650 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the forces, until he arrived at headquarters (Port Clinton) on the margin of the lake, on the 15th and 16th of September, at which place Governor Shelby had previously arrived on the 14th, a few minutes before the fleet had made its appearance, returning from its victorious battle. On the 15th, upwards of 300 British prisoners were landed from the fleet, and placed under the care of the infantry. A few days afterwards they were escorted by a guard of Kentucky militia under Quartermaster Payne to Franklinton and Chillicothe. Here, the movements of the American fleet is again taken up. After remaining a few days at Put-in-Bay, Commodore Perry had returned in full view of Malden and offered battle again to the British fleet, which they again declined; but they now appeared to be making great exertions to get ready for a contest. The Commodore then withdrew and came down the lake off Sandusky Bay, in hopes that the enemy would follow him, or at least come out on the lake. While at this station, three American citizens who had made their escape from Detroit arrived at the fleet in an open boat, from whom it was ascertained that the enemy (on land and water) had been greatly straitened for provisions since our fleet had been on the lake. They had previously brought up a considerable portion of their supplies on the lake from Long Point. By the same persons the land force of the enemy was stated to be 800 regulars, 1,000 militia, and nearly two thousand Indians. On the 5th of September, the Commodore informed General Harrison in a letter from Sandusky Bay, that his men were suffering very much by sickness, and that his fleet could not transport more than 3,000 men, with which number he would be so crowded as to be unable to use any of his guns. A few days afterwards he returned to Put-in-Bay to wait the sailing of the British fleet. At sunrise on Friday morning, the 10th of September, the enemy were discovered standing out from Malden. The American squadron immediately weighed anchor and proceeded to meet them. It was the intention of Commodore Barclay to engage his opponent before he could clear the islands near the head of the lake; and the wind being in the southwest was favorable to his plan. But before 10 o'clock the American fleet had gained the open .lake between the islands and the mouth of the River Detroit. About the same time the wind changed to the southeast and thus brought the American squadron to the windward, Commodore Perry then formed his line of battle, and bore up TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 651 against the enemy. An hour of awful suspense ensued. All hands stood ready, as soon as the winds could bring the hostile fleets together, to commence the desperate conflict which was to decide the command of the upper lakes, and sink or save a large portion of American soil. The fleets were new and traversed a new theater of war. The British commodore, however, was old in experience and well advanced in years. He had bled in the battle of Trafalgar, and had imbibed the naval tactics of Nelson. The American was young and had never heard the thunder of a hostile ship ; but skilled in the theory of naval war and teeming with the courage and enterprise of an American freeman, he was ready for the contest with a foe superior in force and experience. At fifteen minutes before twelve, the enemy opened his fire, but it was not returned for ten minutes by the American fleet which was much inferior in long guns. The battle then commenced on both sides; but owing to the superiority of the British in long guns their fire was found to be the most destructive. And being chiefly directed against the Lawrence, the foremost ship, in which Perry sailed, he was induced to make every exertion to close with the enemy, directing the other vessels to follow his example. In a short time every brace and bowline of the Lawrence was shot away and she became unmanageable, notwithstanding the great exertions of her sailing master. In this situation she sustained the conflict with the Detroit and Queen Charlotte upwards of two hours within cannister distance, until every gun was rendered useless and the greater part of her crew either killed or wounded. The Commodore now finding that she could no longer annoy the enemy, conceived the bold design of leaving her and passing in an open boat to the Niagara, which the lowness of the wind had long prevented, with the lighter vessels from coming into close action. At half past two the wind increased and enabled Captain Elliott to bring up the Niagara in gallant style. Commodore Perry then consigned the Lawrence to the command of Lieutenant Yarnall, whose bravery already displayed was a sure pledge that he would do everything in his power for the honor of the flag, and proceeded towards the Niagara. Standing erect in an open boat, a fair mark for the musketry of the enemy, within the range of which he had to pass, he bore his flag with the motto "Don't Give Up the Ship." His men, more careful of his life, pulled him down by force from 652 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the dangers of an incessant fire directed at him by the enemy. When safe on board the Niagara, the remnant of his crew in the Lawrence gave three cheers for joy at his success. He then expressed his fears to Captain. Elliott that the victory was lost, by the lighter vessels remaining at so great a distance in the rear. The captain replied that he hoped not, and immediately tendered his services to bring them up to a position where they could render more effectual service. The Niagara was now at the head of the lines and Captain Elliott had to proceed on this service down the whole line of the enemy in a small boat exposed to their incessant fire; yet he accomplished the perilous enterprise uninjured, though completely soaked with the water thrown upon him by the balls which struck around him. He brought up the remotest gun boats and placed them under the sterns of the heaviest vessels of the enemy, where they were enabled to do much execution. In the meantime Perry in the Niagara, which had been but little injured, made the signal for close action and determined to pass through the enemy's line. He bore up and ran ahead of their two ships and the brig, giving a raking fire to them from his starboard guns, and to their large schooner and sloop on the starboard side, at half pistol-shot distance. By this bold project of breaking through the line of the enemy, all the guns of the Niagara were brought at the same moment to bear on Barclay's vessels in the most effectual manner; and at the same time the gunboats were brought by Captain Elliott to pour destruction into the sterns of his large ships, and the other small vessels to play upon them within grape and cannister distance. Such a galling, destructive fire, could not be long sustained by the British, and their two ships, a brig and a schooner, quickly surrendered. The sloop and the other schooner attempted to escape by flight, but the American schooners soon compelled them to strike their colors. The whole squadron was thus captured, not a vessel having escaped to carry the dismal news to Malden. Soon after Commodore Perry had left the Lawrence, he had the extreme mortification to see her flag come down. But he was perfectly satisfied that she had been defended to the last extremity, and that a show of further resistance would have been a wanton sacrifice of the remnant of her brave crew. The enemy, however, were so shattered at that time that they were unable to take possession of her, and her brave commander soon hoisted her flag again. Though several times wounded, Lieutenant Yar- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 653 nell refused to quit the deck, and had the satisfaction to see the whole fleet of the enemy surrender, while his flag was flying over the shattered hulk of the Lawrence. Many other instances of individual heroism were displayed, too numerous, indeed, to be noticed in a general story. On the evening after the battle, the Commodore announced his victory to the secretary of the navy, by the following modest and much admired letter : "Sir—It has pleased the Almighty to give the arms of the United States, a signal victory over their enemies on this lake. The British squadron, consisting of two brigs, two ships, one schooner, and one sloop, have this moment surrendered to the force under my command, after a sharp conflict. "Perry." It was indeed a sharp conflict, and even late in the battle the victory was extremely doubtful. During the first two and a half hours the American squadron fought to a great disadvantage, the action being chiefly sustained all that time by the Lawrence. The fresh breeze which sprung up about the time that vessel was entirely disabled, turned the fortune of the day in the American favor by enabling all of Perry's vessels to press on the enemy, break through his line, and rake him effectually in every direction. The loss on board the Lawrence was twenty-two killed and sixty-four wounded ; and the vessel was so completely cut up that it was absolutely necessary to send her immediately into a safe harbor. The loss in the whole fleet was twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded. The Niagara had only two killed, the Caledonia, Somers and Trippe had none. The loss of the enemy was seventy-two killed, about double that number wounded, and upwards of three hundred prisoners. Commodore Perry, in his first accounts of the battle, in the above letters to General Harrison and the secretary of the navy, committed a trifling error in styling the Lady Prevost a brig; he afterwards reported her a schooner. Her commander, Captain Barclay, the senior officer in the British fleet, was severely wounded. The captain of the Queen Charlotte was killed, and also the first lieutenant of the Detroit. In the surrender the British officers were forced by Commodore Perry to retain their swords and every exertion was made to render the prisoners and wounded of the enemy as comfortable in their captivity as were the victorious troops. Such 654 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY generous conduct made a lasting impression on the gratitude of the brave and gallant Captain Bartley. Immediately after the action the slain of the seamen of both squadrons were consigned to the waters of Lake Erie. On the day after the battle the funeral obsequies of the British and American officers who had fallen, were performed in an appropriate and affecting manner. An opening on the margin of Put-in-Bay was selected for the interment of their remains. The crews of both fleets attended. "The day was fine and pleasant. Nature seemed hushed in silence, and a dead calm prevailed on the lake. The solemn looks of the officers and men, the procession of boats keeping time with their oars to the funeral dirge that was playing, the mournful waving of the flags, the deep-toned peals of minute guns, all gave the scene a melancholy grandeur which may be felt but cannot be described. How different from the scene of the day before. Now all united as brothers to perform the last honors due to the departed brave of both Nations. Three Britons had fallen, Captain Finnis and Lieutenants Garland and Stockoe, and two Americans, Lieutenant Brooks and Midshipman Lamb." They were consigned to rest on a lonely beach, where future travellers have paid tribute to their humble graves. The American people who delight to honor their brave and magnanimous defenders, bestowed many marks of their gratitude and admiration, on Commodore Perry and his brave associates. The following resolutions were passed in Congress and carried into execution : "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and the same are hereby presented to Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, and through him to the officers, petty officers, seamen, marines, and infantry, serving as such, attached to the squadron under his command, for the decisive and glorious victory gained on Lake Erie, on the 10th of September, in the year of 1813, over a British squadron of superior force. "Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause gold medals to be struck, emblematic of the action between the two squadrons, and to be presented to Captain Perry and to Captain Jesse D. Elliott, in such manner as will be most agreeable to them ; and that the President be further requested to present a silver medal, with suitable emblems and devices, to each of the commissioned officers, either of the navy or TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 655 army, and a sword to each of the midshipmen and sailing masters, who so nobly distinguished themselves on that day." This brilliant victory at once immortalized the heroes who achieved it, and opened Upper Canada to the American arms. The captured vessels were safely towed into Put-in-Bay , the Lawrence was sent to Erie to be dismantled, and Commodore Perry was ready, after he had landed his prisoners at the mouth of Portage, to transport the Northwestern Army to Malden. Today a most imposing shaft, adorned by a beacon light of liberty and freedom, which casts its rays over the scene of the action and visible over the lake in all directions to a great distance, stands as a memorial to the heroism and achievement of Commodore Perry and his gallant sailors. Viewed by future generations of Americans, it is hoped this monument may kindle in their breasts afresh, the love of home and country and honor and loyalty to a free Republic founded upon justice to all. CHAPTER XLVII HARRISON'S CANADIAN CAMPAIGN ASSEMBLES ARMY AT LAKE ERIE-CROSSES TO MALDEN-MARCH AGAINST THE BRITISH-DEFEAT OF PROCTOR AT RIVER THAMES-DEATH OF TECUMSEH- PROCTOR'S ESCAPE-AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE A REALITY. With the Maumee and Sandusky region now clear of the British and the greater portion of their Indian allies, and Lake Erie in possession of the Americans for the first time in her history, the Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Army, General Harrison, prepared for the invasion of Canada by his march against the forces under the British General Proctor. On the evening of the 16th of September, General M'Arthur received orders at Fort Meigs to embark the artillery, military stores and provisions at that place, in vessels which were sent from headquarters (where is Port Clinton, Ohio) to receive them, and to march the regulars of the garrison across the country to the rendezvous at the mouth of Portage, preparatory to their embarkation with the rest of the army. General M'Arthur had already reduced Fort Meigs to a small post in the upper corner of the old works, and quickly executed the orders for his removal. The remaining Kentuckians at that place, under General Clay, had determined to accompany General Harrison though their term of service had nearly expired; and the General himself had particularly solicited Governor Meigs for leave to accompany him, in case his men were not permitted to go. He now embarked with his suite and a number of his men, in the transport vessels which had come for the stores. The mounted regiment under Colonel Johnson, which was now also at Fort Meigs, received orders from General Harrison to encamp under the guns of the fort and wait for further orders. The company of Captain Warfield had gone from Piqua with the Governor's troops to Portage, and the captain had obtained permission from General Harrison for his company to cross with him to Canada. This circumstance connected with some others, and with the orders received from the General, produced much uneasiness in the balance of the regiment, lest it might - 656 - TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 657 have been determined at headquarters to leave them on this side of the lake. In concentrating his forces for the invasion of Canada, General Harrison had notified the Wyandot, Shawanee, and Seneca Indians near Upper Sandusky, that they would be received into his service, and about two hundred and sixty had in consequence joined him at Fort Seneca and accompanied him to the point of embarkation, under their chiefs Lewis, Blackhoof, and Snake. The two regiments of Ohio militia which had been left at Upper Sandusky, were subsequently discharged. In bringing down the military stores and provisions from the posts on the Sandusky River to the vessels on the lake, a short land carriage became necessary to expedite the embarkation. The peninsula formed by the Sandusky Bay on the right, and by Portage River and Lake Erie on the left, extended between fifteen and twenty miles from the anchorage of the shipping in the mouth of Portage, at which place the isthmus on which the army was encamped was less than two miles across from one river to the other. The boats had to travel upwards of forty miles, and to be exposed to the dangers of the lake navigation. It was therefore deemed the most safe and expeditious to transport the stores and drag the boats across the isthmus, which was accomplished between the 15th and 20th of the month, whilst the army was detained in making other necessary arrangements. The Kentucky troops were encamped across the narrowest part of the isthmus, above the place of embarkation, and each regiment was ordered to construct a strong fence of brush and fallen timber in front of its encampment, which extended, when finished, from Portage (Port Clinton) to Sandusky River. Within this enclosure their horses were turned loose to graze on ample pastures of excellent grass. The preparations for the expedition being nearly completed, it became necessary to detail a guard to be left for the protection of the horses. The commandants of regiments were ordered by the Governor to detach one-twentieth part of their commands for this service, and Col. Christopher Rife was designated as their commander. In furnishing the men, many of the colonels had to resort to a draft, as volunteers to stay on this side of the lake could not be obtained. The Kentuckians had no constitutional scruples about crossing the boundary line of the United States, and no greater insult could be offered to one of Shelby's volunteers, than to insinuate that he did not desire to cross into Canada. 658 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY This, however, was not exactly the case with all the militia assembled at the mouth of Portage. When the order for embarking was issued, the gentlemen of the Pennsylvania Regiment from Erie, were unfortunately seized with constitutional scruples. General Harrison personally addressed them and requested the officers for the honor of their State, to endeavor to prevail on their men to embark. After making an attempt to persuade them, one of the captains returned to General Harrison, and observed in a pusillanimous tone : "I believe the boys are not willing to go, General." Harrison eyed him with contempt, and replied : "The boys, eh? I believe some of the officers, too, are not willing to go. Thank God, I have Kentuckians enough to go without you." However, about one hundred and fifty of them were prevailed on to embark, under the lieutenant-colonel and major, the commandant of the regiment being sick. On the 20th, General Harrison embarked with the regular troops under Generals M'Arthur and. Cass, and arrived the same day at Put-in-Bay, in Bass Island, about ten miles distant from the point of embarkation. Next morning the Governor sailed with a part of his troops, having ordered Major-General Desha to remain at Portage and bring up the rear, which he performed with great alacrity and vigilance. On that and the succeeding day all the militia arrived at Bass Island. Colonel Rife was left in command at Portage, with Doctor Maguffin as his surgeon, and with instructions to pay particular attention to the bashful Pennsylvanians who ought for their backwardness to be disowned by their State. The whole army remained on Bass Island on the 24th, waiting for the arrival of all the necessary stores and provisions at that place. "The winds and the weather were as favorable for this movement as Heaven could make them. It seemed as if all the elements had conspired to favor the expedition. The felicity of the troops in this respect was the subject of general remark, and indeed the finest season had been enjoyed for all the preliminary movements and preparations." During the stay of the army at this place, the Kentuckians left by General Clay at Fort Meigs arrived at headquarters to join the expedition. Their services not being wanted, they were here discharged and returned home, except the General, Major Dudley and a few others, who proceeded with the army as far as Sandwich. Some of the Pennsylvanians who had ventured as TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 659 far as Bass Island, were now permitted to indulge their scruples and retire also from the service; the others continued as far as Sandwich. On the 25th of September, the whole army moved to the Middle Sister, a small island containing about five or six acres of ground, now crowded with men, having about four thousand five hundred upon it. Whilst the transport vessels were bringing up the military stores and provisions on the 26th, General Harrison sailed with Commodore Perry in the Ariel, to reconnoitre off Malden and ascertain a suitable point on the lake shore for the debarkation of his troops. They came in view of Amherstburg, but could not examine the fort, the position of which was on the river above the town, by which it was concealed from their sight. The block-house on Bare Point, three miles below Malden, had been destroyed. A dead silence and tranquillity prevailed along the shore and the inhabitants appeared to view the reconnoitering vessels with extreme indifference. These circumstances induced the General to suspect that the enemy had made arrangements to surprise him in the act of landing the forces, or possibly that he might have destroyed his works and retreated. The army, however, approached the shore on a subsequent day in full expectation that the enemy would meet them on their landing. Late in the evening the General returned to the army on the Middle Sister. A general order was now issued, prescribing the order of debarkation, of march, and of battle. On Monday, the 27th, the whole army was embarked early in the day, and set sail from the Middle Sister for the Canada shore, General Harrison, having previously circulated a. general order among the troops, in which he exhorted them to remember the fame of their ancestors, and the justice of the cause in which they were engaged. To the Kentuckians he said : "Remember the River Raisin; but remember it only whilst victory is suspended. The revenge of a soldier cannot be gratified on a fallen enemy." The winds were propitious, and the whole army approached the shore in an oblique direction, and in good order, aiming to land in an open field about four miles below Malden. The signal to land was given, and the whole flotilla in succession pulled to shore in elegant style. Contrary to expectations, not an enemy was to be seen. Some Indians had made their appearance on the shore a few minutes before, but the fire of the fleet had driven 660 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY them off. It was about three o'clock in the evening when the army landed. The line of march was soon formed, and in less than two hours the advanced corps under Ball and Simrall arrived at the ruins of Malden. The whole army came up, the American flag was hoisted, and possession was taken of the town of Amherstburg. General Proctor had burned the fort and navy yards and retreated up to Sandwich, under the impression that there were at least ten thousand Kentuckians coming against him. Immediately after the capture of the fleet, General Proctor had sent spies to reconnoitre the forces of General Harrison. They had viewed the Kentuckians while encamped on the plains of Sandusky, and had reported their number to General Proctor, as being ten to fifteen thousand men. This information had determined him to burn Malden and make his escape by retreating up the rivers Detroit and Thames, and pursuing the back route to the lower parts of the province. "No doubt his guilty fears, lest he should fall into the hands of men whose friends he had suffered to be massacred by the savages, had also much influence on his mind in bringing it to this determination. It is only from such fears and from his misconception of the American force, that one can account for his conduct. For the army of regulars, militia and Indians, which it was in his power to have concentrated, was nearly equal to all the forces of General Harrison; and the country above Malden abounded with provisions for their support. The inhabitants were probably not very willing to contribute their substance or the sustenance for the Indians, but General Proctor had the power and it was his duty to collect adequate supplies as long as the country could furnish them; and on the 13th he had proclaimed martial law, to "Take effect as far as supplying the wants of the troops under his command, or the sending away or apprehending all traitorous or disaffected persons might render it expedient." To supply the great assemblage of Indians at that place, however, consisting of warriors, squaws, and children, was by no means an easy task. Before the retreat 15,000 rations were issued daily, a fact which proves that Proctor had a very powerful auxiliary force of Indians. As soon as he had ascertained the loss of the fleet, he had commenced his preparations for retreating. About the time martial law was proclaimed, he had embarked a considerable quantity of military stores in boats, and sent them up to Sandwich. On the TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 661 17th, he had given orders to collect and take away all the cattle and provisions on the coast below Malden. He then kept his headquarters at Sandwich, having left Colonel Warburton in command of Malden, to whom he gave orders on the 20th to destroy the public property and buildings, and retreat to .Sandwich, but as McAfee observed, in the indecisive confusion of a guilty mind, the execution of this order was again suspended till the morning of the 26th, when the place, being finally evacuated, was at length destroyed. Chief Tecumseh, whose conscience could not accuse him of so many crimes, and whose Indian heroism knew how to endure the consequences, was entirely opposed to the retreating measures of General Proctor. On the 18th of September, in the name of all the Indian chiefs and warriors, he addressed the following speech to General Proctor, as the representative of their great father, the King : "Father, listen to your children ! You have them now all before you. In the war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war our father was thrown on his back by the Americans, and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge ; and we are afraid that our father will do so again at this time. "Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren, and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that he had not yet determined to fight the Americans. "Listen ! When war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance; and that he would certainly get us our lands back, which the Americans had taken from us. "Listen! You told us at that time, to bring forward our families to this place, and we did so; and you promised to take care of them and they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to that part of the business. You also told your red children that you would take good care of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad. "Listen ! When we were last at the (Maumee) Rapids it is true we gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground-hogs. 23-VOL. 1 662 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY "Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we have heard the great guns, but we know nothing of what happened to our father with that army. Our ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying, up everything and preparing to run away the other, without letting his red children know what his intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us that you would never draw your foot off British ground, but now, father, we see you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father doing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog that carries its tail upon its back, but when affrighted, it drops it between its legs and runs off. "Father, listen ! The Americans have not yet defeated us by land; neither are we sure that they have done so by water; we therefore wish to remain here and fight our enemy should they make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father. "At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated us, and when we retreated to our father's fort at that place, the gates were shut against us. We were afraid that it would now be the case, but instead of that, we now see our British father preparing to march out of his garrison. "Father! You have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his red children. If you have an idea of going away, give them to us, and you may go and welcome for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it be His will, we wish to leave our bones upon them." Had Proctor followed the advice of Tecumseh and fought the American forces before he retreated, the result must have been more glorious at least, if not entirely favorable to the British arms. On the night of the 27th, the American forces encamped round the ruins of Malden, their General having determined to pursue the enemy in the morning. In a letter to the War Department, written on the evening of the 27th, he says: "I will pursue the enemy tomorrow, although there is no probability of overtaking him, as he has upwards of 1,000 horses, and we have not one in the army. I shall think myself fortunate TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 663 to collect a sufficiency to mount the general officers. It is supposed here that General Proctor will establish himself upon the River Trench, or Thames, 40 miles from Malden." Proctor had pressed into his service all the horses of the inhabitants, which they had not effectually concealed. One only, and that a very indifferent one, could now be procured. On it the venerable Governor of Kentucky was mounted, and proceeded with the army towards Sandwich, where they arrived on the 29th, without meeting any obstruction from the enemy, except that the bridge over the Aux Canards River had been torn up, but was soon repaired again. There had been considerable expectation among the commanding officers that a formidable resistance would be made at this bridge, but no enemy was to be seen; and on arriving at Sandwich, it was ascertained that General Proctor had retreated from that place early on the preceding day. The Indians, however, were in considerable force in the suburbs of Detroit, the inhabitants of which, who had already been very much plundered, were in great apprehension of an immediate massacre. But a few discharges of grape shot from the fleet which had come up the river, soon compelled them to fly to the woods for safety. General M'Arthur went over with his brigade and took possession of the town, and the same evening General Harrison issued his proclamation for reestablishing the civil government of the territory. All persons who had been in office at the time of the capitulation of Hull were directed to resume their functions and administer the laws which had then been in force. On the 30th, which was a very wet day, the troops continued in Sandwich. The few inhabitants who remained in the town were requested to drive in beef cattle for the subsistence of the army, and being informed that if this was not done, foraging parties must be sent into the country who would probably commit depredations on the people, which it was the wish of the General to prevent, they complied and brought in a plentiful supply. Complaints, however, were made to Governor Shelby by some of the citizens, that his soldiers had in some instances violated their property, upon which a general order was issued, which effectually checked such misconduct. The inhabitants of Canada had fled from their houses and hid their property on the approach of the American army, fully expecting that the Kentuckians, like the British, would plunder and massacre all before them, but they found themselves very happily disappointed in these expectations. 664 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY The mounted regiment of Col. R. M. Johnson when last spoken of was at Fort Meigs about the middle of September, very uneasy lest they should not have an opportunity of participating in the perils and glories of the campaign. Captain Coleman, who had been sent by Johnson to headquarters to ascertain the destination of the regiment, now returned to camp, having left the army on its way from Bass Island to the Middle Sister. He brought information from the General that the regiment would certainly be called upon in a few days to cooperate with the army in the direction of Detroit. This news, together with the probability of having a brush with the Indians at least, once more raised the hopes and animated the spirits of the men. On the evening of the 25th, orders were received by express from General Harrison, for the regiment to march immediately to the River Raisin, as it was probable the army would land the next day on the Canada shore. Early next morning the regiment marched, fully expecting that they would have to encounter a strong Indian force in the neighborhood of Brownstown. The colonel took with him from Fort Meigs four light pieces of artillery, which he placed under the command of Captains E. Craig, Turner, Gist, and Sandford, each with a command of ten men. On the second day they reached the River Raisin. French-town was generally abandoned, only a few French families remaining in it. The fine orchards of peach and apple trees were loaded with excellent fruit. The bones of the massacred Kentuckians were scattered over the plains for three miles on this side of the river. The detachment which had visited that place under Colonel Johnson in June, had collected and buried a great many of them but they were now torn up and scattered over the fields again. The sight had a powerful effect on the feelings of the men. The wounds inflicted by that barbarous transaction were again torn open. McAfee, himself a Kentuckian, writes that the bleaching bones still appealed to Heaven, and called on Kentucky to avenge this outrage on humanity. "We had heard the scene described before, we now witnessed it, in these impressive memorials. The feelings they excited cannot be described by me, but they will never be forgotten; nor while there is a recording angel in Heaven, or a historian upon earth, will the tragedy of the River Raisin be suffered to sink into oblivion. Future generations will often ponder on this fatal field of blood, and the future inhabitants of Frenchtown will long point out to the curious traveller TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 665 the garden where the intrepid Madison for several hours maintained the unequal contest of four to one and repulsed the bloody Proctor in every charge. Yonder is the wood, where the gallant Allen fell ! Here the accomplished Hart and Woolfolk were butchered! There the brave Hickman was tomahawked and thrown into the flames! That is the spot where the lofty Simpson breathed his last! And a little farther away Doctors Montgomery, Davis and M'Ilvain, amiable in their manners and profound in science, fell in youth and left the sick to mourn their loss! The gallant Meade fell on the bank in battle, but his magnanimous Lieutenant Graves was reserved for massacre; for a massacre perpetrated by savages under the influence of the British—a nation impiously styled the bulwark of our religion.' " At this place an express arrived from the main army, which he had left on the Middle Sister on the morning of the 26th. He was sent while Harrison was reconnoitering off Malden, by the attentive and prudent Governor of Kentucky, to apprise Colonel Johnson of the progress and prospects of the army, that he might regulate his march accordingly. Next morning, before the regiment marched, their faithful guide, Anthony Shane of the Shawnee tribe, observed that he knew the spot where Captain Simpson had been killed. The colonels, with Captain McAfee (the writer) and Doctor Ewing, went with him to the place, and found the bones, which they buried. The frame of Captain Simpson was easily known from the others by its length, the captain having been upwards of six feet and a half high. A detachment of 100 men was now sent in advance to the River Huron, to throw a bridge over that stream for the passage of the troops, who arrived, and partly crossed it in the evening; and the balance, with the baggage wagons and artillery, crossed in the morning on the floating bridge which had been prepared for them. Soon after the passage of this river, an express arrived from General Harrison, with information that the enemy had burned Malden and fled up the River Detroit, and that the army had reached the Petit Cote settlement in full pursuit. This news put the regiment at half speed, which was continued all day. They passed through Brownstown, now evacuated, and the Magauga Village, from both of which places the Indians had fled, and had likewise deserted all their huts on the Detroit River. Arriving at the River De Corce, they found there a part of the company of Captain Warfield, which had been sent over by the General to repair e bridge. The Indians had formed an ambuscade at this place, 666 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY behind a long row of pickets on the opposite side of the river, where they had waited for the regiment all the preceding night, in the expectation that Colonel Johnson would march by night into Detroit. Disappointed in this, they had retired. Captain Warfield had brought boats to take up the artillery by water, with a view to expedite the march; but on consultation the colonel determined to keep them with him, as they were not much encumbrance. At the River Rouge the regiment encamped, and after dark received intelligence that 500 Pottawatomies were lying about six miles up that river. While the officers were consulting on the propriety of attacking them, Major Trigg arrived with a reinforcement of four companies of regulars and one of militia from headquarters at Sandwich, where some uneasiness had been felt for the safety of the regiment. In consequence of the information brought by Major Trigg, the project of attacking the Indians was dropped, and some apprehension was felt that an attack would be made by them in the night. This, however, did not happen; but while the troops were crossing the river in the morning, a Frenchman came down and stated that a party of Indians were crossing above for the purpose of giving them battle. The battalion of Major Trigg, and the volunteers who had crossed, were immediately formed in front to cover the passage of the balance. No attack, however, was made, and the whole detachment arrived in Detroit before 12 o'clock on that day, which was the last of September. When General Harrison saw the regiment passing up to Detroit, he sent Maj. Charles S. Tod with orders for them to cross as soon as possible to Sandwich. As the men had not dismounted when he arrived, they marched down to the river immediately, but no boats could be procured to carry them over. They returned and encamped, while Lieutenant-Colonel J. Johnson went over to procure boats. Late in the evening he returned with a few, having made arrangements for procuring others in the morning. On the 1st of October, Governor Shelby, a little after daylight, went to the quarters of General Harrison in pursuance of an appointment, to consult with him respecting the further pursuit of the enemy. He found the General alone and directly mentioned the appointed subject of consultation. The General, as if his mind was entirely occupied with it, immediately replied, "We must not be heard," and led the Governor into a private room, into which he had directed his aides to conduct him. Here TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 667 they soon came to the conclusion that Proctor might be overtaken in three or four days of hard marching; and it was determined not to lose a moment in preparing for the pursuit. The Governor was requested to collect his general officers at headquarters in the course of an hour, that their opinions might be taken on the occasion. They were convened accordingly at the room of the General ; and he there stated his design of pursuing the enemy, observing that there were but two ways of doing it—one of which was to follow him up the strait by land—the other, to embark and sail down Lake Erie to Long Point, then march hastily across by land twelve miles to the road and intercept him. "But the Governor thinks, and so do I, that the best way will be to pursue the enemy up the strait by land." The general officers unanimously concurred in the same opinion, together with General Adair, first aide to the Governor, who had been invited to the council. McAfee says here: "I have been thus particular in stating the facts relative to the determination to pursue the enemy, because it has been reported and believed that General Harrison never would have pursued farther than Sandwich, had it not been for Governor Shelby, and that he differed from the Governor respecting the route to be taken; but the fact is, there never was a difference of opinion between them, neither on the propriety of the pursuit nor the manner of performing it. The determination and preparations of the General to pursue, had never been suspended; and the chief object of the councils was to obtain the approbation of the Governor and general officers for the route he preferred." Colonel Johnson having been ordered to bring over his regiment with the greatest dispatch, Governor Shelby went over immediately after the council to communicate the result to the. Colonel, and apprise him of General Harrison's determination to pursue the enemy next day. Every possible exertion was made by Colonel Johnson and his officers to get over the river, but they were so obstructed by the wind and waves, that the whole of their men and horses were not gotten over till late in the evening. The marching of the army, however, had been unavoidably delayed till next day by other causes. It was necessary that a considerable detachment should be left at Detroit, to protect the citizens of Michigan from the depredations of the Indians, with which General Proctor had threatened before his retreat. It was ascertained that Five-medal, Paipock, and other chiefs had remained on the west side of the 668 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Detroit River with the Miamies, and a large portion of the Pottawatomies, and of some other tribes. General M'Arthur's brigade was, therefore, left at Detroit to keep them in check; and its place in the line was supplied by that of General Calmes, now commanded by Colonel Trotter, in consequence of the indisposition of the General. The brigade of General King took the place vacated by that under Trotter. The corps of Colonel Ball was attached to the command of General Cass. The mounted regiment formed the front guard, with instructions to cover the whole front of the army, with small parties one mile in advance, and at least half that distance on the right flank. Colonel Simrall's regiment constituted the rear guard. Such were the arrangements made for an early march on the morning of the 2nd of October; the baggage, provisions and ammunition wagons in the meantime being sent up the river in several vessels of the fleet. At sunrise on the 2nd, the foot troops were in motion, except the brigade of General Cass, who had to wait for their knapsacks and blankets which had been left at the Middle Sister, with a view to disencumber these troops for the expected contest at the point of debarkation. A vessel had been sent back for them, but she had not yet arrived. The mounted regiment was also detained while drawing provisions. But General Harrison halted the foot troops about twelve miles in advance, whilst the mounted men came up and took their place in front; in which order the army pushed forward, the Governor frequently observing: "If we desire to overtake the enemy, we must do more than he does by early and forced marches." The bridges across the ravines and creeks which empty into Lake St. Clair, had all been left unimpaired ; which seemed to prove that the enemy did not expect to be pursued on that route. About twenty miles up the road, six British deserters met the regiment of mounted men, who said they had left Proctor with his army about fifteen miles up the Thames, at one o'clock on the preceding day, and that he had between 600 and 700 regulars, some dragoons, and about 1,200 Indians. This information infused new life into the troops, and they pushed on with increased ardor till dark, having traveled about twenty-five miles the first day. On the second day of the pursuit, an early and forced march was made, which soon brought the army to the mouth of the River Thames, below which a small party of dra. goons were discovered by the spies under Major Saggett, who TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 669 pursued and captured them, together with a lieutenant and eight privates of the infantry, who had just begun to destroy a bridge over a creek a small distance above the mouth of the river. Captain Berry of the spies, made five of them surrender and bring back their boat, after they had crossed the Thames. All the men were captured, but one of the horses belonging to the dragoons made his escape and went up to the British army, from which circumstance General Proctor received the first hint of the near approach of his enemy. This little affair, the first fruits of the pursuit, had a very great effect in animating the pursuers. "The campaign was not without auspicious omens, which in the superstitious times of ancient history, would have had a more powerful effect on the minds of both officers and men, than the circumstance of capturing a small detachment of the enemy. When the army arrived at the mouth of the Thames, an eagle was seen hovering over it, which General Harrison observed was a presage of success, as it was our military bird. Commodore Perry .who had condescended to act as volunteer aide to the General, remarked that a similar circumstance had occurred to the fleet, on the morning of the 10th of September. "There was another singular occurrence in the animal creation. A sow shoat had followed a company of mounted volunteers from the interior of Kentucky. As she kept constantly with the army, she became generally known to the soldiers, who called her the Governor's pig, and were careful to protect her, as they deemed her conduct an auspicious omen. At the margin of the lake she embarked with the troops and went as far as Bass Island. She was there offered a passage into Canada, but obstinately refused to embark the second time. Some of the men attributed her conduct to constitutional scruples, and observed that she knew it was contrary to the constitution to force a militia pig over the line. In consequence of this remark, they gave her leave to stay, and return to the regiment at the mouth of the Portage River." About 250 yards above the first bridge, where the little party of infantry was taken, there was another bridge, of which the front guard took possession, and in a few minutes were informed by a guide, on whom the General relied for information respecting the country, that he had discovered a party of British and Indians. coming down to the bridge. The mounted regiment immediately formed in order of battle, but no enemy appeared, and the bridge being repaired by the infantry, the army passed over 670 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY and proceeded on their march. The vessels with the baggage had kept up with the army, and now crossed the bar at the mouth of the Thames and sailed up that river. In passing the bridge, the mounted regiment was thrown in the rear, in which place it continued a few miles till the spies in front were fired on by a few dragoons of the enemy. The regiment was then ordered by General Harrison to the front, with instructions to march briskly, but to be careful not to fall into an ambuscade. For several miles the dragoons continued to skirmish with the front guard until night came on, and the army encamped about ten miles from the mouth of the Thames. Next morning the march was resumed at daylight in full confidence that the enemy would be overtaken on that day. The order of march was altered in some respects. The front guard and foot troops were permitted to march in the road near the river, while the balance of the mounted regiment marched about a mile distant on the right flank in a succession of prairies, which ran parallel to the river. Some skirmishing presently occurred between the spies and the rear parties of the British; the mounted regiment several times formed the line of battle, and while in this situation a Canadian woman came to the front line and informed Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson that the main body of the Indians were at the forks of the river about three miles in advance, where she supposed they intended to give us battle. The march was resumed and the skirmishing continued, till the spies reached the bridge at the fork of the river. The planks had been torn off the bridge, and some of the spies having attempted to cross on the naked sills, a heavy fire was opened upon them from an adjacent wood, and from the opposite bank of the main river. Major Wood was ordered up with two six-pounders and the foot troops began to form the line of battle, as it was expected that an obstinate resistance would be made at this place. The fork on the right which the army had to cross was much the smaller stream. There were two bridges over it, one at the mouth and the other about a mile higher up. The Indians were posted in the fork near the lower bridge, and also on the opposite side of the main stream. While the army was forming, and the artillery was playing on the Indians at the mouth of the river, Colonel Johnson was directed to secure the bridge above. He brought up his troops in order of battle to that place and had a warm skirmish with the Indians across the stream. They soon fled, however, from all points, having previously torn off the TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 671 planks of the bridge and set fire to M'Gregor's mill, which was near it. The regiment lost two men killed and six or seven wounded; among the latter were Captain Craig and Lieutenant Griffith. The Indians had thirteen killed and a considerable number wounded. Nor was this all the loss their ranks sustained on this day. The Wyandot chief, Walk-in-the-Water, had left them in the morning with sixty of his warriors. He had visited General Harrison on the preceding day with a flag, desiring to make peace. The General told him he had not time to make treaties, and that if he wanted peace he must abandon Tecumseh and get out of the way of the American army, and with these terms he had hastened to comply. The bridges were soon repaired, the lower one under the immediate superintendence of the Governor and General Cass, and the other under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson; and in two hours from the time the skirmish commenced, the whole army had crossed. About half a mile above the forks, the British had set fire to a schooner freighted with military stores, and a house just below it was saved from the flames, in which there were nearly a thousand stand of arms. After marching about five miles farther, our troops were obliged to encamp another night without having overtaken the British army. But certain intelligence was now received that the enemy were only a few miles in advance. Opposite to the place of encampment, there was another vessel and a large distillery in flames, which contained ordnance and naval stores to an immense amount. Two twenty-four-pounders, with a large quantity of shells and balls, were also taken at this place. A breastwork was formed round the encampment and General Harrison continued on horseback till ten o'clock, superintending and inspecting all the arrangements of the camp. During the night General Proctor and. Tecumseh came down the river and reconnoitered the encampment, with the intention of making an attack before day, but on seeing its strength and size they were discouraged, and abandoned the scheme. During the night, Governor Shelby was also on the alert, going round every part of his lines to see that proper vigilance was preserved, till exhausted with fatigue he took up his lodging in that part of the camp nearest the enemy, where he shared the blanket of one of his soldiers. In the morning on the 5th of October, the troops were routed out very early, and as the day dawned the whole army was put 672 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY in motion. The mounted regiment took the front with General Harrison and his staff at its head, and the infantry followed after as rapidly as possible under the command of Governor Shelby. By nine o'clock the advance reached a mill near which there was a rapid in the river, where it was practicable to ford it on horseback, and at this place General Harrison intended to cross that he might reach the enemy, who were known to be on the north side. Two gunboats and several batteaux laden with military stores and other property, together with several prisoners, had already been captured that morning, and at the mill a lieutenant and eight privates were taken, from whom information was received that the enemy had determined to give us battle at no great distance from that place. The infantry in a few minutes came up with the mounted men, and the passage of the river was effected by twelve o'clock. Each horseman took up one of the infantry behind him, and the balance crossed in canoes, some of which were found at that place, and the others caught floating down the river. As soon as the whole were over, the line of march was resumed in the former order, and at every pia where the road touched a bend of the river, boats and canoes were found with military stores, clothing, and provisions, whit the enemy had abandoned in the precipitousness of the retrea After advancing about eight miles, an encampment was discovered; where Colonel Warburton had lain the night before with part of the British troops, and it was ascertained that Genera Proctor had reached the Moravian town four miles from thi place with a detachment on the preceding day. As it was no' certain that the enemy was nearly overtaken, the General di rected the advance of the mounted regiment to hasten their march, with a view to procure the necessary information for regulating the movements of the main body. When they had proceeded about two miles, they captured a British wagoner win informed them that the enemy were lying in order of battle about three hundred yards before them, waiting for the arrival of the American army. Col. R. M. Johnson, with Major Suggett and his spies, immediately advanced within sight of their lines, and acquired by his own observations as well as from the statements of the wagoner, every information that was attainable respecting the place and order in which the enemy were posted, all of which was communicated without delay to General Harrison, agreeably to his directions. The regiment at the same time was, halted and formed in order of battle. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 673 The place selected by General Proctor to resist the progress of our army was well calculated for his purpose. The ground along the margin of the river, through which the road passed, was covered chiefly with beech, intermixed with sugartree and oak timber, and tolerably free from undergrowth. At a small distance there was a marsh running nearly parallel with the river about two miles, the distance between them becoming less as you proceed up the river. Where the enemy was posted, there was a narrow swamp between two hundred and three hundred yards from the river, after which there was some solid ground, before the main swamp commenced. The British regulars were formed in two lines, with their left on the river and their right extending to the first swamp, their artillery being planted in the road near the bank of the river. The Indians were all posted beyond the first swamp. Their left, where Tecumseh commanded in person, occupied the isthmus between the swamps, on which the undergrowth was tolerably thick; and their right extended a considerable distance down the main marsh, the margin of which at this place receded very fast from the river and formed a very obtuse angle with the lines of the army. The mounted regiment in its present order of battle, occupied the ground between the river and the first swamp. General Harrison immediately came up, and on being informed that the enemy was discovered, and having satisfied himself as to the situation and views of his adversary, he directed Colonel Johnson when the infantry approached, to take ground to the left, and by forming his regiment on that flank, endeavor to turn the right of the Indians. He then returned to give orders for the formation of the infantry, who were but a short distance in the rear of the horsemen when the enemy was first discovered. While engaged in this business, he was informed by Major Wood that he had approached very near the lines of the enemy and discovered that his regulars were drawn up in open order. This information, with the suggestion of Colonel Johnson, that the thickets and swampiness of the ground on the left would render it impracticable for his mounted men to act efficiently in that direction, immediately induced the General to change his plan of attack. He determined to refuse his left to the Indians, and to the novel experiment of breaking the British lines at once, y a charge of mounted infantry. He therefore directed the mounted regiment to be formed in two charging columns in short lines, and on receiving the enemy's fire, to charge through his ranks, form in his rear, and act as circumstances might require. 674 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY The kind of enemy to be fought rendered it necessary that the rear and flanks should be well secured against his attacks. The foot troops consisting of five brigades which averaged but little more than three hundred men each, were therefore disposed in the following order : The brigade commanded by Trotter constituted the front line at a convenient distance in the rear of the mounted regiment, with its right on the river and its left extending a short distance over the first swamp. The brigade of General King formed the second line, 150 yards in the rear of the former, and that of General Chiles was posted in the road and still further in the rear, to act as a corps of reserve. These three brigades formed the command of General Henry. The division of General Desha, consisting of the brigades of Allen and Caldwell, and the regiment of Colonel Simrall, was formed on the left in a line fronting the outer swamp, to protect the left flank against the Indians in that quarter. The right of this line joined the left of the front line under Trotter, with which it formed an obtuse angle or crotchet between the two swamps, whilst it extended on the left to a considerable distance parallel with the margin of the swamp. A small corps of regulars under Colonel Paul, about one hundred and twenty strong, was posted between the road and the river, for the purpose of advancing in concert with a few Indians under the bank, and seizing the artillery of the enemy. The Governor of Kentucky was directed to take his position at the angle between the swamps, which was considered a very important point in these arrangements for the contest. General Harrison placed himself at the head of the front line, from which he would be able to observe the charge of the horsemen, and to give them any support which might be required. When Colonel Johnson proceeded to form his regiment, agreeably to the orders of General Harrison, he found there was not room for all his men to act against the British between the river and the nearest swamp, and having ascertained that he could cross the latter, he concluded to exercise the discretion which had been given him, and to carry his battalion through the swamp to attack the Indians. The first battalion was therefore formed according to orders by Lieut.-Col. J. Johnson and Major Payne, opposite to the British lines, in four columns of double files, with Major Suggett and his spies in front. Its right was placed about fifty yards on the left of the road, that it might be in some measure out of the immediate range of the British TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 675 artillery. The second battalion was marched through the swamp, and formed in two columns on horseback, with a company on foot in front, the right column being headed by Col. R. M. Johnson and the left by Major Thompson. These columns, of course, were immediately in front of the angle where Governor Shelby was stationed. Everything being in readiness for the onset, the whole army advanced in the order now described, until the front of the first battalion received a distant fire from the British lines. This somewhat frightened the horses and caused a little confusion at the heads of the columns and thus retarded the charge, giving the enemy time to prepare for a second fire, which soon followed the first. But the columns in a moment were completely in motion, and rushed upon the British with irresistible impetuosity. Their front line immediately broke in every direction, and their second about thirty paces in its rear, after giving us a fire, was also broken and thrown into confusion. Our columns having passed through, wheeled to the right and left, and began to pour a destructive fire on the rear of their disordered ranks. In a few moments the contest was over. No sooner had our horsemen charged through their lines and gained their rear, than they began to surrender as fast as they could throw down their arms. And thus immediately the whole British force, upwards of eight hundred strong, was totally vanquished and the greater part of it captured by the first battalion of the mounted regiment under Lieut.-Col. James Johnson. Before the front line of our infantry had gotten fairly in view of them General Proctor, however, made his escape, escorted by a small party of dragoons and mounted Indians, who were immediately pursued as far as the Moravian town, by a party of the mounted regiment consisting chiefly of officers. The contest with the Indians on the left was more obstinate. They reserved their fire till the heads of the columns and the front line on foot had approached within a few paces of their position. A very destructive fire was then commenced by them, about the time the firing ceased between the British and the first battalion. Col. R. M. Johnson finding his advanced guard composing the head of his column nearly all cut down by the first fire, and himself severely wounded, immediately ordered his columns to dismount and come up in line before the enemy, the ground which they occupied being unfavorable for operations on horseback. The line was promptly formed on foot, and a fierce conflict was then maintained for seven or eight minutes, with con- 676 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY siderable execution on both sides, but the Indians had not sufficient firmness to sustain very long a fire which was close and warm and severely destructive. They gave way and fled through the brush into the outer swamp, not, however, before they had learned the total discomfiture of their allies, and had lost by the fall of Tecumseh "a chief in whom were united the prowess of Achilles and authority of Agamemnon." As soon as the firing commenced between the Indians and the second battalion, Governor Shelby, who was posted at the crotchet in its rear, immediately ordered that part of the front line of infantry which lay between the first swamp and the crotchet, being a part of Colonel Donelson's regiment, to march up briskly to the aid of the mounted men. They rushed up accordingly into Col. R. M. Johnson's lines, and participated in the contest at that point. This was the only portion of the infantry which had an opportunity of engaging in any part of the battle. The Governor also dispatched General Adair, his aide-de-camp, to bring up the brigade of General King to the front line, but before this could be accomplished the enemy had fled from Colonel Johnson, and a scattering, running fire had commenced along the swamp in front of General Desha's division, between the retiring Indians and the mounted men in pursuit, who were now commanded by Major Thompson alone, Colonel Johnson having retired in consequence of his wounds. This firing in the swamp continued with occasional remissions for nearly half an hour, during which time the contest was gallantly maintained by Major Thompson and his men, who were still pressing forward on the Indians. Governor Shelby in the meantime rode down to the left of General Desha's division, and ordered the regiment of Colonel Simrall which was posted on the extreme left, to march up on the right flank of the enemy in aid of Major Thompson, but before this reinforcement could reach the scene of action, the Indians had given up the contest. Soon after the British force had surrendered, and it was discovered that the Indians were yielding on the left, General Harrison ordered Major Payne to pursue General Proctor with a part of his battalion, which was promptly done, and the pursuit continued by the greater part of the detachment to the distance of six miles beyond the Moravian town; some Indians being killed and a considerable number of prisoners, with a large quantity of plunder captured in their progress. Majors Payne, Wood, Tod, and Chambers, Captain Langham, and Lieutenants Scraggin and Bell, with three privates, continued the pursuit several TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 677 miles further till night came upon them. But Proctor was not to be taken. The pursuers, however, at last pressed him so closely that he was obliged to abandon the road, and his carriage and sword were captured by the gallant Major Wood. The pris- oilers, about fifty in number, were brought back to the Moravian town, where they were left in charge of Captain McAfee with 100 mounted men, until Major Gano arrived about midnight with a reinforcement of 150 infantry. At the head of the town six pieces of brass artillery were taken, three of which had been captured in the Revolution at Saratoga and York, and surrendered again by Hull at Detroit. The exact loss which either side sustained in this battle has never been correctly known. According to the best information, however, the total loss of the mounted regiment on that day was seventeen killed and thirty wounded. The loss of the infantry was much less, though considerable also, at the point where they reinforced Colonel Johnson, which was the principal theater of the American losses. The Indians left thirty-three dead on the battle-ground, and lost ten or twelve killed in different places by their pursuers. The British lost eighteen killed and twenty-six wounded, besides 600 prisoners captured, including twenty-five officers. Among our killed was Colonel Whitley, a veteran who had been a distinguished soldier in former Indian wars, and had been no less conspicuous and serviceable in the Harrison camaign, in which he accompanied Colonel Johnson. Captain Craig and Lieutenant Logan died of their wounds a few days after the attle. Colonel Johnson and Captains Davidson and Shortt were also wounded severely, but recovered. The Colonel was shot through his thigh and in his hip by the first fire of the Indians, and shortly afterwards he was shot through his left hand by a ball which ranged up his arm, but did not enter his body. He continued, however, in front of his men, gallantly fighting the enemy as long as the action lasted at that place. The white mare on which he rode was also shot so severely that she fell and expired soon after she had carried her rider within the lines of the infantry. Tecumseh was found among the dead at the point where Colonel Johnson had charged upon the enemy in person ; and it is generally believed that this celebrated chief fell by the hand of the Colonel. It is certain that the latter killed with his pistol the Indian who shot him through his hand, at the very spot where Tecumseh lay. But another dead body lay at the same place, and 678 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Mr. King, a soldier in Captain Davidson's company, had the honor of killing one of them. Col. Richard M. Johnson was a national character along with General Harrison. He was a lawyer and served several years in Congress. He was a candidate for vice president on the ticket with Van Buren in 1836, failed to obtain a majority of the electoral vote, but was chosen to that position by Congress. He was a candidate again for vice president in 1840, when General Harrison was elected President over Van Buren. Near the time of the great Harrison meeting at Fort Meigs in 1840, Johnson spoke at a memorable meeting of the opposite political party at Fremont and toured Ohio as did Harrison. The followers of both Harrison and Johnson attempted to make campaign capital out of the records of each during the War of 1812, while the celebrated campaign of 1840 was in progress. From the best information received, it appears that there was no material difference in the strength of the two armies in this battle. The troops under Harrison had been greatly reduced in numbers by detachments left as guards and for other purposes, and by those who were sick and otherwise unable to keep up on forced marches. The distance from Sandwich to the Moravian town is upwards of eighty miles, over which the American army marched in three days and a half, though frequently harrassed by skirmishing and forming in order of battle. and delayed by repairing bridges and procuring supplies. A body of undisciplined militia, urged along and regulated alone by their patriotism and military ardor, would necessarily be much reduced by such a journey. The whole of the regulars had been left behind, except the small fragment of a regiment under Colonel Paul. The brigade of General M'Arthur had been left at Detroit to protect the inhabitants against the Indians, and that of General Cass had been left at Sandwich, waiting for the baggage of the men, which delayed them so long that they were unable to come up with the army before the battle had been fought. The whole way from Sandwich to the battle-ground was filled with scattering parties of the militia. Hence, our force at the place of action was believed to be less than 2,500 men, which was very little more than the force actually engaged on the part of the enemy. The British part of that force appears to have been about eight hundred and forty-five strong. Its loss in killed wounded and captured was 645; and the adjutant-general of the British forces soon afterwards officially acknowledged that 204 TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 679 of those who escaped, has assembled at Ancaster on the 17th of October. This calculation is also confirmed by the official return of the troops at Malden on the 10th of September, which made them 944 in number. As for the amount of their Indian force, when it is shown by their own official papers captured with the army that 14,000 rations were issued daily to the Indians before the retreat, and that the greater part of them accompanied Proctor up the Thames, it is certainly a reasonable calculation to estimate them at near two thousand warriors in the battle. On October 6, the American troops continued to occupy the battle-ground and the Moravian town about two miles above it, being employed in burying the dead and collecting the public property captured from the enemy. This included a great variety of military stores and 5,000 stand of small arms. A large portion of this material had been taken from the Americans at the massacre of the River Raisin and the defeat of Colonel Dudley opposite Fort Meigs on the Maumee. Early on October 7th General Harrison left the army under the immediate command of Governor Shelby and returned to Detroit. In the meantime an armistice had been concluded by General Harrison with the Indians and peace terms afterwards arranged. Further details have already been told in the story of Fort Meigs. The detailed account by Captain McAfee of the battle of the Thames is given from the fact that as the last important engagement of the War of 1812 in the Northwest, it was, except as appears in Chapter Fifty-three on this subject, the finality of the British efforts to reclaim and hold as a part of their possessions the territory comprised within the Maumee and Sandusky region. Had the British held possession of Lake Erie and gained the occupation of Fort Meigs and interior American posts before peace came, the Maumee and Sandusky territory might now be under the British flag. And while Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers may be called the last battle of the American Revolution in the west, Independence to the United States in fact never came until after General Harrison broke the back of British aggression at the Canadian Thames, hastening the Treaty of Ghent signed December 24, 1814. One of the six pieces of artillery captured by the Americans at the Thames is one of the important relics of the many displayed at Fremont, Ohio. Evidently originally a French gun, it is a fine brass piece with the royal cipher of King Louis of France shown near its muzzle. It was probably captured by 680 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY King George of England as it has the monogram "G. R." with the crown near its base. It was brought to America by the British and captured from the forces under Burgoyne at Saratoga and is most elaborately inscribed as : "Taken at the storm of the British line near Saratoga by ______ October 7, 1777." After Benedict Arnold turned traitor at West Point, his name was erased from all trophies. It came to the West to be used by General Hull at Detroit and was one of the brass pieces surrendered to the British General Brock on August 16, 1812. Its second capture by the Americans as stated, at the Thames, makes it an object of unusual interest. Another relic of Harrison's victory at the Thames; the carriage of Proctor, was for many years one of the war trophies shown in Fremont. Actual peace soon settled upon the Ohio region, the Maumee and Sandusky, for the first time since the dawn of civilization in the Northwest. From the very first there was the conflict with the savage, then the contest between the French and the English, followed when the 'latter country gained sole control, by the uneasiness of the Colonists over the attitude assumed by the mother country, and the final declaration of Freedom and at last Independence. With the storm of conflict over and the rays of the sunshine of a long coveted calm penetrating the wilderness, settlers began to return to their abandoned homes, population increased by leaps and bounds, and a civilized and civil government was established and county boundaries organized. CHAPTER XLVIII INDIAN MISSIONARIES AND MISSIONS THE JESUITS FIRST IN THE NORTHWEST-THEIR WORK IN THE MAUMEE AND SANDUSKY REGION-STORY OF THE MORAVIANS-THEIR MARTYRDOM AND MASSACRE-WORK OF THE FRIENDS (QUAKERS)-EARLY ACTIVITIES OF THE PRESBYTERIANS-STORY OF JOSEPH BADGER-INDIAN MISSION ON THE MAUMEE-THE BAPTISTS AND OTHER SECTS-UPPER SANDUSKY MISSION. The earliest missionaries to the Maumee and Sandusky region were the French. The exact date of their appearance cannot be definitely stated, but according to the earliest maps of this region, it may have been during the early years of the seventeenth century. They were, it may be definitely stated, priests of the Roman Catholic Church. The earliest explorers were nearly always accompanied by priests as was La Salle on his discoveries, and his journey to the Ohio evidently was one of the occasions of their early arrival. Champlain, one of the first explorers to the Great Lakes region and before La Salle, "possessed of a religious zeal as well as an adventurous disposition," only a few years after he located, in 1608, a settlement on the St. Lawrence, invited the French Recollects, a reformed branch of the Franciscan Monks, to join him in his explorations and establish Missions among the savages who, as he reported, were "living like brute beasts, without law, without religion and without God." The Gray Friars, as the Recollects were known, landed in Canada in 1615. Quoting Randall the historian : "They soon found the field too vast for their order and the Jesuits were brought to their aid. This latter Society, the most marvelous auxiliary of the Roman Catholic Church for the propagation of Christianity in all the heathen portions of the world, established its order at Quebec in 1625, and sent its preachers and teachers wherever it was possible for them to penetrate among the copper-colored nations of the New World. The Jesuit Fathers wrote detailed narratives of their wanderings and their efforts to carry the cross to the savages of the wilderness." These specific reports have been published in a most voluminous work known as the Jesuit "Relations." Therein are told - 681 - 682 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the stories of "the sufferings and hardships, self-sacrifice and often terrible martyrdom with indescribable tortures, hardly paralleled in human history." This great zeal of the Jesuits "illumined the career of New France with a poetic glamour such as is cast over no other part of America north of Mexico." From these most valuable works, the "Relations," translated from the French and annotated under the supervision of Doctor Thwaites, Secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society, is obtained much of the information as to the early history of the Indians of the great Northwest, including the Maumee and Sandusky region. One of Champlain's exploring companions was Jean Nicolet, a young Frenchman, who arrived at Quebec early in 1618 and was immediately sent by Champlain to the Ottawa country to learn the language of the Ottawa tribes. For two years Nicolet saw not a single white man. Becoming familiar with other Indian tongues, he was employed as an interpreter. While not a Jesuit, he was a devout Catholic. It was in 1634 that he made his great adventure into the unknown Northwest. He followed the route of former explorers to where the St. Marys River enters Lake Huron. Here he started on original discoveries; proceeding along the north shore of Huron past the Straits of Mackinaw, around the north and west shores of Lake Michigan and into Green Bay. From there he passed up the Fox River to near the portage to the River Wisconsin. His advent into this region no white man had ever before penetrated was most dramatic. To impress the savage mind, Nicolet attired himself in a "grand robe of China Damask, all strewn with flowers and birds of many colors." His success in this was achieved and the Indians "had not the temerity to do other than hospitably receive and entertain a personage so extraordinary in appearance and grandiose." His diplomacy "won many tribes to the fealty of France" and only a few years thereafter the Jesuit priests "celebrated mass amid solemn services at the Sault St. Marie in the presence of two thousand naked savages." Nicolet returned to the St. Lawrence, where he was employed in important work until 1642, when he lost his life by the upsetting of the boat in which he was speeding on a mission of mercy to rescue an Iroquois from being tortured by the Algonquins, who had made him captive. Nicolet's life, character and conduct in his dealings with the various Indian tribes was such that his influence among them was great, and after his death they held in highest respect his memory. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 683 Concerning the Maumee region, according to the journal of William Trent, Jesuit priests were along this river in 1670, corning by way of Canada. From that time on they appeared frequently in this section. Rev. Father Gravier wrote in 1700 that quantities of fine grapes were found along the "Riviere des Miamis" (Maumee). When Captain Celoron in 1749 encircled most of now Ohio to clinch the French title to this region, he was accompanied on the journey, including the navigation of the entire Maumee, by Rev. Father Bonnecamps. In fact, in connection with and following closely the French discoveries, Jesuit missionaries were among the Indians of all these regions. John Gilmary Shea, the able historian of the Catholic Church in America, has written as follows : "The American Catholic Missions are unparalleled for heroic self-devotedness, energy of purpose, purity of motive or holiness of design. Nowhere can be found more that is sublime, even to the eyes blinded by the glare of human greatness. Nowhere can we show more triumphant proofs of the power of religion, even for the temporal well-being of Nations. Vast as the region was, it was to be conquered to Christ; the Latin service chanted * throughout the length and breadth of the land." These missionaries "set up their shrines of worship in the farthest fastness of the wilderness. Their sincere devotion to their cause, their self-abnegation and self-sacrifice, their privations and sufferings, the latter in every conceivable form of torture and mutilation that fiendish savagery could invent, are hardly surpassed in the annals of religious persecution. Not a few fed with their living bodies the flames of martyrdom, while the infuriated savages at the sight, yelled and danced with delight." Randall remarks that "this religion, as professed or rather enacted by the Jesuits, was, however, well calculated to attract and impress the Indian mind. * * * Romanism with its rituals appealed to him more readily than the cold and unadorned homilies of the Protestant preachers of the English Colonies. Yet "the testimony of history indicates that the conversion of the Indian was a ceremonial and superficial, rather than productive of any real change of character or conduct of life." One of the earliest Moravian missionaries observes on this point in the last days of the Jesuit activity, that "The priests seldom induced their numerous converts to lead, even outwardly, better lives. Bap- 684 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY tized savages strutted among the unbaptized, decorating their persons with rosaries as though they were strings of wampum; but were carnal and dissolute as before baptized. Genuine conversions manifested by a sober, righteous, and godly life, were rarely known." While this statement may be somewhat overdrawn, it was true to some extent when the Protestants came to do missionary work among the aborigines. Ogontz, the renowned Ottawa chief, educated by the Catholic priests and for some time a missionary among his tribe on the Sandusky, affirmed that he "found it much easier to make Catholics than Christians of the Indians." They observed the forms but were no better for performing them. However, this does not detract from the zeal and efforts of both Protestant and Catholic in their work. They did all they could for the salvation of the Indian. The savage in his religious belief was a polytheist. His gods were different forms in nature. He worshiped the sun and moon and stars; the mountains and streams and habitants of the forest. "The lakes, rivers and waterfalls were the dwelling places of spirits. The trees, the rocks, the rustling leaves; the rolling clouds, the roaring storm and the arching rainbow; the silent snow, the pattering rain ; the crashing thunder and flashing lightning * * * " each was the embodiment and manifestation of a power to be obeyed; or to be appeased if in anger. No civilized religion could eradicate their superstitions. Summing up the matter, while there might have been differences of opinion as to the value of the work of the Jesuits, and "while their converts in numbers were not commensurate with their aims and their efforts," they were many. No less than three thousand, one statement claims, embraced the faith among the Canadian Hurons. While the purpose of these missionaries seemed to be the salvation of the savage soul by the mere performance of baptism, and while they made little direct endeavor to educate the aborigine ; by their religious teachings and exemplary conduct, they modified in no small degree the savagery of the Indian nature. As Randall says further : "Opposition in many quarters, chiefly among the licentious favorites of the Bourbon court and the infidelic scholars of France, brought about the suppression of the Jesuits by the royal edict of Louis XV, throughout the French dominions, in 1764. * * * And in 1773, Pope Clement XIV by papal decree ordered the suppression of the Society TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 685 in all States of Christendom." These decrees put an end to the efforts of the Jesuits among the Indians, although non-Jesuit priests continued the work. While the Jesuits evidently circulated through the Maumee and Sandusky region, they did no permanent work here, except the so-called mission to the Sandusky, in 1749, when Father Bonnecamps after his tour with Celoron, together with Father Pierre Potier, undertook to evangelize the Indians of the Sandusky and along the Vermillion. The lack of Jesuit activities in now Northwestern Ohio was evidently caused by the hostilities of the Iroquois and their conflicts, which allowed no permanence to the Indian settlements in this section at that early period. The only authentic record of their work here, after Bonnecamps and Potier, concerns a religious chapel built near now Sandusky, in 1751, under the direction of Father Armand de la Richardie then of the Detroit region, who attempted some serious missionary work among the Indians along the south shore of Lake Erie. The work of Fathers Bonnecamps, Potier and Richardie evidently had some connection. Father Potier by the way, is mentioned by the British Governor Hamilton at the outset of his account of his expedition to Vincennes and Father Richardie is referred to at that point in this history. According to the "Relations" Father Richardie was deputed in 1728 to establish a permanent mission at Detroit. As the Recollect order was already represented there, to avoid any conflict with it, Father Richardie located his mission across the Detroit River opposite Fort Pontchartrain and at now Sandwich, Ontario. Here he built a church, a mission house, and on Bois Blanc Island established a supporting farm. It was in 1744 that Father Pierre Potier arrived at the mission to assist Richardie, who in 1755 returned to Quebec. Potier then became the mission-master. Shea again says here in his "History of Catholic Missions" among the Indians, that in 1751, Richardie "led a party of the Hurons from Detroit to Sandusky and there under the name of Wyandots, soon took an active part in the affairs of the West. They were conspicuous in the French war, and at its close in Pontiac's conspiracy, though long withheld by the influence of Father Potier. * * * During these times of trouble the missionaries were driven from Sandusky; and though a regular succession was kept up at the mission of the Assumption near Detroit, still the suppression of the Jesuits prepared for its close 686 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY and Father Pierre Potier, the last Jesuit missionary to the western Hurons, died in July, 1781." And Shea further adds, "After that the Indians depended entirely on the priests at the French posts, and the Wyandots were thus cut off from all spiritual instructions, but they did not lose their faith." Shea refers to the "Register of Sandwich" for his authority. From George B. Catlin's "Story of Detroit" covering the same ground, is taken the following: One of the early French names prominent in Detroit history was Pierre Francois de Charlevoix, He was a learned man and first visited America in 1705. He taught four years in a Quebec College, returned to France and came to America again in 1720 to write a history of Canada. In 1721 he arrived at Detroit to establish a mission for the Huron Indians. This tribe being crushed by the Iroquois and being of a "humble and contrite heart," were the first to accept Christianity, and Charlevoix came to gather the Detroit Hurons within the pale of the church. On the recommendation of Charlevoix the Jesuits of Quebec sent Father Richardie to Detroit in 1728. The Recollect Fathers governed the parish of Detroit and so, to avoid any possible conflict of jurisdiction, Father Richardie obtained permission to found a Huron mission on the Canadian shore. This mission house was built near the river front directly north of the present site of Assumption College. The size was 30 by 45 feet. It was intact until near 1800. "Afterwards a church was built and a priest's residence, a storehouse for furs, another for provisions and a blacksmith shop were established near by." Everything was done under the eye of the Jesuit Father and his assistants and it proved such an advantage to the Hurons that other Indian tribes often went to Sandwich to trade. The rivalry was not to the liking of the Detroit posts and trouble arose, especially with the Ottawas. The matter was finally adjusted by the removal of the Hurons to the Sandusky, the southern tributary of Lake Erie. After four years residence there, the old feud had sufficiently cooled to cause the Jesuit fathers at Sandwich to arrange plans for the return of the Hurons to Detroit. But the Ottawas were not sufficiently appeased to want the Hurons so near to them, and as the Hurons feared the strength of the Ottawas, the former were taken from the Sandusky to Bois Blanc Island at the mouth of the Detroit River, They remained on the Island for five years and Father Potier was sent to conduct a mission there. As Catlin further says: "In 1747, good feeling being fully restored, the Bois Blanc Mis- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 687 sion was abandoned and the Hurons were taken by Father Potier to Sandwich Point and settled about the mission house. Father Richardie returned to Quebec in 1755 leaving Father Potier in charge of the mission." The latter remained "faithful at his post and grew old in the service." On the night of July 16, 1781; he was standing near the big fireplace in the mission house reading, when he was attacked by vertigo. He fell to the floor so heavily that his skull was fractured by the andiron and he died within a few hours, aged 72 years. His remains were buried beneath the altar of the old church. In 1851 the present Church of the Assumption was built and the remains of Father Potier were reinterred beneath the altar of the new edifice. These details are given on account of their relation to the mission on the Sandusky and other Northwest Ohio territory. Concerning the lower Maumee section, Rev. Edmund Burke probably in the spring of 1795, and some time after the British established Fort Miami, occupied or built a log house near the fort as a Roman Catholic Chapel and ministered to the Catholic soldiers. Father Gabriel Richards and other priests, thereafter from Detroit, visited the settlements along the Maumee and administered to such as required their services. One writer says that "While such visits had been occasionally made since the suppression of the Jesuits in 1764, few if any worked with the missionary fervor among the Indians that was formerly displayed by that devoted sect." In a letter written by Father Burke from the "Miamis" to Archbishop Troy, the following passage occurs : "I wrote from Quebec, if I rightly remember, the day before departure fbr this country; am now distant about five hundred leagues from it, on the western side of Lake Erie, within a few miles of the Miami fort, lately built by the British government, * * * I'm here in the midst of Indians, all heathens. This day a grand council was held in my house by the Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottowatomies. These people receive a certain quantity of Indian corn from the government, and I have been appointed to distribute it. That gives me a consequence among them which I hope will be useful, as soon as I can speak their language, which is not difficult. "This (is) the last and most distant parish inhabited by Catholics on this earth; in it is neither law, justice nor subjection. You never meet a man, either Indian or Canadian, without his gun in his hand and his knife at his breast. My house is on the 688 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY banks of a river which falls into the lake, full of fish and fowl of all sorts; the finest climate in the world, and the most fertile lands. * * * Next summer I go on three hundred leagues towards Mackina, or Lake Superior, where there are some Christian Indians, to see if I can collect them." This letter is dated February 2, 1796. In the treaty at the Foot of the Maumee Rapids, made in 1817, the following reference to the Catholic converts referred to earlier is made : "Some of the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Pottawatomie tribes being attached to the Catholic religion, and believing they may wish some of their children hereafter educated, do grant to the rector of the Catholic Church of St. Anne of Detroit for the use of the said church, and to the corporation of the college at Detroit for the use of the said college, to be retained or sold as the said rector and corporation may judge expedient, each one-half of three sections of land to contain six hundred and forty acres of land on the River Raisin at a place called Macon, and three sections of land not yet located, which tracts were reserved for the use of the said Aborigines by the Treaty of Detroit in 1807. And the Superintendent of Aborigine Affairs in the Territory of Michigan (Governor Lewis Cass) is authorized on the part of the said Aborigines to select the said tracts of land." Another Christianizing ministry which entered the Ohio country at an early date and which played a prominent part in its early history, were the Moravian missionaries. David Zeisberger and his life companion and colaborer John Heckewelder were the leaders in the Ohio operations. Zeisberger was born in Austrian Moravia in 1721, emigrated to Georgia in America in 1737, was a missionary to the Iroquois tribes and first visited the Ohio Indians in 1771. He established the first Moravian settlement at Schoenbrunn in Tuscarawas County in 1772 and died at Goshen, Tuscarawas County, in 1808. Heckewelder was a native of Saxony, born in 1743. He arrived at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1754, and with Zeisberger founded the Moravian Missions on the Muskingum, the first Christian missions in Ohio, unless the Sandusky chapel on the Sandusky is considered. Before taking up their story, however, it is worthy of mention that on Christmas Day, 1750, Christopher Gist on his journey into the Ohio country for the first Ohio Company, at the Wyandot Town of the Upper Muskingum, held religious services in the presence of a number of traders and "several of the well-disposed TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 689 Indians who came freely." Gist spoke of the "doctrine of Salvation—Faith and good works, as extracted from the Homilies of the Church of England" ; which he read to his hearers and which was interpreted to the Indians by his companion, Andrew Montour. The Indians were well pleased and returned thanks to Gist and gave him the name of "Annosanah," a devout man "who had once lived among them." This has been claimed as the "first Protestant religious service ever held within the limits of the present State of Ohio." It is not necessary to follow the history in detail of the "Moravian Brethren," as they were called, after they came to America. The Moravians as a society of Christians can be traced back as far as 1457. Bohemia was the refuge of the "religious, liberty-loving Teutons, who refused to succumb to the sway of the Papal church." The Waldenses in Italy and France in the pre-Reformation period in large numbers, fled to Bohemia and the adjacent Moravia. It was from this branch that Zeisberger and Heckewelder came to America, the "refuge of the free-minded in religion, as well as the liberty-loving in civil government." As noted, Zeisberger came to the Ohio region from Georgia and Heckewelder from Pennsylvania. In dealing with the explorations of the Ohio country, reference has already been made to the Moravians among the Delawares of Eastern Ohio. While the French missionaries were operating among the Wyandots or Hurons about the Sandusky region and Detroit, the Delawares coming into the Ohio section from the East, where they had come in contact with the whites, were to receive the attention of the Protestants. The Delawares favorably disposed to the Moravians in Pennsylvania were kept in mind by this religious organization, "a sect as zealous in spreading Protestantism among the Indians as were the Jesuits in proclaiming the Catholic faith." It was in 1761, as has already been mentioned that the Rev. Frederick Post, the ardent Moravian missionary and well known Indian interpreter, and Heckewelder, built the first cabin of a proposed mission near where is now the town of Bolivar, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Post was obliged to return to Pennsylvania, and Heckewelder being unable to cope with the conditions alone, such as the growing hostility of the Indians, after experiencing untold privations and dangers, found his way back to Pennsylvania. As told by H. C. Shetrone in his story of "The Indian in 690 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Ohio," in 1772, ten years later, the mission was successfully established when David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder, accompanied by a number of Delaware Indian converts arrived at the Tuscarawas town on the Muskingum. Here the Delaware chief, Netawatwees, received them graciously and granted a tract of land for the building of a mission. The mission was named Schoenbrunn—beautiful spring—from the delightful spring of water near at hand; and it was the fountain from which sprung the first Protestant religious organization in now Ohio. In the valley of the Muskingum other Moravian settlements were soon established, prominent among which the same year (1772) was the Town of Gnadenhutten settled by a band of Christian Mohican Indians under the guidance of Joshua, an Indian convert. Salem was a third historical settlement. The story of the Ohio Moravians is so intimately entwined with the Sandusky region and other territory with which this history is concerned, that a somewhat detailed account is worth giving, as quoted from the narrative by Shetrone as follows: "Under the leadership of Zeisberger, Heckewelder and their associates, the native converts were to turn from the ways of savagery and barbarism to the light of civilization and humanity, The wilderness with its precarious existence, was to give way to the settled community with its fields of grain and plenty, while the tomahawk and scalping knife, emblems of butchery and bloodshed, were to be supplanted by the axe and the hoe, symbols of industry and prosperity. "Throughout all the years of contest between the Colonists and the British for possession of the Ohio country the Moravians, although unfavorably located at the very meeting point of conflict, as conducted from Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit, maintained an attitude of strict neutrality. This very neutrality made their position a difficult one to maintain, for while refraining from actively participating with either side, their creed demanded that they protect non-combatants and prevent needless suffering and loss of life. The result of this commendable policy was inevitably suspicion on the part either the Colonists or the British, as circumstances might seem to suggest; but on the whole, as Colonel Brodhead, then commandant at Fort Pitt, declared 'These (Moravian) Indians had conducted themselves from the commencement of the war, in a manner that did them honor; that neither the English nor the Americans, could with justice reproach them with improper conduct in their situation.' TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 691 "As early as the spring of 1778 British headquarters at Detroit, through the Girtys, McKee and Elliott, connived to win the Delawares from their neutrality. These renegades, visiting the Delawares at their towns on the Muskingum, particularly at Goschoschgung, represented to them that the American Republic already was crushed, and that the refugees from the Continental army were pushing their way westward to attack the Ohio tribes. Through the efforts of Heckewelder, aided by the loyal Captain White Eyes, the tribesmen were persuaded of the falsity of these claims, and those of the Delawares, led by Captain Pipe, who inclined to the British and advocated immediate war upon the Americans, were temporarily quieted. "It was in the autumn of this same year that the historic treaty of Fort Pitt, with the Delawares, was effected—the first treaty between the United States and the Indians. This treaty, paved the way for the erection of Fort Laurens—the first fort built by Americans upon Ohio soil. The siege of this fort by the British and their Indian allies (already told), which occurred in the following spring (1779) foreshadowed the beginning of a defection to the British on the part of the Delawares. This defection, which was to cost them dearly, was in great part the result of the death of White Eyes, their erstwhile most influential leader. Shortly after the Fort Pitt treaty, in which he took a great interest and played an important part, White Eyes, the staunch friend of the Moravians and of the Americans, was stricken with small pox, and died at the Tuscarawas capital of the Muskingum Delawares. In the death of this 'great counsellor and good man,' the Moravian missions and the colonists lost one of their most ardent supporters. To these his death came as a great calamity; but not so to Captain Pipe, or Hopocan, chief of the Monsey clan of Delawares, nor to the British themselves. Hopocan, who openly championed the cause of the British, in whose pay he was then acting, seized the opportunity to widen the scope of his power and to influence his people against the Americans. His principal opponent in the counsels of the Delawares was Captain Killbuck, who while generally favorable to the Americans, lacked the brilliancy and leadership which were Hopocan's. In the winter of 1780, throwing off all pretense Hopocan, accompanied by his band of Munseys, quitted his town on the Walhonding and removed to the Sandusky River, where, on the banks of Tymochtee Creek, a tributary, he established what became known as Pipe's town. Thus located, he was able 692 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the more readily to cooperate with his British employers, who at this time maintained a sort of secondary headquarters at the Wyandot towns on the Sandusky, from which raids to the south and east were launched. "The opening of spring, 1781—that eventful year which was to witness the pathetic exodus of the Moravians from their peaceful homes—found the Delaware nation aligned as follows: The Moravian Christians maintained their neutrality, but unconsciously leaned toward the Americans, owing to the harshness of the British in attempts at coercing them to the British cause; the Munsey clan, under Captain Pipe, had definitely repudiated the Americans; while the remainder of the non-Christian Delawares were veering ominously toward the British. "Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Colonel Brodhead (American) , commandant at Fort Pitt, prepared to act. In April, with 300 troops consisting of Regulars and Virginia Militia, he crossed the Ohio and proceeded to Goschoschgung, the Delaware headquarters, on the site of Coshocton. The inhabitants taken by surprise, were captured, after which the town was looted, the newly planted fields devastated, live-stock killed or driven off, and much property damaged or burned. Of the captured warriors sixteen of the leaders, singled out by Pekillon, a Delaware who had accompanied the Brodhead expedition, were condemned to die. With the approach of night they were led to the outskirts of the town where they were brutally and inhumanly tomahawked and scalped. The remaining captives, in charge of the militia of the raiding party, were billeted to be taken to Fort Pitt. The return march had not proceeded far, however, before the militiamen inaugurated a wanton carnival of bloodshed, in which some twenty warriors were shot down. Frightened and enraged, the Delawares hastily withdrew to the north and west, where they took their stand upon the Scioto and the Sandusky; and the Muskingum valley, except for the fortuitous Moravians, become for the time a 'no-man's-land.' Colonel Brodhead strongly urged the Missionaries and their converts to accompany him to Fort Pitt and thus avert the threatening vengeance of the non-Christian Indians, but with a few exceptions the Moravians chose to remain and face their destiny in their cherished homes. "The pathetic events which followed might have furnished a theme as promising as that upon which Longfellow based his immortal 'Evangeline ;' for while the. Acadian exile involved a much greater number of individuals, the extra added feature of cold- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 693 blooded massacre perpetuated by those whom they had in every way befriended, gives to the Moravian atrocity the finishing touch of inhuman barbarity and the last word in tragedy and atrocity. `Bearing a nation, with all its household gods, into exile, Exile without an end, and without an example in history.' "The work of Brodhead had effectively alienated the non-Christian Delawares and adjacent tribes, who immediately flocked to the standard of the British. The time was ripe for the latter to act, and once for all break up the Moravian settlements, which they believed, under guise of neutrality, were aiding the American cause. No sooner had Brodhead finished his work and returned to Fort Pitt than the British plan of action was set moving. A force of approximately 150 men consisting of Wyandots under Dunquad (called by the Delawares Pomocan) ; Delawares under Captain Pipe and Wingenund ; small bands of Mingoes and Shawnee; and a few British and French from Detroit,—the latter under Captain Mathew Elliott, as commander of the expedition—made their appearance on the Tuscarawas. Elliott established his headquarters before Salem, while others of the party proceeded to Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhutten. The Moravian missionaries, as was customary, extended their hospitality to the visitors, despite the ominous import of their presence. They had not long to await an explanation, if in truth they already had not surmised it. Elliott, summoning the leaders from the several missions to his headquarters at Salem, over which floated the British flag, and hiding the mailed fist under friendly guise, delivered the inexorable decree of the British. " 'Prisoners now I declare you; for such is his Majesty's pleasure.' "The decision of the British was, in brief, that the Moravians either must espouse their cause, or failing in this, that they must be forcibly removed from the Tuscarawas to a part of the country where possibility of their collusion with the Americans would be minimized. The former not being acceptable to the Moravians, the alternative was carried out. The movable property and personal effects of the inhabitants of the three towns were appropriated and divided among the Indians. The Wyandots, dressing themselves in the clothing of their victims, vainly paraded themselves for the admiration of their fellows. As one man, the Indians gave themselves over to celebration and feasting, the means for which were ready at hand in the bounteous supplies 24-VOL. 1 694 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY of cattle, poultry, and products of the soil which the Moravians had accumulated. For days this wild carnival continued, with `Midnight shout and revelry, Tipsy dance and jollity,' while the involuntary hosts of the revelers were powerless to act. Finally, on the 11th of September, 1781, the members of the three settlements, consisting of about 100 families, were forced to assume the march toward the north, leaving behind them 'a Christian communion never equalled in the history of the Indians.' The pathetic exodus from their homes of the ardent missionaries and their faithful converts, is eloquently summarized in the words of Edmund de Schweinitz, biographer of David Zeisberger: " 'They were turning their back upon the scenes of more than eight years of industry, and of a Christian community never equalled in the history of the Indians. They were leaving behind rich plantations, with five thousand bushels of unharvested corn, large quantities of it in store, hundreds of hogs and young cattle loose in the woods, poultry of every kind, gardens stocked with vegetables, three flourishing towns, each with a commodious house of worship, all the heavy articles of furniture and implements of husbandry—in short, their entire property, excepting what could be carried on pack horses or stowed in canoes.' After a strenuous journey of three weeks, partly by canoe on the Tuscarawas and partly by land, the exiles reached the Sandusky River, in what is now southeastern Wyandot county. Here they were abandoned by Dunquad and his Wyandot escort and allowed to shift for themselves. Near the juncture of Broken Sword Creek with the Sandusky River they selected a site, and with sa hearts began the almost hopeless task of re-establishing themselves and their missions. Log huts for shelter and a rude structure for religious services were provided; but scarcely had this been accomplished before calamity again overtook them. "Late in October the Delaware chief Wingenund appeared at their village, called Captives' Town, bearing a summons from Governor de Peyster of Detroit, demanding that the Moravians appear at Detroit 'for Trial.' After a perilous march through the wilderness the little party, escorted by the Indian guides, reached Detroit and appeared before the commandant. At their hearing Captain Pipe was the principal witness, and to his credit be it said, testified favorably to the defendants, declaring that the Moravians were guiltless of wrong against the British. Th circumstance throws a favorable light upon the character of Pipe, who though in the pay of the British, had from the first refused TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 695 to indulge in any brutality against the Americans, either from humane motives or in fear of later punishment. "The Moravians, thus absolved from blame, were permitted to return to their pitiable settlement on the Sandusky, with the admonition that they abstain from friendly intercourse with the Americans. De Peyster, more humane than his predecessor, Henry Hamilton, furnished the pilgrims with needed clothing and supplies. Returning to Captives' Town, the refugees, in a spirit of thankfulness for their acquittal and safe return, erected a 'temple of worship,' a rude structure of poles supported by upright stakes, the crevices stopped with moss. "The winter which followed was one of intense suffering for the little band of Christians, and starvation was with difficulty staved off. Remembering the bountiful supplies of unharvested corn left behind at their towns on the Tuscarawas, they obtained permission from Pomoacan, the Wyandot half-king, to avail themselves of the grain. Accordingly, in late February, 1782, about 150 of the more able-bodied of the inhabitants departed for the Tuscarawas. But it seemed that misfortune had marked the Moravians for its own. No sooner had they taken their departure than Simon Girty arrived from Detroit with a second order summoning their leaders again to appear for trial. At this point it would seem that the unfortunates, buffeted by the hand of fate, could withstand no more. Zeisberger, in his bitterness declared If we were to be slain, it would be better, we should then be relieved of all our troubles; but now we seem to be reserved for many deaths.' But with faith and hope sustaining them, the missionaries sent out runners summoning their members to return to the village. Those who happened to be near at hand responded and returned to the town; but from the relief party who had gone to the cornfields on the Tuscarawas, there was no response. A second summons was answered by a similar silence. This silence was explained when a Delaware Indian arrived at Captives' Town with the intelligence that the relief party had been massacred at Gnadenhutten ! Stunned and heart-broken, Zeisberger, Heckewelder and their associate leaders and families, exhorting their faithful followers to 'stand fast in the faith and endure to the end,' departed with Girty for Detroit, to answer once more to the suspicion that they had had friendly correspondence with the Americans. (Heckewelder's experience at Lower Sandusky, has already been told—Editor.) "The fate of the Moravian Indians was the fate that too often 696 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY rewards the would-be peacemaker—ingratitude, distrust and malevolence on the parts both of the British and the Americans of the border country, between whom they strove to ameliorate hostilities. We have seen their community harassed and despoiled by the British-Indian alliance, which like some great beast of prey had dragged them from their home on the Tuscarawas toward its lair to the northward; we shall now witness the completion of the despoilation—the ruthless tearing apart of the body religious—in a manner even more brutal, and by those who by every token should have been the friends and protectors of the Moravians. In fixing the blame for the inhuman massacre of the Moravian Indians at Gnadenhutten on March 8, 1782, the verdict of the historian finds the frontier settlers of the border County of Washington, Pennsylvania, 'guilty with recommendations for mercy.' "The very enormity and perversion of the crime demanded that the convicted be given the benefit of the moderating clause of the verdict; in fact, it is in this alone that there is to be found the semblance of a motive for the massacre. Let us then, inquire more closely into the situation with regard to the Moravians and the border settlers across the Ohio, as it existed at the time under consideration. We have gathered in a general way something of the compromised position of the missionaries and their converts, especially with reference to the British and the pro-British tribesmen; namely, that the neutrality of the Moravians was looked upon as a cloak under which information was passed on to the Americans. The hostile Indians themselves regarded the Christian natives as traitors to their race, and lost no opportunity of embroiling them in the tangles of perversity with either side. The Americans, on their part, in so far as official and well-informed circles were concerned, realized that the Moravians were guiltless of wrong-doing; but among the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania and Virginia—the backwoodsmen along the Ohio River—there had developed an unfortunte and mostly ungrounded suspicion that the Moravian settlements on the Tuscarawas had much to do with the raids of the Ohio savages on their settlements. It is not strange, considering the times and the circumstances, that such should have been the case. The means of communication, and therefore of news distribution, were limited, and the frontiersmen were often ignorant and credulous. Raiding parties from the hostile Ohio tribes were at the time very much in vogue; and as the Moravian towns were directly on TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 697 the route of these forays, and about midway thereof, they afforded a convenient stopping place for the raiders, both on the going and returning journeys. Their hospitality, extended either as a result of religious conviction or through inability on the part of the inhabitants to withhold the same, was freely made use of, and even abused, by the marauding bands; and it was only natural that the frontiersmen, in their ignorance and impulsiveness and constantly irritated by the dangers which beset their families and homes, should judge the Moravian settlements 'by the company which they kept.' "During the winter preceding the Gnadenhutten massacre, the Indian raids against the border settlements had been particularly alarming. In one instance a party of Ohio Indians crossed the river into Pennsylvania, burned the cabin of John Wallace and took captive his wife and three children. On their return, which took them through the Moravian towns, the Indians cruelly tomahawked the mother and her infant. It would appear that the savages while availing themselves of the friendliness of the Moravians, were all the while maliciously plotting to incur upon their hosts the vengeance of the whites, through these trails of blood, leading from the settlements of the one to the towns of the other. How well their plan succeeded, we shall see. The Pennsylvania backwoodsmen, at last goaded to desperation and believing that they could not expect security for themselves as long as the Moravian towns were in existence took matters into their own hands and without seeking authority from council or congress, determined upon their destruction. "During the late winter of 1781-2, the work of raising the necessary volunteers for the contemplated enterprise was quietly carried on in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and by the first of March a force of about 100 men had been secured. Under the leadership of David Williamson, who had been elected captain, the raiding party crossed, the Ohio and on the sixth of March, 1782, arrived before Gnadenhutten, their presence being unknown to the inhabitants. The following morning, after killing several of the inhabitants, who had discovered their presence, Williamson's party entered the town without opposition. "The inhabitants of Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrunn and Salem at this time comprised a few Moravians who had escaped removal to the Sandusky River, and the relief party of 140 who had returned to their towns from Captives' Town to obtain corn. On the arrival of Williamson and his men, the Indians were quietly 698 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY engaged in gathering and making ready the grain for the return trip to the Sandusky, where their families, almost upon the verge of starvation, anxiously awaited the promised supplies. Simulating a friendly attitude the frontiersmen, summoning the unsuspecting natives from their work in the fields, made known what they wished the converts to believe to be the purpose of their visit. They had come, they said, to offer the protection and friendship of the Americans, who, in view of the dangers to which the Moravians were subjected from the British and the hostile Indians, wished to convey them to Fort Pitt, for their safety and protection. In their credulity, the Indians surrendered their weapons to Williamson's men, 'to be returned upon arrival at Pittsburg.' A detachment was sent forward to Salem, which returned accompanied by the Moravians at that place; but those at Schoenbrunn, taking alarm, fled before• the emissaries reached their town, and thus escaped the fate which awaited their fellows. "No sooner had the Indians been disarmed than all , pretense at friendly intentions was thrown aside, and they were rudely thrust inside the larger buildings as prisoners. The question as to their fate then became a matter for discussion. A few of the backwoodsmen, partly recovered from the first excitement of the undertaking and realizing the innocence of the converts, favored their release; others, not quite so impetuous as at first but unwilling to abandon the enterprise, were in favor of removing the Indians to Fort Pitt and turning them over to the commandant there for disposal. Captain Williamson himself was inclined to be lenient with the captives, but his attitude and that of the more humane of his command were overruled by the greater number of those who demanded the blood of the converts. The question finally resolved itself into 'Whether the Moravian Indians should be taken prisoners to Pittsburg, or put to death.' Of the ninety Pennsylvanians, acting as a council of war, only one in five favored the former proposition. These more humane members of the party, eighteen in number, then withdrew from the scene to avoid witnessing the revolting procedure on the part of their comrades. "As between two suggestions as to the carrying out of sentence of death against the captives,—the one, that they be burned to death by setting fire to the buildings in which they were confined, and, the alternative, that they be tomahawked and scalped,—the latter was decided upon as the most desirable. Ac- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 699 cordingly, the Indians were notified of their impending fate, and were given until the following morning in which to prepare to die. The faith which had supported the Moravians through the trying times of oppressions and persecution was not to desert them in their martyrdom. At the hands of the British-Indian allies and to a lesser extent from the Americans, they had suffered all but death; and now that the day fixed upon for their return to families and friends with the life-saving supplies of corn, was to be, instead, the day of their doom, they bravely and unhesitatingly prepared to meet death. In the words of Dr. Schweinitz, 'As the hours wore away, and the night deepened, and the end drew near, triumphant anticipations of heaven mingled with their hymns and prayers; converted heathens taught their Christian slayers what it means to die, as more than conquerors.' Early on the morning of March 8, 1782, the Moravian Indian captives signified their readiness for the ordeal. The men and boys were led or dragged, two by two, to the nearby cooper shop, where with tomahawks, war clubs, spears, mallets and knives, they were quickly dispatched and scalped. The slaughter of the women and children followed in the same gruesome manner. "Of the ninety-eight Moravians held by the Williamson party, all were killed but two boys, who made their escape. Among the killed were Glikkikan, the Delaware chieftain, who several years previously had been converted and who was one of the ablest and most valued of the Moravian teachers; his wife, who on the occasion of the attack on Fort Henry, at Wheeling, rode all night through the wilderness to inform the military authorities at Fort McIntosh of the intended attack; and Captain Johnny, a Delaware chief and earnest Moravian teacher. The raiders then proceeded to Schoenbrunn, where they expected to repeat their orgies; but the inhabitants of Schoenbrunn had learned of their presence and had hastily departed from the town. After venting their disappointment by burning the houses and destroying property, the frontiersmen hastened eastward and across the Ohio into Pennsylvania. As a grand finale to their bloody foray, a detachment of Williamson's men proceeded to Smoky Island, opposite Fort Pitt, where they attacked and killed a number of Delawares residing there. The Smoky Island settlement consisted of a band of Ohio Delawares who, under Killbuck, or Gelelemand, and Chief Big Cat, at the invitation of the Fort Pitt officials, had taken refuge there, following the defection of a part of the tribe under