200 - Pioneer Biography. ing, for he intended to march on his return to the Ohio river by sunrise the next morning. In the morning by daybreak, his officers, by appointment, were again in council. And still a majority of them thought it would not be unsafe to return by the way they came, and as a road was already made and they could march more rapidly than by a new route. The General argued that they had spent in the enemy's country a time sufficiently long for them to assemble, and as the Indians had permitted them to remain unmolested in their villages for several days, it was strong presumption that they were collecting somewhere. He knew them to be sufficiently numerous to give battle, if they could obtain an advantage in a suitable position for an ambuscade ; and, for these reasons, the General said he was compelled from a sense of duty to take a different route and open another road, which he did, and returned to the Ohio river opposite the mouth of the Licking. It appears that the Indians had made an ambuscade in the way by which they expected General Clark and his army to return. On the night before they crossed the Ohio river, the Indians sent runners to see what had become of them. These Indian spies lurked about the camp until they got hold of some four or five horses that had strayed outside of the lines, and returned and informed their chiefs that the Long Knives had cleared themselves. From information afterward obtained, no doubt exists that if our army had returned Joel Collins - 201 on the route that they went they would have fallen into an ambuscade, and most likely been defeated. Mr. Collins, in passing the station at Lexington on his return home, exchanged the horse he rode on the expedition for a three acre lot of growing corn, a cow. a few hogs, and some farming utensils. He also exchanged his cabin at Bowman's station for one in Lexington, and in a few weeks removed and took up his residence in Lexington. This was considered a dangerous move, for the capture of Ruddle's and Martin's stations on Licking left Lexington and Bryant's station the most exposed positions in the country. But the wild game, being considerably diminished and hunted out on the south side of Kentucky river, Mr. Collins remarked it was as well to die by the sword as by famine. On arriving at Lexington they found that on the day before, one of Mr. Collins' brothers, a single man, who had been in the country before, had arrived from Virginia by the way of Boone's trace. He was a good hunter, and next morning he rode out and before twelve o'clock returned and laid on the floor of the block-house the half of a fat buffalo. The people now considered that their sufferings had come to an end. The young corn and pumpkins supplied their wants for a while, and when the corn became sufficiently hard the mortar and pestle converted it into hominy and meal for bread. The worn-out clothing was thrown aside for suits of dressed deer and elk- 202 - Pioneer Biography. skins. The raw buffalo hide, stretched in a frame with the wooly side up, made both bed and bedstead. The covering was of the same article dressed, so as to be pliable, and spread with the wool down. In the spring of the year the people of the station ventured out; and while a part of the men stood guard, the others, with the women and children, were employed in gathering up the dead nettle stalks, the bark of which afforded a good lint for making linen. From this, Mrs. Collins in due time was enabled to provide shirts for the members of her family. The people of the station, however, were frequently annoyed by the small parties of Indians that were continually prowling about. A young man by the name of David Hunter was killed by one of these parties as he was passing from McConnell's station, a mile below Lexington, on the town fork of Elkhorn creek. When he came near the fort at Lexington he was shot with several balls and scalped. The men rushed out from the station with their rifles, but the Indians took to the canebrakes and made their escape. Joel Collins says he heard the report of the guns that were fired at Alexander McConnell, when his horse was shot under him and himself taken prisoner, and well recollected the shout of joy that was raised in the fort when, near sunset, on an evening about a week after he was taken, McConnell entered the gate, having made his escape from his captors after killing four or Joel Collins - 203 five of them. The Indians having fallen asleep one night in their encampment near the Ohio river, McConnell, by some means, cut or untied the tugs with which he was fastened, got possession of the Indians' guns, placed one gun on each knee, in a squatting position, with the muzzles almost touching the sleeping Indians. Two of them were killed the first fire with their own rifles. He kept up a brisk fire until two or three more were killed or wounded and the rest fled. He then took his own rifle, which the Indians had taken with him, and a splendid tomahawk, and left for home. Joel Collins used to relate that looking through a crack between the picketing of the fort he had a view of a skirmish between three men belonging to the station who were out cutting wood, and five Indians, in which one white man, John Wymer, lost his life, and one Indian was killed by Henry McDonald. The same party of Indians shot and wounded John Brooky, a few days afterward, while cutting wood near McConnell's station, at which time Thomas Stinson shot and wounded one of the enemy. Nearly all the men composing Lexington and McConell's station were of the religious faith called Covenanters or Seceders, believing that no man could die but in one divinely-appointed way. This faith enabled them to be cool and deliberate in time of peril and danger, and being from the course of their lives necessarily expert in the use of the rifle, whenever they came in 204 - Pioneer Biography. contact with the Indians, they scarcely ever pulled trigger without drawing blood. Their names indicate that they were of Scottish stock. The Morrisons, McConnells, McDonalds, McKinneys, Stinsons and Mitchells. Captain Robert Patterson—afterward Colonel—was an officer in the fort. About the 1st of April, 1779, Mr. Patterson built a solitary block-house on the spot where the city of Lexington now stands, which, with additional defenses afterward constructed, formed the station, the forlorn-hope of advancing civilization. Joel Collins, then a boy of ten years, residing with his father's family in the fort at Lexington, said he should never forget his participating in the shouts of joy that were raised not only by the wife and children of Colonel Patterson,, but by all the people of the station, when he entered the gate of the fort on the day after the disastrous battle of the Blue Licks, which was fought on the 19th of August, 1782. While they were crowding around him some of the men observed: " Why, Captain, there are bullet holes in your hunting shirt." "Likely enough," said he, " for I have felt a smarting sensation in parts of my body." He permitted his clothes to be removed when two or three black streaks, made by rifle balls, were plainly to be seen on his sides and back. Colonel Patterson, with Matthias Denman and Israel Ludlow, in the winter of 1788-'89, laid out the town of Losantiville—now Cincinnati. In 1804, he Joel Collins - 205 removed to the State of Ohio, and settled one mile south of Dayton, where he died August 5th, 1827.* The Todds, who belonged to the station were brave and leading men. Colonel John Todd, the eldest brother, was killed in the battle of the Blue Licks. Captain James McBride, † then a young man, from Conococheague, belonged to the station, and took an active part in the transactions of the times, but at last was killed by the Indians while engaged in surveying land on the waters of Licking river about twenty miles north-east of Lexington. A surveying party usually consisted of the surveyor, two chain-men, a marker, hunter, cook and spy. A man' by the name of Barton was in company with McBride when he was killed. He had his arm broken by a shot from the Indians, but made his escape. He stated that the party had finished their job of surveying and were on their return to Lexington along the trace that then led from the mouth of Licking to Lexington, when they were fired on by the Indians. McBride was on horseback and fell ; but was seen to rise on his feet, present his rifle, and fire on the Indians, before they reached him with the tomahawk, killing one of them. Mr. Collins thinks Colonel Patterson was also in company at the time they were attacked. Some ten or twelve years *An interesting biographical sketch of Colonel Patterson, by John W. Van Cleve, will be found in the American Pioneer, vol. ii, p. 343. † Father of James McBride, compiler of these sketches. 206 - Pioneer Biography. afterward a large white oak tree which stood near the old trace, and had the appearance of having been blazed, was pointed out to him as the spot where the transaction took place. The death of McBride was lamented as a heavy loss to the community. He had erected the first water grist-mill on south Elkhorn creek, so much needed in a new country. When the men of Lexington and those of Bryant's station were contending for military honors, it was admitted by all that McBride shot and killed the first Indian who attempted to scale the out-works at the seige of Bryant's station, and his conduct at the battle of the Blue Licks was highly spoken of. People coming to the western country by water at that time generally landed at the falls of the Ohio. But landing at the month of Limestone creek (now Maysville), and taking the trace which led thence by the lower Blue Licks to Bryant's station, was found to be the best route for those traveling on foot or horseback to the stations on the north side of the Kentucky river. Late in the fall of the year 1781, a man arrived at the station at Lexington with the pleasing intelligence that the Continental army, under General Washington, had captured the British army, under Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in Virginia. A bon-fire made with a pile of dry cane-stalks and other combustible materials was immediately blazing in the fort, and a hearty "Hurrah for General Washington and the Continental Congress" Joel Collins - 207 was heard from all the inhabitants of the fort at the close of each volley of rifles which pealed in the feu de joie fired by the men of the station. Mr. Collins could detail all the circumstances connected with the disastrous battle of the Blue Licks. I will mention one singular fact related by him which I have not seen referred to in history. He said he learned it from an old man, since he resided in the State of Ohio. This man was charged by some of his neighbors with being a tory in the Revolutionary war, and of having served the British with the Indians under the notorious Simon Girty. It was alleged that he was present at the seige of Bryant's station, and, subsequently at the battle of the Blue Licks. Mr. Collins stated that after he had become acquainted with the old man, and acquired his confidence by several little acts of kindness and friendship, he felt a strong desire to hear what the old man would say on the subject. He sought a fitting opportunity, and asked him if what he had heard was true. He confessed that it was. They then sat down on a log together (for they were alone in the woods), and the old man saying that he would tell him all about it, made the following statement: He resided in the State of New York at the time the Amer-can Revolution commenced ; a cousin of his, who had received a lieutenant's commission in the American army, made him drunk, and while in that condition, induced him to enlist during 208 - Pioneer Biography. the war ; when he became sober he repented of his engagement, but the officer refused to let him off. He deserted and fled to Detroit, then in possession of the English. Some time after he had been in that country an expedition was planned against the settlements in Kentucky, to be composed chiefly of Indians, and such of the white inhabitants as could be prevailed on to join them. The expedition was conducted by an officer of the British army, named Caldwell. The deserter attached himself to this party and marched with the expedition. After they had failed in their attack on Bryant's station and had retreated as far as Licking river, near the Blue Licks, Officer Caldwell consulted with the Indians as to the probability of their being pursued by the white people, for the position in which they were was a favorable one to give battle to and repel the whites should they come on. The Indians assured the Englishman that they had in their company an old man that by prophesy or conjuration could tell whether they were pursued or not. The old Indian after figuring awhile with his conjuring tools, pointed to an elevation in the sky above the horizon, which would leave the sun about three hours high in the afternoon, and said : " When the sun gets there, the Long Knives will be here." The Indians immediately crossed the river and formed an ambuscade where the battle was fought. Officer Caldwell, however, not placing implicit confidence in the conjuration of the old Indian, mounted a couple of his most trusty spies on fleet horses and sent them back to make discoveries. They had not proceeded very far when they discovered that the Kentuckians were coming on. The conjuration of the old Indian was strictly true. The result is known. Joel Collins - 209 As I have heretofore taken an occasion to mention the sound judgment and prompt decision exercised by General Clark in his conduct in the expedition against the Indians on Mad river, it may not be improper to attempt an apology for the error of as brave a set of men as ever bled and died in any cause or for any country. Nothing was known of the designs of the enemy until they made their attack on Bryant's station. The place was so ably defended by Captain Craig and his men in the fort, that in less than three days the enemy raised the seige and was on the retreat. In the mean time expresses were sent to Boonesborough and all the stations on the south side of the Kentucky river. Colonel Trigg and Major McGary arrived at Lexington with small detachments of men, where they were joined by Colonel John Todd, with what men could be spared from Lexington and the stations on the north side of the Kentucky river. Colonel Logan remained on the south side of the river only one day to bring up the second division from the more remote points. Joel Collins stated that it was on Sunday morning that the men belonging to the first division left Lexington, some of them being on foot and some on horseback. He and some other boys placed themselves on a fence on one side of a lane along which they were to pass, and attempted to count them as they moved off. The result had gone from his recollection, but he did not believe there were more than two hundred. How many 22 210 - Pioneer Biography. afterward joined them under Colonel Boone at Bryant's station he was unable to say. It has been said that the error which caused the defeat was committed by those brave men in not waiting until Colonel Logan came up. But it is well known to have been the almost invariable practice of the Indians, after committing any outrage in the settlements, to cross the Ohio river as speedily as possible. By pursuing this course they often effected their escape, without being overtaken by the white man. Now, if the first division had waited for the second, and the whole proved unable to overtake the retreating Indians, the whole blame of their escape would have fallen upon the first division. General Clark held a commission from the Continental Congress. These officers belonged to the militia, and did not stop (as they probably ought to have done) to choose a commander, who would have been responsible for their movements and the result. On Monday, about the same time of day that the first division had left, Colonel Logan passed Lexington, with the second division, only one day's march in the rear of the first. They appeared to be nearly the same number of men as had marched the day before. The boys belonging to the station all ran out to see the men as they passed, and Mr. Collins said he well remembered how his youthful fancy was attracted by the appearance of the captain who marched at the head of the first company. He was tall and well-proportioned; a countenance pleasant but Joel Collins - 211 dignified. There was nothing uncommon in his dress; his hunting shirt hung carelessly but gracefully on his shoulders; his other apparel was in common backwoods style. On inquiry he was told that it was Captain Simon Butler, so well known afterward under his true name, Simon Kenton. Some considerable time after they had received the news of the capture of Lord Cornwallis, another traveler arrived at Lexington, who had in his possession a newspaper containing the articles of peace concluded by the American people with Great Britain. The man was to leave in the morning and wished to take his paper with him. Such was the interest and joy the inhabitants felt at this intelligence that they prevailed on John McKinney, the school-master, to make a copy of the articles before the traveler would leave in the morning. For this purpose he rose before daylight and went into the school-house which stood a few rods from the fort on the outside of the picketing. Here, while engaged in making the copy, he was attacked by a wild-cat and fought his celebrated battle. Ever afterward he generally went by the name of "Wild-cat McKinney." He was a stout, well-built man, but rather under the common height. In the battle fought with the Indians in 1774, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha river, between the Virginia riflemen under the command of Colonel Lewis, and the Shawnees and Wyandots under Cornstalk, McKinney was wounded at the first onset. A rifle ball 212 - Pioneer Biography. passed through both his thighs which so disabled him that he fell. The whites for the moment were compelled to fall back a short distance, leaving the wounded man about half way between the contending parties, who fought chiefly from behind trees. At length McKinney, in making an effort to rise to his feet, was discovered by the Indians and another shot shattered his left wrist so badly, that in attempting to hold on to a pawpaw sapling to support himself from falling again, the splintered bone of his arm stuck into the bark of the sapling. The Indians at this juncture made an effort to reach the wounded man with their tomahawks, but the whites discovering the situation of their comrade, advanced to his relief, and shooting two or three Indians gained the ground where he lay, placed him on a blanket, and took him to their encampment. On examination it was found that in addition to the wounds already mentioned, two of his ribs had been cleft from the backbone by a stroke of the tomahawk. With the exception of losing the use of his left hand in consequence of the wound in his wrist, he entirely recovered. He was also afterward wounded by the Indians in Kentucky while out on a surveying tour. Thus it appears he was not destined to be killed by wild men nor devoured by wild beasts. It was a morning in June that McKinney was attacked by the wild-cat. The women of the station, as was their custom, were up very early attending to the feeding and milking of the cows (Mrs. Collins, the mother of Joel Collins - 213 Joel, Mrs. Masterson, and a Miss Thompson, were engaged in that occupation that morning), when suddenly a female voice, that of Mrs. Collins, rather above its common pitch, came through a port-hole on the outside of the cabin, saying : " Stephen, run over to the schoolhouse; something is the matter with the master, he hollers like he had a fit." Old Mr. Collins, with young Joel at his heels, without loss of time obeyed the call. When they reached the school-house door, which was standing open, Mr. Collins stepped in and said : "Why, master, what on earth is the matter?" He replied : "An ugly baste has been trying here to kill me, but I have got him pretty well conquered." At the same time giving a dig with his lame left hand into the side of the dying animal which he held in his arms, suspended by its teeth fastened in McKinney's breast-bone, a little below the throat. When the animal attacked him he seized it in his arms and in the scuffle contrived to get the animal's back against the writing bench or table. Grasping it by the throat with his right hand, he bore on with all his might, with his body in a doubled-up position against the table, and was not slow in dealing blows with his left fist (over which he always wore a glove, because of its being disfigured by the wound before mentioned). And what with squeezing, choking, and pounding, the breath of the creature was stopped and its life brought to a close. While matters were in this posture, some one attempted to assist him by taking hold of the dying 214 - Pioneer Biography. animal, but he said: " Wait until I come out of the door, when you can have light to see how to take the teeth out of my breast-bone." He then stepped out to the light, and Mr. Collins, by taking hold of the head of the animal and using some care, at last succeeded in loosening the teeth from the bone, and drew them out, not, however, without considerable pain to the master. The women who had then gathered around in considerable numbers expressed their fears that it was a rabid or mad cat, and that he would be in danger of hydrophobia. "Never mind," said he with perfect composure, "if it is the will of Providence that I should die in that way, your fretting will not save me." However, if the animal was mad it did not communicate the disease to him, as he lived to become a man of family, and after Kentucky was admitted into the Union as a state, was a member of the legislature. Notwithstanding his wound, Mr. McKinney attended his school that forenoon, but found himself so exhausted and in so much pain that he was obliged to dismiss the school at noon and retire to his bed. By proper applications, he was relieved from pain, his wounds healed rapidly and his usual health was speedily restored. He resided in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in the year 1820, and afterward removed to the State of Missouri, where he died at a good old age. A temporary peace was made with the Indians at the close of the revolutionary war, and a few years of tran- Joel Collins - 215 quility succeeded. The emigrants of Kentucky looked forward with pleasure to the enjoyment they would have in leaving the garrisons, in which they had been so long pent up ; and commencing farms for themselves on the rich lands of the country. But about, or previous to the year 179o, the red men again became troublesome. Generals Harmar, St. Clair, Charles Scott, Wilkinson, and Wayne, successively led armies into their country, with a view to their subjugation. Joel Collins' first tour of duty as a soldier was under the command of General Charles Scott, in the year 1791.* He was attached to a troop of horse commanded by Captain Kenneth McCoy. The expedition consisted of between eight and nine hundred mounted men, who rendezvoused at the mouth of Kentucky river. They started on the 23d of May, 1791, and by the 31st of the month had marched one hundred and thirty-five miles. Their line of march was out by the branches of White river through a stiff clay country and in a heavy rain, which completely destroyed their supplies and wore out both the men and horses with fatigue. The party proceeded with all possible expedition for the Indian towns on the Wabash river, having marched one hundred and fifty-five miles from the Ohio river. They took and destroyed the Wea and Kickapoo towns; killed thirty-two warriors and took fifty-eight * For General Scott's official account of this expedition see Dillon's History of Indiana, p. 262. 216 - Pioneer Biography. prisoners, some of them women and children. The whites did not lose a man and had only five wounded. The prisoners were taken with a view of exchanging them for an equal number of our women and children who were held in captivity by the Indians. Accordingly an exchange was made the next year, at a treaty held at the mouth of the Great Miami river by the Indian chiefs and General Rufus Putnam, commissioner_appointed on the part of the United States for that purpose. On this expedition Joel Collins rode the only horse that his father owned. In crossing the White river, on their return, the waters being very high, they had to construct rafts of logs for the purpose of ferrying over their prisoners and baggage. A number of the party who could swim stripped, and fastening their clothing to the saddles on their horses, swam them across the stream. It so happened that the horse owned by Mr. Collins being crowded by the other horses against one of the rafts in the river, sunk under it and was drowned, taking with him to the bottom Collins' sword, blanket, and all his clothing. When Collins reached the shore he found himself in rather an unpleasant condition, for a young soldier so far from home. Ensign Fowler stripped off his hunting shirt and gave it to Collins, advising him to put it on and run down the river, perhaps he might see something of the horse and regain his clothing. He did so ; a short distance below the landing there was a Joel Collins - 217 small bluff on which one of their party was standing, who called to him to run, for he could see the dead horse floating in the current which beat toward the shore at that place. Collins soon got sight of his horse. He was floating on his back and rubbing against the bottom, being thrown in that position by the weight of the saddle, sword, clothing and a small brass kettle which Collins had taken from the Indians. By starting a proper distance above, he was enabled by diving, to get hold of the girth of the saddle and scramble ashore with the carcass. He recovered his sword and clothing, but had to perform the remainder of the march on foot. The party reached the falls of the Ohio on the 14th of June where the prisoners were left, and Mr. Collins received his discharge and returned home. We next find him serving as one of an escort of a brigade of pack-horses and engaged in a skirmish with the Indians at Fort St. Clair, which stood about half a mile west of where the town of Eaton, in Preble county, Ohio, now is. The occurrence took place on the 6th of November, 1792. The parties engaged were, two hundred and fifty Wyandott and Mingoe warriors, led by the celebrated Indian chief, Little Turtle, and an escort of one hundred Kentucky militia (mounted riflemen), under the command of Captain John Adair, subsequently governor of Kentucky. In these days when men were wanting for immediate service for a special purpose it was not unusual for the 218 - Pioneer Biography. field officers of the militia to volunteer and serve for the occasion in grades far below their rank, even down to that of a private soldier. This was the case with Captain Adair and his subalterns on the present occasion. Mr. Collins stated that during the expedition against the Wabash Indians, in 1791, he frequently on mounting guard at night, had for his companion the Honorable John Brown, then a member of the United States senate, from the State of Kentucky, serving as a private soldier. From the earliest settlement of the western country all the common militia who were capable of bearing arms, were at all times subject to be ordered into actual service by the senior officer of the regular army, who might be appointed by the President to command on the western frontier. It was under this law that all the effective men, whose names were enrolled as the militia of the country of Kentucky, were, in the summer of 178o, ordered by General George Rogers Clark, to join him on the Ohio river at the mouth of Licking river, for the purpose of marching against the Indians residing in their towns on the waters of the Great Miami river. In like manner Generals Harmar and St. Clair made frequent calls on Kentucky for assistance. In the year 1791, two military forts were established in the Indian country north of the Ohio river in advance of Fort Washington, which stood on the ground where Cincinnati now is. The first was Fort Hamilton, the second was Fort Jef- Joel Collins - 219 ferson. Fort St. Clair was built early in the spring of 1792. These forts were about twenty-five miles distant from each other, and the supplies for their support were transported on pack-horses from Fort Washington. It was upon the order of General James Wilkinson, the officer then in command, that the one hundred men who were engaged in the affair at Fort St. Clair were called out to serve as an escort to a brigade of these packhorses. They could make a trip from Fort Washington to Fort Jefferson and return in six days, and encamp each night under the protection of one of these military posts. What is here stated in relation to the intentions and movements of the Indians previous to the engagement, was afterward learned from white men who were living with them at the time. The Indians being elated by the check which they had given to our army under the command of General St. Clair, the previous year, while General Wayne was engaged in making preparations for a more effective and vigorous prosecution of the war the next season, determined to make a descent upon the settlement of Columbia, then forming at the mouth of the Little Miami river. For that purpose, early in the month of November, 1792, the chiefs, with the two hundred and fifty warriors before mentioned, struck the war pole (the Indian mode of enlistment) and took up their line of march. Fortunately for the infant and at that time 220 - Pioneer Biography. rather defenseless settlement then forming at Columbia, the Indians in passing Fort Hamilton discovered a fatigue party with a small guard chopping firewood, east of the fort. This party having retired within the fort, for the purpose of taking their dinner at noon, the Indians formed an ambuscade and captured two of the men, as they were returning to their work, after dinner, about where the Hamilton Basin is now located. The Indians were informed by these prisoners that on the morning previous (which must have been on Friday) a brigade of nearly a hundred pack-horses loaded with supplies for the two military posts in advance had left Fort Hamilton escorted by a company of riflemen, mounted on fine horses, and that if they made their trip in the usual time they would be again at Fort Hamilton on their return on Monday night. Upon this information, the chiefs abandoned their design of attacking the settlement at Columbia, and fell back some twelve or fifteen miles with the view of intercepting the brigade of pack-horses on their return. They selected a favorable position and formed an ambuscade, which they occupied throughout the day on which, according to the information received from the prisoners, the brigade of pack-horses would probably pass on their return. But as the pack-horses arrived at Fort Jefferson (the post furthest in advance) on Saturday night, Captain Adair permitted his men to rest themselves and Joel Collins - 221 their horses over Sunday, by which circumstances they escaped falling into the ambuscade prepared for them. On Monday morning the brigade of pack-horses with their escort set out on their return, and at night encamped at Fort St. Clair, about two hundred yards east of the post. The Indians being informed of their position by their runners, the chiefs determined on a night attack, by which they considered that they could drive them out of their encampment, and capture the plunder. Accordingly the Indians left their ambush in the night, and some time before daybreak on Tuesday morning, by a discharge of rifles, and raising the hideous savage yells for which they are distinguished, made a simultaneous attack on three sides of the encampment, leaving open the side next to the fort. Captain Adair soon had his men under arms, and retiring formed them, on foot of course, into three divisions just beyond the light of the camp fires on the side next to the fort. And while the Indians were endeavoring to secure the horses and plunder the camp, which appeared to be their main object, they in turn were attacked by the whites; on their right by Captain Adair; on their left by Lieutenant George Madison,* and on their center by Lieutenant Job Hale. The enemy, however, were sufficiently strong to detail a * Lieutenant Madison was afterward governor of Kentucky. For sketch of his life, see Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky, p. 310. 222 - Pioneer Biography. fighting party double the number of the whites, to protect those engaged in the work of plunder. And as the side furthest from the fort was left open, they soon began to move off, taking with them the horses and other property they had secured. As soon as day dawned affording sufficient light to distinguish a white man from an Indian, there ensued some pretty sharp fighting, so close, in some instances as to bring into use the war club and tomahawk. Here Lieutenant Hale was killed and Lieutenant Madison badly wounded. As the Indians retreated across Seven Mile creek, the white men followed and hung upon their rear, but when they pressed them too close, the Indians would turn on them and drive them back. In this manner a running fight was kept up until after sunrise, when they lost sight of the enemy near where the town of Eaton now stands. On their return from the pursuit, the camp presented a rather discouraging appearance. Not more than six or eight horses were saved. Some twenty or thirty horses lay dead on the ground. The loss in killed and wounded on the part of the enemy remains unknown. The bodies of two Indians were found dead among the horses that were killed. Our people gathered up their wounded and took them to the fort, where a room was assigned them as a hospital, and their wounds dressed by Surgeon Boyd of the regular army. The wound of one man (John James) consisted in little more than the loss of his scalp. It appeared from his Joel Collins - 223 statement, that in the heat of the action he received a blow on the side of his head with a war club, which stunned him so as barely to knock him down, when two or three Indians fell to skinning his head, and in a few moments took from him an unusually large scalp, and in the hurry of the operation, cut off a piece of one of his ears. He soon recovered and lived many years afterward. Another of the wounded, Luke Voorhees, was living a few years ago in Preble county, Ohio. During the engagement a soldier by the name of Hickman, from Kentucky, received a rifle ball through one of his thighs which broke the bone and so disabled him that he could not stand. He would undoubtedly have fallen into the hands of the Indians, had not Joel Collins taken him upon his back and carried him to a place of safety. This man always affirmed that Collins saved his life; and many years afterward when these transactions had been nearly forgotten, Mr. Collins received a letter from a brother of Hickman, residing in Missouri, thanking him for the noble deed in saving the life of his brother. By sunset on the day of the action, they had prepared some rough coffins with board procured from the fort, in which to place the bodies of those who had fallen, which they consigned to the earth all in one grave. About fifty paces west of where Fort St. Clair stood lies interred the remains of Lieutenant Job Hale; next to him, and on his left, they laid their orderly-sergeant, Matthew English, then followed the 224 - Pioneer Biography. four private soldiers, Robert Bowling, Joseph Clinton, Isaac Jett and John Williams. Dejection and sorrow were expressed on the countenance of every member of the escort, as they stood around, or assisted in the interment of their fallen comrades. Lieutenant Hale was a noble and brave man; fascinating in his appearance and deportment as an officer. It was dusk in the evening before they had completed the performance of the melancholy duty of burying their comrades. What a change! The evening before, nothing within the encampment was to be seen or heard but hilarity and animation; some were feeding, rubbing, and taking care of their horses, others, cooking their evening meal, while those not on duty were measuring their strength and dexterity by athletic exercises. In relating the circumstance, Mr. Collins said: "He saw and felt the contrast then, and feels it still; but was unable to describe it." There were two ensigns attached to the escort, Ensign Buchanan, of Kentucky was one. He was not in the action, having been detained at one of the posts by sickness. The other was Ensign Flynn, who then resided in the North-Western Territory, either at Cincinnati or Columbia. His conduct in the action was favorably spoken of by Captain Adair. The men composing the escort were engaged for three months. Having lost their horses they were ordered to serve out the remainder of their term on foot. They were most of the time Joel Collins - 225 employed in herding and guarding beef cattle in the prairie below Fort Hamilton, which were collecting for the supply of General Wayne's army, when it should come on. All the ground between what was lately called the Pond and the Miami river, extending from the outlet of the pond to near where the lower part of the town of Hamilton now is, was a natural prairie, covered with a luxuriant growth of tall grass. In the early part of December, 1792, the term of service of those men expired. They were paid off and mustered out of service at Fort Washington by Major Cushing of the United States army. Mr. Collins then returned to his home at Lexington, Kentucky. In the fall of 1793, General Charles Scott marched with one thousand mounted Kentucky militia to aid General Wayne in his expedition against the Indians. They joined the main army near Fort Jefferson on the 15th of October. In this expedition Mr. Collins served as sergeant—the first office he ever held—in Captain Henry Bartlett's company of mounted riflemen. General Wayne, owing to the lateness of the season before he had been able to collect his forces, and being unprepared for a winter campaign, deemed it most prudent to suspend his march and build Fort Greenville, which being accomplished, the regular troops went into winter quarters and the Kentucky militia were discharged and returned home. The following year Mr. Collins, then residing in 23 226 - Pioneer Biography. Frankfort, Kentucky, was elected captain of a militia company. His commission, issued by Governor Isaac Shelby, bears date the second day of May, 1794, commissioning him captain in the eleventh regiment of the militia of Kentucky, to continue in office during good behavior. A short time afterward Mr. Collins received and accepted the appointment of first lieutenant in the standing army of the United States. He was ordered to enlist men and establish three military posts, on the wilderness road, being the trace which led from the old settlements in Virginia and the Carolinas to the new settlements in Kentucky. These stations were intended for the protection of the emigrants and others while traveling that road. Lieutenant Collins soon enlisted a number of men to fill up his company. He selected for his position the forks of Richland creek, being near the middle of the wilderness, as it was then called. Here, in the best hunting ground in the western country, Mr. Collins said that the three years spent in that wild region, he considered the most pleasant part of his life. Although they were compelled at all times to be vigilantly on their guard against the Indians, they succeeded in affording the necessary protection to the emigrants. In one instance a man and child were killed and a woman taken prisoner. This was all the interruption travelers met with during the three years he remained at that station, or until the final treaty of peace Joel Collins - 227 was made with the southern tribes by Governor Blount of Tennessee at Talico block-house on Holstein river. Mr. Collins had learned from Daniel Boone and others experienced in Indian warfare, the great importance of guarding against a surprise. The red men were expert in stratagem, and would seldom make an attack without having the advantage. On several occasions he profited by his knowledge of this trait of the Indian character. One morning the wild turkeys were heard to gobble on a high hill some distance in front of the fort. Some of the men were about starting out to shoot them. Collins ordered them to desist, telling them of two men that had lost their lives by being decoyed from Boonesborough in this way when the place was first settled, and that Captain Mulford of the regular army and his servant were killed at Fort Jefferson by a similar decoy. Taking three men with him and ordering the rest of the men to remain, he left the fort in a different direction from the one in which the turkeys appeared to be. When they reached a canebrake which was a short distance in the rear of the fort, Collins ordered two of the men to remain and keep a good look out, and in case the enemy had a design of drawing the men out from the fort in front, they were to rush into it from the rear. The other man and Mr. Collins, by a circuitous route, reached the opposite side of the hill from the fort. The woods being somewhat open they advanced abreast, with the utmost caution, 228 - Pioneer Biography. some distance apart. When they arrived near the brow of the hill, Collins' keen eye caught a glimpse of an Indian as he rose from behind a log, and ran or rather darted to the right. Collins instantly sprang behind a tree and beckoned to his companion on his left to do the same. After pausing a little while, they cautiously advanced from tree to tree until they reached the log where Collins had seen the Indian. Under the log was lying an Indian blanket. They then proceeded to make a thorough examination of the premises, and from what they could discover, they came to the conclusion that some four or five Indians were endeavoring to make the decoy they apprehended. Thus, by the precautions used by Mr. Collins, the lives of some of his men were most probably saved. Similar precautions were adopted by him on other occasions. After Governor Blount had made his treaty with the Indian, he sent a messenger with a letter to Lieutenant Collins, stating that by the stipulations of the treaty, Colonel John Watts, a Cherokee chief, and his people, were to be permitted to cross the Cumberland river, for the purpose of hunting and killing game, during the hunting season of that year, and requested Mr. Collins to meet and remain with those people until a more thorough reconciliation could be made, by bringing on a more familiar intercourse between them and the white people. At the proper time Lieutenant Colli ns took with him Joel Collins - 229 a couple of trusty men, and after traveling some thirty or forty miles through the woods, according to the directions of the messenger who brought the letter, they entered the hunting grounds of the Indians, near their camp. They then hoisted a flag which had been agreed upon. It was a half sheet of white paper fastened between the ramrod and stock of the rifle near the muzzle. The messenger was to make known to all the hunting party that this flag would be carried by the man written to, and was to be taken as a token of friendship. When Collins and his two men had come within a mile of the Indian encampment, they were met by two of the red men just starting out to hunt. One of them returned with Collins for the purpose of apprizing the women and children of his approach and pacific intentions, for the war had continued so long that the sight of a white man was terrifying to them. The men being all absent hunting it was as much as the guide could do to keep the women and children from fleeing to the woods on the approach of Collins and his two men. Toward sunset the hunters began to come in, and by dark Colonel Watts and his people had nearly all arrived at their camp, with John Walker, a half-breed, who spoke English and was interpreter. After eating three or four suppers with the colonel and other principal men (it being indecorous to refuse to eat with an Indian when invited, whether you need it or not), a council ring was formed by some forty or fifty 230 - Pioneer Biography. seated on the ground cross-legged. Colonel Watts, with his interpreter, and one or two more, were seated within the ring. Mr. Collins and his two men sat fronting them on the other side of the ring. The following conversation was held through the interpreter: Colonel Watts, addressing Collins, said: "Are you a captain or a colonel?" Collins answered: "A captain." (For so he was called, although in reality he only drew the pay and emoluments of a lieutenant.) "Who made you captain ?" " Governor Shelby." "Is Governor Shelby, you, and all the white people glad that peace is made?" " Very glad." "Is the white people willing that we should hunt on this side of the Cumberland river?" "I can not say that they are, unless I knew that Governor Blount had the consent of Governor Shelby in giving you that privilege." After talking some time, Walker turned to Collins, and said: " Colonel Watts says that Shelby's letter says that we may hunt here one year ; but after that we must hunt on our own ground." Collins replied : "I have heard that that was the agreement, and sup- Joel Collins - 231 pose Governor Blount would tell the truth. I do not suppose there will be any objections, unless it is from a few men who love hunting." “Is there any beech-nuts and acorns in the mountains, at the heads of Kentucky and Sandy rivers?" Collins answered: "I do not know." "How long will you stay with us?" " As long as I am needed." "Will you go with us to the road and tell the white people that we are brothers and friends? " “I will." "Is there any body at the stations on the road that keeps powder and lead to sell, or corn that they could trade for ? " "There is not." "Are not such things sometimes taken along the road to sell ? " "They are." " If the mast and game are plenty on the head waters of Kentucky river, will you accompany us there " If the cause of peace requires it, I will go." After consultation, the interpreter said they had concluded not to hunt on to-morrow, but spend the day in swinging their skins and dried meat, with a view of moving their camp the day following to some place near the wilderness trace. Accordingly, the party, consisting of some one hundred and fifty persons, with 232 - Pioneer Biography. seventy or eighty horses, removed and pitched their camp about a quarter of a mile below where the wilderness road crossed Linn-camp creek, a branch of the Cumberland river. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon of the day when the halt was called, and Colonel Watts gave the order for encamping. Every man of the Indians put off for an evening hunt. Mr. Collins went with them, and left the women to prepare the camp. Collins wishing to be in sight of the road, went in that direction. When he crossed it, he aroused a large buck, which ran out of his sight, but was soon fired on by some of the Indians, for Mr. Collins found that the Indians were ahead of him. The deer were very plenty, and the Indians' guns were cracking in every direction. Mr. Collins gave up his hunt and seated himself on a log near the road. When near sunset, he observed two men on horseback traveling on the road toward Kentucky. On seeing Mr. Collins, they halted; but he walked leisurely along the road to meet them. When he came up, they inquired if he knew what the continual shooting in the woods meant. Collins told them that a party of friendly Indians were hunting in the neighborhood. " My God ! " said they, "our people will be scared to death." Collins replied, " No danger at all." By this time a long train of pack-horses were seen coming up, with a number of men, women, and chil- Joel Collins - 233 dren. When they had advanced within speaking distance, one of the two men in advance said to them that here was a man who said it was Indians that were shooting in the woods. At this, the whole company appeared to be greatly alarmed, and some of the women commenced crying, declaring that the man belonged to the Indians himself, and intended to have them all killed, begging their husbands to turn back. Upon this, Collins handed his rifle to one of the men and stepped up near where the women were on their horses, and showed them his skin under the clothing, over his wrists, neck, and breast to convince them that he was white, declaring that he was willing that their men should take a rope and tie him fast to a tree, and if the Indians interrupted them or their horses, during the night, he would cheerfully submit to death in the morning. In this manner, Collins quieted their fears and obtained a hearing, when he persuaded them to encamp at the old camping-ground at the crossing of Linn-camp creek. Leaving his gun, knife, and tomahawk with them, two men of their party rode down with him to the Indians, he walking before them. They were kindly received by the Indians, and shook hands all round. After remaining a short time, they were presented with a fat venison, which they accepted, and returned to their camp rejoicing. Next morning the whole party was in the Indian encampment. White women and red ones mixed up in high glee of sociability. The news of the 234 - Pioneer Biography. presence of friendly Indians, near the trace, soon spread, and not a person passed the road during the three weeks that the Indians remained there, without stopping to see them. Friendship being thus restored, Collins left the Indians and returned to the station. In a few months afterward, he received a letter from Governor Shelby, informing him that a peace had been concluded and that his services were no longer needed. On his return, on the twenty-fifth of February, 1797, the governor of Kentucky appointed Mr. Collins a judge of the court of Lincoln county, being the county in which he then resided. In the following month he was married in Fayette county, Kentucky, to Miss Elizabeth Beeler, daughter of Samuel Beeler, and sister of Colonel Samuel Beeler, who was one of the first settlers on the Miami College lands, Oxford, Ohio. He then purchased a farm which he cultivated for several years, though during that time he made one trading voyage, in a flatboat, to New Orleans. In the year 1806 he removed from Kentucky to the State of Ohio, and settled on a small tract of land which he purchased on Four-mile creek, in what is now Oxford township, Butler county. His land being altogether in the woods, and few persons settled near him, at that time, the first business which required his attention was, to build a cabin and clear a piece of ground to plant corn. He spent several years in extending his improvements and attending to the business of his farm. His dwelling was situated near Joel Collins - 235 the mouth of a small stream which empties into Four-mile creek, in the south-east part of the college township, which stream bears the name of Collins' run to this day. On this stream, he constructed a small powder-mill, about twenty feet square, of rough logs, in which he devoted a portion of his time to the manufacture of gunpowder. The little mill, however, has long since disappeared. When the township of Oxford was first organized, in the year 181 I, Joel Collins and Levi Lee were the first justices of the peace, who were elected and served. He resigned the office in 1813, when he was appointed a captain in the army of the United States. In organizing the militia of Butler county, previous to the commencement of hostilities with England,* two rifle companies were ordered to be made up by voluntary enrollment ; one company of the militia residing on the east, the other on the west side of the Great Miami river. Mr. Collins enrolled himself as a private soldier, under Captain William Robeson, who had been elected to command the company formed on the west side of the river. Captain Robeson was, however, shortly afterward promoted to the office of brigade major, and the company chose his lieutenant, John Taylor, to be their commander. Taylor died shortly afterward, at the town of Oxford, and Joel Collins was * Congress declared war against England on the 18th day of June, 1812. 236 - Pioneer Biography. elected to succeed him. His commission bore date the 16th day of May, 1812, giving him the rank of captain of a rifle company; he was attached to the first battalion, second regiment, third brigade, and first division of Ohio militia. In the spring of the year 1812, General James Findlay, of Cincinnati, who had command of the third brigade, sent an order for the two rifle companies in Butler county, to parade in the town of Hamilton on a certain day named. The company which should have the largest number of volunteers on the ground, should have the honor of being taken into the service and attached to Findlay's regiment. (General Findlay acted in the capacity of a colonel in the expedition under General Hull.) Unfortunately for Captain Collins (as he thought at the time) many of his men were prevented from appearing at Hamilton on the day appointed, being unable to cross the streams of water, which were that day flooded -by the torrents of rain that had fallen the night previous. Captain John Robinson, who resided on Dick's creek, Lemon township, who commanded the other rifle company, received the appointment. Thus a kind Providence (though much against their wishes) permitted Captain Collins and his men to escape the disaster and disgrace which happened to the first army of the northwest.* They, however, held themselves in readiness for the next call. * The army under General Hull was surrendered to the British at Detroit on the 16th of August, 1812. Joel Collins - 237 It was determined, in the course of the summer, to furnish the army on the north-western frontier with an additional number of troops from Ohio. The counties of Hamilton, Butler, Warren, and Clermont were required to make up one battalion ; the counties north to make up another ; the two to compose one regiment. Early in August, 1812, Captain Collins received orders to march with his company to the town of Lebanon, in Warren county, the place appointed for the rendezvous of the troops from the counties first named. Accordingly, he gave notice to the men composing his rifle company, to parade at Hamilton on the loth day of August ; on which day a company, ninety-two strong including officers, were on the ground, a muster-roll of whom was made out, which is now in my possession.* *For muster-roll of his company, see Appendix. Paymaster Torrence writes to Major General John S. Gano, as follows: FORT HAMILTON, August 17, 1812. SIR : Captain Collins has agreed to meet the detachment at Lebanon, as you wished. I promised to them payment of his company about ten o'clock. He has really one of the finest companies I ever saw ; somewhere about one hundred strong. They are a fine, cheerful set of fellows as can be well placed in exercise. Whatever is offered to them, they are ready and willing to march when and where they are wanted. I expect to be in Cincinnati to-morrow. They have some tents and are preparing more. They expect orders from you for marching. I am, Sir, respectfully, Your ob't servant, GEORGE P. TORRENCE. 238 - Pioneer Biography. They then marched to Lebanon, where they were joined by three other companies of riflemen, respectively commanded by Captain McMeans, Captain Leonard, and Captain Hinkle; also, a company of artillery, under the command of Captain Joseph Jenkinson, and a company of light infantry, commanded by Captain Matthias Corwin. In the evening, the commissioned officers met and elected Joseph Jenkinson their Major. The command of his company then devolved upon Lieutenant Gibson. Thus organized, they met the next day and took up their line of march for Urbana, by the way of Dayton, making quite a formidable appearance. But before they reached the town of Dayton, they received the news that General Hull and the whole of his army were made prisoners by the enemy ; and that the British with their Indian allies were rapidly advancing upon the frontier settlements of Ohio. When they arrived at Urbana, they were joined by the second battalion, under the command of Major James Galloway, of Xenia. The commissioned officers of the two battalions, having assembled, elected David Sutton, of Warren county, colonel, to command the regiment. Colonel Sutton had raised a company and gone out with the first army as a captain. He had been sent into the interior, by the order of General Hull, for the purpose of transacting some business connected with the army, and consequently was not present at the time of their capitulation. He was with Jenkinson's bat- Joel Collins - 239 talion, on his return, when they received the intelligence of Hull's surrender. Any person alive now, who was living at that time must remember the consternation that this news produced throughout the whole community. So strong a feeling of patriotism pervaded the country, at that time, that it appeared as if every able-bodied man who could possibly raise a horse and gun was on the move for the frontier. In a few days a large, promiscuous multitude were assembled in and about Urbana; but they were without leaders and knew not what to do. At length Governor Meigs, General Tupper, with other leading characters, appeared on the ground with the agreeable news that General Harrison was coming on to take the command. Harrison was then governor of Indiana territory, he had been invited to Frankfort, Kentucky, by Charles Scott, governor of Kentucky, to consult on the subject of defending the north-western frontier. Governor Scott, on the 25th of August, 1812, appointed William Henry Harrison, major general of the Kentucky militia, which appointment he accepted. This measure, although complained of by some at the time, appears to have answered a good purpose. The supposed defection of General Hull had implanted a spirit of suspicion and distrust in the minds of both officers and men ; and some of them were not slow to express themselves unwillingly to enter the service under the command of any but a man of acknowledged patriotism, 240 - Pioneer Biography. and who possessed, at least, some experience in the science of war. The appointment of General Harrison, therefore, seemed to be a measure called for by the public feeling at the time. On the seventeenth day of September following, the president of the United States appointed General Harrison commander-in-chief of all the troops in the North-Western Territory. Governor Meigs gave orders for the troops to spread out for the purpose of protecting the frontiers. In making this arrangement, it was deemed proper to divide Colonel Sutton's regiment. Major Jenkinson with his battalion (to which Captain Collins belonged) were ordered to file to the left, by way of Troy and Piqua, in a direction [for Fort Wayne, while the Colonel with Major Galloway's battalion were to join the troops destined to form the center, and took up their line of march in a direction for Fort McArthur. Soon after Jenkinson's battalion arrived at Piqua, General Harrison appeared on the left wing, with two or three regiments from Kentucky, and assumed the command. The first Kentucky troops that arrived on the Ohio frontier after the surrender of Hull, were a brigade of militia under the command of Brigadier General John Payne, consisting of Colonels John M. Scott, William Lewis, and John Allen's regiments. They arrived at Piqua on the 3d of September, 1812. General Harrison, now learning that Fort Wayne was about to be besieged by the Indians, put himself at the head of Joel Collins - 241 General Payne's brigade and marched for the relief of that garrison. A regiment of. Ohio volunteers, under the command of Ex-governor Worthington, had previously marched for that place. The enemy learning the near approach of our army, abandoned their positions around the fort and fled in dismay. General Payne's brigade was stationed at Fort Wayne, and General Harrison returned to St. Mary's. Immediately after the Kentucky volunteers had left Piqua, Major Jenkinson called a meeting of his captains and informed them that he had orders to send one company as an escort of a train of wagons on their way to Fort Wayne; one company to act as road cutters, to open a wagon way along Wayne's old trace from Fort Loramies to St. Mary's, and another company to relieve a company of militia from Ohio, stationed at Loramies. The residue of the battalion to remain at Piqua for further orders. Major Jenkinson permitted the captains to decide the matter by lot, as to what company should be assigned to each particular duty. Tickets were accordingly prepared and placed in a hat. On drawing them out it fell to the lot of Captain Collins and his company to open the road. They performed that duty in about eight days, and were directed to remain in their last encampment (which was within two miles of St. Mary's) until further orders. They remained at this camp two weeks. One night, about ten o'clock, while they were 24 242 - Pioneer Biography. lying at that place, Lieutenant Nathaniel McClain came to them, as an express, to inform them that Captain Corwin's company, which was acting as an escort to twenty wagons loaded with valuable supplies for the army, were encamped about three miles in their rear; that there was good reason to apprehend that a party of Indians intended to make an attack on the escort before morning; and that Captain Corwin wished Captain Collins to reinforce him with as many men as he could spare. Captain Collins soon had his company on parade, and had to make a detail of men to remain and keep their own camp, for every man wanted to go to the relief of their comrades. Captain Collins, with more than half his company, moved off in quick time. Lieutenant McClain led the way, he being mounted on a horse furnished him by the wagoners. When Captain Collins arrived at the camp, Captain Corwin was himself going the rounds relieving his guards, at that part of the line of sentinels which they first reached. He informed Captain Collins that a considerable number of the Wabash Indians (who pretended friendship for the whites) had visited the settlements in the neighborhood of Piqua, with the expectation that the inhabitants would afford them maintenance through the winter. But our army needed all the spare provisions; and the people, after these Indians had been among them a few weeks, became tired of them, and insisted on their returning Joel Collins - 243 to their own homes. They had left in rather an angry mood, two or three days before the departure of the wagons for Fort Wayne. It was also reported to him, by some of his men, that Indians had been seen in the dusk of the evening, near his encampment, apparently in the act of spying out his position. Besides, it seemed reasonable to suppose that the contents of those wagons afforded a strong temptation to a band of starving savages, who, they had every reason to believe, were within striking distance, and who knew that these wagons were loaded with the provisions they so much needed. He had thrown out a guard sufficiently strong to form a close chain of sentinels entirely around his encampment, at least one hundred and fifty paces in advance of the wagons. It was decided that out of the reinforcements now arrived, a second chain of sentinels should be made fifty paces in advance of the first line. Accordingly, Captain Collins proceeded to place at that distance one of his men opposite to each space between the sentinels of the first chain. While in the performance of that duty, Collins heard the snap of a musket, nearly in the direction he was going. "Hail, sentinel !" "Who comes there ?" "Captain Collins, on his way placing out another line of sentinels." "Good Lord ! If my musket had not missed fire, you would have been a dead man," 244 - Pioneer Biography. " Call the sergeant to go round and let the guards know of this arrangement." Here, Mr. Collins observed, was an error committed for want of thought. A notice of the plan adopted should have been given to the sentinels, before its execution commenced. This shows what a necessary ingredient ready wit is in the mind of a soldier. Mr. Collins, however, said that he could not well censure Captain Corwin for not performing that duty or making the suggestion, as he claimed to outrank him, because of his age and experience, though it was a military blunder that had nearly cost him his life. The encampment was not disturbed by the Indians during the night, but in the opinion of those experienced in Indian warfare, it was believed that had the matter been inquired into at the close of the war, it would have been confessed by the enemy that the care and vigilance of the escort in guarding against a surprise prevented them from making the attempt. It will be recollected that these same Indians, shortly afterward, became so hostile and took such a decided part against the whites, that a regiment of six hundred men, composed of a few regulars, a volunteer company from Pennsylvania, under the command of Captain Markle, and some militia from Kentucky and Ohio, were sent out under the command of Colonel Campbell of the regular army, to drive them from their towns and destroy their habitations. But before the Colonel could finish his job, the Indians Joel Collins - 245 collected in great numbers and gave him battle, adopting the novel plan of driving a Roman wedge through one of the lines of his hollow square. Colonel Campbell and his men, however, being on their guard and well prepared, succeeded in repulsing the enemy, with the loss on his part of some fifty men in killed and wounded. There are many well known instances where the Indians have abandoned a meditated attack because they could not find the white people off their guard, and therefore, could not take them by surprise. Now, if Colonel Campbell of the standing army has justly received the applause of his countrymen, for saving himself with the loss of fifty men killed and wounded, surely there can be no impropriety in thinking well of a young militia captain who, by his own care and the vigilance of his men, saved all without losing anything. Some will attribute the caution of a young officer to a timorous or even fearful disposition. This is not always the case. Mr. Collins stated that he had often known Simon Kenton to call his men under arms at the hooting of an owl or the howl of a wolf, and there is no one who would suppose he would thus act from a principle of fear. Captain Collins and his company were afterward stationed at St. Mary's. While they were there a number of volunteers, sufficient to form another regiment, arrived from Kentucky. On the morning after their 246 - Pioneer Biography. arrival, Captain Collins noticed that they were drawn up on parade in a solid column. There was a gentleman of good appearance in front, facing the column, engaged in delivering a speech to the soldiers. After Mr. Collins had taken a position where he could see and hear, he recognized in the orator, Richard M. Johnson, a lawyer whom he had formerly seen in Kentucky, and who, he understood, was at that time a member of congress from that state. He learned from his discourse that the regiment was about to elect a colonel to command it, and that he was a candidate for that office. In the course of his remarks, he observed if they should think proper to choose him as their commander, he would in all times of danger take a position where he would be most likely to "receive the first fire from the enemy." Mr. Collins gave his opinion that although Colonel Johnson literally and most gallantly afterward redeemed this pledge at the battle of the Thames, he strongly objected to the propriety of making any promises or pledges of the kind in advance. Mr. Collins said, that in order to keep alive the spirit of patriotism, it was contended by Colonel Joe Daviess, a prominent lawyer of Kentucky, who fell in the battle of Tippecanoe, that the American people ought to pick a quarrel and have a war with somebody at least once in every fifteen years. He said in Mr. Collins' hearing, "I hope that our present difficulties with England will produce a war. Then we can have an oppor- Joel Collins - 247 tunity to exhibit our patriotism, by taking Canada, and after peace, restoring to them their territory again; and let it lie as a bone of contention, over which in due time another war may be brought on." History tells us in what manner the life of this distinguished citizen was thrown away at the battle of Tippecanoe, which was fought on the 7th of November, 1811, before war was declared against England. After General Jackson had defeated the Seminole Indians at the Horseshoe, the officer who commanded the rear guard during the action, was entering a loud complaint to the General for placing him in a position which deprived him of participating in the honors of the victory. While he was preferring his complaint, it was reported to the General that there were some three or four Indians concealed in a cave in a bluff adjoining the battle ground, who shot every man that attempted to get them out. "Now, sir," said General Jackson, " cease your complaints, and go and get those Indians out of the cave dead or alive." He promptly obeyed the order, but lost two or three of his men and was himself badly wounded. But for his boasting, these Indians might and probably would have been captured or killed without any loss. Colonel Richard M. Johnson succeeded in his election, and was ordered to report himself to General Winchester, who had arrived and assumed the command of the army at Fort Wayne, which, with the addition of this 248 - Pioneer Biography. regiment, numbered about three thousand men. The hostile Indians on the Wabash and Illinois, having thrown themselves under the protection of the British at Fort Malden, in Upper Canada, General Winchester left a small garrison for the protection of Fort Wayne and moved with his army down the Maumee. In the mean time, General Harrison being still at St. Mary's, had received his commission of major general in the regular army of the United States. He had ordered Colonel William Jennings, with his regiment of volunteer infantry from Kentucky, to join General Winchester at old Fort Defiance, at the mouth of the Auglaize river, with a large drove of beef cattle, and other army supplies. Colonel Jennings was advised of the probable time at which General Winchester would arrive at Defiance; and was ordered not to advance nearer than ten or fifteen miles without having certain intelligence that the army had arrived there. Our spies, however, discovered that old Fort Defiance, at which they were to form this junction, was occupied by the British and Indians, at least three days after the time set for General Winchester's arrival there. This intelligence was immediately communicated by express to the commanding general at St. Mary's; who ordered that the troops at that place should forthwith be supplied with three days' rations, and an additional supply of gun-flints and ammunition. And by three o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Colonels Poage's and Joel Collins - 249 Barbee's regiments of Kentucky volunteers, Colonel Simrall's regiment of dragoons, Garrard's troop of horse, also from Kentucky, and Captain Collins' company of riflemen from Butler county, Ohio, amounting in all to upward of two thousand men, were put in motion on a forced march, to ascertain what had become of General Winchester; the light horse in front, Captain Collins' company of riflemen forming the rear guard. The troops marched on at a quick step in this order until it became dark, when a halt was called. General Harrison, in riding round to form the hollow square, ordered Captain Collins to fill up with his company the space in the rear line, between the two Kentucky regiments of infantry, and to throw out a guard sufficiently strong to protect his own front. At the break of day, next morning, the bugles sounded and they were again in motion. Shortly after sunrise it commenced raining and continued to rain hard all day. But they pushed on without making a single halt until four o'clock in the afternoon, when they arrived at Jennings' encampment at the mouth of the Little Auglaize. The men being burdened with heavy packs and drenched in the rain, had a most fatiguing and disagreeable day's travel. Toward evening, it was observed that numbers of the Kentuckians were lying by the way side entirely exhausted and unable to proceed. Many of them were young gentlemen who had been delicately raised and were unaccustomed to hardships of this kind. Captain