Governor Harrison, of Indiana, with his usual vigilance, promptness, and forecast, had already caused block-houses and stockades to be erected in various parts of his territory as defenses against the hostile Indians, and the militia were placed in a state of preparation for immediate action when called upon. He had been authorized by the national government to take command of all the troops of the territories of Indiana and Illinois in prosecuting the war against the Indians commenced in the autumn of 1811, and to call on the Governor of Kentucky for any portion of the contingent of that state which was not in service. Under that authority he went to Kentucky, by invitation of Governor Scott, to confer respecting the troops of that state. Kentucky was forever freed from apprehensions of Indian incursions, and her sons, who had suffered, were eager to assist their neighbors over the Ohio in their efforts to drive the murderous hordes back into the wilderness.

Before this letter reached the War Department, Detroit had fallen, and Chicago too, and the worst fears of the people of the West were realized. But these disasters, instead of depressing them, gave them increased elasticity and strength. The whole total of society bordering upon the Ohio River heaved, like a storm-smitten ocean in its wrath, with patriotic emotions. The murders by the Indians which soon followed, and the alliance of the British with such fierce barbarians, excited a vehement cry for retributive justice. Christian civilization, national pride, and an enlightened patriotism, all pleaded for vindication, and nobly was that plea responded to. When a call for troops was made, men of every class and condition of life – farmers, merchants, lawyers, physicians, and young men innumerable – flocked to the recruiting stations and offered their services. Tenfold more men than were needed might have been mustered in Kentucky alone. Nor was Ohio, in proportion to its population, behind its elder sister state in practical enthusiasm. Governor Meigs was indefatigable in his efforts; and the people every where responded to the call of local officers, as well as of the chief magistrate, with the greatest alacrity, to form an ample army for both protection and conquest. It was resolved to recover all that had been lost within the territory of the United States, and to take Malden, the focus of the British-Indian power in the Northwest.

At this moment the venerable Isaac Shelby, one of the heroes of King’s Mountain, appears upon the stirring scene as the successor of General Scott in the executive chair of the State of Kentucky. With his usual sagacity, he surveyed the field of operations determined upon, and strongly recommended the government to appoint a Board of War for the region west of the Alleghanies, to prevent the delays caused by the operations of what is termed, in our day, "red-tape policy" – in other words, the absolute control, by a central power hundreds of miles away, of minor movements which the exigency of the hour might demand as of vast importance. "If such a board," he said, "was now organized, and I had the control of the present armament, I would pledge myself the Indians would have cause to lament this campaign, and their temerity in joining the British and deserting the friendship of the United States." Governor Shelby’s advice was not utterly disregarded; but no practical results followed. The War Department promised to "think about it," and no conclusion seems ever to have been reached.

Before leaving Frankfort, General Harrison had issued an address to the people of Kentucky, accompanied by another from General Scott, calling for five hundred mounted volunteers. The Honorable Richard M. Johnson, who had distinguished himself in Congress, also issued an address for the same purpose; and they had the desired effect. The latter gentleman, and John Logan, and William S. Hunter, Esqs., were appointed aids to the general; and when he departed for Cincinnati, Johnson was left to lead on such mounted troops as might be raised by the 1st of September.

Harrison was embarrassed by the instructions which accompanied the appointment, and he refrained from accepting it until he should have definite information from the War Department as to his relations to General Winchester, of the Regulars, to whom had been assigned the chief command of the Army of the Northwest. The original object in the formation of that army having been co-operation with Hull in the capture of Malden, and the reduction and occupation of Canada West, the whole aspect of affairs had been changed by the loss of Hull and his army. Harrison suggested to the Department the importance of having one military head in the Northwest; and, with the justification of pressing necessity, he laid aside his usual modesty, and preferred his own claim to that distinction, on the ground of his superior knowledge of the country and the savages with whom they had to contend, and the universally expressed desire of the troops that he should be their chief leader. Having made this response to the government by the express who brought his commission and instructions, Harrison pressed forward in the path of duty to Piqua, on the bank of the Great Miami, with the intention of there resigning his command into the hands of General Winchester. He had two thousand troops with him, and two thousand were on their way to join him.

The morning of the 9th was dark and lowering, but the troops were in good spirits, and reached Shane’s, or the Second Crossing of the St. Mary, before sunset, where they found Colonel Adams, with his mounted Ohio Volunteers. Being now in the vicinity of Fort Wayne, the army marched in battle order on the following day, expecting an attack. They moved slowly and cautiously. Scouts were out continually, and Logan and another Shawnoe acted as guides. On the night of the 11th they fortified their camp in expectation of an attack, and many alarms occurred during the darkness, caused by the discovery of Indian spies who were lurking around the verge of the pickets.

"The President is pleased to assign to you the command of the Northwestern Army, which, in addition to the regular troops and rangers in that quarter, will consist of the volunteers and militia of Kentucky, Ohio, and three thousand from Virginia and Pennsylvania, making your whole force ten thousand men." It then went on to instruct him to first provide for the defense of the frontiers, and then to retake Detroit with a view to the conquest of Canada. He was assured that every exertion would be made to send him a train of artillery from Pittsburg, in charge of Captain Gratiot, of the Engineers, who would report to him as soon as some of the pieces could be got ready. He was also informed that Major Ball, of the 2d Regiment of Dragoons, would join him; and that such staff officers as he might legally appoint would be approved by the President. "Colonel Buford, deputy commissioner at Lexington," he said, "is furnished with funds, and is subject to your orders." More ample powers than had ever been given to any officer of the American army since Washington was invested with the authority of a military dictator were intrusted to him in the following closing sentence in the dispatch: "You will command such means as may be practicable. Exercise your own discretion, and act in all cases according to your own judgment." With such ample powers invested in a commander-in-chief, Shelby’s "Board of War" would have been quite useless. Harrison had reason to be proud of the honor conferred, and the "special trust and confidence" reposed in him; while his soldiers, rejoicing in the fact, appeared ready and eager to follow whithersoever he might lead.

These Indians were the advance of a heavy force – heavy by comparison only – under Major Muir, consisting of two hundred British regulars, one thousand savages, under Colonel Elliott, and four pieces of cannon. They were making their way up the Maumee on its southern side to attack Fort Wayne. Their artillery and baggage had been brought to Defiance in boats from Malden, and with them they were marching by land to Fort Wayne. Fortunately for the little army under Winchester, a shrewd subaltern of Scott’s regiment (Sergeant M‘Coy) had been captured and taken before Muir, who was then twelve miles above Fort Defiance. He was questioned closely, and in his answer he magnified Winchester’s army fourfold. He also told Muir that another army equally large was coming down the Au Glaize to join Winchester. The exaggerated facts given to the British commander by his own credulous and excited scouts made him believe the stories of M‘Coy; and when he heard of the defeat of his advance by Ballard and Garrard, he ordered a retreat to Fort Defiance, where he re-embarked his artillery and baggage.

Relying upon his boats for facility in retreating, in the event of a defeat, Muir resolved to give battle about four miles above Fort Defiance, at the ford of a creek on the north side of the Maumee, where Wayne crossed in 1794; but when, on the morning of the 28th, he attempted to form his line of battle there, he found, to his great mortification and alarm, that about three fourths of his Indian allies had deserted him. They had heard of M‘Coy’s stories, and, associating them with Muir’s retrograde movement, and the re-embarkation of his artillery and baggage, they became greatly alarmed, and abandoned the expedition. Thus weakened, Muir conceived himself to be in great danger. He hastened back to Defiance, and fled twenty miles down the Maumee before he halted, leaving some faithful mounted Indians behind to watch the movements of the Americans.

While Winchester was making his way toward Fort Defiance, the troops that were gathering in the rear of the army had mostly arrived at St. Mary. These consisted of three regiments from Kentucky, commanded respectively by Colonels Joshua Barbee, Robert Poague, and William Jennings (the latter riflemen), and three companies of mounted riflemen, from the same state, under Captains Roper, Bacon, and Clark. Also a corps of mounted men from Ohio, under Colonel Findlay, who, as we have seen, had been active with General Hull. These had been raised pursuant to a call of Governor Meigs and General Harrison, at the beginning of September, and rendezvoused as early as the 15th at Dayton. They were intended to operate against some of the hostile Indian towns.

During the few days of suspense concerning the extent of his command General Harrison formed projects for the immediate future, which inexorable circumstances compelled him to abandon, to some extent. He had now, as commander-in-chief, arranged with care the plan for an autumn campaign, which contemplated the seizure and occupation of the strategic position at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, and possibly the capture of Detroit and Malden. His base of military operations, having the Rapids as the first object to be possessed, was a line drawn along the margin of the swampy region from St. Mary to Upper Sandusky, the former to be the principal deposit for provisions, and the latter for artillery and military stores. He intended to march his army in three divisions: the right column to be composed of the Virginia and Pennsylvania troops, to rendezvous at Wooster, the capital of the present Wayne County, Ohio, and proceed from thence, by Upper Sandusky, to the Rapids. The centre column, to consist of twelve hundred Ohio militia, to march from Urbana, where they were then collected, to Fort M‘Arthur, and follow Hull’s road to the Rapids. The left column, to be composed of the regulars under Colonel Wells and four regiments of Kentucky volunteers, to proceed down the Au Glaize to the Maumee from St. Mary, and from their confluence pass on toward the Rapids. He designed to send the mounted horsemen, by way of the St. Joseph of the Lake, to make the coup-de-main on Detroit, already alluded to; but this project was abandoned, for, should they take that post without the support of infantry, they might be compelled to abandon it, and would thereby expose the inhabitants to the fury of the Indians, who must be exasperated by the movement. Harrison therefore determined to employ them in making destructive forays upon Indian towns, and sweep the savages from the line of march from the Rapids to Detroit, when the troops should all be ready to move.

Harrison now made urgent appeals for supplies of every kind. He sent an express to Pittsburg to hurry forward the cannon and ordnance stores to Wooster; and, as the troops were nearly destitute of winter clothing, he and Governor Shelby appealed to the inhabitants of Kentucky for voluntary contributions. It was generously responded to. A thousand needles were speedily put in motion in fair hands; and many a poor soldier, as he stood sentry on the banks of the Maumee or the Raisin a few weeks later, had reason to feel grateful to the patriotic women of Kentucky.

On the 1st of October there were nearly three thousand troops at St. Mary. Harrison resolved to employ the portion of the left wing, under Winchester, at Defiance, as a corps of observation, and to make that place an important deposit for provisions, preparatory to the advance of that corps upon the Rapids. This movement was to commence as soon as the artillery should arrive at Upper Sandusky, and the other supplies had accumulated along the base of operation. A corps of observation was also to be placed at Lower Sandusky, which, with Defiance, would form the extremities of a second base when the Rapids should be occupied. These arrangements for operations were exceedingly judicious for an economical use of supplies, and a perfect defense of the frontier while the troops were concentrating at the Rapids.

The mounted men, consisting of the companies of Roper, Clark, and Bacon, and the volunteers under Major Richard M. Johnson, were formed into a regiment. They elected Johnson their colonel; and these, with the Ohio mounted men under Findlay, formed a small brigade, which Harrison placed in charge of General Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia County, Ohio, a gentleman about fifty years of age, who had, by his own exertions, raised about a thousand men for the service. This brigade was destined for the expedition against Detroit, by way of the St. Joseph, which the general hoped to set in motion soon. A few hours after it was organized, an express from Winchester reached Harrison with the intelligence of his encounter with the invading force under Muir. At almost the same moment, an express arrived from Governor Meigs, with a letter to him from General Kelso, who was in command of some Pennsylvania troops on the shore of Lake Erie, informing him that, as late as the 16th of September, some British regulars, Canadian militia, and two thousand Indians, had left Malden with two pieces of artillery for Fort Wayne.

These dispatches created a great stir in camp. Three days’ cooked provisions, with ammunition and other military stores, were immediately issued to the troops, and a command for a forced march was given. Three hours afterward General Harrison was in the saddle, and his whole corps were following him toward the wilderness in a drenching rain, and the road filled with deep mud. They reached the camp of Colonel Jennings at twilight, and officers and men, from the general down, slept in the cold, damp air, without tents, and nothing between them and the water-pools on the surface of the flat ground but brush from the beech-trees. There Harrison was met by another express from Winchester, notifying him of the flight of the enemy down the Maumee. The rapid march was stayed. Barbee’s regiment was ordered back to St. Mary, and Poague’s was directed to cut a road to Fort Defiance from Camp Jennings. The mounted men, more than a thousand in number, pressed forward in five lines, making an imposing appearance in the stately forest, where the leaves were just assuming the gorgeous autumnal hues. The troops were disappointed and depressed because of the flight of the enemy; and the commanding general was vexed when he discovered that Winchester’s alarm was quite unnecessary. He reached that officer’s camp at sunset. His soldiers bivouacked three miles in the rear. Early the next morning they marched down to the confluence of the Maumee and Au Glaize, and encamped there around the ruined intrenchments of old Fort Defiance.

Harrison found the troops under Winchester in a deplorable condition, and one regiment in a state of open mutiny. He ordered the "alarm" instead of the "reveille" to be beaten on the following morning. This brought all the troops to arms. They were drawn up in a hollow square, when, to the surprise and delight of the soldiers, Harrison, their beloved general, appeared among them. It was with difficulty that they restrained their voices, for shouts of welcome were ready to burst from their lips. He addressed them as a kind father would talk to his children. He shamed the malcontents by saying that while he lamented the fact of their mutiny, and was mortified on their account, it was of no consequence to the government, as he had now more troops than he needed, and was in expectation daily of receiving large re-enforcements from Pennsylvania and Virginia. As they had come to the woods expecting to find all the comforts and luxuries of home, they must be disappointed, and he gave them liberty to return. But he could not refrain from alluding to the mortification which he anticipated they would experience from the reception they would meet from the old and the young, who had greeted them on their march to the scene of war as their gallant neighbors. Then he appealed to their pride as soldiers and their patriotism as citizens. He told them that his government had made him commander-in-chief of the army in which they were serving, and assured them that ample supplies of provisions and other stores were on the way. When he had concluded, and the veteran Scott addressed them, saying, "You, my boys, will prove your attachment for the service of your country and your general by giving him three cheers," the wilderness instantly rang with shouts of applause, and before the sun went down perfect harmony and good feeling prevailed in the camp.

FORT DEFIANCE.

This fort was constructed of earth and logs, with a ditch extending around it, except on the Au Glaize side. At each angle was a block-house, connected by a line of pickets at their nearest angles. Outside the fort there was a glacis, or sloping wall of earth, eight feet thick, and outside of this the ditch, fifteen feet wide and eight feet deep. The glacis next to the ditch was supported by a log wall, and by fascines, or fagots, on the side next to the Au Glaize. Pickets, eleven feet long and one foot apart projected from the wall diagonally over the ditch, forming a fraise of formidable appearance. The diagram, showing the relative position of the fort to the two rivers at their confluence, and to a new fort afterward built by Winchester, may be explained as follows: A, officers’ quarters; B, store-houses; C C C C, the ditch; E E, gateways; F, a dry ditch, eight feet deep, used for the safe procurement of water from the river, with pickets (aa) guarding it; G, draw-bridge.

General Harrison selected a site for a new fort on the bank of the Au Glaize, about eighty yards above Old Fort Defiance, and ordered the immediate assignment of fatigue parties to construct it. General Winchester at the same time moved his camp from the Maumee to the Au Glaize, about half a mile above the site of the new fort. This movement was made on the 4th of October. That evening Harrison, accompanied by Colonel Johnson and his original battalion (composed of Johnson’s, Ward’s, and Ellison’s companies), turned their faces toward St. Mary, where, three days afterward, their term of enlistment having expired, they were discharged. Poague’s regiment was directed to return to the old Ottawa towns, twelve miles from St. Mary, after the road to Defiance should be completed, and erect a stockade there. They did so, and Poague named it Fort Amanda, in honor of a loved one in Kentucky. General Winchester was left in command of the left wing of the army, with instructions to facilitate the transportation of supplies to Fort Defiance, and to occupy a position at the Maumee Rapids as speedily as possible. When he left Winchester, Harrison expected to have all necessary supplies for advancing against Detroit within a fortnight.

Instead of returning to St. Mary, Tupper took the most direct route to Urbana by way of Hull’s road, from near the present town of Kenton, where he immediately prepared for another and independent expedition to the Rapids. Winchester preferred charges against him for alleged misconduct at Defiance, and Harrison ordered his arrest, but the accused being far on his way toward the Rapids, as we shall observe presently, when the order was given, the prosecution was stayed. At Tupper’s request a court of inquiry afterward investigated the matter, and he was honorably acquitted.

While on his way from Defiance to St. Mary, General Harrison was informed, by express from Fort Wayne, that the Indians were again menacing that post. At St. Mary he found Colonel Allen Trimble at the head of five hundred mounted men of Ohio, who came to join Tupper in the expedition against Detroit. These were immediately dispatched to the relief of Fort Wayne, with instructions to proceed to the St. Joseph of the Lake, about sixty miles distant, and destroy the town of the hostile Pottawatomie chief White Pigeon. The troops were disappointed, and at Fort Wayne about one half of Trimble’s command refused to go farther. The gallant colonel pushed on with the remainder, destroyed two Pottawatomie villages, and would have killed or captured the inhabitants had not a treacherous guide given them timely warning of danger.

At St. Mary Harrison found some penitent Miami chiefs who had joined the enemy. They had come at the summons of messengers, and were prepared to deny their guiltiness, or to palliate it, as circumstances might dictate. They found Harrison well informed concerning their bad conduct, and they cast themselves upon the mercy of the government. As proof of their sincerity, they sent five chiefs to Piqua as hostages until the decision of the President should be made known. Thither General Harrison repaired, where he found some of Tupper’s troops. He passed over to Urbana, and then southeastward to Franklinton, on the west bank of the Scioto, opposite the present city of Columbus, the capital of Ohio, whose site was then covered by the primeval forest. There, in the heart of Ohio, and at a convenient point for the concentration of troops and supplies from a distance, Harrison established his headquarters, and occupied much of the remainder of the autumn and early winter in laborious preparations for an advance on Detroit and Canada – collecting troops and creating dépôts for supplies, building stockades and block-houses, cutting roads, and dispersing or overawing the hostile Indians, who might be excessively mischievous on the flank and rear. Poague speedily completed Fort Amanda on the Au Glaize, Colonel Barbee erected another at St. Mary, which was called Fort Barbee, and before the 1st of November the new stockade at Defiance, built chiefly of logs, was completed and named Fort Winchester.

SITE OF FORT DEFIANCE.

APPLE-TREE AT DEFIANCE.

Let us resume the narrative of events in the Northwest in the autumn of 1812.

We left General Harrison at Franklinton, General Tupper at Urbana, and General Winchester at Fort Defiance, all engaged in preparations to move forward to the Rapids of the Maumee, and thence to Detroit. While the movement of the troops in Western Ohio and Eastern Indiana, just related, were in progress, stirring events of a like nature occurred in the region nearer the Mississippi River.

This address, as we have seen, was responded to with wonderful alacrity. Hundreds more than were needed were at Louisville on the appointed day, and were turned back with feelings of the keenest disappointment. One old veteran, who had suffered from savage cruelty, and had fought the dusky foe in the early days of Kentucky settlement, although greatly chagrined when he found his company rejected, said, "Well, well, Kentucky has often glutted the market with hemp, flour, and tobacco, and now she has done so with volunteers." This was a truthful exposition, in few words, of the wealth and patriotism of Kentucky.

General Hopkins discharged the mutinous mounted men, and organized another expedition against the Indians. This force, twelve hundred and fifty strong, was composed chiefly of foot soldiers, and the object of the expedition was the destruction of the Prophet’s town, and other Indian villages on the Upper Wabash. His troops consisted of three regiments of Kentucky militia, commanded respectively by Colonels Barbour, Miller, and Wilcox; a small company of regulars, under Captain Zachary Taylor; a company of Rangers, commanded by Captain Beckers; and a company of scouts or spies, led by Captain Washburne. The greater portion of them rendezvoused at Vincennes, and moved up the Wabash Valley to Fort Harrison, where they arrived on the 5th of November. Six days afterward they marched from the fort up the road made by Harrison a year before, and, at the same time, seven boats, filled with provisions, forage, and military stores, well guarded by Lieutenant Colonel Barbour with a battalion of his regiment, moved up the river. The Indians were supposed to be on the alert, and the march was cautiously pursued. The streams were full of water, and the passage of swamps and low lands was extremely difficult and fatiguing. They did not cross the Wabash as Harrison did, but, for sufficient reasons, marched up the east side of that stream.

So difficult was the march that the expedition did not reach the Prophet’s town until the 19th, when Hopkins dispatched Adjutant General Butler, with three hundred men, to surprise a Winnebago village of about forty houses on the present Wild Cat Creek, a mile from the Wabash, and about four miles below the Prophet’s town. The village was deserted. Flames soon laid it in ashes. The Prophet’s town, about equal in size, and a large Kickapoo village just below it, containing about one hundred and sixty huts, with all their winter provision of corn and beans, were utterly destroyed.

With this more successful expedition ended General Hopkins’s military career. In general orders, issued at Vincennes on the 18th of December following, he said: "The commander-in-chief now closes his command, and, in all probability, his military services forever." Most of the volunteers were now discharged, and Illinois and Indiana experienced a season of comparative repose.

------------------------------

ENDNOTES.

1 "The war," a weekly paper, published in the City of New York, by Samuel Woodworth, the poet, gives the following glimpses of the spirit of the people at that time in its issue of September 19, 1812: "The citizens of Albany, immediately on hearing of the surrender of General Hull, commenced a subscription for raising a regiment of volunteers. Very liberal subscriptions were made for the comfort and convenience of those who might offer their services. A regiment of volunteers is also raising in the City of Baltimore, and $15,000 have already been subscribed for the purpose of furnishing the men with every thing necessary for their comfort. Fifteen hundred men are immediately to march from Virginia, to rendezvous at Point Pleasant, on the Ohio. The ladies of Richmond volunteered their services to make tents, knapsacks, etc., for the soldiers, and in five days all things were ready. When the news of the fall of Detroit reached Lexington, in Kentucky, instead of deploring the loss, the citizens immediately set about repairing it. An immense number of volunteers immediately came forward, among whom were several members of Congress, and shouldered their muskets in their country’s cause. The greatest enthusiasm prevails throughout the whole Western country; almost every man has volunteered his services, and, if we may judge from appearances, it will not be long before our Western brethren will wipe away the stain upon the American arms by the ignominious surrender of Detroit and the American army under General Hull.

"The citizens of New York are forming patriotic associations for the purpose of raising funds to assist the families of volunteers and drafts detached for the defense of the borders, who may be in want during their absence on duty. Large supplies of vegetables, coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, etc., have also been sent to the troops stationed in and about the harbor. This conduct is worthy of imitation."

3 Reply of Governor Meigs to the memorial of the citizens of Chillicothe, Ohio, on the subject of protecting the frontier. – Niles’s Weekly Register, September 26, 1812.

4 Memoirs of the Public Services of William Henry Harrison, by James Hall, p. 160.

5 Autograph letter, August 27, 1812.

6 "The regiment commanded by Colonel Barbour," says M‘Afee, "when ordered into service at the call of Governor Harrison, was directed to rendezvous at the Red Barracks, with a view of marching to the aid of Governor Edwards, at Ruskin’s, in the Illinois Territory. The regiments of Colonels Wilcox and Miller were ordered to rendezvous at Louisville and on the Ohio below, for the purpose of marching to Vincennes to protect the Indiana Territory. Colonels Barbee and Jennings were at first ordered to the same place; but, in consequence of the perilous situation of the Northwestern Army, they were now directed, by express, to rendezvous at Georgetown on the 1st of September, and pursue the other regiments, by the way of Newport and Cincinnati, for the Northwestern frontiers. The regiment of Colonel Poague was called to rendezvous at Newport, on its way to the Northwestern Army; and a regiment of dragoons, under Colonel Simrall, was likewise directed to proceed for the same destination." – History of the Late War in the Western Country, page 109.

7 M‘Afee, page 111.

8 Died April 20, 1846.

9 On the same day General Harrison, who had heard of the fall of Detroit and Chicago, and knew the danger to which Fort Wayne would be exposed, wrote as follows to the Secretary of War: "I shall march to-morrow morning with the troops I have here, taking the route of Dayton and Piqua. The relief of Fort Wayne will be my first object, and my after operations will be guided by circumstances until I receive your instructions. Considering my command as merely provisional, I shall cheerfully conform to any other arrangements which the government may think proper to make. The troops which I have with me, and those which are coming from Kentucky, are perhaps the best materials for forming an army that the world has produced. But no equal number of men was ever collected who knew so little of military discipline, nor have I any assistants that can give me the least aid, if there was even time for it, but Captain Adams, of the 4th Regiment, who was left here sick, and whom I have appointed deputy adjutant general until the pleasure of the President can be known. No arms for cavalry have yet arrived at Newport, and I shall be forced to put muskets in the hands of all the dragoons. I have written to the quarter-master at Pittsburg to request him to forward all supplies of arms, equipments, and quarter-master’s stores as soon as possible. I have also requested him to send down a few pieces of artillery without waiting your order, and wait your instruction as to a farther number. There is but one piece of artillery, one iron four-pounder, any where that I can hear of in the country. If it is intended to retake the posts that we have lost, and reduce Malden this season, the artillery must be sent on as soon as possible." He also complained of a want of facility for getting money on drafts. Such were the inadequate preparations made by the government for the promotion of the war in the Northwest, when it was first commenced.

10 M‘Afee, page 121.

12 M‘Afee, page 121.

13 For the purpose of neutralizing, if possible, the effects of British influence over the tribes of Ohio, a council had been held at Piqua on the 15th of August. Governor Meigs, Thomas Worthington, and Jeremiah Morrow were the commissioners on the part of the United States. Every thing promised success; but while the council was in progress news of the fall of Detroit and Chicago reached Piqua, and frustrated the plans of the white people.

14 Now the village of St. Mary, in Mercer County, Ohio, on the site of Fort St. Mary, erected by Wayne, and commanded by Captain John Whistler before he built Fort Dearborn at Chicago. The notorious Simon Girty occupied a cabin at that place for some time.

16 While the Little Turtle lived most of the Miamis remained faithful to the Americans, but soon after his death, in the summer of 1812, the great body of them joined the hostile savages.

17 This village, like all the others, was deserted. Before the door of the chief, upon a pole, hung a red flag, with a broom tied above it; and at the tent of an old warrior a white flag was flying from a pole. The body of the old warrior was in a sitting posture, the face toward the east, and a bucket containing trinkets by its side. In one of the huts was found a Cincinnati newspaper containing an account of General Harrison’s army. The troops found a large quantity of dried corn, beans, and potatoes, which furnished them and their horses with food.

18 In one of these was found the tomb of a chief, built of logs and daubed with clay. His body was laid on a blanket, with his gun and his pipe by his side, a small tin pan on his breast containing a wooden spoon, and a number of earrings and brooches.

19 At St. Mary’s, Harrison wrote to Governor Shelby as follows: "My situation here is very embarrassing, so much so that I have determined within the two hours past to propose to General Winchester to recognize me as commander-in-chief, or to relinquish all command whatever, unless it is of the mounted forces which I have prepared, and with which I shall strike a stroke somewhere. You will hear from another quarter the very serious difficulty which was to be encountered before the men of Scott’s, Allen’s, and Lewis’s regiments could be reconciled to the command of General Winchester. I fear that the other three regiments will prove still more refractory." – Autograph Letter, September 22d, 1812.

20 Autograph Letter to General Shelby, dated "St. Mary, 22d September, 1812." I have before me an autograph note from General Harrison to Governor Meigs, of similar purport, dated at St. Mary, the 20th of September. "But it must be kept profoundly secret," he wrote.

21 Captain Bland Ballard was a distinguished citizen of Kentucky. He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 16, 1761, and at this time was just past fifty years of age. He had been in Kentucky since 1779. He was with General Clark when he invaded the Ohio country in 1781, where he was severely wounded. In all that service, as a spy and otherwise, Ballard was exceedingly active. He was with Wayne in his campaigns. He joined Allen’s regiment in 1812, and, as we have seen in the text, was wounded at the Raisin and taken prisoner. He frequently represented Shelby County in the Kentucky Legislature. Ballard County, Kentucky, was so called in his honor, and Blandville, the county seat, bears the Christian name of Captain Ballard. He was living, at the age of eighty-seven years, in 1847. For a fuller account of him, see Collins’s Historical Sketches of Kentucky, page 171.

22 They crossed the Maumee to the south side, and took as direct a route as they could to the Au Glaize. They crossed that stream, and descended it along its eastern shore to its month at Defiance. Two miles below the confluence of the streams they crossed the Maumee, and returned up the north side to the army.

23 At about this time Peter Navarre (whom we shall meet hereafter), who had piloted the British as far as the Rapids, deserted them, and pushed on to meet Winchester and inform him of the approach of the enemy. – Hosmer’s Early History of the Maumee Valley, page 34.

24 M‘Afee, pages 102-138, inclusive; Thomson’s Sketches of the Late War, ch. iv.; Perkins’s History, etc., of the Late War; Brackenridge’s History of the Late War, pages 55-58, inclusive.

25 The emphasis in the word Ottawa being in the middle syllable, these were called ’Tawa towns. The Lower ’Tawa town was on Blanchard’s Fork, on the site of the present village of Ottawa, two miles below the Upper ’Tawa town.

27 M‘Afee, pages 148, 149; Tupper’s Letter to General Harrison from Urbana, October 12, 1812; Brackenridge, page 59; Perkins, page 97.

28 Letter to General Harrison from Urbana, dated October 12th 1812. M‘Afee, who gives a more detailed account of this affair than any other writer, says, "Some of the Kentuckians were not inclined to march under Tupper unless accompanied by some field officer from Winchester’s command. Colonel Allen therefore tendered his services to accompany General Tupper in any capacity he might choose to receive him. The offer was accepted. But General Winchester, having misunderstood the nature of the arrangement between them, issued an order directing Colonel Allen to take the command and march toward the Rapids. This caused a serious misunderstanding between the two generals. Colonel Allen, however, having informed General Winchester correctly on the subject, the order was immediately rescinded. The greater part of the men having by this time refused to proceed directly to the Rapids, General Tupper marched them over the Au Glaize, and proceeded to the Ottawa towns, where he professed to expect re-enforcements from Ohio." This account agrees substantially with that of Tupper in his letter to Harrison, in which he says, "It is a duty I owe to Colonel Allen to say that I have not the smallest reason to believe he was privy to the orders of General Winchester."

29 Defiance is the county seat of Defiance County, about fifty miles northeastward from Fort Wayne. It was laid out in 1822, and from its eligible situation and fertility of the country around – the rich Black Swamp region – seems destined to become a place of much importance.

34 Address of Governor Shelby, issued at Frankfort September 8, 1812.

* For an account of the early adventures of General Ray, see Collins’s Kentucky, its History, Antiquities, and Biography, page 453.

36 Hopkins’s Report to Governor Shelby, dated Fort Harrison, October 26, 1812; Dillon’s History of Indiana, page 497 M‘Afee, page 158.

37 Colonel William Russell’s Letter to General Gibson, the acting governor of Indiana, dated "Camp Russell, October 31, 1812."

38 This detachment was composed of Captain Beckers’s company of Rangers, a small number of mounted militia, and several army officers.

39 General Hopkins’s Letter to Governor Shelby, November 27, 1812.

40 Dillon’s History of Indiana, Note, page 502.

----------------------------------------

Transcription and html prepared by Bill Carr, last updated 10/20/2001.

Copyright Notice: Copyright 2001. All files on this site are copyrighted by their creator. They may be linked to but may not be reproduced on another site without the specific permission of their creator. Although public information is not in and of itself copyrightable, the format in which it is presented, the notes and comments, etc., are. It is, however, quite permissible to print or save the files to a personal computer for personal use ONLY.