254 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

CHAPTER IV.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY, JULY 4, 1786. TERRITORIAL OFFICERS, 1787-GOV. ST. CLAIR AT FORT HARMAR-WASHINGTON COUNTY-PIONEER THANKSGIVING THE SYMMES PURCHASE-COLUMBIA-THE CINCINNATI SETTLEMENT-NORTH BEND-THE MAD RIVER COUNTRY-DETAILS OF PROGRESS-FORT WASHINGTON -HAMILTON COUNTY-INDIAN TROUBLES-HARMAR'S EXPEDITION--INDIANS AT DUNLAP'S STATION-ST. CLAIR's DEFEAT-WILKINSON's EXPEDITION-GEN. ANTHONY WAYNE-HIS ADVANCE IN 1793-VICTORY AT FALLEN TIMBERS, 1794-WINTER QUARTERS, WINTER OP 1794-95.

BY the treaty at Fort Finney, in 1786, the title of the United States to the Ohio Valley lands was made complete, and Congress began at once the discussion of the question of civil government for the new acquisition.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

July 13, 1787, was passed " An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River," popularly known as the " Ordinance of '87," sometimes called " The Ordinance of Freedom," the fund a mental law upon which is based the organization of the Northwestern States.

At the time this ordinance was adopted, there were very few, if any, white people living anywhere in the territory now within the limits of Ohio, although there may have been a few French people in the Maumee Valley; but of that there is no information. Among the Indian tribes there were some few white prisoners, and a still smaller number of white men who were voluntarily living as members of the tribes. At Fort Harmar there was a battalion of United States troops. The year before that-July 4l, 1786-Independence Day had been celebrated by the garrisons at both Fort Harmar and Fort Finney, by firing the national salute-thirteen guns and issuing extra rations of liquor," allowing the men to get drunk as much as they pleased." That certainly was the first celebration ever held by white people anywhere within the limits of Ohio. The records do not show that the next anniversary was observed in any special way, but it is probable that the garrison at Fort Harmar fired a salute, as they were few in numbers and had nothing else to do; the greater part, of the battalion was at Louisville, on the way to Fort St. Vincennes, on the Wabash. Fort Finney, at the mouth of the Big Miami, had been abandoned in consequence of the wet lands around it.

In October, 1787, Congress appointed Gen. Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Northwestern Territory; Maj. Winthrop Sargent, Secretary; and James M. Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons and John Armstrong, Judges. Mr. Armstrong declined the appointment, and, in February, 1788, John Cleves Symmes was commissioned in his stead.

The Governor and Judges, or a majority of them, had the entire legislative power in the Territory; but their authority was limited to the adoption of such laws, civil or criminal, as were in force at the time in some one of the original States. They could not frame original laws.

The Governor had the appointment of all officers of the militia under the rank of General, and of all magistrates and such other civil officers as he might deem necessary for the peace and good order. The power of dividing the Ter-

PAGE 255 - PICTURE OF JOHN W. TURNER, HARRISON TP.

PAGE 256 - BLANK

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 257

ritory into counties and townships was also given him. The advance to a second grade of Territorial government was provided for, and further progress to the establishment of State governments on an equality with the original thirteen States.

On the 9th of July, 1788, Gov. St. Clair arrived at Fort Harmar, and was received with military honors-a salute of thirteen guns and parade of the troops. A heavy shower of rain, with a loud clap of thunder, just as he entered the fort, were also prominent features of the reception ceremonies. July 15 was the day on which he formally assumed the duties of Governor of the Territory. At 5 o'clock in the evening, escorted by the officers of the garrison, and attended by the Secretary of the Territory, he crossed the Muskingum, and was received by Gen. Putnam and two of the Judges of the Territory, and citizens of Marietta. The Secretary read the ordinance forming the Territory, the commissions of the Governor, the Judges, and his own; then, after congratulations all around, and three hearty cheers, the new Government was considered duly inaugurated.

The first laws for the government of the Territory were published at Marietta. The more important of these were the militia law and the laws establishing the courts.

The Common Pleas Courts were empowered to divide counties into townships, to appoint Constables, Overseers of the Poor, Clerks of Townships, and to establish roads. The Governor appointed the Sheriffs. This grade of government continued until September, 1799. For the reason that there were no other settlements, and as the population of Marietta did not increase very rapidly, the Government and court were not overcrowded with business. Emigrant boats passing down the river generally stopped at the fort, then kept on down to the Kentucky stations.

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

July 27, 1788, Gov. St. Clair formed the county of Washington within the following boundaries: " Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River; thence up said river to the portage between that river and the Tuscarawas Branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to a point opposite the mouth of Sandy Creek, and along the Indian boundary line to the road leading from the Sandusky town to the Shawnee town; thence south to the Scioto River, and with that river to its mouth; and thence up the Ohio River to the place of beginning."

PIONEER THANKSGIVING.

The first official Thanksgiving Day was that of the 25th of December, 1788, designated by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair. There were then within the Territory about one hundred white inhabitants, equally divided between the two feeble settlements, on the Ohio River-one at Marietta, the other at Columbia. Families and colonies were arriving from the East. Men who had served in the wars; veterans of the Revolution who had exhausted their fortunes in the long struggle for independence, were to be the pioneers of the West; sons of dead hero patriots were bringing to the rich lands of the Ohio Valley dependent mothers and children. Disquiet among the Indian tribes of the upper country, the frequent appearance of their war parties on the banks of the Ohio, had kept the pioneers in settlements south of that river. It became evident, however, that the people could not be longer restrained from venturing into the rich lands to the north. In January, 1788, Col. Robert Patterson, of Lexington, Ky., went to Limestone to complete arrangements for a colony to locate at the old blockhouse on the Indian shore of the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Licking River. This was in pursuance of the plan adopted in the fall of 1786, to establish a

258 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

post there from which to operate against the Indians in the effort to secure the Miami Valley for the white settlers. The first thing to be done was to establish a base of supplies on the Ohio, somewhere near the mouth of the Licking River. Delays occurred, and there was very little accomplished, until information came of the success of John Cleves Symines in securing the contract with the Treasury officials for the purchase of the lands between the Miami Rivers. This added interest to the enterprise among the many who felt the necessity of locating to provide for their families.

THE SIMMES PURCHASE.

The first survey of lands northwest of the Ohio was that of the seven ranges of Congress lands at the southeastern corner of the State. The second survey was that of the Ohio Company, on the Muskingum River. The next survey was that of the Symmes purchase.

In July, 1787, Congress authorized Commissioners of the Treasury to sell lands in the Northwest Territory, in tracts of not less than 1,000,000 acres. Under this act, John Cleves Symmes made application, August 29, 1787, for the purchase of the lands lying within the following limits: " Beginning at the mouth of the Big Miami River, thence running up the Ohio to the mouth of the Little Miami, thence up the main stream of the Little Miami River, to the place where a line to be continued due west from the western termination of the northern boundary line of the grant to Messrs. Sargeant, Cutler & Co., shall intersect the said Little Miami River, thence due west, continuing the said northern line to the place where the said line shall intersect the main branch or stream of the Big Miami River, thence down the Big Miami to the place of beginning."

Symmes and his coadjutors seem to have been satisfied that there would be no check in their negotiation for these lands, for, on November 20, following, he issued his manifesto, setting forth the fact of his purchase and plan of colonization. The next month, the first land warrant was issued, thus worded:

No. 1.Miami Land Warrant.

[SEAL..] This entitles Benjamin Stites his heirs or assigns, to locate one section, in which the fee of six hundred and forty acres shall pass, subject to the terms of settlement.

December 17 1787. (Signed) JOHN CLEVES SYMMES.

(Countersigned) BENJAMIN STITES.

The land was located as appears in the following note written upon the warrant:

" Speshel.-At the point betwixt the mouth of the little miame and the Ohio in the pint."

The Treasury Commissioners denied having made a contract with Judge Symmes, and were disposed to repudiate his claim. In the meantime, July, 1788, he had started West with a colony of sixty persons, in fourteen four-horse wagons, arriving at Pittsburgh August 20. After stopping there two days, and a short delay at Marietta, he reached Limestone, Ky.

Mathias Denman, of Springfield, N. J., had purchased from Judge Symmes the fractional section on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Licking River, and the section north of the fraction. After his arrival at Limestone, hearing of the colony that proposed to settle in the Miami Valley, Denman went to Lexington, and, on the 25th of August, entered into an agreement with Col. Robert Patterson and John Filson, by which a settlement was to be effected on the land above described. Under this arrangement, Denman sold to Patterson and Filson each a one-third interest in the land.

September 15, Col. Patterson and Mr. Filson, with others, started from Lexington to mark out a road north to the Ohio. On the 22d, they had crossed the Ohio, and were at the proposed site of the new town, Losanteville. That

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 259

day their numbers were increased by the arrival of Judge Symmes with a party from Limestone; Col. Patterson and the other Kentuckians, being armed, accompanied Symmes as escort up the Miami Valley on an exploring expedition. They followed the trail up the center of the valley; after two days' march, John Filson became uneasy at the Indian sign, and started alone to return to the Ohio, but was never seen or heard of again. The point at which he left the party "was not far from the northern boundary line of Hamilton County, and northeast corner of Colerain Township." At a point forty miles in the interior, the explorers discovered a party of Indians, but, upon Symmes' refusal to allow them to be killed, most of the Kentuckians left him and returned to the Ohio. With the rest of his party, Symmes crossed over to the Big Miami, followed down the stream for several miles, and returned to the Ohio via the Mill Creek Valley, and met again the Kentuckians who had separated from him in the interior.

It being certain that John Filson had been killed by the Indians, some arrangement was made by which Israel Ludlow became the owner of Filson's one-third interest in the Losanteville land.

Judge Symmes, having returned to Limestone, at once began the organization of a larger party to explore his Miami lands. Two surveyors, Maj. Benja min Stites and Capt. John Dunlap, were to accompany the party. Maj. Stites had recruited a colony for settlement upon his land at the month of the Little Miami, and was also to command the expedition.

COLUMBIA.

In November, they started, and within a few days landed at the mouth of the Little Miami River, erected block-houses, built cabins for the settlers who were with them, named the settlement Columbia, and, with but little delay, two exploring parties set our, the one to ascend the Little Miami River, the other to ascend the Big Miami.

Maj. Stites with his party ran the line due north from the block-houses opposite the Licking, up the center of the valley to the north line of the Stb range of townships, a point on the Big Miami above the mouth of Honey Creek.

These surveying parties were surrounded with danger; they were in an enemy's country, with roving war parties all around them, and, to prevent surprise and disaster, it was necessary to keep flankers out all the time; one-half would stand guard while the others cooked the meals; at night, they bivouacked without fires, and every man would be on guard from 3 o'clock in the morning until after daylight. Judge Symmes, in writing to his agent in New Jersey, Capt. Jonathan Dayton, referred to these parties as follows: " Whether they will succeed is uncertain; the two surveyors are both celebrated partisans, and have been long used to surveying in perilous places."

December 12, Capt. Kearsey, with a company of forty-five United States soldiers from Fort Harmar, arrived at Limestone, under orders to accompany parties of settlers as a protection to the proposed Miami stations. A Sergeant and eighteen men were at once sent down to Columbia as a re-enforcement to the surveying parties.

THE CINCINNATI SETTLEMENT.

December 24, Col. Robert Patterson, Mathias Denman, Israel Ludlow, a Mr. Tuttle, Capt. Henry, and about twelve others, left Limestone in boats as a colony for the proposed settlement at Losanteville. The river was running full of ice, and they had stormy weather, and probably stopped at Columbia for a day or two, and finally landed at the high bank on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Licking River, December 28. Within a few days, under the direction of Mr. Ludlow, who was a civil engineer, the lines of the streets were established and

260 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

the plat of the town staked off, and on the 7th of January, 1789, a distribution of donation lots to the thirty actual settlers there present was made, and the pioneers began clearing up for their cabins.

NORTH BEND.

Judge Symmes was active in the interest of the settlement which he proposed to locate at the mouth of the Big Miami River.

January 29, he, with his family, a number of settlers, and Capt. Kearsey, with the rest of his company of soldiers, started in boats from Limestone, landing at Columbia for the detachment that had been sent there as a garrison. February 2, finding that the low lands around the mouth of the Big Miami were almost entirely submerged, a landing was made several miles above the proposed town site. Huts were erected for temporary shelter, and in them the colony lived for six weeks. It was Capt. Kearsey's intention to occupy old Fort Finney, at the mouth of the Miami, but this purpose was defeated by the high waters that cut off communication between the fort and the main land; displeased at the situation, he embarked with his command for the Ohio Falls early in March. Upon application of Symmes, Maj. Wyllis ordered a Sergeant and eighteen men from the Falls as a protection to the North Bend settlement.

THE MAD RIVER COUNTRY.

Maj. Stites and his party had thoroughly explored the valley from Honey Creek to the Ohio, and, being so pleased with the lands around the mouth of Mad River, he at once began negotiations for their purchase.

To satisfy himself of their value, and to better understand the nature of the lands, Judge Symmes determined to make a trip up the valley himself.

In February, with a small party and an armed escort, he started on the expedition. At Mad River, he found a small band of Indians in camp, but was soon on friendly terms with them, all eating supper together. Several days were spent in examining the country up Miami, Mad River and Stillwater Valleys, when the party returned safely to the river settlements, reporting that some of the land they had seen "was worth a silver dollar an acre."

In April, a party of six surveyors, under John Mills, in camp near Mad River. were fired upon by the Indians early in the morning; two of the party, Mr. Holman of Kentucky, and Mr. Wells, of Delaware, were killed.

By Maj. Stites' representations, others became interested in his project for locating a colony at the mouth of Mad River, and in June, 1789, he, for himself, John Stites Gano, and William Gofortb, bargained with Symmes for the whole of the seventh range of townships, which included the lands about the mouth of Mad River. They at once began maturing plans for the settlement. The town was to be called Venice; was to be laid off in squares of eight half-acre lots in each. The two principal streets were to cross at right angles at the center of the plat. Spaces were to be reserved in each of the four quarters thus laid off for market houses and public squares. One whole square was to be given to the first Baptist Church formed in the town. To " each other denomination of pious and well and religiously disposed people, who worship the God of Israel, formed in the town within two years after the founding of the settlement," was to be given a half-acre lot. Three half-acre lots were to be given for " a capitol, a courthouse and a gaol." Out-lots were to contain five acres, and to be sold for $25 each. Half-acre in-lots were to be sold at $4 each.

The articles of agreement for the purchase, and between the parties, were signed June 13, 1789, " at the block-houses near Columbia, commanded by the above-named Benjamin Stites." One stipulation of this agreement was that a

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 261

road should be immediately cut from Columbia to the city of Venice. Mad River was to have been named the Tiber.

This scheme fell through in consequence of the Indian hostilities, and by reason of the delay in negotiations between Symmes and the Government.

DETAILS OF PROGRESS.

Judge Symmes was unfortunately delayed in all of his negotiations with the Government for the purchase of these lands. He had started from the East before his contract was closed; and, from the fact that he had brought a party of settlers with him, he was forced, although reluctantly, to enter upon the lands before receiving notice of the favorable termination of the treaty at Fort Harmar. He had faith, however, that the Government would issue to him a patent for the lands, and protect him in their possession.

Three colonies were now successfully located in the purchase, and only needed the presence of troops to insure prosperity. He issued warrants upon which thousands of acres of land were located, yet he did not receive his patent until by act of Congress in 1792, fixing the boundaries of the purchase to conform to his proposal of June 11, 1788, for 1;000,000 acres fronting on the Ohio and extending inland between the Big and Little Miamis, the whole breadth of the country so far back as an east and west line to include the 1,000,000 acres exclusive of reservations. The consideration to be paid by him was .66 cents per acre.

The Government was to furnish a plat of the purchase, but, by reason of Indian hostilities, the surveys could not be made at that time; and it was afterward shown that, to include 1,000,000 acres, a tract so narrowed would extend northwardly beyond the source of the Little Miami River, and possibly the Indian boundary line: and thus the matter rested until, in September, 1794, a patent was granted for as much land as was paid for at that time, amounting, including reservations, to 311,682 acres, between the Miamis from the Ohio River front, extending in the interior to the north line of the third range of townships; a line from river to river about two miles north of Lebanon.

Judge Symmes, however, did not release his claim to the residue of the 1,000,000 acres lying north of this patent.

The Sergeant at North Bend, in June or July, 1789, marched his squad to the Losanteville settlement, to which point most of the settlers soon afterward followed.

FORT WASHINGTON.

In that summer, Maj. John Doughty, of the United States Army, built Fort Washington in the center of the plat of Losanteville. It was garrisoned with 140 United States soldiers, and for the next six years was the base of operations against the Indians.

Small stations and strong blockhouses were erected in favorable places around Losanteville and Columbia, and up the Little Miami, Mill Creek and the Big Miami Valleys. Cabins were put up near them, and patches of ground were cultivated by the settlers, who would thus push out into the Territory. These outposts were subject to the bloody attacks of Indians, but they were always repulsed.

The extreme outposts were located as follows:

On the Big Miami, twelve miles in the interior; the one on Mill Creek, five miles from Losanteville; and the one on the Little Miami, nine miles out from Columbia.

December 29, Gen. Josiah Harmar arrived with a re-enforcement of 300 men, and assumed command of the Western Army. The troops then at Fort Washington were Kearsey's, Strong's, Pratt's and Kingsbury's companies of United States Infantry, and Ford's Artillery.

262 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

HAMILTON COUNTY.

January 2, 1790, Gov. Arthur St. Clair, being then at Losantevelle, by proclamation of that date, established the Symms purchase as a county, giving it the name of Hamilton County, with the following-described boundaries: Be ginning on the Ohio River at the Confluence of the Little Miami; thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Big Miami; thence up the Big Miami to the Standing Stone Forks (Loramie Creek); thence in a line to be drawn due east to the Little Miami River, and down said Little Miaini River to the place of beginning. This line was never surveyed or located. Gen. Hutchings, United States Surveyor General and Geographer, appointed Israel Ludlow to survey the lands lying between the Miamis. This work he began in the winter of 1791-92, under protection of a strong military escort; but, the Indian troubles coming on, and for other reasons, the work was not completed until 1801 or 1802.

The Miami tract survey extended to the Indian boundary line, and in the upper valley was bounded on the east by the Ludlow line, the dividing line surveyed by Col. Israel Ludlow, between the Virginia military lands and the Symmes purchase; this line begins at a point on a branch of the Little Miami River, in the northeast corner of Madison Township, Clark County, and runs north, twenty degrees west, to the head-waters of the Scioto River in Logan County, intercepting the Indian boundary line near the head spring of the Buchingebelas (Bohongehelas) Branch of the Great Miami.

At the time of the organization of Hamilton County, the proper civil officers were appointed; a militia company was organized, and Israel Ludlow was appointed Captain.

INDIAN TROUBLES.

The Shawnees declared that the treaty at Fort Harmar had been made by young Indians who were neither chieftains nor delegates, and that the Indian shore of the Ohio must be kept clear of settlements; that the tribes regarded the new settlements in the Miami Valley as encroachments upon their lands, and as such they would be resisted. To this end, a large number of warriors from these tribes gathered in the Scioto Valley and formed a large camp near the Ohio; boats were captured, and many emigrants tortured and killed. In April, an expedition was organized at Limestone against them, consisting of the militia company of Cincinnati, Kentucky troops under Col. Scott, and a force of regulars from the garrison at Fort Washington. all under the command of Gen. Harmar; some in boats and some by land advanced to the Scioto, but found that the Indians had dispersed.

July 15, Gov. St. Clair, by authority of Congress, called upon Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky for troops to operate under Gen. Harmar against the villages around the headwaters of the Miami, Maumee and Wabash Rivers. At the same time, an expedition was to march under Maj. Hamtramck from Fort St. Vincennes.

GEN. HARMAR'S EXPEDITION.

Gen. Harmar left Fort Washington on the 30th of September, 1790, with a force of 1,133 militia, commanded by Col. John Hardin, of Kentucky, and 320 regulars in command of Majs. Wyllis and Doughty, with Capt. Ferguson's company of artillery and three guns.

Their camp on the fourth night was on Turtle Creek, within the present bounds of Warren County. The next day, they crossed the Little Miami and camped on Caesar's Creek, three or four miles from the present site of Waynes ville; the trace from there ran up to the Old Chillicothe town, destroyed in 1780, over to Mad River, thence across to Honey Creek, and the burned Piqua towns on the Big Miami; on up Loramie's Creek, and west to the St. Mary's,

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. -263

and down to the villages, at the junction of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's Rivers, at which point the mounted militia arrived October 14, and found the villages abandoned and partially burned. Gen. Harmar, with the main force, came up three days later.

The army burned seven villages in the vicinity, and destroyed 20,000 bushels of corn and a great amount of other property belonging to the Indians, and to the French traders who were settled there.

On the 19th, the Indians attacked a strong party of militia that were out scouting, driving them back to camp in a panic; on the 21st the army started on the return march to Fort Washington; but, on the next day, against his own judgment, Gen. Harmar permitted Col. Hardin, with a detachment of 360 men, to go back to the villages to bring on a fight with the savages. This detachment was attacked furiously, and defeated with a loss of 160 killed and missing, and 20 wounded. At noon the next day, the march was resumed. The force, in a very demoralized condition, arrived at Fort Washington on the 3d of November.

The Indian loss in numbers was trifling, and they immediately organized large parties to attack the settlements, and through the entire winter of 1790-91, the Miami Valley was full of war parties from the Northern tribes, organized to attack Ohio River settlements and weak outposts of the army. These parties would come down the rivers in canoes as far as the mouth of Mad River, sometimes as far as the mouth of Twin Creek, arrange hunting parties and a camp of supplies, then begin their attacks on picket posts and the smaller settlements. All able-bodied men promptly responded to every call for defense, and those who were able to travel considered it their first duty to obey a summons to join a party going to attach the Indian villages. Each man was armed with his own flint-lock squirrel rifle, or flint-lock musket, which he kept constantly loaded at his side, day and night, at home or in the field at work. Each wore powder horn and bullet-pouch, and had a supply of patching, and carried a large knife, and dressed in homespun clothes. Their surroundings required them to be ready for duty at any instant. Officers and men were armed alike.

At the close of the year 1790, there were eight flourishing settlements on the Upper Ohio, and the three between the Miamis, with their advance stations.

During the winter, 400 warriors appeared before Dunlap's Station, on the east bank of the Big Miami, and for twenty-six hours besieged the garrison of thirty-five regulars and fifteen settlers; two of the latter were wounded, and Abner Hunt, a surveyor, was captured and cruelly murdered within sight and hearing of the blockhouse. The Indians tied him to a sapling, and built a large fire near enough to slowly burn him to death; then, as he became less sensible to pain, cuts were made in his flesh to renew the acute suffering; and finally the savages applied burning brands to his naked bowels.

The savages, fearing that re-enforcements would arrive, raised the siege, but remained close to the settlements until in June or July, destroying the crops, running off cattle and horses, and killing whoever might venture out. They became so daring that often, at night, they would skulk through the streets of Cincinnati, while some of the band would destroy the gardens and outbuildings.

By act of Congress, three strong expeditions were to be fitted out on the Ohio for advance against the Wabash and Maumee tribes. May 23, 1791, Gen. Charles Scott, of Kentucky, marched against the Wabash towns, destroying many of the most important ones in the lower valley.

Gov. St. Clair ordered a second expedition to the upper Wabash towns, and Col. James Wilkinson, of the army, was assigned to the command.

264 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

EXPEDITION TO THE UPPER WABASH.

August 1, 1791, Col. Wilkinson left Fort Washington with 550 mounted men. The first night, they camped at the head of Mill Creek (near where Hamilton now stands); the second day, they marched thirty miles, and went into camp near the present site of Eaton, and continued their course to the north for two days, then turned west toward the Wabash, which stream they followed to the Ohio, destroying villages, growing grain and crops of all kinds, and taking back as prisoners many squaws and young Indians.

In the meantime, Gov. St. Clair had been busy with preparations for a larger expedition, that he was to command in person, with headquarters at Ludlow Station, a small stockade six miles from Cincinnati, up Mill Creek, he or ganized a force of 2,300 soldiers and 600 militia, with artillery, cavalry, and all the appointments of a complete army. It was the most formidable force ever before seen in the West. Under instructions from the Secretary of War, Gen. St. Clair was with this army to move north to the junction of the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Rivers and build a large fort; then a line of forts to protect his communication with Fort Washington.

ST. CLAIR'S EXPEDITION AND DEFEAT.

September 17, they marched to a point on the east bank of the Great Miami River and built Fort Hamilton; then marched forty-four miles, and, on October 12, commenced to construct Fort Jefferson, six miles south of where Greenville now stands; October 24, resumed their march, with difficulty making seven miles a day, reaching a branch of the Wabash; November 3, threw up earthworks; were attacked by the Indians at daylight November 4. After three hours' hard fighting, the Americans were totally routed and driven from camp, with the loss of all their artillery, baggage and supply trains, and 890 men and 16 officers killed and wounded. The retreat was continued thirty miles to Fort Jefferson. It was the most disastrous campaign that had ever been made in the West.

With the destruction of this army, all frontier settlements were exposed to the savages, who now rushed on, flushed with victory. The rapid retreat was continued to Fort Washington, which place they reached November 8.

WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION.

In December, Gen. James Wilkinson was placed in command, and, in January, 1792, started an expedition to the scene of " St. Clair's Defeat," arriving there February 1, in a deep snow. By the General's orders, fatigue parties were detailed to bury the dead and gather up Government property that had not been destroyed, On the 3d, the troops returned to Fort Jefferson.

Fort St. Clair, one mile west c f Eaton, was erected in the winter of 1791-92. Forts Hamilton, St. Clair and Jefferson were garrisoned with troops sent from Fort Washington, and, at different times during the year 1792, were attacked by the Indians, who kept up active hostilities against the whites.

Monday night, November 6, Maj. Adair, who was returning from Fort Jefferson with 100 Kentuckians, repulsed 250 Indians who attacked him near Fort St. Clair.

MAD ANTHONY.

Gen. Anthony Wayne, an officer of the Revolution, was, in 1792, designated by President Washington to succeed St. Clair in command of the Western Army. In June, he arrived at Pittsburgh and began the organization of his troops; through summer and fall this preparation continued, and in the spring of 1793, with his army, he came down the Ohio in boats, and went into camp at the mouth of Mill Creek.

PAGE 265 - BLANK

PAGE 266 - PICTURE OF E. SHURTZ

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 267

Several months were given to drill and organization, while Peace Commissioners at "Grand Glaize " and the Maumee Rapids were endeavoring to make permanent peace, in which they failed, and on August 17, the meeting was broken up, of which fact Gen. Wayne was immediately notified. October 7, he, with an army of 3,600, marched from Fort Washington up Mill Creek Valley, passed Forts Hamilton and St. Clair. On the morning of the 17th, the rear guard, consisting of ninety-one men, was attacked and defeated at a point half way between Fort St. Clair and Fort Jefferson. In December, Gen. Wayne built Fort Greenville, on the ground on which the town of Greenville now stands, and placed his troops in winter quarters. Near the close of the month, he sent a detachment twenty-two miles to the front to build Fort Recovery on the field of St. Clair's defeat, which was immediately strongly garrisoned.

The army worked hard all winter, drilling, practice-firing and preparing for the coming campaign. All outposts were in constant danger, were frequently attacked, but without loss to the Americans. June 30, 1794, Fort Recovery was attacked by a force of 1,500 Indians and British, who, after a two days' fight, were driven off. They were found to be on the way to the Little Miami River, expecting to camp at Old Chillicothe. July 26, Gen. Wayne received a re-enforcement of 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, and on the 28th moved forward with his whole army. August 8, he built Fort Defiance at the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers. August 13, a flag of truce was sent to the Indians, offering peace. On the 16th, it returned, asking for delay, to which the General did not reply, but marched on, reaching the Maumee at the rapids on the 20th, and fought his celebrated battle of the Fallen Timbers, in which he defeated the Indians in sight of the British Fort Miami. The troops camped on the battlefield for three days, and by easy marches reached Fort Defiance August 27, where they remained till September 14, when they marched to the junction of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Rivers, and built Fort Wayne, according to the plans given Gen. St. Clair in 1791. A garrison was left at the fort. October 28, the army started on the return march to Fort Greenville, and went into winter quarters November 2.