Barton’s regulars, and the mounted rifles of Captain Guiger, who occupied the left angle of the rear line. In every other part of the encampment the fires had already been extinguished, in obedience to the directions of Governor Harrison;--but, on this flank, there was not sufficient time, and the troops were exposed to the murderous aim of the Indian warriors, without even the protection afforded by the darkness. Nevertheless, they held their position gallantly, amid the storm of bullets that whistled incessantly through their ranks, till they were reinforced by two companies from the centre of the rear line, ordered to their support by the governor.

Such was the desperation evinced by the savages, at the outset of the action, that a number of them forced their way into the centre of the encampment. Here, for a brief space, the contest was foot to foot, and man to man. Fire brands were hurled, and rifles and muskets clubbed. The scalping knife glistened momentarily, as it cut the air in its descending course; and a dull crashing sound was heard, as the tomahawk sank into the quivering brain of some unfortunate victim. Louder and louder rang the Indian war-whoop; but the American soldiers--their confidence now regained--returned shout for shout, and yell for yell. Vengeance was not long deferred. Not one of the enemy who had entered within the lines was suffered to escape:--all were cut down, uttering, as they fell, in shrieking tones, their bitter and unrelenting curse upon the white man.

[Sidenote: FORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCE.]

A short distance in front of the American left, there was a small group of sturdy oaks, which afforded shelter to a number of the most skilful marksmen among the assailing band, who poured a galling and intense fire, mingled with rapid flights of arrows, from their concealment. Major Daviess instantly requested permission to charge upon the cover with his cavalry. Governor Harrison granted the request, and the major ordered his bugles to sound the charge. His manly tones rung cheerily out on the night air, as he called upon his men to follow. Nobly did they second him. The charge was made, and the Indians scattered like the leaves of the forest before the fury of the autumn blast; but it was the last bold stroke of him, whose eloquence is yet remembered, and whose memory is still carefully treasured, among the people of the West. By his side, too, fell Colonel White, of the Indiana militia, like him, mortally wounded, in that sanguinary fray. Disheartened by the loss of their leader and many of their comrades, the cavalry fell back, and the Indians recovered the ground, opening a still more destructive fire on their opponents. As the dragoons retired, Captain Snelling promptly led forward his company of the 4th infantry, and again drove the savages from their shelter with the bayonet.

In the meantime, a heavy fire had been opened on the companies of Captains Spencer and Warwick, on the right of the line. The former, and his two lieutenants, were killed, and Captain Warwick was mortally wounded. All immediate danger being over on the left flank, Governor Harrison hastened to the right, to encourage the men to remain firm, and maintain the ground till daylight. At the first alarm, he had fortunately mounted the horse nearest him, without waiting for his own to be brought up, which was well known to the enemy. The dark eyes of many a red warrior glared fiercely, as they were turned hither and thither through the encampment, in search of the favorite steed of the governor. As he dashed to the right, he was accompanied by his aid, Colonel Owen, who rode a horse similar in color to that on which he had been mounted the previous day. A shower of rifle balls fell around them. Colonel Owen was killed, and the governor’s cravat was pierced by a bullet, that chanced not to injure his person.

In passing to the right flank, the governor found the company of Captain Robb, which had fallen back at the commencement of the attack, in the centre of the camp. Leading them to the support of Spencer’s and Warwick’s companies, he strengthened this part of the line, and by his presence encouraged the men to more animated exertions. A warm fire was now kept up till the early dawn, in front, on both flanks, and partly in rear of the encampment; the sharp crack of the rifle, and the prolonged rattle of musketry, mingling with the shouts and cheers of the American soldiers. Governor Harrison well knew, as the great father of the English drama had written years before, that “advantage is a better soldier than rashness,” and he did not hazard the safety of his command, though suffering severely from the heavy fire, by any offensive movement, till the light of day enabled him to ascertain the position and numbers of the enemy.

[Sidenote: THE INDIAN VILLAGE BURNED.]

But when the morning broke, a general charge was ordered. The left wing, consisting of five companies of the 4th infantry, and a party of dragoons, led by General Wells,--and the right, consisting of the remaining companies of the 4th infantry and cavalry, and the mounted rifles and militia,--moved rapidly upon the positions occupied by the savages. The latter made no further effort to continue the fight. Their desperate bravery had proved of no avail against the disciplined valor and persevering courage of the American troops. Hotly pursued by the gallant soldiers of Harrison, they fled in dismay to the neighboring swamps and thickets, in whose impenetrable recesses they at length found a secure retreat. The Prophet’s town was entirely abandoned by its late occupants. Having collected his wounded, and buried his dead, Governor Harrison advanced with his forces to the village, which he ordered to be burned. The surrounding district was also laid waste, and he then returned into the settled country.

The battle of Tippecanoe was one of the bloodiest engagements recorded in the annals of Indian warfare. It was bravely fought and bravely won. The cautious foresight, the prudence and vigilance of Governor Harrison, alone saved his little army from destruction. His loss in killed and wounded, was one hundred and eighty-eight; that of the enemy was supposed to be about the same.

Tecumseh, as has been mentioned, was absent at the time of this engagement. Had he been present, perhaps the result might have been different. When the particulars of the disaster reached him, he affected to regard it as of little moment, and always spoke of it, as the “unfortunate transaction that took place between the white people and a few of his young men”; yet it is very evident that this untoward occurrence preyed deeply on his spirits, since it tended, probably more than any other single circumstance, to the defeat of his plans. The result of the action intimidated many of the tribes who were preparing to join his confederacy, and they immediately sent deputations to Governor Harrison to sue for peace.

The general assembly of Indiana territory passed a resolution, at the next session after the battle of Tippecanoe, complimenting Governor Harrison in the highest terms, and the Legislature of Kentucky also testified, in a similar manner, their approbation of “his cool, deliberate, skilful, and gallant conduct.”--Thus was laid the foundation of that military reputation, which secured him the regard and esteem of his countrymen, and elevated him, in after times, to a memorable distinction among the great men of the Nation.

[Sidenote: DECLARATION OF WAR.]

Another effect of the battle of Tippecanoe was soon witnessed. The tone of the public press became more bold and warlike, and the public temper was inflamed to the highest degree. Doubts as to the necessity of a war with England were speedily transformed into settled convictions. After a long and tedious negotiation, in the summer of 1811, reparation was offered for the attack on the Chesapeake; but Great Britain abandoned not one of her objectionable positions, nor ceased the piratical plunder of our commerce, so long stimulated and encouraged by Lords Liverpool and Castlereagh. Forbearance could no longer be regarded as a virtue; nor was peace desirable, when it could only be preserved by the sacrifice of national honor and dignity. War was therefore declared, on the eighteenth of June, 1812, and publicly proclaimed by President Madison on the following day.

The declaration of war found Governor Harrison actively engaged in the discharge of his duties as governor of the territory of Indiana, and in his endeavors to secure the neutrality of the Northwestern savages. The general sentiment of that section of the country would then have applauded his selection as the commanding officer of the forces destined to operate in that quarter; but the appointment was conferred on William Hull, governor of the territory of Michigan, an officer who had served with credit and ability during the war of the Revolution.

The campaign of 1812 was signalized by General Hull’s invasion of Canada, in July, and his humiliating surrender, at Detroit, in the following August. When the tidings of this event were made known in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, they were scarcely credited. Subsequent information confirmed the rumor, however, and the intelligence produced a spontaneous outburst of indignation. To retrieve the tarnished honor of the country, was the first impulse of every heart. An irrepressible feeling of enthusiasm pervaded all classes. The people rose, in a mass, like the upheaving of the ocean. Places of rendezvous were appointed, and the hunters of the west flocked in crowds around the national standard--all animated by one motive, and influenced by one desire. They were cheered, too, by the approving smiles, and encouraged by the kind words of their wives and mothers, their sisters, daughters, and sweet-hearts, whose hands were constantly employed in furnishing them with clothing and other necessaries for the march. Such was the alacrity displayed in responding to the call to arms, that whole companies were frequently enrolled, and equipped, in a single day!

In Ohio, the most patriotic exertions were made by Governor Meigs, to fit the militia of that state for the field. In Kentucky, an unusual degree of ardor was manifested. The fire of ’76 was rekindled in the bosom of the veteran Shelby. Infected with the spirit prevailing among their constituents, several members of Congress enrolled themselves as privates, and cheerfully shouldered the rifle or musket. Henry Clay, the eloquent advocate of the war on the floor of Congress, though not under arms, appeared at the musters, and addressed the volunteers in fervid and impassioned appeals to their patriotism, that thrilled the hearts of those who heard him. Large numbers of militia were also imbodied, in Virginia, and in the western part of Pennsylvania. In Tennessee, likewise, the utmost eagerness to take the field was exhibited by the hardy yeomanry, who were doubtless influenced by the noble example of General Jackson and his patriotic division.

[Sidenote: APPOINTED A MAJOR GENERAL.]

In a few weeks, about eight thousand men were collected at various points on the Ohio river and in its vicinity. The selection of an officer to take command of the army, was attended with considerable difficulty; but it was finally determined, at a sort of military caucus, at which Isaac Shelby, Judge Todd of the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Clay, and other leading men, were present, that Governor Harrison should be commissioned a major general by brevet, by Governor Scott, of Kentucky, and temporarily invested with the command. This was accordingly done, and General Harrison immediately entered upon the performance of his duties. His military life had been an irregular one, and his experience, therefore, was extremely limited; yet he found himself placed at the head of a numerous body of troops, under such disheartening circumstances, and in a season of despondency and gloom. To add to his embarrassments, he discovered, on examination, that everything was in confusion. Men there were in abundance; but they were deficient in arms and ammunition, and poorly provided with supplies of every kind. Still, he did not lack the moral courage necessary to sustain him at so important a crisis, but labored indefatigably to correct what had been done amiss, and to secure the efficient action of the army placed under his orders.

The capture of Detroit, and the consequent occupation of all the important posts in the territory of Michigan, and about the head of Lake Erie, by the British troops, removed every restraint from the savages on the frontier, who poured down from their northern hives in torrents. The security of the border settlements against their murderous incursions was the first object to be attained; and in order to accomplish this effectually, it was necessary to move without delay to the relief of the frontier posts,--particularly Fort Harrison, on the Wabash; and Fort Wayne, at the confluence of the St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s, which form the Maumee, or Miami of the Lakes, as it was originally called. It was determined to penetrate the Indian country in two columns; one, under General Harrison, being ordered to rendezvous at Cincinnati and Urbanna, and the other, under General Hopkins, of the Kentucky militia, at Vincennes.

General Harrison put his troops in motion from Cincinnati, on the twenty-ninth of August, and reached Piqua on the thirtieth instant, with about twenty-five hundred men. Here he completed his final arrangements, and received his military stores; and, on the sixth of September, he resumed his march for Fort Wayne, where he arrived on the twelfth, to the great joy of the garrison, which consisted of only seventy men. The post had been for several days invested by a large body of Indians who resorted to every stratagem and device to induce the garrison to surrender, and, failing in this, made repeated attempts to carry the fort by assault. On hearing of the approach of General Harrison, the savages retreated precipitately, after destroying everything outside the works.

On his arrival at Fort Wayne, General Harrison forthwith organized two expeditions to lay waste the Indian villages. Colonel Wells, of the 17th infantry, was dispatched on the fourteenth of September, with his regiment, and that of Colonel Scott of the Kentucky militia, and two hundred mounted rifles, against the Potowatomie town on the upper St. Joseph, which disembogues into Lake Michigan. Another detachment, commanded by General Payne, consisting of two Kentucky regiments, under Colonels Lewis and Allen, and one company of mounted men, marched against the Miami villages. Both expeditions were successful. Nine Indian towns, which had been abandoned by the inhabitants, on the approach of the American troops, were utterly destroyed; the wigwams and wooden huts were burnt, and the growing corn cut up.

[Sidenote: DEFENCE OF FORT HARRISON.]

Meanwhile, the column under General Hopkins, which had rendezvoused at Vincennes, had moved to the relief of Fort Harrison. This post was occupied by Captain Z. Taylor, of the 7th infantry, with a feeble garrison of fifty men, not one half of whom were effective. On the night of the fourth of September, it was assaulted by between four and five hundred Indians, who succeeded in firing one of the block-houses, in which a large quantity of spirits was stored. The flames spread with great rapidity, and the garrison were fast giving way to despair, when Captain Taylor directed the roofs of the adjoining barracks to be removed. This was quickly accomplished, and the fire prevented from extending to the other buildings in the fort. Animated by the heroic example of their commander, and reässured by the admirable coolness and presence of mind which he had exhibited, the soldiers then engaged in the defence of the post, with a courage akin to desperation. The assailants failed to make any further impression, and after daylight on the morning of the fifth, the American fire became so destructive, that they moved out of range. They lingered near the post during the day, but retired early on the following morning, though they still hovered in the vicinity, keeping watch on the principal roads, cutting off the communications with the fort, and committing their depredations through the surrounding country.

The long-continued anxiety of the garrison was relieved on the sixteenth of September, by the arrival of Colonel Russell, with eleven hundred men, and a few days later General Hopkins came up with the remainder of his column. Preparations were now made for an expedition against the Peoria villages, on the Illinois river, and other Indian towns on that stream and the Wabash, which had been determined on previous to the march of the troops from Vincennes. It was agreed that Colonel Russell should proceed directly across the country, with his corps of Kentucky rangers, and a party of mounted rifles under Governor Edwards of Illinois Territory, three hundred and sixty men in all; and that General Hopkins, with the main body, should advance by a more northern route, and effect a junction with him at the Peoria towns. Another detachment, of eighty men, under Captain Craig, was ordered to move up the Illinois, and join them at the same place.

[Sidenote: INDIAN TOWNS DESTROYED.]

Colonel Russell left Fort Harrison with his command on the seventh of October, and General Hopkins commenced his march on the fifteenth instant. The route pursued by the latter lay through a pleasant champaign country, and his force was strong enough to set all opposition at defiance. But the men were totally undisciplined and unaccustomed to restraint; and on the fourth day out refused to proceed any further. The remonstrances and entreaties of the general produced no effect, and he was compelled to follow his refractory troops, in their retrograde march to Fort Harrison. Colonel Russell, however, continued his course to the Illinois river. Though disappointed in not meeting General Hopkins, he persevered in his enterprise, and destroyed one of the principal villages of the Peorias, called Pamitaris’ town, together with their winter stock of provisions. The Indians were pursued into a swamp in the vicinity where they had fled for shelter,--Colonel Russell and his men wading for several miles up to their waists in water,--and upwards of twenty of them were killed on the bank of the river. After the destruction of the town, the detachment returned to Fort Harrison, where they arrived on the twenty-first of October.

In November, General Hopkins made a more successful foray. Leaving Fort Harrison on the eleventh instant, at the head of about twelve hundred men, he proceeded up the Wabash, and destroyed the Prophet’s town, and a large Kickapoo village near it, with the store of corn provided by the savages for the coming winter. The Winnebago towns on Ponce Passu creek were also destroyed by a detachment under Colonel Butler.

About the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, of the 19th infantry, was dispatched from Greenville, with a party of six hundred men, against the Indian towns on the Mississinewa river, one of the tributaries of the Wabash. On the seventeenth of November, he surprised a village inhabited by Delawares and Miamis, captured thirty-seven prisoners, and killed eight of the enemy’s warriors. The town, and two others in the neighborhood, were then burned, and the party encamped for the night. Just before daylight, the next morning, they were attacked by a party of Indians three hundred strong. A desperate contest was kept up for nearly an hour, when the enemy were driven off by a charge of cavalry, leaving forty of their best and bravest warriors dead on the field. The Americans lost eight men killed, and about thirty wounded. Another attack was anticipated, as Tecumseh was understood to be in the vicinity with four or five hundred warriors, but reïnforcements soon coming up from Greenville, the detachment completed the destruction of the towns on the river, and returned without molestation.

These repeated incursions had the desired effect. Frequent hostilities afterwards arose and engagements took place, but these were confined to small parties of volunteers and similar bands of savages; exempted from the irruptions of the Indians, the border settlements continued to enjoy, for a long period, a degree of tranquillity which they had never before witnessed.

[Sidenote: DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS.]

After the return of the troops sent out by General Harrison, from Fort Wayne, it was his intention to advance towards Detroit, and recover the territory occupied by the British forces, as soon as he found his means adequate to the object. His plans were temporarily disarranged by the arrival of Brigadier General Winchester, who had originally been designated for the command of the northwestern army, with large reïnforcements from Ohio and Kentucky. General Harrison accordingly relinquished the command, and set out on his return to Indiana territory, accompanied by a considerable force of mounted men with which he designed to break up the Indian towns in that quarter. It subsequently appeared, that President Madison was ignorant of his brevet appointment, and of the general desire of the western people that he should be placed in command, at the time the orders to General Winchester were issued. General Harrison had not proceeded far on his return, when he was overtaken by an express bearing a commission as brigadier general in the regular army, together with instructions requiring him to take command of the forces on the northwestern frontier.

General Harrison returned to Fort Wayne, and resumed the command, on the twenty-third of September. Arrived here, he learned that General Winchester had marched on the previous day, for Fort Defiance, on his way to the Rapids of the Maumee, the place fixed upon for the general rendezvous preparatory to the contemplated movement for the recovery of Michigan, with four hundred regulars, a brigade of Kentucky militia, and a troop of horse,--in all two thousand men. He then proceeded to Fort St. Mary’s to make further preparations for the campaign, and dispatched Colonel Jennings down the Au Glaize, with a detachment, having in charge a quantity of supplies for General Winchester, whose men had but a limited stock of provisions.

The march of General Winchester was impeded, not only by the natural obstacles of the wet and marshy country through which he was compelled to pass, but also by a series of annoying skirmishes with the advanced parties of a force lying in and near Fort Defiance, consisting of two hundred British regulars and one thousand savages, which was destined for the capture of Fort Wayne. Making his way through the numerous difficulties that retarded his progress, and forcing the enemy to retire down the river as he advanced, he reached Fort Defiance on the thirteenth of September, where he was joined by the detachment under Colonel Jennings. While on his way, he had sent an express to General Harrison, informing him of the situation of his troops, and the harassing warfare kept up with the enemy. The latter arrived at the fort on the third of October, with additional reïnforcements, but returned again, on the ensuing day, to the settled country, to bring the remainder of the troops, composing the centre and right wing of his army, into the field. General Winchester remained at Fort Defiance in command of the left wing.

Before leaving the fort, General Harrison directed General Tupper to proceed down the river with the Ohio mounted men, about one thousand strong, and drive the enemy from the Rapids. The command of General Tupper consisted of raw and inexperienced militia, and, though he made every effort, he was unable to comply with the orders he had received. In consequence of some misunderstanding between himself and General Winchester, he soon after returned with the Ohio cavalry, to Urbanna, whence he was ordered forward, with the centre of the northwestern army, which was composed of one regiment of regulars, and the Ohio volunteers and militia, to Fort M’Arthur. About the same time, the right wing, consisting of the Pennsylvania and Virginia brigades, under Generals Crooks and Leftwich, was advanced to Sandusky.

On his arrival at Fort M’Arthur, General Tupper organized another expedition to proceed to the Rapids. He left the fort on the tenth of November, with six hundred men, carrying five days’ rations in their knapsacks. On the evening of the thirteenth instant, he arrived within thirteen miles of the Rapids, and sent an officer in advance to reconnoitre. It was ascertained that Fort Maumee, and the settlement, were still occupied by the British and their savage allies, and their boats and vessels were discovered in the stream below. General Tupper made several unavailing attempts to cross the river, and then endeavored to decoy the enemy over. In this he was more successful; a large party of Indians crossed the river, whom he attacked and routed; but, on account of the failure of his provisions, he was soon obliged to return to Fort M’Arthur without accomplishing the object of the expedition. On the thirteenth of December, he conducted another detachment to the Rapids, between fifteen hundred and two thousand strong. On this occasion he encountered about three hundred British regulars and seven hundred Indians, on the right bank of the stream, a few miles above the Rapids. These he attacked and completely routed. The enemy left one hundred of their number on the field, and many were killed while attempting to swim across the river. Shortly after this affair, the British evacuated the post and retired to Malden and Detroit.

[Sidenote: WINTER CAMPAIGN.]

In the meantime, General Harrison, whose headquarters were established at Franklinton, had labored unceasingly, in connection with Governor Meigs, to complete his preparations for the projected winter campaign. It was designed that the army should advance, in three divisions, from Fort Defiance, Fort M’Arthur, and Sandusky, to the Rapids of the Maumee, where they were to receive their supplies of ordnance and provisions. A feint was then to be made upon Detroit, when the troops were to cross the river and invest Fort Malden.

The army under the orders of General Harrison nominally consisted of ten thousand men. But little over six thousand of these were effective, and many of the latter number were undisciplined and inexperienced. All were poorly clothed and worse fed. The efforts of the commanding general were unwearied and untiring, but he encountered obstacles and difficulties at every step. The army rendered an important service in holding the Indians in check, yet they were unable to move forward, and General Harrison was warmly censured, by those who were unacquainted with the real state of things, for his inactivity. A simple statement of the position of affairs on this frontier will be his best defence.--The enemy had the command on Lake Erie, and it seemed almost impossible to furnish the troops in this remote region with the supplies that they needed, and without which it would have been mere fool-hardiness to advance. It was necessary to transport the ordnance and heavy stores over the Alleghanies, and down the Ohio, and thence they were hauled, over land, hundreds of miles, along blazed forest paths and miserable trails, across half-frozen swamps and through trackless forests, to the banks of the Maumee.

Against such embarrassments, General Harrison struggled almost hopelessly, yet as it proved in the sequel, successfully, notwithstanding that his plans were frequently thwarted, and his measures disconcerted, by the War Department. In January, 1813, Dr. Eustis was succeeded by General Armstrong as Secretary of War. The latter had imbibed strong prejudices against a militia force, and entertained a marked dislike towards General Harrison, who,--though possessing the confidence of Madison himself,--never knew what it was to be cordially sustained by the executive officers of the government, while he remained in service.

[Sidenote: DIFFICULTIES AND EMBARRASSMENTS.]

While General Harrison was busily engaged in distributing the supplies, and organizing the reïnforcements, as they arrived, an event took place, which, it has been truly said, “clothed Kentucky in mourning.”--The left wing of the army, under General Winchester, remained at Fort Defiance, on the site of which they constructed a new fort, named, after the general in command, Fort Winchester, till November. Having constructed a number of pirogues, for the transportation of their baggage, they moved down the river about six miles, to camp No. 3, where they were delayed until the eighth of January, 1813--suffering greatly, in the meantime, for the want of clothing and provisions. Orders were then issued for the advance. The weather was exceedingly inclement, the river blocked up with ice, and the ground covered with snow to the depth of twenty-seven inches;--yet the brave Kentuckians, of whom General Winchester’s command was almost exclusively composed, harnessed themselves to sleighs on which they placed their baggage, and performed the weary march of twenty-seven miles, to the Rapids, in two days. Immediately after his arrival at this point, the general received a message from the inhabitants of Frenchtown, a small village situated on the left bank, and near the mouth, of the river Raisin, informing him that a large body of British and Indians were about to make a descent on that place, and urgently entreating him to hasten to their assistance.

Sickness, and the expiration of the terms of service of the volunteers, had reduced the strength of his column to but little over eight hundred men; and General Winchester hesitated to place any portion of this small command, within a single day’s march,--as the Detroit river was then frozen over,--of the British forces concentrated at Malden. His officers, however, unanimously, and earnestly, advised a compliance with the request; and, impelled by motives of humanity, without waiting to communicate with General Harrison, and, indeed, contrary to his own better judgment, he detached Colonels Lewis and Allen, with about five hundred men, on the seventeenth of January, instructing them to proceed to Presque Isle, and there await his arrival with the remainder of the column.

At Presque Isle, Colonel Lewis, who had been placed in command of the detachment, learned that an advanced party of British and Indians were already in possession of Frenchtown. He therefore determined to hasten forward and attack them. The march was resumed, through the ice and snow, and at three o’clock in the afternoon of the eighteenth instant, he arrived on the southern bank of the river, opposite to the village in which the enemy, about five hundred in number, under the command of Major Reynolds, were posted. The stream being bridged with ice, Colonel Lewis formed Irishmen for action, and advanced steadily to the further shore. A warm contest ensued, which was terminated only by the darkness. The enemy were forced from their position, and driven nearly two miles into the woods, under a continual charge. Colonel Lewis had twelve men killed and fifty-five wounded. The enemy’s loss was supposed to be far more severe, as fifteen Indian warriors were found on the field,--though it could never be ascertained with certainty.

Colonel Lewis was joined on the twentieth instant by General Winchester, with two hundred and fifty men,--the latter having previously advised General Harrison, then at Lower Sandusky, of the advance to Frenchtown. General Harrison received the dispatch of General Winchester on the nineteenth of January, and, though deeply chagrined at this interference with the general plan of his operations, he set out immediately for the Rapids. His inspector general, Captain Hart, was dispatched to General Winchester, with orders to maintain the position to which he had advanced at all hazards. On the twenty-third instant, a reïnforcement of three hundred men, under Major Cotgreves, took up the line of march for Frenchtown, and on the same day General Harrison followed, with another corps, three hundred and sixty strong.

[Sidenote: MASSACRE ON THE RAISIN.]

It was all too late! The catastrophe which General Harrison feared had already occurred;--the blow had been struck that desolated so many homes, and widowed so many hearts, in the fair state of Kentucky.--Early in the morning of the twenty-second, General Winchester was attacked by an overwhelming force of British and Indians, numbering at least fifteen hundred men, with six pieces of artillery, under Colonel Proctor and the chiefs Round-Head and Split-Log. His men maintained a stout resistance--fighting bravely for hours, exposed to a most murderous fire. At length, after one half their number were either killed or wounded, the remainder--a sadly diminished band--surrendered themselves prisoners of war, upon the pledge of the British commander to protect them from Indian violence.

The pledge was basely violated. Another, and still darker feature, was added to the worse than brutal warfare waged on the part of the English government. On the day after the engagement, Colonel Proctor returned to Detroit, leaving between fifty and sixty wounded prisoners at Frenchtown, who were cruelly butchered by his savage associates,--a half-breed, who held a high commission in the Royal service, boasting, in the presence of the British officers, that the Indians were “_excellent doctors_”! The houses in which the unfortunate victims perished were set on fire, and their bodies consumed. Other prisoners, not wounded, were murdered in cold blood; the rites of sepulture were denied to their remains, and those of their comrades who had fallen in the action; and their bones were left to whiten in the wintry storm that howled its requiem above their resting place. Some perished by the way side, on the march to Detroit, from the inclemency of the weather; others sank beneath the tomahawk of the savage. The survivors,--few in number,--to the lasting dishonor of a nation whose sovereign rewarded the officer, who connived at, or tolerated these abuses, with the commission of a brigadier general, were stripped and plundered, and subjected to the grossest indignities and outrages.

[Sidenote: BRUTAL CONDUCT OF THE ENEMY.]

General Harrison was three miles in advance of the Rapids, hurrying rapidly on with his reïnforcements, when he received the intelligence of this sad disaster. Selecting a picked corps of one hundred and seventy men, he detached them to the assistance of the fugitives, but few of whom made their escape from the field of battle, in consequence of the great depth of snow. He also dispatched a surgeon, with two companions, provided with money, under a flag of truce, to attend the sick and wounded prisoners of General Winchester’s command. One of the party was murdered by the Indians, and the others were robbed, and otherwise inhumanly treated, by both British and savages. After suffering for several months in confinement, having been transferred from one dungeon to another, they were finally set at liberty in Quebec.

Had General Harrison consulted his first impulses, he would have hastened forward with his whole disposable force, to avenge the massacre at Frenchtown. Doubtless, it would have been better, had he done so--_provided he could have been successful_, which is not entirely free from doubt--and he would then have escaped the censure bestowed on his conduct, undeserved and ungenerous though it was. But the roads, miserable as they were in the most favorable weather, were covered with three feet of snow, and almost impracticable for artillery; it was not then known that Proctor had himself retired; the force of the enemy was greatly exaggerated; and the unanimous advice of his officers counselled him to fall back without delay. It might be improper to call him a bold man,--because he did not court danger unnecessarily. Yet he did not lack bravery; he was not timid; nor was his courage like “fire in a flint which will not show without knocking.” He was firm, resolute, and unflinching, when occasion required,--he was only not rash, not reckless. He was responsible for the success, or failure, of the whole campaign; the security of the entire frontier depended on his army alone,--the only barrier against the swooping torrent of Indian warriors who wanted but the opportunity to precipitate themselves on the defenceless settlements, in terror and blood.

In conformity with the advice of his officers, General Harrison fell back to Carrying river, about midway between the Sandusky and Maumee, on the twenty-third of January, in order to effect a junction with the troops in the rear, and to cover the transportation of artillery, and other stores, from Upper Sandusky. Having been reïnforced by two Ohio regiments, promptly dispatched to his assistance by Governor Meigs, he again advanced, in the month of February, to the Rapids, at the foot of which, and nearly opposite Fort Maumee, he commenced the construction of a fort, named, in honor of the governor, Fort Meigs.

The advance of General Winchester to Frenchtown, and the consequent defeat and surrender of his command, entirely deranged the plans of General Harrison for the winter campaign. The term of service of a large portion of his militia force shortly after expired, and it became necessary to call out new levies before anything further could be attempted. He therefore returned to the interior of Ohio, to procure additional troops from that state, and Kentucky. In neither was there any lack of patriotism exhibited,--but, in the latter, where there was scarcely a family that did not mourn the loss of some near friend or relative, one general outcry was raised, for vengeance upon the perpetrators of that bloody massacre on the banks of the Raisin.

The legislature of Kentucky, at its winter session, authorized Governor Shelby, who had been elected the year previous, to take command in person of three thousand militia; and Colonel Richard M. Johnson, also of that state, was empowered by the War Department to raise a regiment of mounted men--which troops were designed for the reïnforcement of General Harrison in the spring.

[Sidenote: SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS.]

Early in April, General Harrison, now promoted to the rank of major general by brevet, and appointed to the command of the eighth military district, learned that extensive preparations were being made by General Proctor and Tecumseh, for a combined attack on Fort Meigs. He immediately returned to the fort, and, in connection with the engineer officers, Captains Wood and Gratiot, labored indefatigably, night and day, to put it in a more favorable posture of defence. The fort was an octagon, containing about nine acres, and was situated on the rising ground overlooking the river bottom. At each corner there was a strong block-house, “with cannon planted so as to rake each front and command every elevated point near the fort”; the block-houses were connected by strong picketings fifteen feet high, against which a breastwork of clayey earth was thrown up, on either side. There were several long batteries also constructed, which were well garnished with cannon. The means of defence were ample, with the exception of the garrison, which consisted of only twelve hundred men, the greater part of whom were volunteers. The regulars were the 19th infantry, under Lieutenant Colonel Miller; and the volunteers present, composed the Pennsylvania brigade commanded by General Crooks. The term of service of the Pennsylvanians had expired, but they generously volunteered to remain and defend the fort. All were animated by the best spirit, and determined on holding the work as long as it proved tenable; and, when their defences failed, to sell their lives dearly.

On the twenty-eighth of April, one of the patrolling parties reported that the enemy were ascending the river from the lake, and that they were in great force about three miles below. A few British and Indians were also discovered on the opposite bank of the river, who were driven off by the fire of an eighteen-pounder gun. A brigade of Kentucky militia, twelve hundred strong, under General Green Clay, were, at this time, approaching the fort from Cincinnati, and a dispatch was now sent to quicken their march.

It was the intention of General Proctor, who commanded the British force, which consisted of between nine and ten hundred regulars and Canadian militia and twelve hundred Indians, to make a dash at the American works, and carry them, before the garrison could be reïnforced. The wary foresight of General Harrison frustrated his design. Disappointed in his original purpose, the British commander sat down deliberately before the fort, and began his preparations for a regular investment. The light troops, and a part of the Indians, were thrown across the river, with directions to occupy the most favorable positions for annoying the garrison, while General Proctor superintended the erection of batteries on the left bank. The fire from the fort prevented the speedy completion of the batteries, as the enemy were obliged to perform most of the work under cover of the night. A warm fire was kept up on the garrison by their skirmishers, but it produced little effect. No inconvenience, of especial importance, was felt by the Americans, except the want of water; the well in the fort not being completed, it was necessary to procure it from the river, after nightfall, which was attended with considerable risk, as bands of Indians were constantly lying in wait to intercept stragglers.

[Sidenote: FORTUNATE ESCAPE.]

General Proctor completed his batteries, and mounted his guns, on the first of May, and immediately opened a vigorous fire from one twenty-four, one twelve, and one six-pounder, and one howitzer. The guns in the fort were effectively served, in return. The enemy produced no sensible impression, although General Harrison made a fortunate escape. During the cannonade, he was seated on a bench attentively watching the play of the guns, when a ball came plunging down into the fort close beside him. With Napoleon at Montereau, he might have said, “The bullet which is to kill me, is not yet cast!”--The bench on which he was sitting, was shivered in pieces, but he himself received no injury.