Part 9 (1/2)

On the eighth of August Wayne reached the junction of the Au Glaize and the Maumee, and began the erection of Fort Defiance. The whole country was filled with the Indian gardens and corn fields which extended up the Maumee to the British fort. On the thirteenth of August, the General dispatched the scout, Christopher Miller, with the last and final overture of peace. In the event of a refusal, there must be a final appeal to arms. ”America,” said Wayne, ”shall no longer be insulted with impunity. To the all-powerful and just G.o.d I therefore commit myself and gallant army.” Impatient of a reply, Wayne moved forward again on the fifteenth, and met Miller returning. The Indians requested a delay of ten days to debate peace or war. Wayne gave orders to march on. At eight o'clock on the morning of the twentieth of August, 1794, the army advanced in columns and in open order to meet the enemy. The Indian forces consisted of Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas, Miamis, Potawatomi, Chippewas and Mohawks, numbering from fifteen hundred to two thousand warriors. Added to these were two companies of Canadian militia from Amherstburg and Detroit, commanded by Captain Caldwell. Alexander McKee was present, and Matthew Elliott and Simon Girty, but they kept well in the rear and near the river. The whole mixed force of Indians and Canadians were encamped on the north bank of the Maumee, ”at and around a hill called 'Presque Isle,' about two miles south of the site of Maumee City, and four south of the British Fort Miami.”

The order of march was as follows: The Legion was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee. On the left hovered a brigade of mounted Kentucky volunteers under Brigadier-General Todd. In the rear was another brigade of the same kind of troops under Brigadier-General Barbee. In advance of the Legion rode a select battalion of mounted Kentuckians under Major Price. These were to be on the lookout and to give timely notice to the regulars in case of attack. The army had advanced about five miles and were entering an area covered with fallen timber and high gra.s.s, when the advance corps under Price received such a sudden and terrible fire from the hidden enemy that they were compelled to retreat. ”The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for two miles, at right angles with the river.” The fallen trunks of the trees, blown down by a tornado, made a fine covert for the red men and prevented any favorable action by the cavalry. Wayne was instantly alert. He formed the Legion into two lines, one a short distance behind the other, and began the fight. He soon perceived from the weight of the savage fire and the extent of their lines that they were trying to turn his left flank and drive him into the river. He now ordered the second line to advance and support the first; directed Major-General Scott to take all the mounted volunteers and turn the right flank of the enemy, while he issued orders to Mis Campbell who commanded the legionary cavalry, to gallop in at the right and next to the river and turn the Indian left. The front line was ordered to charge with trailed arms and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, ”and when up, to deliver a close and well directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again.” The mounted volunteers under Scott, Todd and Barbee, and the second line of the Legion, had only gained their positions in part, when the battle was over. The first line of the federal infantry, charging with that impetuosity imparted to them by their gallant commander, drove savages and Canadians in headlong rout for a distance of two miles and strewed the ground with many corpses. The legionary cavalry, blowing their trumpets and das.h.i.+ng in upon the terrified Indians, slew a part of them with broadswords, and put the remainder to instant retreat. ”This horde of savages,” says Wayne, ”with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle.” The British, with their usual treachery, closed the gates of the fort in the face of the fleeing red men and refused them refuge. Lured and encouraged into a hopeless contest, they found themselves abandoned by that very power that had urged them to reject all offers of peace. The Americans lost thirty-three in killed, and had one hundred wounded. The savage loss was much heavier.

Immediately after the battle of Fallen Timbers the American army moved down the river and encamped within view of the British garrison. Fort Miami occupied a well fortified position on the north bank of the Maumee near the present Maumee City. There were four nine-pounders, two large howitzers, and six six-pounders, mounted in the fort, and two swivels.

The entire fortification was surrounded by a wide, deep ditch about twenty feet deep from the top of the parapet. The forces within consisted of about two hundred and fifty regulars and two hundred militia. All were under command of Major William Campbell, of the Twenty-fourth Regiment. The rout of the Indian allies had been humiliating enough, but at sight of the victorious ranks of the American army Campbell became furious. On the next day after the battle he could contain himself no longer. He addressed a note to Wayne complaining that the army of the United States had taken post on the banks of the Maumee and within range of his majesty's fort, for upwards of twenty-four hours, and he desired to inform himself as speedily as possible, in what light he was to view so near an approach to the garrison. Wayne made immediate reply. He said that without questioning the authority or the propriety of the major's question, he thought that he might without breach of decorum observe, that if the major was ent.i.tled to an answer, that a most full and satisfactory one had been announced to him from the muzzles of his (Wayne's) small arms on the previous day, in an action against a horde of savages in the vicinity of the British post, which had terminated gloriously to the American arms.

He further declared that if said action had continued until the Indians were driven under the influence of the British guns, that these guns would not have much impeded the progress of the victorious army under his command, ”as no such post was established at the commencement of the present war between the Indians and the United States.” On the next day the incensed major wrote another note, threatening Wayne with war if he continued to approach within pistol shot of the fort with arms in his hands. To this Wayne replied by inviting the major to return with his men, artillery and stores to the nearest post ”occupied by his Britannic Majesty's troops at the peace of 1783.” Campbell wrote another reply refusing to vacate the fort and warning Wayne not to approach within reach of his cannon. ”The only notice taken of this letter,” says Wayne, ”was by immediately setting fire to and destroying everything within view of the fort, and even under the muzzles of the guns.” For three days and nights the American troops continued to destroy the houses and corn fields of the enemy both above and below the British post, while the garrison looked on and dared not sally forth. One of the severest sufferers from this devastation was the notorious renegade, Alexander McKee, who had done so much to inflame the war between the tribes and the United States. His houses, stores and property were utterly consumed.

The army now retired by easy marches to Fort Defiance, laying waste the villages and corn fields for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee. On the fourteenth of September the march was taken up for the Miami villages at the junction of the St. Joseph and the St. Marys, and the troops arrived there on the seventeenth. On the eighteenth, Wayne selected a site for a fort. On the twenty-second of October the new fortification was completed, and a force of infantry and artillery stationed there under command of Colonel John F. Hamtramck. The new post was named Fort Wayne. On the twenty-eighth of October, the main body of the troops started back on the trace to Fort Greenville, and here, on the second day of November, 1794, General Wayne re-established his headquarters.

The victory of Wayne was complete and final. It brought peace to the frontiers, and paved the way for the advance of civilization. In 1802, Ohio became a state of the Union. His triumph did more. It made the name and the power of the United States respected as they never were before, and gave authority and dignity to the federal arms. The Indian tribes were sorely dispirited. Not only had the British abandoned them in their final hour of defeat, but their fields and cabins had been laid waste and their supplies of food destroyed. There was much suffering among them, during the ensuing winter. The establishment of the post at Fort Wayne put a new obstacle in the path of the British in the valleys of the Wabash and the Maumee, and led the way to the final abandonment of the northwest by their troops and garrisons.

The administration of Was.h.i.+ngton was also vindicated. In the face of two disheartening defeats, a lack of confidence in the west, and almost open opposition in the east, a fighting general had at last been found, an army trained, and led forth to splendid victory. The great northwest owes a debt of eternal grat.i.tude to the first president of the republic, George Was.h.i.+ngton.

The administration was further successful. While General Wayne was preparing for his campaign, the Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay, had been sent to England to effect a treaty of peace. Feeling was high in both countries and the danger of war was imminent, but the prudence and moderation of Was.h.i.+ngton led him to see that what the nation needed most was peace and repose and a chance for development. On the nineteenth of November, 1794, Mr. Jay and Lord Grenville ”concluded a treaty of amity, commerce and navigation between the United States and Great Britain,” by the terms of which the latter country, among other things, agreed to surrender the western posts. On the eleventh day of July, 1796, at the hour of noon, the Stars and Stripes floated over the ramparts of the British fort at Detroit.

CHAPTER XV

THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE

--_The surrender of the Ohio lands of the Miamis and their final submission to the Government._

Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, Joseph Brant and Alexander McKee did all that lay within their power to stem the tide of savage defection. Simcoe advised the tribes not to listen to any American overtures of peace, but to simply propose a truce and make ready for further hostilities. He tried to secure a deed of trust for the Indian lands from each nation, promising them that England would guarantee the land thus ceded. A general attack was to be made on all the frontiers in the spring. Brant told them ”to keep a good heart and be strong; to do as their father advised.” In the spring he would return with a large party of warriors to fight, kill and pursue the Americans. He had always been successful and victory was a.s.sured. McKee was active distributing clothing and provisions. He made an especial appeal to the Shawnees who were known to be the most hostile of all the tribes. In a private conference afterwards held with Wayne, the Shawnee chief, Blue Jacket, told the general that McKee had invited him to his house and had strongly urged him to keep away from the council with the Americans. Seeing that his entreaties were of no avail, he said: ”The commission you received from Johnson was not given you to carry to the Americans. I am grieved to find that you have taken it to them. It was with much regret I learned that you have deserted your friends, who have always caressed you, and treated you as a great man. You have deranged, by your imprudent conduct, all our plans for protecting the Indians, and keeping them with us. They have always looked up to you for advice and direction in the war, and you have now broke the strong ties which held them all together, under your and our direction. You must now be viewed as the enemy of your people, and the other Indians whom you are seducing into the snares of the Americans have formed for their ruin, and the ma.s.sacre and destruction of their people by the Americans must be laid to your charge.” Ma.s.sas, a Chippewa chieftain, told Wayne that when he returned from the treaty of Muskingum (Fort Harmar), that McKee threatened to kill him. ”I have not now less cause to fear him, as he endeavored to prevent my coming hither.”

The importunities of the British agents, however, failed of their object. The Indians had lost all confidence in British promises and Wayne had filled them with a wholesome respect for the American arms.

Numbers of their leading chieftains, including Tarhe, of the Wyandots, and Little Turtle of the Miamis, thought all further resistance useless.

No doubt many of them entertained the views that Brant long afterwards openly expressed to Sir John Johnson. ”In the first place,” said the great Mohawk, ”the Indians were engaged in a war to a.s.sist the English--then left in the lurch at the peace, to fight alone until they could make peace for themselves. After repeatedly defeating the armies of the United States, so that they sent Commissioners to endeavor to get peace, the Indians were so advised as prevented them from listening to any terms, and hopes were given them of a.s.sistance. A fort was even built in their country, under pretense of giving refuge in case of necessity; but when that time came, the gates were shut against them as enemies. They were doubly injured by this, because they relied on it for support, and were deceived. Was it not for this reliance of mutual support, their conduct would have been different.”

The first to come to Greenville to consult with Wayne, were the Wyandots of Sandusky. ”He told them he pitied them for their folly in listening to the British, who were very glad to urge them to fight and to give them ammunition, but who had neither the power nor the inclination to help them when the time of trial came; that hitherto the Indians had felt only the weight of his little finger, but that he would surely destroy all the tribes in the near future if they did not make peace.”

During the winter of 1794-1795 parties of Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Potawatomi, Sacs, Miamis, Delawares and Shawnees came in, and on February 11th, 1795, the preliminaries of a treaty were agreed upon between the Shawnees, Delawares and Miamis, and the Americans.

Arrangements were also made for a grand council with all the Indian nations at Fort Greenville, on or about the fifteenth of the ensuing June.

[Ill.u.s.tration: General Anthony Wayne and Little Turtle at Greenville.

From an old painting by one of Wayne's staff. By Courtesy The Chicago Historical Society]

The a.s.semblage of Indian warriors and headmen that met with Anthony Wayne on the sixteenth of June, and continued in session until the tenth day of August, 1795, was the most noted ever held in America.

Present, were one hundred and eighty Wyandots, three hundred and eighty-one Delawares, one hundred and forty-three Shawnees, forty-five Ottawas, forty-six Chippewas, two hundred and forty Potawatomi, seventy-three Miamis and Eel Rivers, twelve Weas and Piankeshaws, and ten Kickapoos and Kaskaskias, in all eleven hundred and thirty savages.

Among the renowned fighting men and chiefs present, was Tarhe, of the Wyandots, known as ”The Crane,” who had fought under the Cornstalk at Point Pleasant, and who had been badly wounded at the battle of Fallen Timbers. He now exercised a mighty influence for peace and remained the firm friend of the United States. Of the Miamis, the foremost was the Little Turtle, who was probably the greatest warrior and Indian diplomat of his day or time. He had defeated Harmar and destroyed St. Clair, but he now stood for an amicable adjustment. Next to Little Turtle was LeGris. Of the Shawnees, there were Blue Jacket and Cataheca.s.sa, or the Black Hoof. The latter chieftain had been present at Braddock's defeat in 1775, had fought against General Andrew Lewis at Point Pleasant in 1774, and was an active leader of the Shawnees at the battles with Harmar and St. Clair. Blue Jacket had been the princ.i.p.al commander of the Indian forces at Fallen Timbers. Buckongahelas, of the Delawares, Au-goosh-away, of the Ottawas, Mash-i-pinash-i-wish, of the Chippewas, Keesa.s.s and Topenebee, of the Potawatomi, Little Beaver, of the Weas, and many other distinguished Indian leaders were among the hosts. The chief interpreters were William Wells, Jacques Laselle, M. Morins, Sans Crainte, Christopher Miller, Abraham Williams and Isaac Zane.

The basis of the negotiations, steadfastly maintained by Wayne, was the treaty of Fort Harmar of 1789. The general boundary established was to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, run thence up the same to the portage between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, thence down that branch to the crossing place above old Fort Laurens, thence westwardly to a fork of that branch of the great Miami river running into the Ohio, where commenced the portage between the St. Marys of the Maumee and the Miami of the Ohio, thence westwardly to Fort Recovery, thence southwesterly, in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky. The land west of the Miami, and within the present limits of western Ohio and eastern Indiana, was cut off of the domain of the Miamis, and included the line of posts extending from Fort Was.h.i.+ngton to Fort Wayne. It was highly prized by the Indians as a hunting ground, and its cession caused a loud remonstrance from the Little Turtle. ”You pointed out to us the boundary line,” said the great Miami leader, ”which crossed a little below Loramie's store, and struck Fort Recovery, and run from thence to the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river. Elder Brother; You have told us to speak our minds freely, and we now do it. This line takes in the greater and best part of your brothers' hunting ground; therefore, your younger brothers are of opinion, you take too much of their lands away, and confine the hunting of our young men within limits too contracted. Your brothers, the Miamis, the proprietors of these lands, and all your younger brothers present, wish you to run the line as you mentioned, to Fort Recovery, and to continue it along the road from thence to Fort Hamilton, on the Great Miami river.” This, however, Wayne refused to do. The ground had been hardly won, and the United States, although willing to pay a fair remuneration, was determined to protect the outposts and inhabitants of the Ohio country.

Another controversy arose with the Little Turtle concerning the portage at Fort Wayne. The government insisted on reservations of from two to six miles square at Fort Wayne, Fort Defiance, Ouiatenon, Chicago, and other important trading places. A large tract was reserved near Detroit, and another near the Post of Michillimacinac. Clark's Grant was also specially reserved by the United States. But when Wayne insisted on a tract two miles square on the Wabash river, ”at the end of the portage from the Miami of the Lake (Maumee), and about eight miles westward from Fort Wayne,” the Little Turtle claimed that this was a request that neither the English nor the French had ever made of them; that this portage had in the past yielded them an important revenue, and had proved, ”in a great degree, the subsistence of your younger brothers.”

The valiant old warrior made a stout defense of his claims, and fought to the last for all that was dear to him about Fort Wayne, but was forced to bow to the superior genius and commanding influence of the American general.

Wayne had on his side two powerful factors. The first, was the treachery of the English, which he dilated upon with telling effect. The second, was the commanding influence of Tarhe and the Wyandots of Sandusky, who were addressed with deference by the other tribes, and who threw all their influence on the side of the treaty. At last the several articles were agreed upon, and General Wayne, calling upon the separate tribes in open council for a confirmation of the pact, met with a full and unanimous response of approval. One of the originals of the treaty was deposited with the Wyandots as the custodians of all the nations. At the last arose Tarhe to make this touching and final appeal: ”Father: Listen to your children, here a.s.sembled; be strong, now, and take care of all your little ones. See what a number you have suddenly acquired.