50 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO be there when the American troops approached, but fled precipitately to the opposite bank. He could not wait for the boat, but plunged his horse into the river and swam to the opposite shore. He never again crossed to the fort, except during the War of 1812, when the British troops again occupied it. For sixteen years he did not step foot on American soil. The last time that James Girty joined in an expedition against his countrymen, so far as is known, was in 1782. The point where the portage at the head of the St. Marys began was an ideal place for the establishment of a trading post. It was then the site of a small Indian village, but is now occupied by St. Marys. Girty had married a Shawnee woman, who was known as Betsey by the whites. He established himself there in 1783, as a trader, and it soon became known as Girty's Town. For a number of years he enjoyed a practical monopoly of the Indian trade here. He shipped his peltry down the St. Marys to the Maumee. At every report of the approach of the Americans, James became alarmed, and on several occasions had his goods packed for immediate flight. Upon the approach of General Harmar, he moved to the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize. Here he occupied a log cabin. An incident is related of young Oliver M. Spencer, who took dinner at Girty's home after being released from Indian captivity. While regaling himself Girty came in and saw the boy for the first time. The latter seated himself opposite Spencer, and said to him : "So, my young Yankee, you're about to start for home ?" The boy answered : "Yes, sir ; I hope so." That, Girty rejoined, would depend upon his master, in whose kitchen he had no doubt the youthful stranger should first serve a few years' apprenticeship as a scullion. Then, taking his knife, he said (while sharpening it on a whetstone) : "I see your ears are whole yet ; but I'm greatly mistaken if you leave this without the Indian earmark, that we may know you when we catch you again." Spencer did not wait to prove whether Girty was in jest or in downright earnest, but, leaving his meal half finished, he instantly sprang from the table, leaped out of the door, and in a few seconds took refuge in the house of a trader named Ironside. On learning the cause of the boy's flight, Elliott uttered a sardonic laugh, deriding his unfounded childish fears, as he was pleased to term them. Ironside, however, looked serious, shaking his head as if he had no doubt that if Spencer had remained Girty would have executed his threat. When Wayne approached in 1794, James Girty packed up his goods and fled to Canada, but came back once more to again trade with the Indians along the Maumee. Trade was not so profitable as before, and he returned to Canada, at Gosfield. His last trading place in Ohio was a few miles above Napoleon, at Girty's Point, near Girty 's Island. Like his brother Simon, he was also too old and infirm to take part in the War of 1812. He died on the 15th of April, 1817. He was thrifty and had accumulated considerable property. His wife died first, and two children survived him, James and Ann. He was temperate in his habits, but fully as cruel as his brothers. Neither age nor sex were spared by him during the savage expeditions in which he took part. He would boast, so it is said, that no woman or child escaped his tomahawk, if he got within reach of the victim. George Girty, after the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782, returned to the upper waters of the Mad River. It is known that he continued to reside with the Delawares, but gave himself so completely up to savage life that he practically lost his identity. He is heard of occasionally in Indian forays. He married a Delaware squaw, and had several children. During his latter years he was an habitual drunkard, and died during a spree at the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 51 cabin of James, near Fort Wayne, but his family remained with the tribe. When war broke out between the United States and the Indians about 1790, Simon Girty again fought with the Indians and against the Americans. The last battle in which he was known to have been actually engaged was at the defeat of St. Clair, in Mercer County, where he fought most courageously. Here he captured a white woman. A Wyandot squaw demanded the prisoner, on the ground that custom gave all female prisoners to the squaws accompanying the braves. Over Girty's objection this was done, and he was furious. Even after the defeat of the Indians by General Wayne he still advised a continuance of the war against the Americans, so blinded had he become in this hatred. In his later years Girty seems to have made an effort to command a degree of respect as a decent citizen. The British Government granted him some land in the Township of Malden, Essex County, Canada, described as "beginning at a post on the bank of the river Detroit, marked 10/11; thence east 131 chains; thence south 12 chains, 52 links ; thence west to the river Detroit, and thence northerly along the shore of the river against the stream to the place of beginning, containing 164 acres." He was abhorred by all his neighbors, however, for the depravity of his untamed and undisciplined nature was too apparent. After the birth of the last son, Simon and his wife separated because of his cruelty toward her when drunk. In the War of 1812 he was incapable of active service, because his sight had almost left him. He is said, however, to have rallied a band of Wyandots to the standard of Tecumseh. When the British army returned he followed it, leaving-his family at home. When General Harrison invaded Canada, Girty fled beyond his reach, but his wife remained at the home and was unharmed. In 1816, after peace was concluded, he returned to his farm, where he died on the 18th of February, in the year 1818. He actually gave up liquor for a few months prior to his dissolution. He is said to have been very penitent, as the end drew nigh. He was buried on his farm. A squad of British soldiers attended the funeral, and fired a parting salute over his grave. His youngest son was on one occasion a candidate for Parliament, but was defeated. He became a man of considerable influence, and finally moved to Ohio, where he died. All of his children lived and married. Thomas died before his father, but left three children. The widow of Simon survived him for many years, and did not die until 1852. All of her children enjoyed unsullied reputations. Oliver M. Spencer, who was taken prisoner by the Indians while a youth in 1792, in his narrative of his captivity makes some mention of the Girtys. While at Defiance, the old Indian priestess, Coo-coo-Cheeh, with whom he lived, took him to a. neighboring Shawnee village called Snaketown, on the site of Napoleon. There he saw the celebrated chief, Blue Jacket, and Simon Girty, of whom he speaks as follows : "One of the visitors of Blue Jacket (the Snake) was a plain, grave chief of sage appearance; the other, Simon Girty, whether it was from prejudice, associating with his look the fact that he was a renegado, the murderer of his own countrymen, racking his diabolic invention to inflict new and more excruciating tortures, or not; his dark, shaggy hair, his low forehead, his brows contracted, and meeting above his short flat nose ; his gray sunken eyes, averting the ingenuous gaze ; his lips thin and compressed, and the dark and sinister expression of his countenance, to me, seemed the very picture of a villain. He wore the Indian costume, but without any ornament ; and his silk handkerchief while it supplied the place of a hat ; hid an unsightly wound in his forehead. On each side, in his belt, was stuck a silvermounted pistol, and at 52 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO his left hung a short broad dirk, serving occasionally the uses of a knife.' He made of me many inquiries; some about my family, and the particulars of my captivity ; but more of the strength of the different garrisons ; the number of Americans troops at Fort Washington, and whether the President intended soon to send another army against the Indians. He spoke of the wrongs he had received at the hands of his countrymen, and with fiendish exultation of the revenge he had taken. He boasted of his exploits, of the number of his victories, and of his personal prowess ; then raising his handkerchief, and exhibiting the deep wound in his forehead (which I was afterwards told was inflicted by the tomahawk of the celebrated Indian chief, Brandt, in a drunken frolic) said it was a sabre cut, which he received in battle at St. Clair's defeat ; adding with an oath, that he had 'sent the d—d Yankee officer' that gave it `to h-1. ' He ended by telling me that I would never see home ; but if I should turn out to be a good hunter and a brave warrior, I might one day be a chief. His presence and conversation having rendered my situation painful, I was not a little relieved when, a few hours after ending our visit, we returned to our quiet lodge on the bank of the Maumee." Girty's one great fear was of capture by the Americans, and he always endeavored to ascertain from prisoners what might be in store for him should he be captured by them. It seemed as though the idea of falling into the hands of his outraged countrymen was a terror to him. "The last time I saw Girty," writes William Walker, "was in the summer of 1813. From my recollection of his person, he was in height five feet six or seven inches ; broad across the chest; strong, round, compact limbs; and of fair complexion. To any one scrutinizing him, the conclusion would forcibly impress the observer, that Girty was endowed by nature with great powers of endurance." Spencer was not favorably impressed with his visage, and leaves us the following picture : "His dark shaggy hair, his low forehead ; his brows contracted, and meeting above his short, flat nose ; his gray sunken eyes, averting the ingenuous "gaze ; his lips thin and compressed ; and the dark and sinister expression of his countenance ;—to me seemed the very picture of a villain." "No other country or age," says Butterfield, "ever produced, perhaps, so brutal, depraved, and wicked a wretch as Simon Girty. He was sagacious and brave ; but his sagacity and bravery only made him a greater monster of cruelty. All of the vices of civilization seemed to center in him, and by him were ingrafted upon those of either. He moved about through the Indian country during the war of the Revolution and the Indian war which followed, a dark whirlwind of fury, desperation and barbarity. In the refinements of torture inflicted on helpless prisoners, as compared with the Indians, he `out-heroded Herod.' In treachery he stood unrivaled. There ever rankled in his bosom a most deadly hatred of his country. He seemed to revel in the very excess of malignity toward his old associates. So horrid was his wild ferocity and savageness, that the least relenting seemed to be acts of positive goodness—luminous sparks in the very blackness of darkness !" 1 Of Girty 's foolhardiness there is ample testimony. He became involved in a quarrel at one time with a Shawnee, caused by some misunderstanding in trade. While bandying hard words to each other, the Indian, by innu- 1 Consul W. Butterfield made a more extended study of the life of the Girtys than any other person. In his "History of the Girtys," published in 1890, he modified many of his harsher statements expressed about Simon Girty in his "Crawford 's Campaign against Sandusky," published seventeen years earlier. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 53 endo, questioned his opponent's courage. Girty instantly produced a half-keg of powder, and snatching a firebrand, called upon the savage to stand by him. The latter, not deeming this a legitimate mode of settling disputes, hastily evacuated the premises. The last picture that we have of Simon Girty is shortly before his death. "I went to Malden," said Mr. Daniel, "and put up at a hotel kept by a Frenchman. I noticed in the bar-room a gray-headed and blind old man. The landlady, who was the daughter, a woman of about thirty years of age, inquired of me : `Do you know who that is?' On my replying 'No' she replied 'it is Simon Girty.' He had then been blind about four years." CHAPTER VI THE DEFEAT OF GENERAL ST. CLAIR Although by the Treaty of Paris, which was concluded at Versailles in 1783, all the territory south of the middle of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, and east of the Upper Mississippi River, was granted to the United States, and Great Britain specifically covenanted to withdraw., her troops. from Detroit, and other parts of this territory, the British did not comply with their agreement until some thirteen years afterward. During this time there were no large war parties of the aborigines for several years, but small bands of Shawnees and Wyandots continued to invade Kentucky and the border settlements of Pennsylvania with the loaded rifle and the uplifted tomahawk. For this reason agonizing appeals kept coming in to Washington asking for protection and praying that troops be dispatched into the Ohio country. When John Adams, the American minister to Great Britain, protested to the British government, that country defended itself by saying that some of the states had violated the peace treaty, also, in regard to the payment of their debts to Great Britain. This was true, for some of the southern states had attempted to offset the value of slaves impressed into British service against legitimate claims due from them. The real motive doubtless was the hope that the league of American states would prove only an ephemeral union that would soon be torn asunder. The new American Government was very reluctant to enter into a struggle with the Indians of the Northwest Territory, of which Ohio was then a part. But the frontier was steadily advanced westward by venturesome backwoodsmen, and the Government was inevitably drawn in by the necessity of supporting them.. There was no well developed plan. Many of the leaders were averse to spreading westward ; they were as strong anti-expansionists as is any American today. They were quite content to permit the red men to rove the forests and hunt in peace. They did not covet the lands of the Indians. They endeavored to prevent settlers from encroaching upon them. But backwoodsmen are naturally aggressive. They revert in a sense to primeval conditions. Rough, masterful, aggressive, and even lawless, they feared not the red man nor were they intimidated by the threatening wrath of the Government. Once established in a location, they freely appealed to Washington for help.. Then it was that the men east of the Alleghenies, whose fathers or grandfathers had also been frontiersmen, rather grudgingly came to their help. When letter after letter arrived from the Ohio country, with accounts of the horrible atrocities there being perpetrated, the ,congressmen began to be besieged and the governors forwarded appeals to the President. Then it was that some active movements were undertaken to relieve the conditions in the West. With all every provocation possible placed before it, the American Government hesitated to make open war against the Indians of Ohio. And yet, although the . Northwest Territory, a vast empire larger than any country in - 54 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 55 Europe save Russia, had become the public domain of the confederated states, the aboriginal inhabitant, and the one actually in possession, had still to be dealt with. This must be accomplished either by purchase or conquest. The Iroquois claim to these lands was extinguished by the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1785. An American commissioner, by the name of Ephraim Douglas, was sent to the Indians residing in Ohio in 1783 to conclude treaties with them. Carrying a white flag of peace he visited Sandusky, passing some days with the Delawares there, and then journeyed to the Wyandots, Ottawas, and Miamis along the Lower Maumee. This was in the month of June. From there he proceeded to Detroit, where he met representatives of many other tribes. Long talks were indulged in to convince them that the war was ended. These Indians were perfectly willing to give their allegiance to whichever nation promised them the most presents, so it appeared. As the Americans at this time had not learned how to deal with these simple inhabitants of the forests, their allegiance was still retained by the British in most instances, and many lives were sacrificed as a consequence. By a treaty entered into between United States commissioners and the chiefs and sachems of the Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa, and Wyandot Indians at Fort McIntosh, the limits of their territory as agreed upon were the Maumee and the Cuyahoga rivers, on the west and east respectively. Within this territory, which included nearly all of Northwest Ohio, and almost three-fourths of the entire state, the Delawares, Wyandots, and Ottawas were to live and hunt at their heart's pleasure. They were authorized to shoot any person other than an Indian, whether a citizen of the United States or otherwise, who attempted to settle upon these exempt lands. " The Indians may punish him as they please," was the exact language of the treaty. On their part the Indians recognized all the lands west, south, and east of these lines as belonging to the United States, and "none of their tribes shall presume to settle upon the same or any part of it." Reservations were exempted by the United States of a tract six miles square at the mouth of the Maumee, and two miles square at Lower Sandusky, for military posts. Three chiefs were to remain with the Americans as hostages until all American prisoners were surrendered by the savages. In a treaty made the following year at Fort Finney, the Shawnees " acknowledged the United States to be the sole and absolute sovereign of all the territory ceded by Great Britain," but they immediately ignored this treaty. It was some time after the independence of the colonies was achieved before a definite government was adopted for the Northwest Territory. Army officers and discharged soldiers were clamoring for the lands. Thomas Jefferson evolved a scheme for the creation of the vast domain into a checkerboard arrangement of states, to which fanciful names were assigned. Northwest Ohio narrowly escaped being a part of Metropotamia. Some of its neighbors would have been Cherronesus, Assenisipia, Illinoia, Pelisipia, Polypotamia, and Michigania. The ordinance was passed but never really went into effect, for it was soon afterwards superseded by the famous Ordinance of 1787. The main factor in the passage of this measure was the famous Manasseh Cutler, representing the Ohio Company. This ordinance in its wise provisions ranks close to the Constitution, being preferred by the convention at the same time. The most marked and original feature in its provisions was the prohibition of slavery after the year 1800. On July 27, 1887, Congress passed the ordinance by which the Ohio Company was granted 1,500,000 acres, and a little more than twice as much was set aside for private speculation, in which many of the most prominent personages of the day were involved. This was the Scioto Company. 56 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO They paid two-thirds of a dollar an acre in specie or certificates of indebtedness of the Government. The Ohio Company was the first real attempt to settle Ohio, and this company had its full share of troubles. The lands granted were on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers. As Senator Hoar has said : "Never did the great Husbandman choose his seed more carefully than when he planted Ohio; I do not believe the same number of persons fitted for the highest duties and responsibilities of war and peace could ever have been found in a community of the same size as were among the men who founded Marietta in the spring of 1788, or who joined them within twelve months thereafter." Many of the settlers were college graduates, bearing classical degrees from Harvard and Yale. Arthur St. Clair was appointed the first governor of this new territory, and Winthrop Sargent was named as secretary. The ordinance required that the governor, to be appointed by Congress, must reside in the district and must be the owner of 1,000 acres of land. Governor St. Clair came of a distinguished Scotch family, and had had a distinguished career in the Revolution. He did not actively enter upon his duties until the summer of 1788. To allay the restlessness known to exist among the aborigines, because of the rapid influx of settlers, Congress directed that commissioners proceed to the homes of the different tribes, in order to make treaties which would avert future conflicts. The carrying out of this policy was committed to Governor St. Clair. 1 As an outcome of this policy a treaty was 1 The instructions to Governor St. Clair were as follows: 1. Examine carefully into the real temper of the aborigines. 2. Remove if possible all causes of controversy, so that peace and harmony may be established between the United States and the aborigine tribes. 3. Regulate trade among the aborigines. 4. Neglect no opportunity that offers for extinguishing the aborigine claims to lands westward as far as the Mississippi River, and northward as far as completion of the forty-first degree of north latitude. 5. Use every possible endeavor to ascertain the names of the real head men and warriors of the seVeral tribes, and to attach these Men to the United States by every possible means. 6. Make eVery exertion to defeat all confederations and combinations among the tribes; and conciliate the white people inhabiting the frontiers, toward the aborigines. the entered into with several tribes, and a considerable sum of money was paid. to the Indians. This was at Fort Harmar, and some 200 Indian delegates attended the council. Among the signatures are those of chiefs known as Dancing Feather, Wood Bug, Thrown-in-the-water, Big Bale of a Kettle, Full Moon, and Tearing Asunder. It was signed by the Wyandots, Delawares, and Ottawas, among others. But they were not the head chiefs. The Shawnees and Miamis remained away. It required only a few weeks, however, to demonstrate the insin, cerity and treachery of the Indians, for their maraudings began anew with the opening of another spring. Gen. Josiah Harmar, with a small body of troops, made a detour of the Scioto River, destroying the food supplies and huts of the hostile savages wherever they were found. Only four of the Indians, so he reported, were shot, as "wolves might as well have been pursued." Recourse was finally had to Antonie Gamelin, a French trader. Gamelin had visited the Indians innumerable times, and had dealt with them for many years. No trader was more highly esteemed by these aborigines. His long intercourse, honest dealing, good heart, and perfect good fellowship had given him universal popularity among the tribes. Much as they liked him, and always avowing their faith in him, the Indians passed him on from tribe to tribe, with no answer to the speech or invitation until he arrived on the Maumee. Here the chiefs were outspoken. "The Americans," they said, "send us nothing but speeches, and no two are alike. They intend to deceive us. Detroit was the place where HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 57 the fire was lighted ; there is where it ought first to be put out. The English commander is our father since he threw down our French father ; we can do. nothing without his approbation." When Gamelin returned, he reported the situation as hopeless. Other traders arriving vouchsafed the information that war parties were on the move. HARMAR'S EXPEDITION General Harmar reported 'to General St. Clair many raids and, murders by the savages, and it was agreed between them, at a meeting held at Fort Washington, on July 11th, that Harmar should conduct an expedition against the Maumee towns, which were reported to be the headquarters of all the renegade Indians who were committing the depredations. Troops from Kentucky, New York, and from the back counties of Pennsylvania, were ordered to assemble at Fort Washington (now Cincinnati) on the 15th of September, 1790. The object of this expedition was not only to chastise the savages, but also to build one or more forts on the Maumee and to establish a connecting line of refuge posts for supplies, from which sorties could quickly be made to intercept the savages. Actuated by 58 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO what might be termed by the "peace at any price" partisans a commendable spirit, but which we now know was the sheerest folly and really suicidal, St. Clair forwarded word of this expedition to the British commander, to assure him that no hostile intentions were held towards Detroit "or any other place at present in the possession of the troops of his Britannic Majesty, but is on foot with the sole design of humbling and chastising some of the savage tribes, whose depredations have become intolerable and whose cruelties have of late become an outrage, not only on the people of America, but on humanity." The army under General Harmar marched northward from near Fort Washington, on the 4th of October, 1790. It was composed of almost 1,500 soldiers, of whom about one-fifth were regulars, and included an artillery company with three light brass cannon. The rest of his troops were volunteer infantry, many of whom were raw soldiers and unused to a gun or the woods, and some of them were indeed without effective guns. Between the "regulars" and the militia jealousy seemed to exist from the very inception of the expedition. General Harmar was much disheartened, for at least half of them served no other purpose than to swell the number. They were inadequately, clad and almost destitute of camp equipment. Some of the men were too old and infirm for the contemplated duties. We have a detailed account of the march from day to day in Ebenezer Denny's Military Journal. It reveals the hardships endured from the muddy roads, marsh lands, and lack of provender for the horses. The troops averaged nearly ten miles a day. On the 17th a scouting detachment encountered a body of Indians, and quite a number of the Americans were killed. This was the first serious incident of the campaign. The rout was due "to the scandalous behavior of the militia, many of whom never fired a shot; but ran off at the first noise of the Indians and left a few regulars to be sacrificed—some of them never halted until they crossed the Ohio." The Harmar expedition eventually reached a place near the headwaters of the Maumee, and not far from Fort Wayne, Indiana. A large village of the Indians was destroyed, and the army then proceeded on. " The chief village," says Denny, "contained about eighty houses and wigwams, and a vast quantity of corn and vegetables hid in various places, holes, etc." On the representation. by Colonel Hardin that he believed the town was again occupied by the aborigines, as soon as the army passed on, a detachment of "four hundred choice militia and regulars" was sent back on the night of the 21st. They encountered the Indians in strong force and, owing to the unreliability of the militia, were overwhelmingly defeated. General Harmar then lost all confidence in his troops and started for Fort Washington, which fortress they reached about ten days later. Of his troops 183 had been killed and thirty-one wounded. The loss of the savages must have been severe, for they did not annoy the expedition on its retreat. One of the officers wrote that "a regular soldier on the retreat near the St. Joseph's River, being surrounded and in the midst of the Indians, put his bayonet through six Indians, knocked down the seventh, and the soldier himself made the eighth dead man in the heap." The Indians were led by Chief Little Turtle, of whom much will be heard hereafter. It was indeed a sorrowful march for General Harmar back to Fort Washington. So severe was the adverse criticism of the conduct of this expedition by its commander that President Washington appointed a board of officers to act as a court of inquiry. Although the verdict of this court was an acquit. tal, the incident proved to be General Harmar's undoing. The real causes of the catastrophe probably were the incompetence of some of the officers and bickerings among others which caused distrust and disorder, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 59 and the general lack of discipline among the militia. As a result of this disaster General Harmar resigned his commission, but afterwards rendered good service as adjutant-general of Pennsylvania in furnishing troops for General Wayne 's campaign. Another natural result of this defeat was an increase of anxiety and dread among the frontier settlers. They feared the over-pacific policy of sending embassies to placate the savages, instead of strong military expeditions to crush them if they would not yield. The savages greatly rejoiced that they had been able to administer such a decisive defeat upon trained troops. They became bolder in their operations in the Maumee and Sandusky valleys, as well as in other parts of the Northwestern Territory. The year 1791 proved to be a bloody year in many parts of Ohio. But the great problem was how to prosecute the war against the savages, without arousing the active hostility of the British. General St. Clair recommended another punitive expedition against the savages, in order to establish the series of forts in the Maumee country, which had not been accomplished by General Harmar. It was purposed to build a chain of forts, some twenty-five miles apart, beginning at Fort Washington as one terminal. The importance of such a series of fortified outposts appeared obvious to the military authorities, as it would make easier the punishment of the hostile tribes. From the Government standpoint the expedition was not necessarily hostile, so that the pipe of peace was carried along in the same wagon as the grape and the canister. And yet it was intended to be impressive and irresistible. In the carrying out of the campaign St. Clair was granted the widest latitude and carried almost plenary powers, although his instructions were elaborate and specific. In taking leave of his old military comrade, President Washington wished him success and honor, and added this solemn warning : "You have your instructions from the secretary of war, I had a strict eye to them and will add but one word,—Beware of a surprise ! You know how the Indians fight. I repeat it, Beware of a surprise." With these warning words sounding in his ear, fresh with Washington's characteristic emphasis, St. Clair departed for the West. He planned to advance on the 17th of September, 1791. The army, as finally assembled, was about equal to that under General Harman This army of 2,300 "effectives," as they were called, was fairly well provisioned, and had some courageous officers ; but it was sadly deficient in arms and the necessary accouterments. In its personnel, it was almost as incomplete as that of Harmar. Fort Hamilton was established near the site of the present city of that name, and Fort St. Clair was built about twenty-five miles farther north. The third fortification, called Fort Jefferson, was erected in Darke County. General Harmar predicted defeat for this new army, and his predictions proved to be correct. Cutting its way through the forests and building bridges over streams, the army advanced slowly, making not more than five or six miles a day. Although signs of Indians were frequently encountered, and the scouts and stragglers occasionally exchanged shots with the lurking savages, the army was not properly safeguarded against surprise in a country of such dense forests. St. Clair did not seem to realize the extreme danger of his position so far in the enemy country. By the time the foot-sore and bedraggled army reached the eastern fork of the Wabash, about PA miles east of the Ohio-Indiana line, it had dwindled to about 1,400 men. Here the army camped on the night before the battle, while "all around the wintry woods lay a frozen silence." Signs of Indians were now unmistakable. During the night there was picket firing at intervals, and the sentinels reported considerable bodies of the aborigines skulking 60 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO about the front and both flanks. To the officers this was a matter of grave concern, and scouting parties were sent out in the early morning. A light fall of snow lay upon the ground. The army lay in two lines, seventy yards apart, with four pieces of cannon in the center of each. Across the small stream, probably twenty yards wide, a band of 300 or 400 militia were encamped. These men sustained the first brunt of the battle. There was no time for the terror-stricken soldiers to properly form to meet the impending onslaught of the denizens of the forest, who quickly encircled the entire camp of the Americans. Protected by logs and trees, they crowded closer and closer. The heavy firing and the blood-curdling whoops and yells of the painted enemy threw the militia into hopeless disorder. They broke and fled in panic toward the body of regulars, thus spreading confusion and dismay everywhere. The drum beat the call to arms at the first shots, and the volleys brought many casualties among the Indians, but their onward rush soon surrounded the entire camp, while the outlying guards and pickets were driven in. Only now and then could fearful figures, painted in red and black, with feathers braided in their long scalp-locks, be distinguished through the smoke. " They shot the troops down as hunters slaughter a herd of standing buffalo." Instead of being frightened by the thunder of the artillery, the Indians made the gunmen special objects of their attacks- Man after man was picked off until the artillery was silenced. The Indians then rushed forward HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 61 and seized the guns. It is doubtful if there ever was a wilder rout. As soon as the men realized that there was some hope of safety in flight, they broke into a wild stampede. Intermixed with the soldiers were the few camp followers, and the women who had accompanied the expedition. Neither the command of the officers nor their brave example seemed to have the slightest effect. From a report made by Ebenezer Denny, who was adjutant to General St. Clair, I quote as follows: " The troops paraded this morning (4th November, 1791) at the usual time, and had been dismissed from the lines but a few minutes, the sun not yet up, when the woods in front rung with the yells and fire of the savages. The poor militia, who were but three hundred yards in front, had scarcely time to return a shot—they fled into our camp. The troops were under arms in an instant, and a smart fire from the front line met the enemy. It was but a few minutes, however, until the men were engaged in every quarter. The enemy from the front filed off to the right and left, and completely surrounded the camp, killed and cut off nearly all the guards and approached close to the lines. They advanced from one tree, log, or stump to another, under cover of the smoke of our fire. The artillery and musketry made a tremendous noise, but did little execution. The Aborigines seemed to brave everything, and when fairly fixed around us they made no noise other than their fire which they kept up very constant and which seldom failed to tell, although scarcely heard. * * * "The ground was literally covered with the dead. The wounded were taken to the center, where it was thought most safe, and where a great many who had quit their posts unhurt had crowded together. The General, with other officers, endeavored to rally these men, and twice they were .taken out to the lines. It appeared as if the officers had been singled out; a very great proportion fell or were wounded and obliged to retire from the lines early in the action. * * * The men, being thus left with few officers, became fearful, despaired of success, gave up the fight, and to save themselves for the moment, abandoned entirely their duty and ground, and crowded in toward the center of the field, and no exertions could put them in any order even for defense ; (they became) perfectly ungovernable. * * * "As our lines were deserted the Aborigines contracted theirs until their shot centered from all points and now meeting with little opposition, took more deliberate aim and did great execution. Exposed to a cross fire, men and officers were seen falling in every direction ; the distress, too, of the wounded made the scene such as can scarcely be conceived —a few minutes longer, and a retreat would have been impossible—the only hope left was, that perhaps the savages would be so taken up with the camp as not to follow. Delay was death ; no preparation could be made ; numbers of brave men must be left a sacrifice, there was no alternative. It was past nine o'clock when repeated orders were given to charge toward the road. The action had continued between two and three hours. Both officers and men seemed confounded, incapable of doing anything ; they could not move until it was told that a retreat was intended. * * * " "During the last charge of Colonel Darke," says Major Fowler, "the bodies of the freshly scalped heads were reeking with smoke, and in the heavy morning frost looked like so many pumpkins through a cornfield in December." It is no wonder that green troops, unused to scenes of carnage, became panicky before such horrible spectacles. General St. Clair behaved gallantly throughout the dreadful scene. He was so tortured with gout that he could not mount a horse without assistance. From beneath a three-cornered cocked hat., his long white locks were 62 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO seen streaming in the air as he rode up and down the line during the battle. He had three horses shot from under him, and it is said that eight balls passed through his clothes, and one clipped his gray hair. He finally mounted a pack horse and upon this slow animal, which could hardly be urged into a trot, joined the army in the retreat which almost developed into a rout- Colonel Butler, second in command, was mortally wounded. "During the action Gen. St. Clair exerted himself with a courage and presence of mind worthy of the best fortune- He was personally present at the first charge made upon the enemy with the bayonet and gave the order to Col. Drake. When the enemy first entered the camp by the left flank, he led the troops that drove them back, and when a retreat became indispensable, he put himself at the head of the troops which broke through the enemy and opened the way for the rest and then remained in the rear, making every exertion in his power to obtain a party to cover the retreat; but the panic was -so great that his exertions were of but little avail. In the height of the action a few of the men crowded around the fires in the center of the camp. St. Clair was seen drawing his pistols and threatening some of them, and ordering them to turn out and repel the enemy." Guns and accouterment were thrown away by hundreds in their frantic haste. For miles the march was strewed with fire-locks, cartridge-boxes, and regimentals. The retreat proved to be a disgraceful flight. Fortunate indeed was it that the victorious savages followed them only a few miles, and then returned to enjoy the spoils of the battlefield. This was rich, indeed, for they secured great quantities of tents, guns, axes, clothing, blankets, and powder, and large numbers of horses —the very thing that the savages prized highest. "A single aborigine," wrote Denny, "might have followed with safety on either flank- Such a panic had seized the men that I believe it would not have been possible to have brought any of them to engage again." The number of savages actually engaged and their losses has never been learned. Simon Girty is said to have told a prisoner that there were 1,200 in the attack. Good authorities place the number at 2,000. Little Turtle was again the acknowledged leader, and Blue Jacket was next in authority. It is quite likely that Tecumseh was also an active participant. The principal tribes engaged were Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis, and Ottawas, with a few Chippewas and Pottawatomies- " Oh !" said an old squaw many years afterwards, "my arm that night was weary scalping white men." There were many individual instances of heroism and marvelous escapes. None were more thrilling than those of William Kennan, a young man of eighteen. Becoming separated from his party, he saw a band of Indians near him- McClung, in his "Sketches of Western Adventure," says : "Not a moment to be lost. He darted off with every muscle strained to its utmost, and was pursued by a dozen of the enemy with loud yells. He at first pressed straight forward to the usual fording-place in the creek, which ran between the rangers and the main army ; but several Indians who had passed him before he rose from the grass threw themselves in the way and completely cut him off from the rest. By the most powerful exertions he had thrown the whole body of pursuers behind him, with the exception of one chief who displayed a swiftness and perseverance equal to his own. In the circuit which Kennan was obliged to take the race continued for more than 400 yards- The distance between them was about eighteen feet, which Kennan could not increase nor his adversary diminish. Each for the time put his whole soul into the race. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 63 "Kennan as far as he was able, kept his eye upon the motions of his pursuer, lest he should throw the tomahawk, which he held aloft in a menacing attitude. * * * As he had slackened his pace for a moment the Indian was almost in reach of him. when he recommenced the race ; but the idea of being without arms lent wings to his feet, and for the first time he saw himself gaining ground. He had watched the motions of his pursuer too closely, however, to pay proper attention to the nature of the ground before him, and he suddenly found himself in front of a large tree which had been blown down, and upon which brush and other impediments lay to the height of eight or nine feet. "The Indian (who heretofore had not uttered the slightest sound) now gave a short, quick yell, as if secure of his victim. Kennan had not a moment to deliberate. He must clear the impediment at a leap or perish. Putting his whole soul into the effort he bounded into the air with a power which astonished himself, and clearing limbs, brush and everything else, alighted in perfect safety upon the other side. A loud yell of astonishment burst from the band of pursuers, not one of whom had the hardihood to attempt the same feat. Kennan, as may be readily imagined, had no leisure to enjoy his triumph, but. dashing into the bed of the .creek (upon the banks of which his feat had been performed) where the high banks would shield him from the fire of the enemy, he ran up the stream until a convenient place offered for crossing, and rejoined the rangers in the rear of the encampment, panting from the fatigue of exertions, which have seldom been surpassed. No breathing time was allowed him, however. The attack instantly commenced, and, as we have already observed, was maintained for three hours with unabated fury. "When the retreat commenced, Kennan was attached to Maj. Clark's battalion, and had the dangerous service of protecting the rear. This corps quickly lost its commander, and was completely disorganized. Kennan was among the hindmost when the fight commenced, but exerting those same powers which had saved him in the morning, he quickly gained the front, passing several horsemen in the flight. Here he beheld a private in his own company, an intimate acquaintance, lying upon the ground with his thigh broken, and in tones of the most piercing distress, implored each horseman who hurried by to take him up behind him. As soon as he beheld Kennan coming up on foot, he stretched out his arms and called aloud upon him to save him. Notwithstanding the imminent peril of the moment, his friend could not reject so passionate an appeal, but seizing him in his arms he placed him upon his back and ran in that manner for several hundred yards. Horseman after horseman passed them, all of whom refused to relieve him of his burden. "At length the enemy was gaining upon him so fast that Kennan saw their death certain unless he relinquished his burden. He accordingly told his friend that he had used every possible exertion to save his life, but in vain ; that he must relax his hold around his neck or they would both perish. The unhappy wretch, heedless of every remonstrance, still clung convulsively to his back, and impeded his exertions until the foremost of the enemy (armed with tomahawks alone) were within twenty yards of them. Kennan then drew his knife from its sheath and cut the fingers of his companion, thus compelling him to relinquish his hold. The unhappy man rolled upon the ground in utter helplessness, and Kennan beheld him tomahawked before he had gone thirty yards. Relieved from his burden, he darted forward with an activity which once more brought him to the van." The prediction of General Harmar before the army set out on the campaign that defeat 64 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO would follow was founded upon his own experience and particular knowledge. He saw the poor material that the bulk of the army was composed of. They were men collected from the streets and prisons of the cities, who were hurried out into the enemy's country. The officers commanding them were totally unacquainted with the business in which they were engaged, so that it was utterly impossible that they could win against a wily foe. Besides, not any one department was sufficiently prepared ; both the quartermaster and the contractors extremely deficient. It was a matter of astonishment to General Harmar that the commanding general, St. Clair, who was acknowledged to be a perfectly competent military officer, should think of hazarding with such troops and under such circumstance his reputation and life, and the lives of so many others, knowing as he did the enemy with whom he was going to contend, an enemy brought up from infancy to war, and perhaps superior to an equal number of the best men that could be taken against them. In this overwhelming defeat General St. Clair's army lost :593 privates killed land missing ; thirty-nine officers were killed, and the artillery and supplies, consisting of clothing, tents, several hundred horses, beef cattle, etc., together with muskets and other equipment, were thrown away and gathered up by the savages. The casualties exceeded half of the forces actually engaged. Many women were along, which would look as though no serious opposition had been expected. The cause of the disaster is variously stated, but its completeness is the one overwhelming and undisputed fact that stands out clearly on the page of history. The war department. had been negligent in sending supplies, and it had become necessary to detach one regiment, the real flower of the army, to bring up provisions and military stores. It was during its absence that the conflict occurred. Mistakes had also been made in the labeling of boxes. A box marked "flints" was found to contain gun-locks. A keg of powder, marked "for the infantry," was cannon powder, so damaged that it could scarcely be ignited. The army was on practically half rations during the entire campaign. The undisciplined character of the soldiers and the inexperience of the officers in border warfare undoubtedly had a great deal to do with it. The one glaring fault that might be charged to the commanding general was that he failed to keep scouting parties ahead in order to prevent surprise and ambuscade. It required six weeks for the aide of General St. Clair to convey, on horseback, the news of this crushing defeat to the Government. It was toward the close of a winter's day in December that an officer in uniform was seen to dismount in front of the President's house, in Philadelphia. Handing the bridle to his servant, he knocked at the door of the mansion. Learning from the porter that the President was at dinner, he said that he was on public business, having dispatches which he could deliver only to the commander-in-chief. A sergeant was sent into the dining-room to give the information to Tobias Lear, the President's private secretary, who left the table and went into the hall where the officer repeated what he had said. Mr. Lear replied that, as the President's secretary, he would take charge of the dispatches and deliver them at the proper time.. The officer made answer that he had just arrived from the western army, and his orders were explicit to deliver them with all promptitude, and to the President in person; but that he would await his directions. Mr. Lear returned, and in a whisper imparted to the President what had passed. General Washington rose from the table and went to the officer. He was back in a. short time, made a word of apology for his absence, but no allusion to the cause of it. General Washington's hours were early, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 65 and by 10 o'clock all the company had gone. Mrs. Washington left the room soon afterwards, the President and his secretary remaining. The nation's chief now paced the room in hurried strides and without speaking for several minutes. Then he Sat down on a sofa by the fire, telling his secretary to sit down. He rose again, and, as he walked backward and forward, Mr. Lear saw that a storm was gathering. In the agony of his emotion, he struck his clenched hands with fearful force against his forehead, and, in a paroxysm of anguish exclaimed: "It's all over! St. Clair's defeated—routed ; the officers nearly all killed—the men by wholesale— that brave army cut to pieces—the rout complete ! too shocking to think of —and a surprise in the bargain !" He uttered all this with great vehemence. Then, pausing for a moment, he walked about the room several times, greatly agitated, but saying nothing. Near the door he stopped short and stood still a few seconds ; then, turning to the secretary, who stood amazed at this spectacle of Washington, the President., in his wrath, again broke out, saying : "Yes, sir, here, in this very room, on this very spot, I took leave of him ; I wished him success and honor. You have your instructions, I said, from the secretary of war, I had a strict eye to them, and will add but one word—beware of a surprise ! You know how the Indians fight us. He went. off with that as my last solemn warning thrown into his ears. And yet, to suffer that army to be cut to pieces, hacked by a surprise,—the very thing I guarded him against ! 0 God ! 0 God! he's worse than a murderer ! How can he answer it to his country ? The blood of the slain is upon him—the curse of widows and orphans—the curse of heaven !" This explosion came out in appealing tones. His frame was shaken with his emotion. Presently the President sat down on the sofa once more. He seemed conscious of passion and Vol. I-5 uncomfortable. He was silent as his wrath began to subside. He at length said, in an altered voice : " This must not go beyond this room." Another pause followed—a longer one—when he said in a tone quite low. " “General St. Clair shall have justice. I looked hastily through the dispatches—saw the whole disaster, but not all the particulars. I will hear him without prejudice, he shall have fully justice ; yet, long, faithful, and meritorious services have their claims." And absolute justice was accorded him. One of the strongest records in St. Clair's favor is the fact that he retained the "undiminished esteem and good opinion of President Washington." The popular clamor was tremendous, and General St. Clair demanded a court of inquiry. This request was complied with and the court exonerated him of all blame. He followed the example set by General Harmar and resigned his. commission. About a year later General Wilkinson visited this battlefield, which was in Mercer County, with his command. They found scattered along the way the remains of many Americans, who had been pursued and killed by the savages, or who had perished of their wounds while endeavoring to escape. The field was thickly strewn with remains, showing the horrible mutilations by the bloodthirsty savages. Limbs were separated from bodies and the flesh had been stripped from many bones, but it was impossible to tell whether this had been the work of the wolves or the Indians. It was at this time that Fort Recovery was erected on the site of the disaster. As late as 1830 a brass cannon was found buried near the scene of the conflict. St. Clair's defeat was made the subject of a song, which has been sung hundreds of times with deep emotion. It cannot claim high rank as poetry, but it deserves preservation as a relic of those days long since gone by. 66 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO SAINCLAIRE 'S DEFEAT 'Twas November the fourth, in the year of ninety-one, We had a sore engagement near to Fort Jefferson; Sainclaire was our commander, which may remembered be, For there we left nine hundred men in t' West'n Ter'tory. At Bunker's Hill and Quebeck, where many a hero fell, Likewise at Long Island (it is I the truth can tell), But such a dreadful carnage may I never see again As hap 'ned near St. Mary's upon the river plain. Our army was attacked just as the day did dawn, And soon were overpowered and driven from the lawn. They killed Major Duldham, Levin and Briggs likewise, And horrid yells of sav'ges resounded through the skies. Major Butler was wounded in the very second fire ; His manly bosom swell'd with rage when forc'd to retire; And as he lay in anguish, nor scarcely could he see, Exclaim'd, "Ye hounds of hell, 0 ! revenged I will be." We had not been long broken, when General Butler found Himself so badly wounded, was forced to quit the ground. "My God!" says he, "what shall we do, we're wounded every man ? Go charge them, valiant heroes, and beat them if you can. He leaned his back against a tree, and there resigned his breath, And like a valiant soldier son in the arms of death ; When blessed angels did await, his spirit to convey; And unto the celestial fields he quickly bent his way. We charg 'd again with courage firm, but soon again gave ground. The war-whoop then redoubled, as did the foes around. They killed Major Ferguson, which caused his men to cry, "Our only safety is in flight, or fighting here to die." "Stand to your guns," says valiant Ford, "let's die upon them here Before we let the sav'ges know we ever harbored fear." Our cannon-balls exhausted, and artill'rymen all slain, Obliged were our musketmen the en 'my to sustain. Yet three hours more we fought them, and then were fore 'd to yield, When three hundred bloody warriors lay stretch 'd upon the field. Says Colonel Gibson to his men, "My boys, be not dismay 'd ; I'm sure that true Virginians were never yet. afraid. Ten thousand deaths I'd rather die, than they should gain the field!" With that he got a fatal shot, which caused him to yield. Says Major Clark, "My heroes, I can here no. longer stand, We'll strive to form in order, and retreat. the best we can." HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 67 The word, Retreat, being pass'd around, there was a dismal cry, Then helter-skelter through the woods, like wolves and sheep they fly, This well-appointed army, who but a day before, Defied and braved all danger, had like a cloud pass 'd o'er. Alas! the dying and wounded, how dreadful was the thought, To the tomahawk and scalping-knife, in mis'ry are brought. Some had a thigh and some an arm broke on the field that day, Who writhed in torments at the stake, to close the dire affray. To mention our brave officers, is what I wish to do ; No sons of Mars e'er fought more brave, or with more courage true. To Captain Bradford I belonged, in his artillery. He fell that day amongst the slain ; a valiant man was he. CHAPTER VII GENERAL WAYNE 'S CAMPAIGN Me-au-me was the way the French explorers understood the Indians of the Maumee basin to pronounce the name of their tribe. Hence it was that the. French recorded the name as Miami. On account of this tribe having a village by the upper waters of this river, the French referred to it as the River of the Miamis. As the same name had been bestowed upon a river emptying into the Ohio River, this northern Miami became familiarly known as the Miami of the Lake. The peculiar and rapid pronunciation of the three syllables as Me-au-me led the English settlers who located in this basin to pronounce it in two syllables, and so it was that the name became finally fixed. as Maumee. It is also occasionally referred to or written as Omi, or Omee, which was evidently another misspelling of the French designation. No definite Indian name of the great river has descended to us, although the Shawnees sometimes referred to it as Ottawa Sepe, and the Wyandots knew it as Was-o-hah-con-die. The Maumee Valley was a wonderful hunting ground in the early days, and harbored a great abundance of valuable game. There were bear, red deer, wolves, panthers, lynx, wild cats, foxes, and turkeys, and the shaggy buffalo had at one time roamed here. Even down to the founding of Toledo, the red deer were very plentiful. The wild turkey was an important game bird, for it sometimes weighed as much as thirty pounds. With a "call" made of a quill, or the wing-bone of the turkey, these birds could be decoyed almost into the hunter's presence, if he was securely hidden from sight. The cowardly wolves were a great pest to the early pioneers. Liberal bounties were offered, and many were thus killed, but the wily hunters would frequently release the females from their traps in order to have a new supply for the next season. All sorts and variety of foxes were indigenous, from the red and black to the silver grey. The lynx was only an occasional visitor, but wild cat were very numerous. Small game, such as prairie chicken, quail, partridge, and snipe, abounded in great numbers. Quail could be bought for eighteen cents a dozen in the market. Wild ducks and geese were hardly considered worth the attention of the hunter. The Maumee Valley is justly entitled to the appellation of " The Bloody Ground." This beautiful and fertile region, now so well adapted to the highest cultivation, and containing all the necessary elements for commercial and agricultural prosperity, has been the theater of a greater number of sanguinary battles and has caused the expenditure of more treasure, perhaps, than any 'similar extent of territory in the United States. It was in this region that the Iroquois made war upon the Miamis, and claimed to have conquered all the northwest country. Here it was that Pontiac gathered together his Indian hordes and threw them with a savage fury against the whites. It was in this vicinity, again, that "Mad Anthony Wayne," with his fiery impetuosity, dashed his intrepid little army against the unseen savages at Fallen Timbers, and crushed them with a disaster from which they - 68 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 69 never wholly recovered. There were two sieges of Fort Meigs, during one of which occurred the butchery of Colonel Dudley's command, and there were many other conflicts of lesser note within this valley. It was not far distant that the massacre of the River Raisin occurred. All of these conflicts tend to show that this territory was opened up to civilization through a pathway of blood almost without parallel on the continent. Closely following the rout of St. Clair, the Maume Valley was the theater of many tragic occurrences. Previous to the defeat of General Harmar's army, the savages did not court peace ; much less were they inclined to welcome the overtures made to them for peace after that disaster and the equally serious repulse of St. Clair. They rallied all the available warriors of the neighboring tribes—the Miamis under Little Turtle, the Delawares under Buckongehelas, the Shawnees under Blue Jacket, and bands of Wyandots, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, and other small and insignificant tribes. The great number of scalps and other rich booty secured filled their savage breasts with the greatest joy, and everything seemed ominous of final victory in driving the hated Americans from this bountiful country. As a local poet expressed it : "Mustered strong, the Kas-kas-kies, Wyandots and the Miamis, Also the Potawotamies, The Delawares and Chippewas, The Kickapoos and Ottawas, The Shawanoes and many strays, From almost every Indian nation, Had joined the fearless congregation, Who after St. Clair's dread defeat, Returned to this secur retreat." President Washington was greatly disappointed in the outcome of the expedition of General St. Clair, who had been a member of his former staff. The increased apprehen- 70 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO sion on the frontier is clearly revealed by the urgent petitions that were continually coming in from the settlers, demanding and beseeching protection from threatened maraudings. Almost daily fresh and revolting stories of massacres reached Washington, and the prospect indeed appeared lugubrious. For the next expedition unusual care was taken in the selection of a commander. The man upon whom the choice finally fell from among numerous candidates in 1792 was Anthony Wayne, and the result demonstrated the wisdom of this choice from among many of the older commanders. Wayne was not yet fifty years of age. He was the hero of Stony Point, where he had forced his way into the citadel itself at the point of the bayonet. It was this daredevil feat which had given him the name of "Mad Anthony." He had a reputation for hard fighting, dogged courage, and daring energy. But in spite of his sobriquet, "Mad Anthony 's" head was always cool. It was also decided that the men should be trained and disciplined according to the peculiarity and difficulty of the service in which they would be engaged, in order that there might be no possibility of another repulse even by a larger aborigine army than had ever before been assembled. General Wayne at once issued a proclamation to the settlers that they should studiously avoid all action that would tend to anger the Indians. General Wayne proceeded to Pittsburg to organize his army, and in December, 1792, the "Legion of the United States" was assembled at Legionville, about twenty miles below the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 71 "smoky city." Here they encamped until the following spring, when they floated down the Ohio River and landed at Hobson's Choice, a point not far from Cincinnati. This was so named "because it was the only ground which was in any degree calculated for the purpose." Here they remained several months before permission was granted to proceed farther north. During all these months Wayne drilled both officers and men with unceasing patience. It is interesting to read the log of this army in its march through the rich Miami Valley, now studded with thriving cities and prosperous villages. There were no roads, not even paths, and the only landmarks to indicate their journey were such places as "Five-mile Spring," "Seventeen-mile Tree," " T wentynine Mile Tree," etc. At length they reached Fort Jefferson. In April of this year (1793) General Wilkinson sent two messengers with a peace message to the Miamis of the Maumee, and two other messengers were dispatched on a like mission to points farther north. Not one of these four, all of whom were men of note, returned to civilization, but all of them suffered violent deaths. Councils were held with the Indians in 1792 and 1793, at Sandusky, Miami of the Lake, and the Auglaize. Lengthy debates were indulged in, as well as elaborate ceremonies. British, Americans, and Indians all took part. The raidings of the savages upon the unprotected settlements continued unabated. The Shawnees were especially implacable towards the Americans. Finally William May started out from Fort Hamilton to treat with the Miamis of the Maumee. As was expected, he was captured by the Indians, but, instead of being killed, he was sold as a slave to the British. After serving them for several months in the transportation service between Detroit and the lowest Maumee rapids, where Alexander McKee maintained a large supply house for firearms and ammunition, he finally succeeded in escaping and made a report to General Wayne at Pittsburg. From the sworn testimony of Mr. May, it was learned that there had gathered in the summer of 1792 by the Maumee River, at the mouth of the Auglaize, which was then the headquarters of neighboring tribes, more than 3,000 warriors of many nations, all of whom were fed with rations supplied by the British from Detroit. These had been seen by May himself, and he reported that others were arriving daily. This is said to have been the largest council of the aborigines ever held in America. Up and down the great Maumee, The Miami of the Lake, O'er the prairie, through the forest, Came the warriors of the nations, Came the Delawares and Miamis, Came the Ottawas and Hurons, Came the Senecas and Shawnees, Came the Iroquois and Chippewas, Came the savage Pottawatomies, All the warriors drawn together By the wampum for a council At the meeting of the waters, Of the Maumee and the Auglaize, With their weapons and their war-gear, Painted like the leaves of autumn, Painted like the sky of morning. It seemed to the British as though they were nearing a culmination of their hopes and ambitions in the formation of a confederation against the encroachment of the Americans. There were representatives of tribes so remote that they carried no guns, but bore spears, bows, and tomahawks, and were clothed in buffalo robes instead of blankets. The Seneca chief, Corn Planter, and several other sachems of the Six Nations of New York, were present in the interest of the Americans. Corn Planter reported that there were present chiefs from nations so distant that it required a whole 72 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO season to come, and that some twenty-seven tribes were reported from Canada. "The whole of them know," said he, "that we, the Six Nations, have General Washington by the hand." In 1793, President Washington appointed three commissioners to attend the great council which was to be held at the foot of the lowest rapids of the Maumee, or at Sandusky, on the 1st of June. For this council runners had been dispatched even to the remote Creeks and Cherokees in the South, urging their attendance. They proceeded to Fort Niagara and from there embarked on a British sloop and were taken to Detroit, where they remained for several weeks. At this time the great council was in progress at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, but these commissioners were not allowed to attend it. In its place, a deputation of some twenty Indians, with the notorious Simon Girty as interpreter, proceeded to Detroit to see them. They presented a brief written communication from the council, of which the most important part was this : "If you seriously design to make a firm and lasting peace, you will immediately remove all your people from our side of the river" (the Ohio). This was undoubtedly directly instigated by the British agents. The commissioners had received reliable information that all of the tribes represented at this council, with the exception of the Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis, and Delawares, were favorable to peace, and that many others were chafing at the long delays. Owing to these commissioners not being able to visit the council, and probably to unfaithful translations by the interpreter, which was not an uncommon occurrence, they were unable to make any progress. They therefore presented a long statement and defense of the American settlements on the ground that they were absolutely justified by previous treaties with the aborigines. As the British still refused to allow the commissioners to proceed to the Maumee, they announced that negotiations were at an end and returned to Fort Erie. They then reported to General Wayne. It became the firm conviction of General Wayne that it was useless to make any further delay in his proposed expedition. Although his forces were not so numerous as he had expected, he decided to advance, and so left Fort Jefferson. The first blood was shed near Fort St. Clair, south of Hamilton, where a detachment was attacked and a number of men killed. The savages also carried off about seventy horses. This demonstrated to Wayne that his advance was likely to be contested step by step. A little later he established Fort Greenville, on the present site of the town of that name, which he named in honor of his friend of the Revolutionary war, Gen. Nathaniel Green. This encampment was about fifty acres in extent, was fortified, and a part of the army passed the winter at the stockade. The fixed determination of this man, known as "Mad Anthony," is shown by a report in which he says : " The safety of the Western frontiers, the reputation of the legion, the dignity and interest of the nation, all forbid a retrograde manouvre, or giving up one inch of ground we now possess, until the enemy are compelled to sue for peace." Regular drill and teaching of the devices known to backwoods warfare were continued during the entire winter. A detachment under Maj. Henry Burbeck was dispatched to the battlefield of General St. Clair 's defeat and instructed to erect a fortification there. They reached the site of this tragedy on Christmas Day, 1793. The stockade enclosure with blockhouse erected by them was given the name of Fort Recovery. A reward was offered for every human skull discovered, and several hundred were thus gathered together and interred. The Indians were not unobservant of this steady advance toward their principal retreats, and the building of fortifications, and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 73 it is quite possible that a treaty of peace might have been secured at this time, had it not been for the continued adverse influence of the British. The chiefs kept in close communication with the British officials at Detroit and with M'Kee, who was in charge of a trading post and supply station at the rapids, near the present Village of Maumee. The British carried to a still further extreme their entire disregard of the treaty entered into at the close of the Revolution. They were gradually changing from passive to active hostility. They informed the Indians that the peace with the United States was only a temporary truce, and at its expiration "their great fathers would unite with them in the war, and drive the long knives (as they called the Americans) from the lands they had so unjustly usurped from his red children." As a matter of fact, the Revolutionary War was still continuing in this territory by and with the connivance of the British authorities. Peace was frustrated by the secret encouragement of the British, and their retention of the forts at Detroit, Niagara, and Mackinac. The United States Government had exhausted every available means to avoid the carnage of war, sending at least five different embassies in which the most generous terms of peace were offered to the hostile tribes. The British were very apprehensive lest the lucrative fur trade might slip away from them, and it was the traders who were constantly encouraging the authorities in their alliance with the savages. On the 17th of April, we read as follows, in a communication from Detroit : "We have lately had a visit from Governor Simcoe ; he came from Niagara through the woods. * * * He has gone to the foot of the (Maumee) rapids and three companies of Colonel England's regiment have followed him to assist in building a fort there." This fort was a veritable stronghold, and it was named Fort Miami. One official wrote that this fort " put all the Indians here in great spirits" to resist the Americans. It was situated on the left. bank of the Maumee River, within the limits of the present Village of Maumee, which was a long advance into United States territory. He reported with the greatest pleasure the rapid growth of the warlike spirit among the redskins. "This 74 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO step," referring to. Fort Miami, said he, has given great spirit to the Indians and impressed them with a hope of our ultimately acting with them and affording a security for their families, should the enemy penetrate to their villages." Guns, gun-locks, flints, and the other necessities of warfare of the best design were freely supplied through this post. Fort Miami received regular reports of the advance of General Wayne's command, and the fort was strengthened and further garrisoned to meet the anticipated conflict. The Indians reported that the army marched twice as far in a day as St. Clair's, that the troops marched in open order ready for immediate battle, and that the greatest precaution was exercised at night by breastworks of fallen trees, etc., to guard against ambush and surprise. On the 7th of July, 1794, General Wayne reported that a few days previously one of his escorts had been attacked by a numerous body of the aborigines under the walls of Fort Recovery, which was followed by a general assault upon that fort and garrison. The enemy was quickly repulsed with great slaughter, but they immediately rallied and continued the siege for two days, keeping up a very heavy and constant fire at a respectable distance. They were ultimately compelled to retreat, however, at a considerable loss, and the Upper Lake Indians were so disheartened that they began to return home. The American casualties were twenty-two killed, thirty wounded, and three missing. The loss of horses was very large, for the savages were very anxious to gain mounts. It was apparent that the Indians were reinforced by a con-, siderable number of the British ; likewise that they were armed and equipped with the very latest style of firearms, and seemed to be provided with an abundance of ammunition. "Another strong corroborating fact that there were British, or British militia in the assault, is that a number of ounce balls and buckshot were lodged in the blockhouses and stockades of the fort." "There was a considerable number of armed white men in the rear," said General Wayne in his dispatch, "whom they frequently heard talk in our language, and encouraging the savages to persevere in the assault ; their faces generally blacked." It seems as though the attack upon Fort Recovery was not a part of the British and Indian program. The trader McKee wrote to Detroit as follows: " (Maumee) Rapids, July 5, 1794. "Sir send this 'by a party of Saganas (Saginaws) who returned yesterday from Fort Recovery where the whole body of Aborigines, except the 'Delawares who had gone another route, imprudently attacked the fort on Monday the 30th of last month, and lost 16 or 17 men besides a good many wounded. "Everything had been settled prior to their leaving the fallen timber, and it had been agreed to confine themselves to take convoys and attacking at a distance from the forts, if they should have the address to entice the enemy out; but the impetuosity of the Mackinac Aborigines and their eagerness to begin with the nearest, prevailed with the others to alter their system, the consequences of which from the present appearance of things may most materially injure the interests of these people. " The immediate object of the attack was three hundred pack horses going from this fort to Fort ,Greenville, in which the Aborigines completely succeeded, taking and killing all of them. Captain Elliott writes that they are immediately to hold a council at the Glaize in order to try if they can prevail upon the Lake Aborigines to remain; but without provisions, ammunition, &e., being sent to that place, I conceive it will be extremely difficult to keep them together. "With great respect, I have the honor to be "Your obedient and humble servant. "A. McKEE."