Historic Highways of America Volume VIII Part 5

At eight o'clock in the morning of July 28 Wayne with two thousand regulars and fifteen hundred mounted volunteers set out for the Maumee Valley from Fort Greenville. The route followed by St. Clair and used during the winter by the Fort Recovery garrison was the course pursued, and camp was pitched in the afternoon on Stillwater Creek after a twelve-mile march. The next day the army was off before sunrise; we "pushed forward without regard to bag or baggage," records Clark, "as if not in search, but in actual pursuit of a flying & disorderly enemy."

Fort Recovery was reached at noon and the army camped a mile beyond. On the day following the army crashed onward, following the winding stream called a tributary of the "St. Mary's" by St. Clair, but which was in fact the head of the Wabash. Clark says the stream was crossed "more than a dozen times" and "Camp Beaver Swamp" was pitched where the stream was found to be impa.s.sable, eleven miles from Fort Recovery. Much of the journey today had been through wide prairies covered with nettles, the water unfit to drink and mosquitoes, "larger than I ever saw," observed Boyer. Today the road was opened as the army advanced and the route was up the Wabash from the present village of Fort Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio.

The construction of a bridge at Camp Beaver Swamp seventy yards in length delayed the army one day but enabled the road-cutters to hew a way through to the St. Mary River.[153] On August 1, the army pressed on over the backbone of Ohio and down the northern slope into the basin of the Maumee River, and encamped beside the famous little St. Mary River.

Today, emerging suddenly from the vast stretch of nettles and brush that grew in the swampy district, the army suddenly drew out into a beautiful level meadow, every corps of the army having the first view of all the other divisions. This day Clark affirms that the army crossed the trace followed by General Harmar in 1790 to the Miami village. Tonight the army encamped by the St. Mary and on the morrow the erection of what was first called Fort Randolph and later Fort Adams was begun.[154] This was the seventh fortified post in the chain from the Ohio and was located on the south bank of the St. Mary, four miles above Rockford (the old Shane's Crossings), Mercer County, Ohio.

On the fourth the army hurried on about eleven miles to "a small, dirty water," as Clark described it, "a branch of the Glaize [Auglaize]

River," where camp was fortified for the night. The day after, a march of equal length "down the creek" to the camp described by Boyer as "Camp forty-four miles in advance of Fort Recovery." Wayne's camps were each proof against insult from the enemy, which accounts for his encamping early each afternoon. On the afternoon of August 6, the army reached the banks of the celebrated "Glaize," the Auglaize River. Here, according to Posey, a stronger encampment than usual was built, named Fort Loramie.

As the Maumee was neared the feeling of the army was intense. While at Fort Adams, Wayne had made feints at cutting two roads, one down the St.

Mary River and another northwest straight toward Roche de Bout. These routes were both opened for some distance, that down the St. Mary at least as far as the famous ford at Shane's Crossing--the present Rockford.[155] That the Indian spies would report the building of these roads, there was no doubt. But when on August 4 the swift advance was renewed neither road was followed! A straight course northward into the Auglaize Valley was taken--a route that could not have been pursued in any but the driest weather. It ran northward from Fort Adams, probably near the Fort Jennings of the War of 1812, situated on the left bank of the Auglaize in the northwest part of Jennings Towns.h.i.+p, Putnam County, Ohio. Thence the route was straight down the Auglaize in general alignment with the present Defiance Road.

Wayne's tactics in road-building as he neared the enemy's villages is perhaps quite unparalleled; indeed, as will be emphasized, this remarkable campaign was not less impressive to the savages--these swift plunges through the forests, the sudden pauses and the astonis.h.i.+ng feints--than was the battle which soon crushed the Indian confederacy.

At the same time the careful historian would greatly err should he not give Wayne credit for obeying, even now, the earnest commands of his superiors to secure an armistice and a peace without a battle. Secretary Knox had, over and again, urged Wayne to secure peace without bloodshed if possible. A battle in any case was hazardous; there were possibilities of defeat; there were greater promises of a continuous war even in case of an American victory. The British had displayed characteristic arrogance in building a fort at Roche de Bout this very spring, around which the Indian cohorts were probably gathering.

Complications with England were undoubtedly possible, if not entirely probable. From Lieutenant Clark's journal it is clear that General Wilkinson proposed, as soon as the Auglaize was reached, to make a dash with a flying column upon the populous district at the junction of the Auglaize with the Maumee. Wayne refused to consider the plan[156]--and throughout the remainder of Clark's journal his words are well-nigh abusive of General Wayne's whole management of the campaign.[157] The dare-devil Wayne's caution at this strategic juncture of this important campaign portrays an element of steadiness for which the hero of Stony Point has perhaps never received sufficient credit.

On the eighth of August, after marching through five miles of cornfields, where were "vegetables of every kind in abundance,"

according to Boyer, the tired Legion came in view of the Maumee, of which they and a whole nation had heard so much. The spot of encampment was the site of the present city of Defiance on the commanding point between the rivers, and here in the three days succeeding, Fort Defiance was erected. To the Indians the name of the spot was Grand Glaize.[158]

Wells's rangers reported that the Indian army was lying two miles above the British fort, on the west bank of the Maumee. According to Posey, Wayne on the eleventh despatched an old Indian to the hostile camp with offers of peace; two days later an old squaw was posted off with a similar message. Neither returned. On the sixteenth, the fort being nearly completed, Major Hunt was left in command, and the grand advance began. The route was down the left bank of the Maumee straight toward the painted lines of Little Turtle's army. Christopher Miller--the red-man made white by that plunge in the creek--met the army today with a message from the chieftain White Eyes, Clark records, asking Wayne to remain ten days at Grand Glaize, not erecting a fort, and the Indians would perhaps treat with him. "This letter," Lieutenant Clark states, "was generally considered as a challenge."[159]

Nineteen miles was made the first day (August 16) and twelve the day following. As the road was "generally bad," as Boyer affirms, these tremendous marches must be considered remarkable, for each camp was heavily fortified and the enemy was just at hand. The spies in advance were unceasing in their vigilance and activity; and on the eighteenth poor May, who had lived with the Indians as a spy the preceding winter at Wayne's command, was entrapped and captured, suffering a most cruel death. This day the army encamped forty-one miles from Fort Defiance and made a strong entrenchment which was named Fort Deposit. Here the heavy baggage was stored that the troops might go into action unenc.u.mbered.

On the twentieth, at seven in the morning, the Legion advanced in fighting order. The Indian army, its left wing lying on Presque Isle, was stretched across the valley for two miles in a well-chosen position.

A tornado had swept the forest here and the ma.s.s of fallen trees offered a particularly advantageous spot for the Indians' favorite method of fighting. Such spots were very common in the old Black Forest of the West and were generally known as "fallen timber" by the Indians and pioneers;[160] in them cavalry was almost useless. Thus the mounted volunteers, the Indians believed, would be debarred from the fight.

At eleven o'clock the advanced lines met. At the first burst of sudden flame the American vanguard of volunteers was staggered, perhaps surprised at the fire from an unseen enemy lying beneath the tangled wind-rack of the forest. The guards on the right fell back through the regulars commanded by Cook and Steele. The regulars were thrown into confusion. It was fifteen minutes before order was restored but when joined by the riflemen and legionary cavalry, a charge with trailed arms was ordered and the savages were p.r.i.c.ked out from their lairs with the point of the bayonet. A heavy firing on the left announced that the battle now was raging there, but only for a moment. The whole Indian plan of battle was destroyed by the impetuous bayonet charges of troops hard-drilled in the dull days at Legionville, Hobson's Choice, and in the snows of Greenville. The redskins hid where a tornado had pa.s.sed--not expecting another more destructive than the first! For two miles the scattering horde was pursued headlong through the forests. A halt was ordered just within sight of the British fort, whose guns were silent though menacing. The Indians poured on down the valley toward the present site of Toledo and Lake Erie.

The battle of Fallen Timber was a decisive and important victory. The Indians numbered about fifteen hundred; a considerable number of advancing allies never reached the battle-ground. The rapid strides of Wayne had forced the meeting unexpectedly. Those ten days the Indians had requested for conference would have largely increased their strength. The number killed and wounded on either side was inconsiderable; forty Indians, only, were found on the two-mile field of conflict. Twenty-six killed and eighty-seven wounded, was the Legion's loss. Of the Kentuckians, who hardly got into the action on account of the swift success of the Legion, seven privates were killed, and ten privates and three officers were wounded.

Remaining three days on the battle-field, Wayne destroyed many acres of corn and many Indian huts and then returned to Fort Defiance. Thence he ascended the Maumee to the junction of the St. Mary and St.

Joseph--Harmar's battle ground--and built a fort which he permitted the oldest officer (Posey?) to name "Fort Wayne in honor of the hero of Stony Point." From Fort Wayne the army ascended the St. Mary to Fort Adams, and thence pa.s.sed to Loramie's, where a new Fort Loramie was erected. The troops from there opened a new route across to Fort Greenville. Here, in the following year, the awed and broken Indian nations signed the Treaty of Fort Greenville which practically reaffirmed the previous Treaty of Fort Harmar.

Viewed as a whole, Wayne's campaign is most interesting from the standpoint of road-building. It was Wayne's advance which awed the savages, not the battle of Fallen Timber. The army cras.h.i.+ng northward through the forests as though ever in the pursuit of a foe, the impregnable forts that arose here and there, the strongly fortified camps, the fleet and active scouting parties, the stern but even temper of Wayne's exhortations for peace, and at last, the fierce bayonet charge amid the prostrate trees, accomplished the very mission of the hour. That winding line of a road from the Ohio to Roche de Bout, and the five new forts that sprang up on it in 1793 and 1794, have left their impress strongly upon western history. The Indians never forgot the "Whirlwind," who was also a "Black Snake." Since that road was built, the Indian race has never been a national menace. b.l.o.o.d.y battles there have been, but at no time has the expansion of the United States been seriously jeopardized by Indian hostility.

Clark's conquest of Vincennes was now made good by the conquest of the Maumee Valley; Harmar's reverses and St. Clair's annihilation were avenged--the Old Northwest was won.

Appendixes

APPENDIX A

PORTIONS OF CLARK'S MEMOIR[161] WHICH REFER TO THE MARCH TO KASKASKIA

"... on the [24th] of June 1778 we left our Little Island and Run about a mile up the River in order to gain the main Channel and shot the Falls at the very moment of the sun being in a great Eclipse which caused Various conjectures among the superst.i.tious as I knew that spies were kept on the River below the Towns of the Illinois I had resolved to march part of the way by Land and of course left the whole of our baggage, except as much as would equip us in the Indian mode. The whole of our force, after leaving such as was Judged not competent to the expected fatiegue, Consisted only of four companies, commanded by Captns Jno. Montgomery, J. Bowman, L. Helm, and W. Harrod my force being so small to what I expected owing to the various circ.u.mstances already mentioned I found it necessary to alter my plans of operations, as post St. Vincent at this time was a Town of considerable force consisting of near four Hundred militia with an Indian Town adjoining and great numbers continually in the Neighborhood, and in the scale of Indian affairs of More Importance than any other. [I] had thought of attacking it first but now found that I could by no means venture near it Resolved to begin my career in the Illinois where there was more Inhabitants but scattered in different Villages, and less danger of being immediately overpowered by the Indians, and in case of necessity, [we could]

probably make our retreat good to the Spanish side of the Mississippi, but if Successful here [we] might pave our way to the possession of Post St. Vincent.... As I intended to leave the Ohio at Ft. Ma.s.siac 3 leagues below the Tennessee I landed on Barritaria a small island in the mouth of that River in order to prepare for the march ... having every thing prepared we moved down to a little gul[ley] a small distance above Ma.s.siac in which we concealed our Boats and set out a Northwest course, nothing remarkable on this rout, the weather was favorable, in some parts water scarce as well as game, of course we suffered drought and Hunger but not [to] excess, on the third Day, John Saunders, our princ.i.p.al guide, appeared confused we soon discovered that he was totally lost without there was some other cause of his present conduct I asked him various question, and from his answers I could scarcely determine what to think of him, whether or not he was sensible that he was lost the thought of which [?] or that he wished to deceive us the cry of the whole Detachment was that he was a Traitor, he beged that he might be suffered to go some distance into a plain that was in full view to try to make some discovery whether or not he was right. I told him he might but that I was suppitious [suspicious] of him from his conduct that from the first of his being employed always said that he knew the way well that there was now a different appearance that I saw the nature of the c.u.n.try was such that a person once acquainted with it could not in a short time forget it that a few men should go with him to prevent his escape--and that if he did not discover and take us into _the Hunters Road_ that lead from the East into Kaskaskia that he had frequently described that I would have him Immediately put to death which I was determined to have done, but after an Hour or two's search he came to a place that he perfectly knew and we discovered that the poor fellow had been as they call it bewildered. On the eavining of the fourth of July we got with in a few miles of the Town."

APPENDIX B

ON THE IDENTIFICATION OF CLARK'S PLACE OF CROSSING THE "TWO WABASHES"[162]

Mr. Draper founds his conclusion that the "two Wabashes" were the Little Wabash and the Fox wholly on present-day (1878-90) reports[163] of the nature of the country at the Little Wabash above the mouth of the Fox and above the mouth of the Big Muddy. The reports he received from residents of the neighborhoods carry evidence that the ground between the Little Wabash and Fox most nearly agrees with Clark's and Bowman's descriptions of the crossing-place.[164] This is true, and is of importance. But Clark's and Bowman's use of the word "heights" was merely relative; Mr. Draper's correspondents speak of high grounds and low grounds as the land lies today. With water but three or four feet deep, a few acres of land might have been uncovered, though not sufficiently elevated today to be termed a hill or even high ground.

There is a point on the Little --abash above the mouth of the Fox that can be made to answer in a general way Clark's and Bowman's descriptions--going on the doubtful supposition that their descriptions were entirely accurate. In order to find a spot where Clark saw nearly five miles of water before him, Mr. Draper suggests a point about two miles above the mouth of the Fox, where there is a wide bottom on the west of the Little --abash, another bottom between that stream and the Fox, and another east of the Fox.[165] The possibility that the distance was exaggerated by Clark (who said Vincennes was two hundred and forty miles from Kaskaskia when it was not over one hundred and seventy-five) is not considered. As a matter of fact, the whole plan of finding today five miles of low ground from any point west of the Little --abash to the east of either the Fox or the Big Muddy, is overthrown by Clark's statement in the _Memoir_ that (on the western side of the Little Wabash) "we formed a camp on a height which we found on the bank of the river." Mr. Draper's objection to the Little Wabash and Big Muddy crossing-place was because the high ground on the bank of the Little Wabash (seemingly here referred to by Clark) prevented there being five miles of low ground to the opposite side of the Big Muddy.[166] If Clark and Bowman gave the distance of width of water correctly, the crossing-place was two miles above the mouth of the Fox, and Clark's statement of forming a camp on a height on the river bank is totally inexplicable--for there is no height at this point to answer such a description. If, by "nearly" five miles, Clark meant three miles, misjudging distance on water inversely with the usual way, his camp could have been on the immediate high bank of the Little Wabash above the mouth of the Big Muddy.[167]

Certain other considerations have a tendency to influence the present writer in believing that the crossing-place was here--above the mouth of the Big Muddy. It was exceedingly wet from the day Clark left Kaskaskia; even on the watersheds he found deep standing water. On reaching the Pet.i.t Fork he found the rivers at flood-tide. By turning north to the Clay County route he would strike the Little Wabash at a more northerly point, and would almost completely head the deep little Bonpas which lay between the Fox and the Big Wabash. The Clay County route was in one sense, then, a watershed route, compared with the Wayne County route. It is difficult to believe that Clark's guides would ignore this after having been compelled to cross the Pet.i.t Fork on felled trees. Again, on the second day out from the crossing-place of the Little Wabash, Bowman records: "16th. Marched all day through rain and water; crossed Fox river." If this entry is correct, of course the Little Wabash and Big Muddy crossing-place is completely established. Mr. Draper, holding that the Fox was crossed simultaneously with the Little Wabash on the fifteenth, suggests that Bowman meant Bonpas for Fox.[168] Choosing between possible errors, the present writer finds it easier to believe that Bowman misjudged the width of water crossed on the fifteenth, than that he called the Bonpas the Fox. For on the seventeenth the heads of the Bonpas are specifically accounted for by Bowman as follows: "17th.

Marched early; crossed several runs, very deep." Mr. Draper does not account for these, and it is difficult to do so if they were not the heads of the Bonpas. For, if Clark crossed the Little Wabash just above the mouth of the Fox, his route, after crossing the Bonpas, was northeast, and would, without any sort of question, have been on watersheds between little tributaries, first of the Bonpas, and then of the Embarras. Again, by every account, it is sure Clark and Bowman expected to strike the Embarras, and strike it at about seven or eight miles due west from Vincennes. If, as Draper believed, they were pursuing an old trail, which, it is well known,[169] ran from the crossing-place of the Little Wabash two miles above the mouth of the Fox to the Wabash just below the mouth of the Embarras, how can it be explained that the army reached, or ever intended to reach, the Embarras seven or eight miles above its mouth? The very name would warn them away and it seems highly improbable that, if what was later known as the southern route was traversed, the army would ever have seen the Embarras.

APPENDIX C

OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY ON THE MAUMEE AS GIVEN IN THE IRWIN Ma.n.u.sCRIPT[170]

"The next Day after the rear arrived a Detachment of 400 men was ordered out under the Command of Col. Trotter of Kentucky with orders to a.s.sertain what Course the Indians had went to Draw 2 Days provisions and Be out over night I was a volunteer in S^d. Detachment There was about 25 Mounted men attached to the Same a short Distance after we crossed the St Joseph River from where part of the Town stood fell in with 2 Indians Killed Both and Lost one man marched all Day after in good order Seen considerable Signs Could not a.s.sertain which way They had gone The Six pounders was Shot about Sun Set at the main Camp The Col Concluded it was Done to Call the Command in we returned to Camp a short time after Dark Lay out side of Camp all night had our own guards out, Turned out next morning to perform the 2d Day under Command of Col Hardin went a northwest Course from whence we Crossed s^d river after going 3 or 4 mile found a Large fresh Indian trail pursued it with all Speed in Single file or in any way they Could get allong from front to the rear was over half a mile The Indians retreated with a view to draw the front into ambuscade which they Done Completely with Two fires Cut off the front Entirely our Company being in front the first Day had to take the rear the Second Day when the front was Cut off we formed a Line in the rear Cols Hardin Hall and Major Fountain was all on horse Back halted with us when we formed, The Indians pursued the front untill they Come within one hundred yards Then halted we had But about 75 in our Company had all treed in Line across the trace They Could see the officers on horse Back with us we Stood in that situation untill near Dark Then Covered the retreat got into Camp a short time after Dark I never could a.s.sertain how many men we Lost in that Sc.r.a.p a Captn Scott son of Gen or governor Scott of Kentucky was killed in that Sc.r.a.p our Troops was very much scattered a Number Came in after Night as the Cannon was fired Every hour through the Night at the main Camp perhaps there was 15 or 20 killed, perhaps more or Less The Commencement was one of the most unexpected Surprises Ever any troops met with Two of us went out and Examined their Encampment where their trace was first Discovered over 2 mile on this Side where the Battle was as there was there a general Halt for a short time I would have Said there was 4 or 5 hundred Indians and we had not Near as many Men that Day as was out the Day Before There was Experienced officers along that ought to have known Better they was too anxious on the pursuit the Troops should have Been marched in such a Situation that no advantage Could have Been Taken of them as was the Case the Day Before The army remained in Camp perhaps 2 Days making ready to return to Fort Was.h.i.+ngton when the army moved from Camp perhaps about the 10th or 12th of November 1790 four or five mounted men with an officer placed themselves on a high Eminence so that they could see over all the place where the Indian town Stood about two hours after the army Cleared out the Indians Came in from Different Quarters to get provision as they had Considerable hid under ground Said Spies remained there untill Dark Came into Camp which was about 4 or 5 mile Informed Harmar and the officers what Discoveries they had made a Detachment of 4 or 5 hundred men was Drafted from the Different Companies of s^d army that Night to be on the ground Next morning by Day Light and to Be placed under the Command of Col Hardin the plan of attack was made By the officers previous to their march and was well Executed By the officers and troops Engaged in the Same There was too few troops in said Detachment for the number of the Enemy they had to Contend with if 200 men had arrived there about Sunrise they would have give the Enemy a Complete Defeat They give them a pretty good Drubing as it was There was about 60 regulars under the Command of Major ---- They fought well Done great Execution Lost Their major and Lieutenant in the Battle. Col Hardins post in The aforesaid plan was on The west side of The St.

Joseph river opposite to where The Indian town stood he was There in good Time The other Troops Crossed the Maumee went right to where The Town Stood The Indians was Encamped in and round where it stood Major Fountain had the Command of The Light horse and mounted men he Charged right in among The Enemy fired off his pistols and Drew his Sword Before They Could recover The Shock George Adams informed them that he was Near The Major at That Time That it appeared when The Enemy got over Their surprise Ten or Twelve Indians Discharged Their guns at him The Major kind of fell or hung on his horse They then Discharged Several Guns at said Adams he received Several flesh wounds But recovered By this Time The Militia and regulars Come up. The Indians fought with Desperation was Drove from Their Encampment By The Militia and regulars Down The Bank into the river which was perhaps 20 yards wide and perhaps 6 inches Deep Col Hardins men on The opposite Side which placed them Between two fires The Indians charged on Hardins troops having no other Chance to Escape Hardins troops give way and retreated the Same way They went out and was not in That Battle any more. Some of the Troops informed me That Major Fountain was Living when our Troops Drove the Indians from The Battle ground. Major Mcmillin of Kentucky Collected The Troops and Tarried on The Battle Ground untill They Indians had entirely Disappeared and not one to Be Seen or heard I never understood what was the Number of our Troops Killed by the Enemy on That Campaign Though it was Considerable my oppinion is There was more Indians Killed in That Battle Than was Killed when Gen^l --ayne defeated Them in 1794 if Harmar had Sent out a Detachment of Six hundred men Next Day to Collected The Dead and Buried Them and a.s.sertained how many of The Enemy was Killed I think There would have Been no risk in it as The Indians was So Completely Cut up on The Day of The Battle Such a move would have Been an honor and Credit to that Campaign I can Never agree That Harmars Campaing was a Defeated one."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For a sketch of the position of this campaign in the Revolution, and its leading details see _Historic Highways of America_, vol. vi, pp.

161-166.

[2] Our princ.i.p.al source of information concerning the Kaskaskia campaign is George Rogers Clark's _Memoir_, written probably in 1791, the original of which is preserved in the Draper Ma.n.u.scripts in the library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Extracts of such portions as refer to the march to Kaskaskia will be found in Appendix A.

[3] Page's _History of Ma.s.sac County_, p. 35.

[4] _Draper MSS._, xxi J, fols. 40, 44.

[5] _Id._, fol. 51.

[6] _Id._, fol. 27.

[7] _Id._, fol. 76.