600 - HISTORY OF OHIO. father, that you wished to know whether I was God or man, nd that if I were God, I should not steal horses. " The Great Spirit told me to say to the Indians that He had made them and made the world, and that He had placed them in this world to do good, and not to do evil. I told the red men that the way in which they were living was not good, and that they ought to abandon it. I assured them that we ought to consider the white men as our brothers, and that while they lived agreeably to their customs, we should live in accordance with ours. "I especially urged upon them that they should not drink whisky that it was not made for them, but for the white people, who alone knew how to use it. It is the cause of all the mischief which the Indians suffer. I told them they should always follow the directions of the Great Spirit that they should always listen. to His voice, since it was He who has made us. " I said to them, ' Brothers, listen to nothing that is bad. Do not take up the tomahawk should it be offered to you by the British or by the Americans. Do not meddle with anything which does not belong to you. Attend to your own affairs, and cultivate your fields, that your wives and children may have food and clothing and comfortable homes.' "And I now inform you, my father, that it is our wish to live in peace with our father and his people forever. I have frankly informed you of what we mean to do. And I call the Great Spirit to witness the truth of my declaration. The religion which I have proclaimed for the last three years has arrested the attention of different tribes of Indians in this part of the world. These Indians were once at variance with each other. They now live as friends. They have resolved to practice what I have communicated to them from the Great Spirit. " Brother ! I speak to you as a warrior. You are one. Let us lay aside this character and attend to the welfare of our children, that they may live in comfort and peace. We desire that you would unite with us for the promotion of the happiness both of the red man and of the white people. Formerly we Indians, living in ignorance, were very foolish. Now, since we listen to the voice of the Great Spirit, we are happy. " I have listened to what you have said to us. You have promised to assist us. I now entreat you, in behalf of all the red HISTORY OF OHIO - 601 men, to use your exertions to prevent the sale of liquor to us. We are all well pleased to hear you say that you will endeavor to promote our happiness. We give you every assurance that we will follow the dictates of the Great Spirit." It cannot be denied that thus far the Indian chief had decidedly the advantage over Governor Harrison in dignified and gentlemanly bearing. The governor had so far forgotten himself as to call the Prophet " a fool, a horse-thief, and one professing to be a god, while he spoke the words of the devil." The dignity with which the savage chieftain reminded the governor of these unmannerly charges, without condescending to make any reply to them, is very remarkable. One cannot refrain from inquiring, "In what school did the Prophet acquire this control over himself?" Still the rumor continued to spread that Tecumseh and the Prophet were marshaling the tribes for war. This created much. alarm along the frontiers. Still the months passed away in peace. It was reported that the village of the Prophet contained a thousand souls. This was deemed very alarming. And yet, at the most, it would give him but two hundred men capable of bearing: arms. The idea is absurd that he could contemplate waging war against the United States with such a force. Gradually rumor magnified this band to the number of six or eight hundred warriors. But these intelligent Indian chiefs well knew that the Americans could easily bring many thousands into the field. Ten years before, an army of three thousand white men had swept the valley of the Maumee with fire and the sword and Tecumseh himself had fled before their resistless march. Since then the strength of the white men had wonderfully increased. Governor Harrison made such representations to the general government, that orders were issued from Washington for the capture of both Tecumseh and the Prophet. The execution of this order was suspended for a little time, that new efforts might be made to conciliate the tribes which were said to be disaffected. The governor, therefore, sent an earnest invitation to Tecumseh to visit him. The chief unhesitatingly went to Vincennes with an imposing retinue of four hundred painted warriors. A council was appointed to be held in a small grove, a little outside from the village. The governor had sent a very threatening message to the two chiefs in their encampment on the Tippecanoe. In this. 602 - HISTORY OF OHIO. he accused them of hostile intentions, and, in not very courteous phrase, said : " I am of the Long Knife fire. As soon as my voice is heard, you will see the Long Knives pouring forth their swarms of warriors among you, as numerous as the mosquitoes on the shores of the Wabash. Brothers ! look out for their stings." This was hardly the language to be used to high chiefs who respected themselves. Tecumseh took the precaution to surround himself with a retinue as would protect him from treachery ; while at the same time his force was too small to cause any alarm to the people of Vincennes. He was aware that his capture had been threatened. Tecumseh and his party encamped a little outside of the village, and the chief sent a polite message to the governor, inquiring whether, in the approaching council, it was expected that the governor and the Indian chief should go attended with their retinues of armed men, or if they should go unarmed ; stating that he was willing to adopt any course which the governor should decide to be best. The governor politely replied that Tecumseh was left to his own option, and that the governor would follow his example. Accordingly, at the appointed hour, Tecumseh appeared, accompanied by quite a brilliant escort of warriors, two hundred in number, armed with bows and arrows. The governor came in far higher military state. He was escorted by a whole company of dragoons, completely armed with swords, rifles and pistols. It was probably the intention of the governor to over-awe Tecumseh by an exhibition of his strength. But this was hardly fair, since it placed the chief and his party entirely at the mercy of those whom he expected to meet on equal terms. The accounts which have heretofore been given of this interview vary in several of the details. The writer gives it here according to the best information which careful research can now obtain. The governor had, the preceding year, at Fort Wayne, made a treaty with several chiefs, by which they had surrendered many million acres of land, which Tecumseh affirmed that they had no title to. The chief, with great dignity, opened the council, speaking in substance as follows : " We have no intention of making war against the whites ; but we do desire to unite all the tribes, in the resolve to allow no more of our lands to be disposed of without the consent of all. HISTORY OF OHIO - 603 Those chiefs who have recently ceded to the Americans vast regions of our hunting grounds, which did not belong to them, all deserve to be put to death. We can not accept that treaty. It has no foundation in justice. The Indians, though divided into many tribes, are one people, and their interests are one." He then made a very impassioned, and no one denied that it was a truthful, recital of the wrongs which had been inflicted upon the Indians by the white man. These accusations, accompanied by very vehement gestures, made the governor angry. Both the Indians and the white men, each suspecting the hostility of the other party, grasped their arms. For a few moments there was great danger of an awful scene of carnage, in which probably every Indian would have been slain. Fortunately, the first blow was not struck. The governor, much displeased with the haughty bearing of his antagonist, dismissed the council, saying to Tecumseh : " I shall have no further communication with you. You are a. bad man. But since I promised you my protection, and a safe return, if you would come to Vincennes, you may now go. But you must immediately leave the village." The next morning this extraordinary Indian called upon the governor and apologized for the vehement language with which he had denounced the wrongs which had been inflicted upon his. countrymen. He reiterated his declaration that he had no desire for the renewal of hostilities. At the same time he declared that the Indians could no longer consent to have any more of their hunting grounds ceded to the whites without the consent of all the tribes. He took the same ground we take when we say that Maine cannot surrender any portion of her territory to a foreign power without the consent of all the states. The chief then bade the governor adieu, and with his warriors returned to their wilderness homes. Just before theIndians left Vincennes, Governor Harrison visited Tecumseh at his camp. In this interview Tecumseh said to him : "I have no complaint to make against the United States excepting their purchasing the Indian lands as they do. I should very much regret the necessity of making war for this single cause. I am anxious to be on friendly terms with the United States. If the president will give up the late purchase, and agree to make no more in the same manner, we will become their ally, and fight 604 - HISTORY OF OHIO. with them against the English. If these terms are not complied with, we shall be obliged to fight with the English against them." The governor assured him that the President should be informed of his views, but he did not think that there was any prospect of their being acceded to. " Well," Tecumseh replied, " as the President is to determine the matter, I hope that the Great Spirit will induce him to give up the land. It is true that he is so far away that the war will not harm him. He may sit at his ease at home, and drink his wine, while you and I will have to fight it out." He added very pithily : " Our white brethren have set us the example of forming a union of all their separate states. Why should they censure us Indians for following that example ? I have succeeded in uniting most of the northern tribes. I am now going to the south to complete this scheme. If war ensues it will be no fault of mine. If the governor will prevent settlements from being made on the new purchase until I return in the Spring, I will then visit the President and endeavor to settle the matter with him." In reference to this remarkable interview, B. B. Thatcher, Esq., writes: "This speech has been called an artful evasion, easily seen through. It appears to us, on the contrary, to be a model of manly frankness. The orator did not expressly state, indeed, that the combination alluded to anticipated the probability or the possibility of war. But this was unnecessary. It was the natural inference in any reasonable mind. It had been frequently so stated, and so understood. Repetition could only exasperate. On the whole, Tecumseh seems to have manifested a noble dignity in the avowal and discussion of his policy, equaled only by the profound sagacity in which it originated, and the intelligent energy which conducted it, against every opposition and obstacle, so nearly to its completion. He might be wrong, but it is evident enough that he was sincere." It is probable that General Harrison, from false information, was led to suppose that there were a very large number of warriors assembling at Tippecanoe, and that unless he dispersed them before they were prepared to commence hostilities, he might himself be overwhelmed. Thus deceived, he unfortunately struck bloody blows, which drove thousands of the Indians into the' ranks of the British. CHAPTER XXXII. THE COUNCIL FIRE AND THE BATTLE-FIELD. GENERAL WAYNE'S DECISION- THE MARCH TO TIPPECANOE-- THE BATTLE - GOVERNOR HARRISON'S OFFICIAL ACCOUNT -THE DOUBTFUL POLICY PROBABLE PLANS OF TECUMSEH AND HIS BROTHER, ELSKWATAWA - SPEECH OF TECUMSEH - DISAGREEMENT IN COUNCIL- THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND - INSOLENCE OF ELLIOT SPEECH OF ROUND HEAD COUNCIL AT BROWNSTOWN - SPEECH OF " BETWEEN-THE-LOGS - THE GREAT QUESTION - REMARKABLE COUNCIL AT SANDUSKY - THE SPEECHES -- CHARACTER OF BLACK HOOF. AFTER THE departure of Tecumseh, General Harrison pondered the question of peace or war. We cannot but think, in view of the light of subsequent events, that he made a mistake in deciding to- commence hostilities. The Governor, in the autumn, took a strong armed force of a thousand men, and set out on a march to the Prophet's Village, on the Tippecanoe. Of course the Indians, who, through their scouts, kept themselves informed of every important movement of the Governor, regarded this armed invasion of their territory as a hostile act. The Governor gave out that he was going to the Prophet's Town to ascertain for himself what they were doing there ; it was also thought that it would do good to let the Indians see what an army he had at his disposal. After a march of about six miles above Vincennes, the Governor threw up some fortifications, which he called Fort Harrison. Here he laid in a supply of provisions and ammunition, and here he could find refuge in case of an attack. The army marched with the utmost caution, in two bands, one each side of the Indian trail. Their route led them along the eastern bank of the Wabash, through an open prairie country. Their line of march was so arranged that, in case of alarm, the troops could almost instantly be thrown into a hollow square or formed in line of battle. Early in November they approached 606 - HISTORY OF OHIO. the valley of Tippecanoe, and encamped within ten miles of the Prophet's town. This was disputed territory, claimed by the United States in virtue of a treaty which the Indians declared to be fraudulent, and therefore null and void. The next morning the army resumed its march. Several small bands of Indians were seen in the distance, but they evaded all attempts at communication. When the troops arrived within three miles of the town, three of the leading chiefs made their appearance, and inquired of Governor Harrison why he approached their peaceful settlement in so hostile an attitude. The governor replied that he had no hostile intentions if the Indians would ratify existing treaties. This was simply saying that he had come to compel them to acquiesce in the cession to the United States of all that immense territory which the governor claimed through the treaty of Fort Wayne. The Indian ambassadors, having received this unsatisfactory reply, withdrew. The governor selected a favorable spot for his night's encampment. Its troops were mainly posted in a hollow square, and slept upon their arms. Each corps was ordered, in case of attack, to maintain its position at every hazard until relieved. The dragoons were placed in the center. They were directed, should there be any alarm, immediately to hold themselves in readiness to relieve the point assailed. The most minute arrangements were given to meet every conceivable emergency. The troops threw themselves upon the ground for rest. Every man had his. accoutrements on, his loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. Governor Harrison gave the following official account of the battle which ensued : " On the morning of the seventh I had risen at a quarter after four o'clock, and the signal for calling out the men would have been given in two minutes, when the attack commenced. It began on our left flank; but a single gun was fired by the sentinels, or by the guard in that direction, which made not the least resistance, but abandoned their officer and fled into the camp, and the first notice which the troops of that flank had of the danger was from the yells of the savages within a short distance of the line. But, even under these circumstances, the men were not wanting to themselves or the occasion. Such of them as were awake, or were easily awakened, seized their arms and took their HISTORY OF OHIO - 609 stations ; others, who were more tardy, had to contend with the enemy in the door of their tents. "The storm fell first upon Captain Barton's company of the fourth United States regiment, and Captain Geigler's company of mounted riflemen, which formed the left angle of the rear line. The fire upon these was exceedingly severe, and they suffered severely before relief could be brought to them. Some few Indians passed into the encampment near the angle, and one or two penetrated some distance before they were killed. I believe all the other companies were under arms and tolerably formed before they were fired on. The morning was dark and cloudy ; our fires afforded a partial light, which, if it gave us some opportunity of taking our positions, was still more advantageous to the enemy, affording them the means of taking a surer aim ; they were therefore extinguished as soon as possible. Under all these discouraging circumstances, the troops (nineteen-twentieths of whom had never been in action before) behaved in a manner that can never be too much applauded. They took their places without noise, and with less confusion than could have been expected of veterans placed in a similar position. As soon as I could mount my horse I rode to the angle that was attacked. I found that Barton's company had suffered severely, and the left of Geigler's entirely bro ken. I immediately ordered Cook's company and the late Captain Wentworth's, under Lieutenant Peters, to be brought up from the center of the rear line, where the ground was much more defensible, and formed across the angle, in support of Barton's and Geigler's. My attention was then engaged by a heavy firing upon the left of the front line, where were stationed the small company of United States riflemen (then, however, armed with muskets) and the companies of Baen, Snelling and Prescott, of the fourth regiment. "I found Major Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies, and understanding that the heaviest part of the fire proceeded from some trees about fifteen or twenty paces in front of those companies, I directed the major to dislodge them with a part of his dragoons. Unfortunately, his gallantry determined him to execute the order with a smaller force than was sufficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and attack his flanks. The major was mortally wounded, and his party driven back. The Indians were, however, immediately and 36 610 - HISTORY OF OHIO. gallantly dislodged from their advantageous position by Captain Snelling, at the head of his company. In the course of a few minutes after the commencement of the attack the fire extended along the left flank, the whole of the front, the right flank, and part of the rear line. Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen, and the right of Warwick's company, which was posted on the right of the rear line, it was excessively severe ; Captain Spencer and his first and second lieutenants were killed, and Captain Warwick mortally wounded — those companies, however, still .bravely maintained their posts, but Spencer's had suffered so severely, I reinforced them with Robb's company of riflemen, which had been driven or by mistake ordered from their position on the left flank toward the center of the camp, and filled the vacancy that had been occupied by Robb's with Prescott's company of the fourth United States regiment. " My great object was to keep the lines entire to prevent the enemy from breaking into the camp until daylight, which should enable me to make a general and effectual charge. With this view I had reinforced every part of the line that had suffered much, and as soon as the approach of morning discovered itself I withdrew from the front line Snelling's, Posey's (under Lieutenant Albright)' and Scott's, and from the rear line Wilson's companies, and drew them upon the left flank, and at the same time I ordered Cook's and Baen's companies, the former from the rear and the latter from the front line, to reinforce the right flank, foreseeing that at these points the enemy would make their last efforts. Major Wells, who commanded on the left flank, not knowing my intentions precisely, had taken the command of these companies, and charged the enemy before I had formed the body of dragoons with which I meant to support the infantry; a small detachment of these were, however, ready, and proved amply sufficient for the purpose. "The Indians were driven by the infantry at the point of the bayonet, and the dragoons pursued and forced them into a marsh, where they could not be followed. Captain Cook and Lieutenant Larebee had, agreeably to my order, marched their companies to the right flank, had formed them under the fire of the enemy, and being then joined by the riflemen of that flank, had charged the Indians, killed a number, and put the rest to a precipitate flight. A favorable opportunity was here offered to pursue the enemy HISTORY OF OHIO- 611 with dragoons, but being engaged at that time on the other flank I did not observe it until it was too late. " I have thus, sir, given you the particulars of an action which was certainly maintained with the greatest bravery and perseverance on both sides. The Indians manifested a ferocity uncommon even with them. To their savage fury our troops opposed that cool and deliberate valor which is the characteristic of the Christian soldier. " The Americans in this battle had not more than seven hundred efficient men, non-commissioned officers and privates ; the Indians are believed to have had eight hundred to one thousand warriors. The loss of the American army was thirty-seven killed on the field, twenty-five mortally wounded, and one hundred and twenty-six wounded ; that of the Indians about forty killed on the spot, the number of wounded being unknown." As we now reflect upon these transactions, it seems doubtful whether the governor acted wisely. He led an army of a thousand men several hundred miles through the wilderness. Of these men, whose lives were so valuable, sixty-two were killed, and of the hundred and twenty-six wounded, many lost arms and legs and were crippled for life. It cannot be denied that he commenced the war, for the armed invasion of their country was certainly a hostile act. He killed about forty Indians and probably wounded many more. He laid the little town of the Prophet in ashes. He then returned to Vincennes, leaving the Indians so exasperated by what they deemed a totally unjustifiable outrage, that they were all ready to listen to the solicitations of the British to join them in their second war against the United States. It is by no means certain that Tecumseh and his brother were not sincere in their protestations that they had no wish for war. They were eminently sagacious men. The plan which they professed to have adopted to save their race from extinction was eminently a wise one. The conspiracy which they were accused of organizing was foolish in the extreme. Tecumseh, in his last interview with Governor Harrison, proposed that they should both go to Washington and submit the question to the President of the United States, whether the Indians ought to surrender their lands which the whites had purchased of certain chiefs whom the Indians declared had been bribed to sell lands to which they had no title. 612 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Tecumseh was absent in the South at the time of the battle of Tippecanoe. He was engaged, as he said, in an endeavor to unite the chiefs in the attempt to prevent any further fraudulent surrenders of their hunting-grounds. When he heard of the battle he was greatly surprised and troubled. He immediately returned and renewed his application to the Governor that they should repair to Washington and refer the difficulty, which had now assumed so appalling an aspect, to the President. The Governor did not accede to this proposal. Tecumseh then assembled a grand council of twelve tribes on the Mississiniway, a branch of the Wabash. It was held on the 12th of May, 1812. The Wyandot tribe was then the most powerful of the Indian tribes. Their chiefs opened the council. They blamed the Indians on the Wabash as being the cause of the renewal of hostilities, which it seems that the Wyandot chiefs were very anxious to avoid. One of their chiefs, speaking in behalf of the rest, said : "Younger brothers ! you who reside on the Wabash, listen to what we say. We are sorry to see your path filled with thorns and briers, and your land covered with blood. Our love for you has caused us to come and clean your paths and wipe the blood off your land, and take the weapons that have spilled this blood from you, and put them where you can never reach them again." To this rebuke Tecumseh replied : " Elder brothers ! We have listened with attention to what you have said to us. We thank the Great Spirit for inclining your hearts to pity us. We now pity ourselves. Our hearts are good. They never were bad. Governor Harrison made war on my people in my absence. It was the Great Spirit's will that he should do so. We hope it will please the Great Spirit that the white people may now let us live in peace. We will not disturb them. Neither have we done it, except when they came to our village with the intention of destroying us. We are happy to state to our brothers who are present that the unfortunate transaction which took place between the white people and few of our young men, at our village, has been settled between us and Governor Harrison. I will further state, that had I been at home, there would have been no blood shed at that time." It seems that the young men who, without due authority, commenced the attack upon Governor Harrison's troops, belonged to HISTORY OF OHIO - 613 the Potawatamie tribe. Tecumseh condemned them with great severity. " We are sorry," he said, " to find that the same respect has not been paid to the agreement between us and Governor Harrison, by our brothers, the Potawatamies. However we are not accountable for the conduct of those over whom we have no control. Let the chiefs of that nation exert themselves, and cause their warriors to behave wisely, as we have done and will continue to do with ours. Should the bad acts of our brothers, the Potawatamies, draw on us the ill-will of our white brothers, and should they come again and make an unprovoked attack on us at our village, we will die like men, but we will never strike the first blow." These reproaches roused the Potawatamies chiefs; one of them arose and accused the Prophet of being the cause of all the difficulty. " We have no control," he said, " over those few roving young men. We do not consider them as belonging to our nation. We will be thankful to any people who will put them to death wherever they may be found. As they are bad people, and have learnt to be so from the pretended Prophet, and as he has been the cause of setting those people on our white brothers, we hope he will be active in reconciling them. As we all hear him say that his heart is inclined for peace, we hope we may all see this declaration supported by his future conduct, and that all our women and children may lay down and sleep without fear." To this Tecumseh replied in terms which seem to render it incredible that he could have been endeavoring to organize the tribes into a hostile confederacy. " It is true," said he, " that we have endeavored to give all our brothers good advice. If they have not listened to it we are sorry for it. We defy any living creature to say that we ever advised any one, directly or indirectly, to make war on our white brethern. It has constantly been our misfortune to have our views misrepresented to our white brethren. This has been done by pretended chiefs of the Potawatamies, who have been in the habit of selling to the -white people lands which did not belong to them." This charge brought one of the chiefs of the Delawares to his feet. We have not met," he said," to listen to such words. The red men have been killing the whites. The just resentment of the whites is raised against them. Our white brethren are on the march with their guns in their hands. This is no time to say to one another, 614 - HISTORY OF OHIO. you have done this, and you have done that.' If it were we would say to the Prophet : both the red men and the white men have felt the bad effects of your counsel.' Let us all join our hands and hearts together and proclaim peace through the land of the red men. Let us make our voices heard and respected, and let us rely on the justice of our white brethren." In 1812 the second war commenced between the United States and Great Britain. The English officers in Canada immediately made every effort to induce the Indian tribes to enter into an alliance with them against the Americans. A large council of Indian chiefs was convened at Malden, in Canada, by the British authorities. British officers have generally been as distinguished for their arrogant and overbearing demeanor as for their bravery. There was present at this council a Wyandot chief, Walk-in-the-Water, who was alike illustrious as an orator and a warrior. A British officer by the name of Elliot addressed this chief very haughtily, demanding of him whether he had advised the Wyandots and other tribes to remain neutral in the conflict. Walk-in-the-Water rose with great dignity, and made the following bold and pertinent reply : " I have advised all the tribes to remain neutral. I believed it to be best for us and for our brethren. We have no wish to be involved in a war with the Americans, for we know by experience that we have nothing to gain by it. And we beg the British not to force us into this war. We remember that in the former war between the British and the Americans, we and the British were defeated. We red men lost our country. You, the British, made peace with the Americans without our knowledge, and you gave our country to them. You still said to us, ' My children, you must fight for your country, for the Americans will take it from you.' " We did as you advised us, and we were defeated, with the loss of our best chiefs and warriors and of our land. And we still remember your conduct towards us when we were defeated at the rapids of the Maumee. We sought safety for our wounded in your fort. But what was your conduct ? You closed your gates against us, and we had to retreat the best way we could. And then we made peace with the Americans, and have enjoyed peace with them ever since. And now you wish us again to take up the hatchet against the Americans. We say again that we do HISTORY OF OHIO - 615 not wish to have anything to do with this war. You should fight your own battles and leave us red men to enjoy peace." Elliot was greatly enraged, and here interrupted the chief, saying, " This is American talk. I will not hear another word of it. If you do not stop I will order my soldiers to take you and your chiefs and hold you as prisoners. We will consider you our enemies." Walk-in-the-Water sat down. Another chief arose, by the name of Round Head, who had espoused the British interest. He was the chief of a small. tribe of Wyandots residing in Canada. " Father! " said Round Head, " you say that the talk just delivered by my friend Walk-in-the-Water is American talk, and that you cannot hear any more of it and that if it is persisted in you will take the chiefs prisoners and treat them as enemies. Now hear me. I am a chief, and am acknowledged to be such. I speak the sentiments of the chiefs of the tribes assembled around your council-fire. I now come forward and take hold of your war-hatchet and will assist you to fight against the Americans." Two Wyandot chiefs, with Tecumseh and his brother, followed, speaking in the same strain. Elliot added some very threatening remarks, which induced Walk-in-the-Water and his friends to leave the council-house and re-cross the river to Brownstown, on the American side. They immediately appealed to the American general at Detroit for protection, but, for some unknown reason, it was not afforded them. The British sent over a large detachment of soldiers, accompanied by Tecumseh and Round Head, and took these chiefs as captives. Not many weeks after these events a friendly chief, who was called the Crane, proposed to General Harrison, who was encamped with his army at Seneca, on the Sandusky, that he should send an embassy to all the Indians in Canada, many of whom had been forced to adhere to the British cause, inviting them to retire to the American territory, where they would be protected in neutrality. General Harrison approved of the measure. President Madison, much to his honor, had refused to employ the savages in the American army. It was his main object to induce all the tribes to remain neutral. A very large council of Indians, friendly and unfriendly, was convened at Brownstown, on the western bank of the Detroit 616 - HISTORY OF OHIO. River. The deputation called upon Tecumseh, in Canada, and urged him to attend the council. He replied : " No ! I have taken sides with the British, and I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this shore before I will re-cross that river to join in any council of neutrality." The British Indian agent, Elliot, and a British merchant, McKee, were present to watch the proceedings of the council. One of the chiefs rose and delivered the following speech, which had been entrusted to him by the Crane, who.was not present : " Brothers ! you red men, who are engaged fighting for the British king, listen. These words are from the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanese and Senecas. Our American father has raised his war-pole and collected a large army of his warriors. They will soon march to attack the British. He does not wish to destroy his red children, their wives and families. He wishes you to separate yourselves from the British, and to bury the hatchet which you have raised. " You can then return to your own lands, and hunt the game as you formerly did. I beg you to consider your situation, and act wisely. Do not wantonly destroy your own people. Brothers! whoever feels disposed to accept this advice, let him come forward and take hold of this belt of wampum which I have in my hand. I hope you will not refuse to accept it in the presence of your British father, for you are independent of him." There was a moment of profound silence. Not a single hand was raised to accept the proffered pledge. Round Head then rose and said : " Brother Wyandots, we have heard your American talk, but we will not listen to it. We will not forsake our British father, nor lay down the standard which we have raised. I speak the sentiments of all here present. And I charge you to say to the American commander that it is our wish that he would send more men against us. All that has now passed between us we do not call fighting. We wish to fight in good earnest." Then Elliot himself rose, and, if correctly reported, said, in language absurd and disgraceful to him, addressing the chiefs friendly to the Americans : " As you now see that my children here are determined not to forsake the cause of their British father, I wish you to carry back a message with you. Tell my squaw, your American father, that HISTORY OF OHIO - 617 I want her to cook the provisions for me and my red children more faithfully than she has done. She has not done her duty. "If she receives this as an insult, and feels disposed to fight, tell her to bring more men than she ever brought before. Our former skirmishes I do not call fighting. If she wishes to fight with me and my children she must not burrow in the earth, like a ground-hog, where she is inaccessible. She must come out and fight fairly." To this speech of Elliot, an English gentleman, an untutored savage, whose uncouth name was Between the Logs, replied. He was, however, a Christian Indian, one of the Moravian converts. "Brothers ! I am directed by my American father to inform you that if you reject the advice given you, he will march here with a large army, and if he should find any of the red people opposing him in his passage through this country, he will trample them under his feet. You cannot stand before him. "And now for myself, I earnestly entreat you to consider the good talk I have brought, and listen to it. Why would you devote yourselves, your women, and your children, to destruction ? Let me tell you if you should defeat the American army this time you have not done. Another will come on, and if you defeat that still another will appear that you cannot withstand ; one that will come like the waves of the great water, and overwhelm you and sweep you from the face of the earth. " If you doubt the account I give of the force of the Americans, you can send some of your people in whom you have confidence, to examine their army and navy. They shall be permitted to return in safety. The truth is, your British father lies to you and deceives you. He boasts of the few victories he gains, but never tells you of his defeats, of his armies being slaughtered, and his vessels being taken on the big water. He keeps all these things to himself. "And now, father, let me address a few words to you. Your request shall be granted. I will bear your message to my American father. It is true none of your children appear willing to forsake your standard, and it will be the worse for them. You compare the Americans to ground-hogs, and complain of their mode of fighting. I must confess that a ground-hog is a very difficult animal to contend with. He has such sharp teeth, such an inflexible temper, and such an unconquerable spirit, that 618 - HISTORY OF OHIO. he is truly a dangerous enemy, especially when he is in his own hole. But, father, let me tell you, you can have your wish. Before many days you will see the ground-hog floating on yonder lake, paddling his canoe towards your hole, and then, father, you will have an opportunity of attacking your formidable enemy in any way you may think best." This speech terminated the council. The Canadian Indians. generally returned across the river and adhered to the British. But they held a council by themselves. The great chief, the Crane, sent them the following speech : "Let all the Wyandots abandon the British. They are liars,. and have always deceived the Indians. They built Fort Miami, as they said, to be a refuge for the Indians. When wounded and bleeding, after our defeat by General Wayne, we fled to the fort for protection, they shut the gates against us." He mentioned many other acts of what he deemed perfidy. It is well here to notice that the great question which was now agitating the Indians and dividing them, was the all-important one whether a few chiefs had a right to sell important tracts of Indian territory to the whites without the consent of the tribes. Colonel John Johnson, in the year 1818, attended a large council at Upper Sandusky. There was an immense gathering there to pay respect to the memory of the illustrious chief, the Crane, whose Indian name was Tarke. Colonel Johnson gives the following very interesting account of the scene he witnessed. We take the liberty slightly to abbreviate : " On the death of the great chief of the Wyandots, the Crane, I was invited to attend a general council of all the tribes of Ohio, the Delawares of Indiana, and the Senecas of New York, at the Upper Sandusky. I found, on arriving at the place, j: very large attendance. Among the chiefs was the noted leader and orator, Red Jacket, from Buffalo. The first business done was the speaker of the nation delivering an oration on the character of the deceased chief. Then followed what might be called a monody, or ceremony of mourning and lamentation. " The seats were arranged from end to end of a large council-house, about six feet apart. The head men and the aged took their seats facing each other, stooping down their heads and almost touching. In that position they remained for several hours. Deep, heavy, and long continued groans would com- HISTORY OF OHIO - 619 mence at one end of the row of mourners, and so pass round until all had responded. These were repeated at intervals of a few minutes. The Indians were all washed, and had no paint or decoration of any kind upon their persons. Their countenances and general deportment denoted the deepest mourning. "I had never witnessed anything of the kind before ; and was told that this ceremony was not performed but on the decease of some great man. After the period of mourning and lamentation. was over, the Indians proceeded to business. There were present the Wyandots, Shawanese, Delawares, Senecas, Ottawas and Mohawks. The business was entirely confined to their own affairs; and the main topic related to their lands and the claims of the respective tribes. "Red Jacket was the principal speaker, and was intemperate and personal in his remarks. Accusations, pro and con, were made by the different parties, accusing each other of being: foremost in selling lands to the United States. The Shawanese were particularly marked out as being more guilty than any others. It was said that though they were the last who come into the Ohio country, and that they had no right there but by the permission of other tribes, they were always the foremost in selling the lands. This brought the Shawanese out, who retorted, through their head chief on the Senecas and Wyandots with pointed severity. The discussion was long continued, calling out some of the ablest. speakers, and was distinguished for ability, cutting sarcasm and research—going far back into the history of the natives, their woes, alliances, negotiations and migrations. I had attended many councils,. treaties and gatherings of the Indians, but never did I witness such outpourings of native oratory and eloquence, of severe rebuke, and of taunting national and personal reproaches. " The council broke up in great confusion and in the worst possible feeling. A circumstance occurred towards the close which,. more than anything else, exhibited the bad feeling prevailing. In. handing round the wampum belt, the emblem of amity, peace and. good-will, when presented to one of the chiefs, he would not touch. it with his fingers, but passed it on a stick to the person next him. A greater indignity, agreeable to Indian etiquette, could not be. offered. The next day appeared to be one of unusual anxiety and. despondency among the Indians. They could be seen in groups. everywhere near the council-house in deep consultation. They 620 - HISTORY OF OHIO. had acted foolishly ; were very sorry ; but the difficulty was who would first present the olive branch. " The council convened late and was very full. Silence prevailed for a long time. At last the aged chief of the Shawanese, Black Hoof, arose. He was a man of great influence and a celebrated orator. He said, in substance : " ' Yesterday we acted like children and not like men. I and my people are sorry for the words which were then spoken, and which have done so much harm. I now come into the council, by the unanimous desire of the people present, to recall those foolish words. I here take them all back.' " He then presented the belt of wampum, the pledge of friendship, which was passed around, all receiving it with the greatest satisfaction. Several of the principal chiefs delivered speeches to the same effect, handing the wampum around in turn. In this manner the whole difficulty of the preceding day was settled and, to all appearance, forgotten. The Indians are very courteous and civil to each other. It is a rare thing to see their assemblies disturbed by unwise or ill-timed remarks. I never witnessed it except on the occasion here alluded to. It is more than probable that the presence of myself and other white men contributed towards the unpleasant occurrence. I could not but admire the genuine philosophy and good sense displayed by men whom we call savages in the transaction of their public business ; and how much we might profit in the halls of our legislatures by occasion. ally taking for our example the proceedings of the great Indian council at Sandusky." Black Hoof, of whom such honorable mention is here made, is worthy of some special notice. His Indian name was Catahecassa. He was, perhaps, the most renowned of the Shawanese chiefs, both as an orator and a warrior. White men who had heard him speak all testify to the gracefulness of his gestures and to his wonderful command of expressive language. Mr. Drake, in his sketch of the chieftain's life, says that he was well versed in the traditions of his people. No one better understood their peculiar relations to the whites, whose settlements were gradually encroaching on them, or could detail with more minuteness the wrongs with which his nation was afflicted. Although a stern and uncompromising opposition to the whites had marked his policy, through a series of forty years, and nerved his arm in a hundred HISTORY OF OHIO - 621 battles, he became at length convinced of the madness of an ineffectual struggle against a vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth than he acted upon it with the decision which formed a prominent trait in his character. The temporary success of the Indians previous to the campaign of General Wayne, had kept alive their expiring hopes. But their signal defeat by that gallant officer convinced the more reflecting of their leaders of the desperate character of the conflict. Black Hoof was among those who decided upon making terms with the victorious American commander. And having signed the treaty of 1795, at Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipulations during the remainder of his life. From that day he ceased to be the enemy of the white man. As he was not one who could act a negative part, he became the firm ally and friend of those against whom his tomahawk had so long been raised in vindictive hostility. He was opposed to polygamy, and lived in faithful union with one wife for forty years. It is said that he was greatly beloved and revered by his numerous family. In .his early years he witnessed the burning of a captive. The awful spectacle appalled him. He ever afterwards opposed the barbarous custom, and it is said that he saved many from the stake. He was cheerful in his disposition, and fond of conversation. Through a thousand perils his life was prolonged to one hundred and ten years. His influence prevented the greater part of his tribe from joining the English. In that contest he remained firmly the friend of the United States. Though he was not called upon to take any active part in the war, his moral influence over the Indians contributed much to the success of our arms. CHAPTER XXXIII. WAR WITH ENGLAND THE MARCH OF GOVERNER HULL- GLOOM OF THE WILDERNESS -DETROIT SURRENDERED- GREATNESS OF THE DISASTER--WINTER EXPEDITIONS - TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS- BURNING OF INDIAN TOWNS-THE PRICE PAID - RECKLESS EXPEDITION OF WINCHESTER- HIS DEFEAT- MASSACRE OF THE WOUNDED - GENERAL PROCTOR-RETREAT TO THE SANDUSKY - SCENES OF WOE-FORT MEIGS ERECTED-BRAVE BUT UNWISE EXPEDITIONS-THE ADVANCE OF PROCTOR UPON FORT MEIGS - THE BOMBARDMENT - HEROIC DEFENSE INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE. AT THE commencement of the war with England in 1812, Governor William Hull, of Michigan, was ordered into Ohio to raise troops to take possession of the military post at Detroit. The movement contemplated crossing the river into Canada, and a march upon Quebec. Return J. Meigs was then Governor of Ohio. He immediately raised, in Ohio, three, regiments of volunteers for three months. During the months of April and May these troops were rendezvoused at Dayton. Early in June they marched up the Valley of the Great Miami to Staunton, and then were reassembled at Urbana, where they were joined by a regiment of regulars. The whole force now numbered about two thousand five hundred men. In the middle of June Governor Hull took the command and commenced his march through the unbroken forest towards Detroit. After a toilsome tramp of about twenty-four miles, they came to a spot where they erected a block house which they called McArthur's, in honor of Colonel Duncan McArthur, who commanded the first regiment. Making this a depot for gathering stores, they pushed on some fifteen miles farther, until they found themselves struggling through a marshy expanse resembling an immense morass. Upon a spot of solid ground here they erected HISTORY OF OHIO - 623 another fort of logs, which they called Necessity. They then pressed forward directly north, cutting their way for the wagons through the dense forest a distance of about twenty miles, until they reached the banks of Blanchard's Fork, one of the tributaries of the Maumee. Here, just west of a point where a bridge now crosses the stream, they constructed a stockade about fifty yards square with block-houses at each of the corners, and a ditch in front, which they called Fort Findlay. It was named after Colonel James Findlay, who commanded the second regiment. Thence a march of about thirty-six miles through pathless wilds, covered with the gloom of gigantic forests, brought them to the Maumee, at the spot where Perrysburg now stands. The army reached this point on the thirtieth of June, fifteen ,days after leaving Dayton. The stores were conveyed in one hundred and six heavy wagons. The distance they had marched was about one hundred and twenty miles. For nearly the whole of the route they had to cut their path through the wood. About forty miles of the journey these toil-worn, suffering men waded a swamp knee deep at every step. Thirteen of the wagons were left behind hopelessly mired. The block-houses which they erected on the way served a double purpose. They were stations where fresh supplies of provisions and ammunition could be stored, and they served as taverns where travelers and detachments could rest. The following incident will illustrate their value : One dark and windy night during the war, Captain William Oliver, in company with a Kentuckian, left Fort Meigs for Fort Findlay, on an errand of much importance. The distance was about thirty-three miles. It was a very hazardous enterprise, for Indian bands, in alliance with the British, were everywhere roaming the forest. They pushed on as rapidly as possible through the darkness, being well mounted, until a little after midnight, when they suddenly came upon an encampment of Indians gathered around their smouldering campfires. The Indians, ever sleeping as it were with one eye open, heard the tramp of their approaching horses, and rushed in a band upon them. The darkness was such that the eye could pierce it to but a very short distance. Captain Oliver and his companions put spurs to their horses, and dashed recklessly through the forest. The Indians hotly pursued, guided by the noise of the breaking branches. HISTORY OF OHIO - 625 As the morning was dawning the fugitives reached Fort Findlay. Their clothes were almost entirely torn from their bodies by the brambles and bushes through which they had rushed. Their bodies were sadly bruised and bleeding by contusions against the trees. As they rejoicingly entered the fort they looked back and saw the howling savages close upon their heels. Governor Hull, with his army, crossed the Maumee in boats just below the rapids. They then continued their march to Detroit, which they reached on the fifth of July. On the twelfth he crossed the river into Canada to reconnoiter the strength of the enemy there, and to collect provisions. He soon saw, as he thought, indications that the British, having gained the alliance of nearly all of the warriors of the northwestern tribes, were vastly superior to him in force. He therefore early in August re-crossed the river to take shelter beneath the walls of his fortress at Detroit. On the fourteenth of August, General Brock, the British commander, erected a formidable battery on the Canadian shore, directly opposite the American fort, and the next day summoned Hull to surrender. This being refused, he opened fire and continued vigorously through the night throwing bombs into the fort. At the same time, while thus diverting the attention of the garrison, he sent secretly a strong force of British soldiers and Indians across the river to storm the fort. It is said that this force consisted of seven hundred regulars and six hundred Indians. Mr. Caleb Atwater, in his history of Ohio, gives the following account of what ensued : " In the morning it was discovered that the enemy had landed at Springwells. Having thus landed in safety, and without opposition, at ten o'clock A.M. he marched in columns twelve deep to attack the American garrison. The fort, or as our soldiers used to call it, The Sheep Pen, was so situated that the soldiers could approach within two hundred yards of it before the guns of the garrison could injure them. A detachment of the American force, however, was sent out, and judiciously posted to prevent the advance of the enemy. "But at the very moment when every American in the army except its commander was ready and anxious to begin the mortal combat with an enemy of inferior numbers, consisting mostly of either raw militia or Indians, what were the emotions of our army when they were ordered into the fort, and to lay down their 37 626 - HISTORY OF OHIO. arms. They reluctantly obeyed, and a white flag was raised on the fort. "Without shedding a drop of blood, without firing a single gun, the fort, with all its cannon, taken with Burgoyne at Saratoga from the British, with a vast amount of powder, lead, cannon balls and all the munitions of war,— all, all were surrendered, unconditionally surrendered to the enemy. The enemy himself must have doubted his own senses on that occasion. Let us see : twenty-five hundred men with all their arms; twenty-five pieces of iron cannon, and eight brass ones ; forty barrels of powder, — all were surrendered without firing a gun to about one thousand militia and a few Indians." Such has been the general view of Governor Hull's deplorable surrender. On the other hand, Mr. John J. Anderson, in his history of the United States, writes : " Hull's conduct, two years after, underwent examination by court-martial, and though he was acquitted of treason, the court pronounced him guilty of cowardice, and he was sentenced to be shot. But in consideration of his age and revolutionary services, the sentence was remitted by President Madison. Hull's conduct was severely criticised at the time, as well as in after years. But a series of letters which he published in 1824, and a volume which appeared at a still later period, together formed a complete vindication of his surrender as regards either the charge of treason or cowardice." It is our duty here simply to give the historic facts, but we are not called upon to enter into the discussion of this question. Just before the surrender, Colonels McArthur and Cass had been dispatched with four hundred of the best troops back into Ohio to convoy a train of baggage wagons on its way to Detroit. No train was to be found. On their return, they had arrived within about nine miles of Detroit when they were met by a detachment of the British with a flag of truce, who informed them that they had been surrendered by Governor Hull prisoners of war. They were marched into Detroit, where they laid down their arms upon the pavement, and were then imprisoned in the fort, which was Already so crowded that they had scarcely room to lie down. Eventually the militia were allowed to return home on their parole not to serve again during the war. They were landed from boats at the mouth of Huron River, at Cleveland, and at various HISTORY OF OHIO - 627 other points along the southern shore of Lake Erie ; and then crossed the state to their distant places of residence as best they could. General Hull and the officers and soldiers of the regular army were carried in triumph to Montreal and Quebec, to be exhibited as the trophies of British prowess. The surrender of Hull was as disastrous as it was humiliating. Not only the important military post of Detroit, but the whole of Michigan, thus passed into the hands of our enemies. Disaster followed disaster in this region, and it is undeniable that the most amazing want, not of courage or of energy, but of military ability, was often manifested by our officers. Men were sent out on distant expeditions in mid-winter. Their sufferings were incredible. Their horses, starving for want of forage, dropped beneath them. The men, thinly clad, had their hands and feet terribly frozen. One's heart is appalled in reading the account of their sufferings. There were two or three Indian towns on the Missisiniway River in Indiana. It was deemed expedient to destroy these towns. It required a horseback march of ten days to accomplish this. The freezing blasts and storms of December were howling through the forest. In that inclement season one could scarcely keep comfortable in the snuggest log but with roaring fires. The troops reached the villages, commenced the assault in a midnight attack, burned the towns, killed a few Indians, and captured forty-two women and children. For this achievement they paid the price of exposing six hundred men to great sufferings ; twelve of them were killed and forty wounded. Of the wounded, many were life long cripples. A large number of the horses were shot by the Indians. It was the 12th of December, 1812, when these suffering men reached Fort Greenville on their return. " The roads," it is said, " were in as horrible condition as frost, snow, mud and ice could make them. Their horses were almost starved. The soldiers were one and all more or less frost bitten. They were badly provided with provisions, and even ammunition was wanting." The reason for this terrible expedition, was to prevent the Indians from having a place of retreat, whence they could issue and interrupt the intercourse between our settlements and Fort Wayne. But it is not improbable that the Indians had all their frail huts reconstructed, before the half-starved and frozen troops got back to Fort Wayne. 628 - HISTORY OF OHIO. It is a painful task to record some of these needless disasters. On the 20th of January, 1813, Generals Lewis and Winchester, with a combined force of about one thousand men, after very severe and somewhat successful fighting, were encamped on each side of Stony Creek, near Frenchtown, about eighteen miles from the British headquarters, at Malden. That evening a Frenchman informed Colonel Winchester that three thousand men were about leaving Fort Malden to attack him. There was no discipline among the men. They wandered about at will. No guard was placed on the road leading to Malden. The enemy, that very night approached unobserved, to within three hundred yards of our army, and posted their artillery unmolested. Just as the morning was dawning, a tremendous shower of balls, bombs and grape shot fell upon the sleeping encampment, and at the same moment the yells of savages, apparently in countless numbers, on the right and left flank of our troops, announced that they were almost surrounded. An awful scene of tumult, terror and blood ensued. Our troops, thus taken by surprise, and utterly overpowered, were soon put to the rout, while the ground was covered with their slain. They were shot down, tomahawked and scalped without mercy. The snow was deep, the cold intense Winchester and Lewis were both taken prisoners, and were carried to the tent of the British general, Proctor. Conscious that the prolongation of the struggle was only prolonging the slaughter of their own men, they agreed to surrender. They were surrounded by three times their own number, their ammunition was expended. The captured troops were marched off to Malden. They numbered five hundred and forty men. A large number were left behind, so severely wounded that they could not be moved. The next morning two hundred Indians came down from Malden. They were painted black, and it is scarcely possible that the British officers should not have known the mission upon which they had entered. By the terms of the surrender, General Proctor agreed to protect his captives by a guard. No such guard was furnished the wounded. The savages at once, with frantic yells, commenced the work of plunder and of slaughter. Everywhere was to be seen the gleam of the murderous tomahawk and the scalping knife. There were two large log houses, crowded with the wounded. The Indians HISTORY OF OHIO - 629 set them both on fire, and the poor creatures were consumed in the flames. Some who tried to crawl out the windows were tomahawked and thrown back into the glowing furnace. In these awful scenes of battle and of massacre two hundred and ninety Americans perished. These were generally young men, from the best families of Kentucky and Ohio. The wife of Henry Clay lost a brother here, who was killed and scalped by the savages. " For a disaster so terrible who was to blame ?" writes Mr. Atwater, Not General Harrison, because he never ordered such a rash movement of Winchester's force. He had no knowledge of the movement until Winchester's express informed him, when he was at Sandusky, at The distance of sixty or seventy miles from the rapids. Harrison then clearly foresaw that Winchester had thrown himself into the very jaws of the enemy, beyond the reach of succor." When General Harrison heard the tidings of the disaster, he dispatched Dr. McKeehan to Malden with money and medicines for the relief of the sick and wounded. The doctor was furnished with an open letter, addressed to any British officer whom he might meet. He also bore a flag of truce. On the way he was attacked, his guide slain, and he was taken prisoner. Thus he was conveyed to Malden. There he found the sick and wounded in an open, muddy wood yard, without fire. Proctor took from him his watch, his money, his letter, his flag of truce, his horse and his cariole. He then put him into irons and sent him by way of Niagara to Quebec. The doctor was finally released from his captivity, but the hardships to which he had been exposed utterly undermined his constitution, and ere long death relieved him of his sufferings. General Harrison now found it necessary to withdraw his army from the Rapids of the Maumee about eighteen miles east to Portage River. The retreat commenced on the 2d of March. A volunteer from Pittsburgh, in a letter to a friend, thus describes the sufferings they endured. " Early the next morning, at two o'clock, our tents were struck, and in half an hour we were on our way. I will candidly confess that on that day I regretted being a soldier. We marched thirty miles in an incessant rain. For eight miles of that thirty the water was over our knees, and often up to the middle. The black swamp, four miles from Portage River, and four miles in extent, 630 - HISTORY OF OHIO. would have been considered impassable by any men not determined to surmount every obstacle. The water on the ice was about six inches deep. The ice was very rotten, often breaking through where the water was four or five feet deep That night we encamped on the best ground we could find, but it was very wet. It was next to impossible to kindle fires. We had no tents, no axes, our clothes were perfectly soaked through, and we had but little to eat. Two logs rolled together, to keep me out of the water, was my bed." General Harrison was very anxious to gain Detroit that Winter. if it were possible. Therefore assembling all the troops he could on the Sandusky, early in February he returned to the Maumee. It was, however, by this time evident that the enterprise must for the present be postponed. Here General Harrison established his extreme advance post in the Northwest, on the left banks of the Maumee. There were at this time sixty-seven white families residing at the foot of the rapids, within the circumference of about ten miles. Quite a spacious fortress was erected here, which was called Fort Meigs, after the distinguished Governor of Ohio of that name. The British Fort Malden, on the eastern banks of the Detroit River, not far from its entrance into the lake, was distant from Fort Meigs but two or three days' march. Early in February General Harrison had about two thousand men at that post. A friendly Indian brought intelligence to the fort that six hundred Indian warriors were encamped on the shore of Maumee Bay, about twenty miles north of Fort Meigs. It was bitter cold weather, in the very heart of Winter. That very night the enterprising general took a select band of eleven hundred men, and marched down the river on the ice, which was apparently as solid as if it had been a bed of eternal granite. They soon came in sight of the camp-fires on the north side of the river ; but the Indians had all fled. The Indians ever kept their scouts on the alert. Seldom could their foes make any movement whatever without its being immediately reported at their encampment. The morning had not yet dawned. The fires, still burning, proved that the Indians could not be far distant. Cold as it was, it was decided, without stopping to warm themselves, immediately to pursue the fugitives. Many, however, were so exhausted that they could go no farther. They were directed to make themselves HISTORY OF OHIO - 631 as comfortable as they could through the night, and follow on the next day. The remainder of the indomitable little band resumed its march. They had proceeded but about two miles when they came to the head of the Maumee Bay. Here they were exposed to the full force of the freezing blasts which swept the whole breadth of Lake Erie. The ice, also, upon the expanded waters became more thin. Their only cannon, with the horses attached, broke through. It was still two hours before the dawn of the morning. The moon, which had thus far shone upon their icy path, was now sinking behind the forests. Three of the men, in attempting to extricate the horses, were also plunged into that terrible bath, and narrowly escaped drowning. It was not safe to proceed without the cannon, and that could not be recovered until the light of day. The soldiers, waiting for two hours of midnight darkness on the bleak ice, without shelter and without fires, suffered intensely. As soon as the gun was recovered they pushed on toward the River Raisin, which empties into the extreme western border of the lake. Near here they learned from their scouts, about sunrise, that the fleet-footed Indians were far away in -their retreat, and would soon be behind the walls of Fort Malden. The weary, half-frozen band, having accomplished nothing by all their sufferings, returned to Fort Meigs just as the evening gun had been fired. They had performed a march of forty-five miles on the ice in less than twenty-four hours. A few days after this another expedition was undertaken, which we knew not whether to designate as heroic or desperate. On Friday, the 26th of January, General Harrison called for volunteers to set out on a secret enterprise, which he informed them was important but hazardous in the extreme. Two hundred and fifty men volunteered. He told them that they would not be informed of the nature of the enterprise until they were at some distance from the fort. About fifty miles east of Fort Meigs, on the Sandusky River, where the Town of Lower Sandusky now stands, there was a blockhouse called Fort Saunderson. It was garrisoned by two companies of militia. This little band took up its line of march for that fort. On the d of March they left the log-house with six days' provisions. Captain Langham was in command. When they had proceeded about half a mile he ordered a halt. He 632 - HISTORY OF OHIO. then revealed to them the object of the expedition. It was to march along Lake Erie, on the shore and on the ice, as best they could, till they reached the banks of Detroit River opposite Fort Malden. Quite a large British fleet, laden with provisions, was frozen in at but a short distance from the fort. In the darkness of a winter's night they were to cross the river on the ice and set fire to the fleet, and the store-houses on the shore, with combustibles which they bore with them. They were then to retreat as rapidly as possible to the head of Maumee Bay, where General Harrison would meet them with a large force and escort them safely back to Fort Meigs. This surely was infatuation, not courage. The success of the enterprise depended upon so many contingencies that it could not reasonably have been expected. Having explained the plan Captain Langham gave liberty to all who deemed it too hazardous to withdraw. Twenty of the militia and seven of the Indians availed themselves of the liberty. The whole party, officers and men, now consisted of but two hundred. Of these twenty-four were drivers of sleds, and fourteen were Indian guides and scouts. It was known that the fort at Malden was strongly garrisoned by British troops, and that a body of nearly a thousand Indian warriors was encamped near by. Captain Langham and his party marched as. rapidly as possible down the western shores of Sandusky Bay. It was the wintry, windy, stormy month of March. Some marched on the land, and crossed the peninsula through the rugged wilderness to Portage River. Others took the smoother, but far more circuitous path, on the ice. A fierce tempest arose of rain and sleet. The soldiers were not provided with tents. They encamped in the storm, and through an awful night of suffering were drenched and half frozen. The next day, March 3, they pushed their adventurous way on the ice out in the lake to Middle Bass Island, about seventeen miles from their encampment of the preceding night. Just before they left the land for this island, about twenty men, including several Indians, utterly disheartened, deserted. The wind was then blowing fiercely from the north, and a smothering storm of snow beating into their faces, impeded their progress. Early in the afternoon they reached the northwest side of the island, when the weather began to moderate. It was supposed that one continuous sheet of ice would extend from there across HISTORY OF OHIO - 635 the lake to Malden. But it was found that the ice north of the island was weak, and in the distant north the ice seemed to be broken up. There were also marks upon the ice. Some persons, probably spies, had recently passed that way to give the British warning of their approach. Their plan had been to go by what is called the Western Sister Island. But the guides now gave it as their opinion that it was impossible in that way to reach Malden. They said that the lake from the Middle Sister Island was doubtless broken up, as was also the River Detroit. From the Middle Sister Island the distance to the mouth of the Detroit River was eighteen miles. To avoid being seen it would be necessary to perform that march in the dark. But as the weather was stormy and the ice soft, it might not be possible to accomplish this. Moreover there was great danger that a northerly wind might blow up, and they might be caught on the breaking, crashing ice, or if they should reach an island they might be there hopelessly cut off. The guides, therefore, unanimously and peremptorily declared that they did not consider it safe to go any farther; and that if Captain Langham persisted to advance he must himself assume the whole responsibility. The captain then called the men together and stated to them frankly the opinion of the guides. " The enterprise," said he, "is one of great importance. Still it is possible that all may be lost in the lake by the breaking up of the ice. And thus the country will be deprived of very choice troops without obtaining any service in return." The soldiers were then called upon to express their opinion. These heroic men, with one voice, replied : " We are ready to go wherever you are ready to lead us. We leave the decision with you." Very wisely the ill-judged expedition was abandoned. They directed their steps as rapidly as possible towards the land. They were confirmed in the wisdom of their decision by seeing before they reached the shore in the distance the dashing billows of the lake. General Harrison met them at the point of landing and escorted them in safety back to Fort Meigs. General Harrison was very anxious to regain Detroit, whose surrender was deemed an indelible disgrace to our arms. But he was disappointed in the re-enforcements which he had expected to 636 - HISTORY OF OHIO. receive. In addition to this his force was considerably diminished by the expiration of the term of service of many of the troops under his command. Thus he was virtually shut up in Fort Meigs, and compelled to act only on the defensive. Early in the Spring, the British officer, General Proctor, with three thousand two hundred men, eighteen hundred of whom were Indians, laid siege to Fort Meigs. The Indians were under the command of Tecumseh. Proctor had so large a force that he felt confident that the fort would be compelled immediately to surrender as soon as his troops should appear beneath its walls. He thought that General Harrison would imitate the example of General Hull. He had also promised Tecumseh that General Harrison should be delivered up to him as his captive. Early in the afternoon of the 26th of April, as several of the officers of the fort were conversing together on the parade, they saw two strangers, finely mounted, riding along the bank on the opposite side of the river. As it was a very unusual thing to see travelers in that wild country, and as it was manifest that they were very carefully surveying the works, it was inferred that they were spies. One of the guns was immediately brought to bear upon them, and a shot was sent whistling through the air, which tore up the earth at their feet. They immediately spurred their horses to flight. It subsequently appeared that the two visitors were the British General Proctor and the Chief Tecumseh. The garrison was immediately employed in preparing for an. attack. The tents within the fort were struck and subterranean caves were dug for lodgings ; for it was known that Proctor could bring to the assault heavy siege guns, and that he could throw down a shower of bomb-shells upon them. The fort was surrounded with an embankment twelve feet high, upon a basis of twenty feet. A British officer who accompanied Proctor's army gives the following account of its organization : " General Proctor ordered an expedition to be in readiness to move for the Maumee. Accordingly, towards the close of April, a detachment of the forty-first, some militia, and fifteen hundred Indians, accompanied by a train of battering artillery, and attended by two gunboats, proceeded up that river and established themselves on the right bank, at the distance of a mile, and selected a site for our batteries. The season was unusually wet. Yet in defiance of every obstacle the batteries were erected the same HISTORY OF OHIO - 637 night in front of the American fortress, and the guns transported along the road, in which the axle-trees of the carriages were frequently buried in mud. Among other battering pieces were two twenty-four pounders, in the transportation of which two hundred men, with several oxen were employed from nine o'clock at night until daylight in the morning. "At length, every precaution having been made, a gun fired from one of the boats was the signal for their opening. Early on the morning of the first of May a heavy fire was commenced and continued for four days without intermission, during which period every one of the enemy's batteries were silenced and dismantled. The fire of the twenty-four-pound battery was principally directed against the powder magazine which the besieged were busily occupied in covering and protecting from our hot shot. It was impossible to have artillery better served. Every shot that was fired sank into the roof of the magazine, scattering the earth to a considerable distance, and burying many of the workmen in its bed, from which we could distinctly see their survivors dragging forth the bodies of their slaughtered companions. Meanwhile the flank companies of the forty-first, with a few Indians, had been dispatched to the opposite shore, and had constructed a battery within a few hundred yards of the enemy's works, from which a galling cross-fire was sustained." The Indians climbed the trees and poured into the fort a galling fire, which greatly annoyed the garrison. They beset the fort on nearly every side. About eighty were killed and many more wounded: Many of the balls thrown from the British batteries were red hot. Wherever they struck they raised a cloud of vapor from the damp soil, with a great hissing. For three days their batteries kept up an incessant shower of balls and shells. On the most active day of the investment five hundred cannon balls and bombs were thrown into the fort. As General Harrison was in want of supplies, he offered a reward for every cannon ball which should be delivered to the magazine keeper. Over a thousand were brought in. A heavy rain came on and so deluged the caves that they could not be occupied. The men then had to sleep in the tents. Every now and then the startling cry of bomb, bomb, would rouse them from their slumbers. They would then rush from their tents and watch the fiery messenger of death as it took its flight through the 638 - HISTORY OF OHIO. midnight sky. As it fell they would fall flat upon their faces, for, unless the shell burst in the air it would penetrate the earth quite deeply, and then exploding, would throw its fragments in an angular direction. The soldiers would then return to their tents, only to be aroused again and again by the startling cry. So harrowing was this, and so accustomed did the men become to the danger, and so overpowering was the desire for sleep, that many of the soldiers, while conscious that the bomb might fall directly upon the tent where they were sleeping, remained undisturbed, determined, as one of them said, " to enjoy his sleep if ten thousand bombs should burst all around him." General Proctor now deeming the situation of the fort utterly desperate, for it was garrisoned by but about five hundred men, sent a summons for its surrender, stating that he had with him a larger number of Indians than had ever before been embodied, and that his army was so strong that the garrison could not hold out against it. General Harrison replied : " I believe that I have a very correct idea of General Proctor's force. It is not such as to create the least apprehension for the result of the contest. Assure the general, however, that he will never have this post surrendered to him upon any terms. Should it fall into his hands, it will be in a manner calculated to do him more honor, and to give him larger claims upon the gratitude of his government than any capitulation could possibly do." General Harrison having anticipated this attack sent a messenger to both the governors of Ohio and Kentucky, soliciting reenforcements for the relief of the fort. A young man noted for his bravery, Captain William Oliver, undertook this perilous commission. Threading the wilderness he delivered the message, to which both of the governors responded with alacrity. Upon his return he found the fort closely invested by the Indians under Tecumseh. Still, in the darkness of the night, he eluded all their vigilance, and entering the fort at midnight of the fourth of May, brought the joyful intelligence that General Green Clay, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, was descending the Maumee River in boats that they were just above the rapids, and would probably be at the fort within two or three hours. General Harrison immediately sent back word to General Clay to land eight hundred of his men on the right bank of the river opposite the fort, near where the British batteries stood, to spike HISTORY OF OHIO - 639 their cannon, and then immediately to return to their boats and cross-to the fort. These batteries were manned only by the gunners.. But they were protected by nearly two thousand soldiers, British and Indians, who were encamped about a mile back from them. General Harrison was therefore emphatic in his direction that immediately after spiking the cannon they should hasten across the river to the fort, before the enemy should have time to march upon them with a crushing force. The remaining four hundred men were to be landed on the left bank of the river, and to fight their way through the investing force to the fort, while a strong band would sally forth from the garrison to assist them. The arrangements were admirable. Had General Harrison's directions been followed they would have been eminently successful. To make all things sure he sent a very reliable man, Captain Hamilton, in a large canoe, called a pirogue, to ascend the river and land a guide, who should conduct the division of four hundred men to the fort. He was then to take the lead of the boats with the eight hundred men, and land his canoe at the spot where they were to leap upon the shore and spike the guns. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE SIEGE OF FORTS MEIGS AND STEVENSON. ANNIHILATION OF COLONEL DUDLEY'S DETACHMENT - ANGUISH OF GENERAL HARRISON - MASSACRE OF THE PRISONERS AWFUL SCENE OF SLAUGHTER - NOBLE CONDUCT OF TECUMSEH - PUSILLANIMITY OF PROCTOR - THE ENCAMPMENT OF THE SAVAGES - TESTIMONY OF A BRITISH OFFICER - RETIRE. MENT OF THE FOE - CAUSES OF THE WAR - SECOND SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS - ADVENTURES OF JAMES DOOLAN - THE SHAM FIGHT -NARROW ESCAPE OF THE GARRISON - SIEGE OF FORT STEVENSON - VAST FORCE OF INDIANS- HEROIC DEFENSE SLAUGHTER IN THE DITCH - FLIGHT OF THE FOE - MAJOR CROGAN'S HEROISM. COLONEL DUDLEY, the senior officer, was entrusted with the command of the troops who were to attack the British batteries. General Clay landed his men on the left bank of the river, and after a very severe conflict, succeeded, by the aid of the sortie from the garrison, in fighting his way into the fort. Colonel Dudley effected his landing at the appointed place without difficulty. He drove the British from their guns and spiked them. Then his soldiers, raw militia, unaccustomed to obey orders, were so elated with their easy victory that, notwithstanding all the efforts of their commander, they pepersistedn pursuing a band of sagacious Indians who were drawing them into an ambush. General Harrison stood upon the ramparts of the fort in full view of the scene. The cheers of these brave but infatuated men fell upon his ears like the wail of death. He and his officers shouted frantically to them, beckoning them to return; but the thoughtless soldiers deemed these shouts but the applause of the garrison in view of their heroic achievement, and more impetuously the tumultuous throng rushed on to destruction. Harrison exclaimed, in tones of anguish, " They are lost, they are lost! Can I never get men to obey my orders !" HISTORY OF OHIO - 641 On, on they rushed, till they came into a defile, when suddenly, twice their numbers rose up around them. Their retreat was cut off, and a scene of terrific slaughter ensued. The Indians, pouring in a murderous fire, with horrid yells and gleaming tomahawks, rushed upon their victims. All the troops were now huddled together in utter confusion, unable to make any resistance. The British officers and the Indians were commingled in the assaults, while the British did all that they dared to do to arrest the ferocity of their savage allies. The white flag of surrender was raised, and gradually those who had survived the slaughter were regarded as captives. The British and the Indians commenced leading the prisoners back to the British encampment. But the savages were so numerous that they scorned obedience to their civilized comrades. 'They deemed, and with some plausibility, the victory due to their own prowess. On the march, they began to rob their prisoners, stripping them even of every article of clothing. As they drew near the encampment, the Indians formed a long line, before which they compelled their captives to run, while they whipped, .shot and tomahawked them. One of the Americans, who had a bullet first buried in his back, and who ran this terrible gauntlet, writes: "When I reached the starting place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, and ran near the muzzles of their guns, knowing that they would have to shoot me while I was immediately in front, of let me pass; for to have turned their guns up or down the lines, to shoot 'me, would have endangered themselves, as there was a curve in their line. In this way I passed without injury, except some strokes over the shoulder with their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch which surrounded the encampment, the man before me was shot, and fell, and I fell over him. The passage, for a while, was stopped by those who fell over the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost at this place I cannot tell; probably between twenty and forty. "When we got within the walls we were ordered to sit down. A new scene commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated wall, and shot one of the prisoners next to him. He reloaded and shot a second, the ball passing through him into the hip of another, who afterwards died of the wound. The savage then laid down his gun and took his tomahawk, with which 642 - HISTORY OF OHIO. he killed two others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the men, they endeavored to escape from him, by leaping over the heads of each other. Thus they were heaped, one upon another; and they trampled upon me so that I could see nothing that was going on. The confusion and uproar at this moment can not be adequately described. There was an excitement and fierceness manifested among .the Indians which betokened a strong disposition, among some of them, to massacre the whole of us." Mr. William G. Ewing, who was present on this occasion, writes: "While this bloodthirsty carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the rear. in the Indian tongue, when turning around, I saw Tecumseh coming with all the rapidity with which his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two Indians had an American and were in the act of killing him. He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast, and threw them both to the ground. Drawing his tomahawk and knife, he ran in between the Indians and the Americans, brandishing his weapons with the fury of a madman, daring any one of the hundreds of Indians who surrounded him to attempt to murder another American. They all appeared confounded, and immediately desisted. His mind appeared rent with passion, and with tears in his eyes, he exclaimed: Oh ! what will become of my Indians! " He then demanded, in an authoritative tone, "Where is General Proctor?" He was pointed out to him in the rear. The chief rode up to the general, and sternly inquired, "Why did you not put a stop to this inhuman carnage? " Proctor replied, "Your Indians cannot be controlled." " Begone," exclaimed the indignand Indian chieftain, to the British general, "You are unfit to command. Go put on petticoats." All accounts agree in speaking in praise of Tecumseh's conduct on this occasion. "After the surrender," another one writes, "and all resistance had ceased, the Indians, finding five hundred prisoners at their mercy, began the work of massacre with the most savage delight. Tecumseh sternly forbade it, and buried his tomahawk in the head of one of his chiefs who refused obedience. This order, accompanied with this decisive manner of enforcing it, put an end to the massacre." Another writes, describing Tecumseh's appearance, as he rode   HISTORY OF OHIO - 645 upon the field. " This celebrated chief was a noble and a dignified personage. He wore an elegant broadsword, and was dressed in the Indian costume. His face was finely proportioned, his nose inclined to the aquiline, and his eyes displayed none of that savage and ferocious triumph common to the other Indians on this occasion. He seemed to regard us with unmoved composure, and I thought a beam of mercy shone in his countenance, tempering the spirit of vengeance inherent in his race against the American people. I saw him only on horseback." A British officer, who took part in this conflict, wrote, in the London New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826 : "On reaching our encampment the prisoners were met by a band of cowardly and treacherous Indians, who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, guided by the savage Instinct of their nature, approached the column, and selecting their victims, commenced the work of blood. In vain did the harassed and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their destroyers. The frenzy of these wretches knew no bounds. An old and excellent soldier, named Russell, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest a victim from the grasp of his murderer. "Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen beneath the steel of these infuriated savages, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was going on, rode up at full speed, and raising his tomahawk, threatened to destroy the first man who refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of coercion had hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasperated chieftain, produced an instantaneons effect ; and they retired, at once humiliated and confounded. "The survivors of this melancholy catastrophe were immediately conveyed on board the gunboats, which were moored in the river, and every precaution having been taken to prevent a renewal of the scene, the escorting party proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom the rites of sepulture were afforded even before those of our own men who had fallen in the action. Colonel Dudley was among the number of the slain. " On the evening of the second day after this event I accompanied Major Muir in a ramble through the encampment of the Indians, which was distant a few hundred yards from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view was at once of the most ludic- 38 646 - HISTORY OF OHIO. rous and the most revolting nature. In various directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken in the boats of the American division; and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their riches, carefully examining each article and attempting to divine its use. Several were decked out in the uniform of officers. And although embarrassed to the last degree in their movements, and dragging with difficulty the heavy military boots with which their legs were for the first time covered, they strutted forth, much to the admiration of their less fortunate comrades. Some were habited in plain clothes. Others had their bodies clad with clean white shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner with the swarthiness of their skins. All wore some articles of decoration. Their tents were ornamented with saddles, bridles, rifles, daggers, swords, and pistols, many of which were handsomely mounted and of curious workmanship. Such was the ridiculous part of the picture. "But mingled with these, and in various directions, were to be seen the scalps of the slain drying in the sun. They were stained on the fleshy side with vermillion dyes, and were dangling in the air as they hung suspended from the poles to which they were attached. There were also hoops of various sizes, on which were stretched portions of human skin taken from various parts of the body, principally from the hands and feet, and yet with the nails of those parts attached. Scattered along the ground were to be seen the members of the body from which they had been separated, serving as nutriment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accompanied. "As we continued to advance into the heart of the encampment, a scene of a still more disgusting nature arrested our attention. Stopping at the entrance of a tent occupied by the Minoumini tribe, we observed the Indians seated around a large fire, over which was suspended a kettle containing their meal. Each warrior had a string hanging over the edge of the vessel. To this was suspended food, of which it will be presumed we did not hear without loathing. It consisted of the flesh of an American. Any .expression of our feelings, as we declined the invitation which they gave us to join in their repast, would have been resented by them without ceremony. We had therefore the prudence to excuse ourselves under the plea that we had already taken our food ; and we hastened to remove from a sight so revolting to humanity. "Since the affair of the fifth the Americans continued to keep HISTORY OF OHIO - 647 themselves shut up within their works. The bombardment, though carried on with vigor, had effected no practicable breach. From the account given by the officers captured during the sortie, it appeared that the Americans, with a perseverance and toil peculiar to themselves, had constructed subterranean passages to protect them from our shells, which, sinking into the clay, softened by the incessant rains, instead of exploding were speedily extinguished. "Members of the militia, impatient of privations, and anxious to return to their families, withdrew themselves in small bodies under cover of the night. The majority of the Indians, enriched by plunder, and languishing under a mode of warfare so different from their own, with less ceremony left us to prosecute the siege as we could. Tecumseh, at the head of about four hundred of his tribe, the Shawanese, remained. "The British troops also were wore down with constant fatigue; for here, as in every other expedition against the Americans, few, even of the officers, had tents to shield them from the weather. A few pieces of bark stripped from the trees, and covering the skeleton of a hut, constituted their only habitation. They were merely separated from the damp earth on which they lay, by a few scattered leaves, upon which were spread a blanket by the men, and a cloak by the officers. Hence frequently arose all those various sicknesses to which an army encamped on the wet ground is inevitably subject. Fortunate was he who possessed the skin of a bear or a buffalo, on which he could repose his weary limbs, after a period of suffering and privation which those who have never served in the wilds of America can with difficulty comprehend. "Such was the condition of the contending parties towards the middle of May, when General Proctor, despairing to effect the reduction of the fort, caused preparations to be made for raising the siege. Accordingly the gunboats ascended the river and anchored under the batteries, the guns of which were conveyed on board under a heavy fire from the enemy. The whole being secured, the expedition returned to Malden. The Americans remained tranquil within their works, and suffered us to depart unmolested." Of the eight hundred men who composed Colonel Dudley's division, only one hundred and fifty escaped. All the rest were either killed or captured. Many of the prisoners the Indians 648 - HISTORY OF OHIO. claimed, and carried off with them to their towns to treat them there as they pleased. The loss of the garrison during the siege amounted to one hundred and eighty-nine. And now the question must arise in every thoughtful mind, What was the cause of this horrid war between England and America, which, destroying all the happiness and peace, created such suffering, slaughter and misery ? On the part of. the British it was because their government demanded the privilege, whenever one of their men of war met any American vessel at sea, to send a lieutenant on board, summon the whole crew before him, and to take from that crew whoever he was disposed to declare to be a British subject, and to impress him as a sailor beneath the British flag. In this way more than a thousand American citizens had been kidnapped. The American government deemed this an outrage which no nation which respected itself could tolerate. Hence the war. On the part of the Indians, they joined the British because the United States government claimed the privilege of purchasing immense extents of territory of an individual tribe, without consulting other tribes. The Indians were forbidden to unite for mutual protection, as Tecumseh and his party wished to unite them, following the example of the United States. The immediate occasion of the war which this question created was the treaty of Fort Wayne. By this treaty a few chiefs surrendered to the white men the whole of a vast and very attractive territory between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, with three hundred miles front on the Ohio, and one hundred and fifty on the Wabash. Tecumseh claimed that these few chiefs had no sufficient authority to cede these immense hunting grounds which belonged, as he maintained, alike to many other tribes. Are these questions again to come up for final decision before God's tribunal. General Harrison having repaired, as far as possible, the damage which the fort had received during the siege, repaired to the interior and southern portions of the State to organize and forward reenforcements. General Proctor made vigorous preparations at Malden to send out another and more formidable force for the capture of Fort Meigs. General Green Clay, who was left in command of the works, during the absence of General Harrison, discovered through his scouts, on the 20th day of July, that the enemy in great force, in crowded boats, were ascending the Mau- HISTORY OF OHIO - 649 mee. The army of British and Indians, under Proctor and Tecumseh, amounted to five thousand. The number of Indians was greater than had ever before been assembled during any period of the war. It is said that they counted four thousand. There were but a few hundred men left to defend the fort. General Clay immediately dispatched a courier across the country, through the forest, to Sandusky, to inform General Harrison of the peril of the fort. The general sent back word that he would hasten to his relief as soon as possible, with a detachment of four hundred men. In the meantime he urged General Clay to practice the utmost caution to guard against surprise. It was General Harrison's plan to take a select number of four hundred men, and, approaching the fort at midnight, by a secret route, to cut their way at every hazard, through the investing lines into the fort. The courier, Captain McCune, of Ohio, reached the fort on his return, just at the break of day, on the 25th of July. He had one companion, James Devlan, a French Canadian. In the night they lost their way, and consequently reached the fort at a later hour than they had intended. Around the fort there was a space two or three hundred yards in width, which was cleared of trees. Just as McCune and his companion entered the cleared ground, well mounted, but with exhausted steeds, a band of Indians caught sight of them, and came rushing upon them on horse-back, with hideous yells. The following account has been given of their escape : " They immediately took to the high bank with their horses, and retreated at full gallop up the river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also mounted, until they came to a deep ravine putting up from the river, in a southerly direction, when they turned upon the river bottom, and continued a short distance, until they found their further progress in that direction stopped by an impassable swamp. The Indians perceiving their dilemma, from their knowledge of the country, and expecting that they would naturally follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. McCune guessed their intention, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the fort, gaining by this manoeuver several hundred yards upon their pursuers. The Indians gave a yell of chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just as they neared the fort, McCune dashed into a thicket across his course, on the opposite side of which, other Indians had huddled,