Benson J. Lossing's Pictorial Fieldbook of War of 1812

Benson J. Lossing. Pictorial Fieldbook of War of 1812: or, illustrations, by pen and pencil, of the history, biography, scenery, relics, and traditions of the last war for American Independence. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1868.

Pages	Subject:
55	Peter Navarre describes ceremonies at Turkey-Foot Rock
351-64	The Battle of Frenchtown, the River Raisin
490-93	Sept. 24, 1860: Peter Navarre, Hosmer, and Lossing tour Maumee Valley

A Visit to the Maumee Valley.

Interesting travelling Companions

Peter Navarre

I visited the theater of events just described, on the 24th of September, 1860, and had the singular good fortune to be accompanied by L. H. Hosmer, Esq. of Toledo, author of The Early History of the Maumee Valley, and the venerable Peter Navarre (A Canadian Frenchman), General Harrison's trusty scout, already Mentioned.¹ Navarre resided about twenty miles from Toledo, and had come into the city on business two or three days before. Mr. Hosmer, aware of my intended visit at that time, had kindly detained him until my arrival. Only two days before, I had enjoyed a long conversation at the "West House," in Sandusky City, with General Leslie Combs, who had just visited Fort Meigs for the first time since he was there as a soldier and prisoner in 1813. That visit had recalled the incidents of the campaign most vividly to his mind, and he related them to me with his usual enthusiasm and perspicuity. With the solder's description in my memory, and the historian and scout at my side, I visted Fort Meigs and its historical surroundings under the most favorable circumstances.

The night of my arrival at Toledo had been a tempestuous one--wind, lightning, rain, and a sprinkle of hail. The following morning was clear and cool, with a blustering wind form the southwest. We left the city for our ride up the Maumee Valley at nine o'clock, in a light carriage and a strong team of horses. Mr. Hosmer volunteered to be coachman. Our road lay on the right side of the river; and when nearly seven miles form Toledo we came to the site of Proctor's encampment, on a level plateau a short distance from the Maumee, upon land owned, when we visited

¹Peter Navarre was a grandson of Robert Navarre, a French officer who came to America in 1745. He settled at Detroit, and there Peter was born about the year 1790, and, with his father and family, settled at the mouth of the Maumee in 1807. At that time Kan-tuck-ee-gun, the widow of Pontiac, was living with her son, Otussa. She was very old, and was held in great reverence. Navarre was at the Prophet's Town, on the Wabash, with a French trader, when Harrison arrived there just before the battle of Tippecanoe, but escaped. He joined Hull's army at the Rapids, was with him at Detroit, and, after the surrender, returned to the Raisin and enlisted in Colonel Anderson's regiment. He was there when Brock was ordered to surrender (see page 291), but was afterward compelled to accompany the British as a guide up the Maumee, where, as we have seen, he deserted and fled to Winchester's camp. He was an eyewitness of the massacre at the River Raisin. After that, Navarre and his brothers were employed as scouts, and performed excellent service. He is a stout-built man, of dark complexion, and is now [1867] about eighty years of age. He speaks English imperfectly, as the Canadian French usually do. The above portrait is form a daguerreotype taken in Toledo when he was about seventy years of age, and kindly presented to me by Mr. Hosmer.
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Remains of Fort Miami.

Maumee City and its historical Elm-Tree.

Presque Isle Hill

it, by Henry W. Horton. Across a small ravine, a few rods farther southward were the remains of old Fort Miami, famous, as we have seen, in Wayne's time, as one of the outposts of the British, impudently erected in the Indian country within the acknowledged territory of the United States.¹ It was upon the land of Benjamin Starbird, whose dwelling was just beyond the southern side of the fort. It was a regular work, and covered about two acres of land. The embankments were from fifteen to twenty feet in height. They were covered with heavy sward, and fine honey-locust and hickory trees were growing upon them. these were in full leaf, and the grass was very green, when we were there. From the northwest angle of the fort I made the accompanying sketch, wich includes the general appearance of the mounds. On the right is seen a barn, which stands within the triangular outwork, at the sally-port mentioned by Captain Combs in his narrative, substantially given in Note 7, on page 489, where he was compelled to run the gauntlet for his life; and on the left a glipse of the Maumee. all about the old fort is now quiet. For more than fifty years peace has smiled upon the Maumee Valley; and Proctor and Tecumtha, Elliott and The Prophet, and the other savages of the war, white and red, are almost forgotten, except by those families who suffered from their cruelty.

From Fort Miami we rode up to Maumee City, opposite Fort Meigs, a pleasant little village of about two thousand inhabitants, situated at the head of river navigation, eight miles from Toledo. It is the capital of Lucas County, Ohio, and was laid out in 1817 by Major William Oliver and others, within a reservation of twelve miles square. The bank of the river, curving gracefully inward here, is almost on hundred feet in height. Nearly opposite lies the little village of Perrysburg, and between them is a fertile, cultivated island of two hundred acres, with smaller islands around it. Directly in front are seen the mounds of Fort Meigs and a forest back of them and up the Maumee are the considerable islands known repectively as Hollister's and Buttonwood, or Peninsula. The lattter view is delineated in the sketch on the next page, taken from the main road along the brow of the river bank in fornt of the village. In it is seen the magnificent elm-tree that stood near the old "Jefferson Tavern;" and in the middle, in the distance, over Hollister's Island, is seen Turkey Point, memorable in connection with the adventures of Combs and the landing of Boswell. That elm is famous. We have observed that, at the beginning of the siege, the water used by the garrison was taken from the river at great risk. From the thick foliage of this elm several bullets from rigles in the hands of Indians went on death-errands across the river to the water-carriers. These were returned by Kentucky riflemen, and tradition says that not less than six savages were brought to the ground out of that tree by those sharp-shooters.

From Maumee City we rode three miles up to Presque Isle Hill² (the scene of Wayne's operations), wandered over the battle-ground of The Fallen Timber,³ and

¹See page 54.

²See page 55

³See Map on page 55.

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Remains of Fort Meigs.

The Well

Political Reminiscences

sketched Turkey-Foot's Rock, given on page 55. We then returned to the bridges (common carriage and railway bridge), and crossed to Fort Meigs, the form of which we found distinctly marked by the mounds of earth. That of the Grand Traverse¹ [¹See Plan of Fort Meigs on page 484.] was from four to six feet in height, and all were covered with green sward. The fort originally included about ten acres, but was somewhat reduced in size before the second siege, which we shall nocitce presently. The places of the block-houses were visible, and the situation of the well, near the most easterly angle of the fort, was marked by a shallow pit, and a log in an upright position, seven or eight feet in height.² [That log has a history. In 1840, General Harrison, then living at North Bend, on the Ohio, was nominated for President of the United States. It was said that the hero lived in a log cabin, was very hospitable, and was ever ready to give the taveler a draght of hard cider. Politicians, who are always anxious to find something to charm the popular mind, took the hint, and when the partisans of the general, during the political canvass that ensued, held large meetings, they erected a log cabin, and had a barrel of cider for the refreshment of all comers. In a short time there were log cabins in every city and villiage in the land. The partisans of the general made a capital "hit," and he was elected by an overwhelming majority. During that canvass a mass meeting of his partisans in Norrthern Ohio was appointed to be held at Fort Meigs, and, on the day previous to the time appointed for it, logs were taken there for the purpose of building a cabin. On that night some political opponents in the neighborhood spoiled the logs by sawing them in two. The cabin-building was abandoned. One of the logs was placed in an upright position in the nearly-filled old well, a large hole was bored in the end, a small pole was inserted, and upon it was raised a banner before the eyes of the assembled multitude^* [^*This meeting was held on the 11th day of June. It was estimated that forty thousand persons were present. The orator of the day was Eleutheros Cooke, Esq., of Sandusky City. The Reverend Mr. Badeau, the clergyman who officiated, was the chaplain of Harrison's army, and in the fort at the siege.] having on it a rude picture of a man sawing a log, and the words "loco foco zeal." In those days the Democratic party were caled Loco Focos, the origin of which name was as follows: A faction of the Democratic party met to organize in the city of New York, when some opponents suddently turned off the gas. This trick had been played before, and they were prepared. In an instant loco foco matches were produced from their pockets, and the gas-lamps relighted. From that time they were called the Loco Foco Party, and it became the general name, in derision, o the whole Democratic party.]

On leaving the fort we strolled along the ravine on its right and rear to the site of the British battery captured by Colonel Miller. There yet stood the primeval forest-trees--the very woods in which Tecumtha and his Indians were concealed. A little brook was flowing peacefully throught the shallow glen, and the hight wind that
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Visit to Fort Meigs and Its Vicinity.

Journey back to Toledo

Adieu to the Guide and Historian.

made the great trees rock was scarcely felt in the quiet nook. There we three--historian, scout, and traveler--had a "picnic" on food brought from Toledo, and clear water from the brook, and at one o'clock we departed for the city, passing down the right bank of the Maumee. Just after leaving the fort we rode through Perrysburg, a pleasant village about the size of Maumee City, and the capital of Wood County, Ohio. It was laid out in 1816, and named in honor of the gallant victor on Lake Erie three years before.

When we arrived at the ferry station opposite Toledo, the boat had ceased running because of low water. The wind had been blowing stiffly toward the lake all day, so we left our team to be sent for, were borne over in a skiff at the moderate price of three cents apiece, and were at the "Oliver House" in time for a late dinner, and a stroll about the really fine little city of Toledo¹ before sunset. [¹ Toledo is on the left bank of the Maumee River, near its entrance into Maumee Bay, at the lake terminus of the Wabash and Erie Canal. It covers the site of Fort Industry, a stockade erected there about the year 1800, near what is now Summit Street. It stretches along the river for nearly a mile and half, and the business was originally concentrated at two points, which were two distinct settlements, known respectively as Port Lawrence and Vistula. Toledo was incorporated as a city in 1836, and has now [1867] almost twenty thousand inhabitants. Little more than thirty years ago Ohio and Michigan disputed firmly for the possession of Toledo--a prize worth contending for, for it is a port of great importance. They armed, and an inter-state war seemed inevitable for a while. It was finally settled by Congress, and Toledo is within the boundaries of Ohio. For a full account of this "war," see Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, and Major Stickney's narrative in Hosmer's Early History of the Maumee Valley.] At that hour I parted company with Mr. Navarre, with heartfelt thanks for his services, for he had been an authentic and intelligent guide to every place of interest at and around Fort Meigs. I spent a portion of the evening with General John E. Hunt (a brother-in-law of General Cass), who was born in Fort Wayne in 1798. His father was an officer under General Wayne at the capture of Stony Point, on the Hudson, in 1779, and composed one of the "forlorn hope" on that occasion. Although General Hunt was only a boy at the time, he was attached to General Hull's military family during the entire campaign which ended so disastrously at Detroit at mid summer.

At ten o'clock in the evening I bade good-by to kind Mr. Hosmer, and went up the Maumee Valley by railway to Defiance, where I landed at midnight, as already mentioned,² [² see page 332.] in a chilling fog.

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The British and Indians humbled.

Death of Turkey-Foot

Scenes at the Place of his Death

proached within pistol-shot of Fort Miami, but its guns prudently kept silence. Major Campbell, the commandant, contented himelf with scolding and threatening, while Wayne cooly defied him and retorted with vigor. Their correpondence was very spicy, but harmless in its effects.
Among the brave warriors in the battle who was the last to flee before Wayne's legion, was Me-sa-sa, or Turkey-foot, an Ottawa chief, who lived on Blanchard's Fork of the Au Glaize River. He was greatly beloved by his people. His courage was greatly beloved by his people. His courage was conspicuous. When he found the line of the dusky conspicuous. When he found the line of the dusky warriors giving way at the foot of Presque Isle Hill, he leaped upon a small boulder, and by voice and gesture endeavored to make them stand firm. He almost immediately fell, pierced by a musket ball, and expired by the side of the rock. Long years afterward, when any of his tribe passed along the Maumee trail, they would stop at that rock, and linger a long time with manifestations of sorrow. Peter Navarre, a native of that region, and one of General Harrison's most trusted scouts during the War of 1812, who accompanied me to the spot in the autumn of 1860, told me that he had seen men, women, and children gather around that rock, place bits of dried beef, parched peas and corn, and sometimes some cheap trinket upon it, and, calling frequently upon the name of the beloved Ottawa, weep piteously. turkey

They carved many rude figures of turkey's foot on the stone, as a memorial of the English name of the lamented Me-sa-sa. The stone is still there by the side of the highway at the foot of Presque Isle Hill, within a few rods of the swift-flowing Maumee. Many of the carvings are still quite deep and distinct, while others have been obliterated by the abrasion of the elements.¹ Of this locality, so famous in the chronicles of the War of 1812, I shall have more to say hereafter.

¹The above view of Turkey-foot's Rock is at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, looking up the stream. It is seen in the foreground, on the right, and over it the road passing over Presque Isle Hill. It was here, and farther to the right, that the Indians were posted among the fallen trees. On the left is seen the Maumee, which here sweeps in a graceful curve. The point across the Maumee at the bend is the river termination of a plain, on which General Hull's army was encamped while on its march toward Detroit in the summer of 1812. There the army crossed the Maumee.

Turkey-foot Rock is limestone, about five and a half feet in length and three feet in height. It is about three miles above Maumee City. In allusion to the event which the rock commemorates, Andrew Coffinberry, of Perrysburg, in a poem entitled "The Forest Ranger, a Poetic Tale of the Western Wilderness of 1794," thus wrote, after giving an account of Wayne's progress up to this time: "

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Troops re-enlisted.

The Settlement of Frenchtown threatened

Winchester sends them Defenders.

      The enlistments of the Kentucky troops would expire in February, and Harrison had requested Winchester to endeavor to raise a new regiment among them to serve six months longer. Inaction and suffering had greatly demoralized them. There was so much insubordination among them that Winchester had little confidence in their strength. Harrison, on the contrary, believed that active service would quicken them into good soldiers, and did not hesitate to include them in those on whom he would most rely in his expedition against Malden. Events justified that faith and confidence.

      Winchester was now satisfied that the pleadings of humanity would speedily summon him to the Raisin. First came rumors that the enemy, exasperated by their want of success in their recent movements, were preparing at Malden an expedition to move upon Frenchtown, on the Rasin, for the purpose of intercepting the expedition from Ohio on its way to Detroit. These rumors were speedily followed by messengers from Frenchtown [January 13, 1813], made almost breathless by alarm and rapid traveling, briging intelligence that the Indians whom Williams had scattered had passed them on their way to Malden, uttering threats of a sweeping destruction of the inhabitants and their habitations on the Raisin. Others soon followed [January 14, 1813], deeply agitated by alarm, and, like the first, earnestly pleaded for the shield of military power to avert the impending blow. The troops, moved by the most generous impulses, were anxious to march instantly to the defense of the alarmed people. Harrison, the commander-in-cheif, was at Upper Sandusky,¹ sixty-five miles distant, and could not be consulted. Winchester called a council of officers. The majority advised an immediate march toward the Raisin, between thirty-five and forty miles distant by the route to be traveled. This decision was approved by Winchester's judgment and humane impulses, and on the morning of the 17th he detailed Colonel Lewis and five hundred and fifty men in that direction. A few hours afterward Colonel Allen was sent with one hundred and ten men. Lewis's instructions were "to attack the enemy, beat them, and take possession of Frenchtown and hold it." These overtook Lewis and his party at Presque Isle, a point on Maumee Bay a little below, opposite the present city of Toledo, about twenty miles from the Rapids. There Lewis was told that there were four hundred British Indians at the Raisin, and that Colonel Elliott was expected with a detachment form Malden to attack Winchester's camp at the Rapids. This information was sent by express to General Winchester, whose courier was on the point of starting with a message to General Harrison, informing him of the movement toward the Raisin, and suggesting the probable necessity of a co-operating force from the right wing.

      Colonel Lewis remained all night at Presque Isle. The weather was intensely cold, and strong ice covered Maumee Bay and the shore of Lake Erie. On that glittering bridge the Americans moved early and rapidly on the morning of the 18th, and were within six miles of their destination before they were discovered by the souts of the enemy. On the shore of the lake, in snow several inches in depth, the little army calmly breakfasted, and then marched steadily forward through timber lands to an open savanna in three lines, so arranged as to fall into battle order in a moment. The right, composec of the companies of M^cCracken, Bledsoe, and Matson,

      ¹Upper Sandusky, the present capital of Wyandot County, Ohio, is not the place above alluded to. The "Upper Sandusky" made famous during the Indian wars, and as the rendezvous of Americans in the war of 1812, was at Crane Town (so called from an eminent chief named Tarhe or Crane), four miles northeast from the court-house in the present village of Upper sandusky. After the death of Tarhe in 1818, the Indians transferred their council-house to the site of the modern Upper Sandusky, gave it its present name, and called the old place Crane Town.
      Old Upper Sandusky was a place of much note in the early history of the country. It was a favorite residence of the Wyandot Indinas, and near it Colonel Crawford had a battle with the and was defeated in June, 1782. Crawford was murdered by fire and other slow tortures which the savages inflicted on leading prisoners. A full account of events in this vicinity may be found in Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio.
      General Harrison built Fort Ferree, a stockade about fifty rods northeast of the court-house in the present Upper Sandusky.
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Frenchtown and its suffering Inhabitants.

Arrival of Winchester's releif Party.

Battle and Massacre.

was commanded by Colonel Allen; the left, led by Major Green, was composed of the companies of Hamilton, Williams, and Kelley; and the centre, under Major Madison, contained the corps of Captains Hightown, Collier, and Sebrees. The advanced guard was composed of the companies of Captains Hickman, Glaives, and James, and were under the command of Captain Ballard, acting as major. The chief of the little army was Colonel Lewis.

Frenchtown,¹ at the time in question, was a flourishing settlement containing thirty-three families, twenty-two of whom resided on the north side of the Raisin. Gardens and orchards were attached to their houses, and these were inclosed with heavy pickets, called "puncheons," made of sapling logs split in two, driven in the ground, and sometimes sharpened at top. The houses were built of logs of good size, and furnished with most of the conveniences of domestic life. Two days after the surrender of Detroit, as we have seen, this place was taken possession of by Colonel Elliott, who came from Malden for the purpose with authority from General Brock. The weapons and horses of the inhabitants were left on parole, and protection to life and property was promised. The protection was not given, and for a long time the inhabitants were plundered not only by the Indians, but by Canadians, French, and British,² and were kept in a state of almost continual alarm by their threats. In the autumn two companies of the Essex (Canadian) militia, two hundred in number, under Major Reynolds, and about four hundred Indians, led by Round-head and Walk-in-the-Water,³ were stationed there, and these composed the force that confronted Colonel Lewis when he approached Frenchtown on the 18th of January, 1813, and formed a line of battle on the south side of the Raisin, within a quarter of a mile of the village. Lewis's force numbered less than seven hundred men, armed only with muskets and othe light weapons. The enemy had a howitzer⁴ in position, directed by bombardier Kitson, of the Royal Artillery.

When within three miles of Frenchtown Colonel Lewis was informed that the enemy was on the alert and ready to receive him; and as the Americans approached the village on the south side, the howitzer of the foe was opened upon the advancing column, but without effect. Lewis's line of battle was instantly formed, and the whole detachment moved steadily forward to the river, which was hard frozen, and in many places very slippery. They crossed it in the face of blazing muskets, and then the long roll was beaten, and a general charge was executed. the Americans rushed gallantly up the bank, leaped the garden pickets, dislodged the enemy, and drove him back toward the forests. Majors Graves and Madison attempted to capture the howitzer, but failed. Meanwhile the allies were retreating in a line inclining eastward, when they were attacked on their left by Colonel Allen, who pursued them more than half a mile to the woods. There they made a stand with their howitzer and small-arms, covered by a chain of inclosed lots and groups of houses and having in their rear a thick, brushy wood, full of fallen timber. While in this position Majors Graves and Madison moved upon the enemy's right, while Allen was sorely pressing his left. The enemy fell back into the wood, closely pursued, and the conflict became extremely hot on the right wing of the Americans, where both whites and Indians were concentrated. The contest lasted from three o'clock until dark, the enemy all the while slowly retreating over a space of not less than two miles, gallantly contesting every foot of ground. The detachments returned to the village in the evening, and encamped for the night on the ground which the ene-

      ¹The Raisin, on which Frenchtown was situated, was called Sturgeon River by the Indians, because of the abundance of that fish in its waters. It flowed through a fertile and attractive region, and late in the last century a number of French families settled upon its banks, and engaged in farming, and trading with the Indians. Because of the abundance of grapes on the borders of the stream they called it Rivier aux Raisins, and on account of the nationality of the settlers the village was called Frenchtown. It is now Monroe, Michigan.
      ²Statement to the author by Hon. Laurent Durocher, of Monroe (Frenchtown), who was an actor in the scenes there during the war of 1812.
      ³See note 3, page 279.
      ⁴A howitz or howitzer is a kind of mortar or short gun, mounted on a carriage, and used for throwing bomb-shells.
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Frenchtown to be held.

Winchester arrives with Re-enforcements.

Position of Troops there.

my had occupied. American officers occupied the same buildings in which the British officers had lived. The Troops had behaved nobly. There had not been a single case of delinquency. "This amply supported," as was said, "the double character of Americans and Kentuckians," and fully vindicated the faith and judgment of General Harrison. Twelve of the Americans were killed and fifty-five wounded. Among the latter was Captain B. W. Ballard,¹ who gallantly led the van in the fight; also Captains Paschal, Hickman,² and Richard Matson.³ The loss of the enemy must have been much greated, for they left fifteen dead in the open field, while the most sanguinary portion of the conflict occured in the wood. That night the Indians gathered their dead and wounded, and, on their retreat toward Malden, killed some of the inhabitants and pillaged their houses.

As soon as his little army was safely encamped in the village gardents, behind the strong "puncheon" pickets, and his wounded men comfortable housed, on the night of the battle [January 18, 1813], Colonel Lewis sent a messenger to General Winchester with a brief report of the action and his situation.⁴ He arrived at Winchester's camp before dawn, and an express wis immediately dispached to General Harrison with the tidings.
Lewis called a council of officers in the morning, when it was resolved to hold the place and wait for re-enforcements from the Rapids. They were not long waiting. From the moment when intelligence of the affair at Frenchtown was known in Winchester's cap, the troops were in a perfect ferment. All were eager to press northward, not doubting that the victory at the Raisin was the harbinger of continued success until Detroit and Malden should be in the possesion of the Americans. It was also apparent that Lewis's detachment was in a critical situation; for Malden, the principal rendezvous of the British and Indians in the Northwest, was only eighteen miles from Frenchtown, and that every possible method would be instantly put forth to recover what had been lost, and bar farther progress toward Detroit. Accordingly, on the evening of the 19th [January], General Winchester, accompanied by Colonel Samuel Wells, of Tippecanoe fame, marched from the Maumee toward Frenchtown with less than three hundred men, it being unsafe to withdraw more from the camp at the Rapids. He arrived at Frenchtown at three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, crossed the river, and encamped the troops in an open field on the right of Lewis's forces,⁵ excepting a small detachment under Catain Morris, left behind as a rear-guard with the baggage. Leaving Colonel Wells in command of the re-enforcements, after suggesting the propriety of a fortified camp, Winchester, with his staff, recrossed the Raisin, and established his head-quarters at the house of Colonel Francis Navarre, on the south side of the river, and more than half a mile from the American lines.⁶

      ¹Captian Bland W. Ballard was a son of Captain Ballard, of Winchester's army. He was acting major at the time when he was wounded.
      ²Hickman led a party of spies under Wayne from December, 1794, until June, 1795.
      ³Matson was afterward with Colonel R. M. Johnson in the battle of the Thames.
      ⁴Colonel Lewis's full report to General Winchester was written two days afterward, dates "Camp at Frenchtown, January 20, 1813, on the River Raisin." The The facts in our narrative of the battle were drawn chiefly form this report.
      ⁵It is asserted thet Colonel Lewis recommended the encamping of the re-enforcements within the picketed gardens, there being plenty of room on his left. Wells being of the regular army, precedence gave him the right of Lewis, and military rule would not allow him to take position on his left. This observance of etiwuette proved to be exceedingly mischievous.
      ⁶The view of Colonel Navarre's house, the head-quarters of Winchester, given on page 354, represents it as it appeared in 1813, with a "puncheon" fence in front. General Winchester occupied the room on the left of the entrance-door. The room was a long one, fronting east (we are looking at the house in a southest direction), and had a large fireplace. In this room the Indians who came to trade with Navarre rested and slept. The trees seen on the west side of the house are still there--venerable pear-trees (originally brought from Normandy), which were planted there by the early settlers. Those which remain still bear fruit. In 1830 the old Navarre House was altered by the son of the owner in 1813. He made additions to it, and raised the roof so as to make it two stories in height. Like the original, the structure of 1830 was a log edifice. When I visited the spot in the autumn of 1860, it had undergone another change. The log-house of 1830 had been clap-boarded, and it was then the residence of the rector of the Episcopal church in Monroe. It stood back a little from Front Street, within the square bordered by Front, Murray, Humphrey, and Wads-p354-worth Streets. I am indebted to the kind courtesy of Mrs. Sarah A. Noble, of Monroe (Frenchtown), Michigan, for the foregoing facts, and for the above sketch of Winchester's quarters as it appeared in 1813.
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Winchester's Lack of Vigilance.

Warnings of Danger unheeded by Winchester.

Other Officers on the Alert.

      According to the testimony of an officer of the expedition, very little vigilance was exercised by General Winchester. Spies were not sent out to reconnoitre, nor any measures adopted for strengthening the camp. A large quantity of fixed ammunition, sent to Winchester's quarters from the Rapids, was not distributed, although the re-enforcements had only ten rounds of cartridges each; and the urgent recommendation of Colonel Wells that the quarters of the commander-in-cheif and the principal officers should be with the troops was unheeded.¹

      On the morning of the 21st Winchester requested Peter Navarre and his four brothers to go on a scout toward the mouth of the Detroit River. Peter was still living when I visited the Maumee Valley in the autumn of 1860, and accompanied me from Toledo to the Rapids. He was a young man at the time in question, full of courage and physical strength. He and his brothers complied with Winchester's request with alacrity. They saw a man, far distant, coming toward them on the ice. He proved to be Joseph Bordeau, whose daughter [Catherine] Peter afterward married. He had escaped from Malden, and was bringing the news that the British would be at the Raisin, with a large body of Indians, that night. Peter hastened back to Winchester with this intelligence. Jacques La Salle, a resident of Frenchtown, in the interest of the British, was present, and asserted, in the most positive language, that it must be a mistake. Winchester's fears were allayed. Peter was dismissed with a laught, and no precautions to insure saftety were taken by the General.² Another scout confirmed this intelligence during the afternoon. The general was still incredulous. Late in the evening news came to Lewis's camp that a very large force of British and Indians, with several pieces of heavy artillery, were at Stony Creek, only a few miles distant, and would be at Frenchtown before morning. The picket-guard was immediately doubled, and word was sent to the commanding general. He did not believe a word of it; but Colonel Wells, who did believe the first rumor brought by Bordeau, had meanwhile hastened to the Rapids with Captain Lanham for re-enforcements, leaving his detachment in charge of Major M^cClanahan.

      When the late evening rumors had been communicated to Winchester, the field officers remained up, expecting every moment to receive a summons to attend a council at head-quarters. They were disappointed. The general disbelieved the alarming rumors; and before midnight a deep repose rested upon the camp, as if some trusted power had guaranteed perfect security. The sentinels, as we have observed, were well posted, but, oving to the severity of the weather, no pickets were sent out upon the roads leading to the town. All but the chief officers in Lewis's camp and some better-informed inhabitants seemed perfectly free from apprehension. At head-quarters the night was passed by the general and his staff in sweet slumber; but just as the réveille was beaten, between for and five o'clock in the morning, and the drummer-boy was playing the Three Camps, the sharp crack of the sentinels'

¹Major Elijah M^cClanahan to General Harrison, dated "Camp on Carrying River, January 26, 1813." Carrying River was eighteen miles from Winchester's Camp, on the Maumee, on the way toward the Raisin.
²Oral statement of Peter Navarre to the author.
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Attack on Frenchtown by Proctor and his Fellow-savages.

A terrible Struggle.

A Panic and Massacre.

muskets firing an alarm was heard by still dull ears. These were followed immediately by a shower of bombshells and canister-shot hurled from several pieces of ordnance, accompanied by a furious charge of almost invisible British regulars, and the terrible yells of painted savages. The sounds and missiles fell upon the the startled camp with appalling suddenness, giving fearful significance to the warnings, and a terrible fulfillment of the predictions uttered the previous evening. Night had not yet yielded its gloomy sceptre to Day. The character and number of assailants were unknown. All was mystery, terrible and profound; and the Americans had nothing else to do but to oppose force to force, as gallantly as possible until the revelations of daylight should point to strategy, skill, or prowess for safety and victory.

The exposed re-enforcements in the open field were driven in toward lewis's picketed camp, after bravely maintaining a severe conflict for some time. At this moment General Winchester arrived, and endeavored to rally the retreated troops behind a "puncheon" fence and second bank of the Raisin, so that they might incline to the right, and find shelter behind Lewis's camp. His efforts were vain. The British and their savage allies were pressing too heavily upon the fugitives; and when at length a large body of Indians gained their right plank, they were thrown into the greatest confusion, and fled pell-mell across the river, carrying with them a detachment of one hundred men which Lewis had sent out for their support. Seeing this, Lewis and Allen joined Winchester in his attempt to rally the troops behind the houses and fences on the south side of the Raisin, leaving the camp in the gardens in charge of Majors Graves and Madison. But all efforts to stop the flight of the soldiers were vain. The Indians, more fleet than they, had gained their flank, and swarmed in the woods on the line of their retreat, while those who made their way along a narrow lane leading from the village to the road from the Rapids were shot down and scalped by the savages skulking behind the trees and fences. Others, who rushed into the woods hoping to find shelter there from the fury of the terrible storm, were met at a hundred yards, near Plum or Mill Creek, nearly one hundred Kentuckians fell under the hatchets of hired savages, who snatched the "scalp-locks" from their heads, and afterward bore them in triumph to Fort Malden to receive the market price tor that precious article of commerce.¹ Death and mutilation met the fugitives on every side, whether in flight or in submission, and all about that little village the snow was crimsoned with human blood. On that deradful morning it was on the part of the allies of the British a war of extermination.²

      ¹"Never, dear mother, if I should live a thousand years, can I forget the frightful sight of this morning, when handsomely-painted Indians came into the fort, some of them carrying half a dozen scalps of my countrymen fastened upon sticks, and yet covered with blood, and were congratulated by Colonel Proctor for their bravery! I heard a British officer, who Iwas told, was Lieutenant St. George, tell another officer, who, I believe, was Colonel Vincent, that Proctor was a disgrace to the British army--that such encouragements to devils was a blot upon the British character."--Leter of A. G. Tustin. of Bardstown, Kentucky, to his mother, dated Fort Malden, January 23 1813.
      ²No rule of civilized warefare was observed. Blood and scalps were the chief objects for which the Indians fought. They seemed disposed not to take any prisoners. A party of fifteen or twenty, under Lieutenant Garrett, after retreating about a mile, were compelled to surrender, when all but the young commander were killed and scalped. Another party, of fotry men, were more than one half murdered under similar circumstances, Colonel Allen, who had been wounded in the thigh in the attempt to rally the troops, after abandoning all hope, and escaping about two miles in the direction of the Maumee, was compelled, by sheer exhaustion, to sit down upon a log. He was observed by and Indian chief, who, perceiving his rank, promised him protection if he surrendered without resistance. He did so. At the same moment two other savages approached with murderous intent, when, with a single blow of his sword, Allen laid one of them dead upon the ground. His companion instantly shot the colonel dead. "He had the honor," says M^cAfee, "of shooting one of the first and greatest citizens of Kentucky."
      John Allen was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on the 30th of December, 1772. His father emigrated with him to Kentucky in 1780, and settled about a mile and a half below the present town of Danville, in Boyle County. In 1784 the family removed to another part, five miles from Bardstown, and in a school in that then rude village young Allen received his education. He studied law in Staunton, Virginia, for four years, and commenced its practice in Shelbyville, Kentucky, in 1795. He was following his profession successfuly there when the war broke out in 1812, when he raised a regiment of riflemen for service under Harrison. He was killed, as we have seen , at the massacre on the River Raisin, on the 22d of January, 1813, at the age of forty-one years. Allen County, Kentucky, was so named in his honor.
- 355 -

Winchester made Prisoner.

Procter repulsed.

Major Madison.

      General Winchester and Colonel Lewis were made prisoners by Round-head,¹ at a bridge about three fourths of a mile from the village, stripped of their clothes except shirt, pantaloons, and boots, and in this plight were taken to the quarters of the British commander, who proved to be Colonel Proctor, the unworthy successor of the worthy Brock in the command at Detroit and Amherstburg. He was in Fort Malden, at the latter place, when intelligence of Lewis's occupation of Frenchtown reached him, and he made immediate preparations to drive the Americans back. The British and Indians expelled from Frenchtown on the 18th had fallen back with their howitzer to Brownstown, where Proctor joined them, on the evening of the 20th, with a detachment of the 41st Regiment, one hundred and forty in number, under Lieutenant Colonel St. George; the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, under Colonel Vincent; and a part of the 10th Veteran Battalion and some seamen. These, with Reynold's militia and a party of the Royal Artillery, with three three-pounders and the howitzer already mentioned, made a white force about five hundred strong. The Indians, under Round head and Walk-in-the-Water, numbered about six hundred. With these Proctor advanced from Brownstown on the morning of the 21st, and halted at Swan Creek, twelve miles on the way. There he remained until disk, when the march was resumed. So great was the lack of vigilance on the part of the Americans that Protor's troops and guns were made ready for assault before their presence was positively known. Then followed the attack just recorded.

      While the right wing of Lewis's army and Winchester's re-enforcements were suffering destruction, the left and centre, under Majors Graves and Madison, were nobly defending themselves in the garden picketed camp. They maintained their position manfully against the powerful assault of the enemy. The British had planted their howitzer within two hundred yards of the camp (and eastward of it), behind a small house about forty rods from the river, upon the road to Detroit. It was a formidable assailant, but it was soon silenced by the Kentucky sharp-shooters behind the pickets, who first killed the horse and driver of the sleigh that conveyed ammunition, and then picked off thirteen of the sixteen men in charge of the gun. It was soon drawn back so far that its shot had no effect on the "puncheon;" and at ten o'clock, perceiving all efforts of his white troops to dislodge the Americans to be fruitless, Proctor withdrew his forces to the woods, with the intention of either abandoning the contest, or awaiting the return of his savage allies, who were having their feast of blood beyond the Raisin. When the assailants withdrew, the Americans quietly breakfasted.

      While the troops were eating, a white flag was seen approaching from the British line. Major Madison, believing it to be a token of truce while the British might bury their dead, went out to meet it. It was borne by Major Overton, one of General Winchester's staff, who was accompanied by Colonel Proctor. He brought an order from General Winchester directing the unconditional surrender of all the troops as prisoners of war. This was the first intelligence received by the gallant left wing that their chief was a captive. Proctor had dishonorably taken advantage of his situation to extort that order from him. He assured Windchester that as soon as the Indians, fresh from the massacre from which he had escaped, should join his camp, the remainder of the Americans would be easily captured, concealing from him the fact that they had already driven the British back to the woods. He represented to the general that in such an event, "nothing would save the Americans from an indiscriminate massacre by the Indians." Totally ignorant of the condition of the remnant of his little army, and horrified by the butchery of which he had just been a witness, Winchester yielded and sent Major Overton with the orders just mentioned.

      Madison, surprised and mortified, refused to obey the order except on conditions.

¹See page 291. It was with great difficulty that Proctor persuaded Round-head to realease his prisoner, or to give up the military suit he had stripped from him.
- 356 -

Proctor quails before a true Man.

His Perfidy, Cowardice, and Inhumanity.

A fearful Night at Frenchtown.

"It has been customary for the Indians," he observed, " to massacre the wounded and prisoners after a surrender; I shall therefore not agree to any capitulation which General Winchester may direct, unless the safety and protection of all the prisoners shall be stipulated." The haughty Proctor stamped his foot, and said, with a supercilious air," Sir, do you mean to dictate to me!" "I mean to dictate for myself," Madison replied, with firmness. "We prefer selling our lives as dearly as possible rather than be massacred in cold blood." Proctor, who was scorned by Brock for his jealousy and innate meanness, and is remembered with dislike by the Canadians, who knew him as innately cruel and cowardly,¹ quailed before the honest, manly bravery of Madison, and solemnly agreed that all private property should be respected; that sleds should be sent the next morning to remove the sick and wounded to Amherstburg; that the disabled should be protected by a proper guard; and that the side arms of the officers should be returned when the captives should reach Malden. Proctor refused to commit these conditions to writing, but pledged his honor as a soldier and a gentleman that they should be observed. Madison was ignorant of Proctor's poverty in all that constituted a soldier and man of honor, and trusted to his promises. On the conditions named, he and his officers agreed to surrender themselves and their men prisoners of war.

      Before the surrender was fairly completed the Indians began to plunder, when Major Madison ordered his men to resist them, even with ball and bayonet. The cowardly savages quailed before the courage of the white captives, and none of the prisoners were again molested by them while on their way to Malden. Quite different was the fate of the poor wounded men who were left behind. Having secured his object, Proctor violated his word of honor, and left them exposed to savage cruelty. Rumors came that Harrison was approaching, and the British commander, more intent on securing personal safety than the fulfillment of solemn promises, left for Malden with most of his savage allies, within an hour after the surrender, leaving as a "guard" only Major Reynolds and two or three interpreters. Proctor did not even name a guard, nor spoke of conveyances for the wounded after leaving Frenchtown; and when both Winchester and Madison reminded him of his promises and the peril of the wounded, he refused to hear them. It is evident that from the first that inhuman officer intended to abandon the wounded prisoners to their fate. Among them was Captain Hart, brother-in-law of Henry Clay, and inspector general of the Army of the Northwest. He was anxious to accompany the prisoners to Malden, but Captain Elliott, son of the notorious Colonel Elliott, who had known Hart intimately in Kentucky, assured him of perfect safety at Frenchtown, and promised to send his own conveyance for him the next morning. Elliott assured all the wounded that they need not apprehend danger, and that sleds from Malden would come for them in the morning.

      The wounded were taken into the houses of the kind-hearted villagers, and cared for by Drs. Todd and Bowers, of the Kentucky Volunteers, who were left behind for the purpose. In every mind there was an indefinable dread when Proctor and his motley crew departed; and when it was known that he had promised his savage allies a "frolic" at Stony Creek, only about six miles from the Raisin, not only the wounded soldiers, but the villagers, and Major Reynolds himself, felt a thrill of horror, for there could be no doubt that the drunken Indians, after their debauch, would return to Frenchtown to glut their appetites for blood and plunder. Even those who remained went from house to house, after Proctor's departure, in search of plunder.

      The night following the battle [January 23, 1812] was a fearful one at Frenchtown. Day dawned with hope, but the sun at his risings found the inhabitants

¹Tecumtha, as we shall observe hereafter, regarded Proctor as a coward, and by threats compelled him to make a stand on the Thames; and the venerable Robert Reynolds, of Amherstburg, and other survivors of the British army in Canada with whom I have conversed, spoke of him with contempt as a boasting coward.
- 357 -

Massacre and Scalping of Wounded Prisoners allowed by Proctor.

Incidents of the horrible Event.

and prisoners in despair. Instead of the promised sleds from Malden, about two hundred half-drunken savages with their faces painted red and black in token of

Movements at Frenchtown.¹

their fiendish purposes, came into the village. The chiefs held a brief council, and determined to kill and scalp all the wounded who were unable to travel, in revenge for the many comrades they had-lost in the fight. This decision was Announced by horrid yells, and the savages went out upon their bloody errand. . They first plundered the village; then they broke into the houses where the wounded lay, stripped them of every thing, and then tomahawked and scalped them. The houses of Jean B. Jereaume and Gabriel Godfrey, that stood near the present dwelling of Matthew Gibson, sheltered a large number of prisoners. In the cellar of Jereaume's house was stored a large quantity of whisky. This the savages took in sufficient quantities to madden them, when. they set both dwellings on fire. A number of the wounded, unable to move, were consumed. Others, attempting to escape by the doors and windows, were tomahawked and scalped. Others, butside, were scalped and cast into the flames, and the remainder, who could walk, were marched off toward Malden. When any of them sank from exhaustion, they were killed and scalped. Doctor Todd, who had been tied and carried to Stony Creek, informed Elliott of what was going on at the Raisin, and begged him to send conveyances for the wounded, especially for Captain Hart; but that young officer coolly replied, " Charity begins at home; my own wounded must be carried to Malden first." He well knew that an hour more would be too late for rescue.²

Major Graves was never heard of after the Maumee. Captain Hickman was murdered in Jereaume's house. Captain Hart was removed from that house by Doctor

¹This is from a sketch sent to Colonel William H. Winder by Lieutenant Colonel Boerstler, in a letter dated "Buffalo, 17th February, 1818. I send you," be says, "a hasty sketch of the situation of the troops at Frenchtown." He obtained it from some subordinate officer among the prisoners from the Raisin, who were paroled, and passed through Buffalo. He says, "The prisoners have passed through to the number of four hundred and sixty-two. The general and field officers are not yet sent across."--Autograph Letter.
²Elliott had been In Lexington, where be was very ill of fever for a long time in the family of Colonel Thomas Hark, the father of Captain Hart. During that illness he had received many attentions from the young man whom he now basely deserted in his hour of greatest need.
- 358 -

The Death of Captain Hart.

Sketch of his Life.

The British ashamed to call the Indians their Allies.

Todd, before the massacre was commenced, to the dwelling of Jacques Navarre, about a mile up the river (now the Wadsworth brick house), -under the charge of a friendly Pottawatomie chief Hart offered him one hundred dollars to convey him in safety to Malden. The chief attempted it. Hart was placed on a horse, and when passing through the village, near the house of François La Salle¹ (who was suspected of complicity

with the British), a Wyandot savage came out, and claimed the captain as his prisoner. A dispute arose, and they finally settled it by agreeing to kill the prisoner, and dividing his money and clothes between them. So says the most reliable recorded history.² Local tradition declares that the Pottawatomie attempted to defend Captain Hart when the Wyandot shot and scalped him. There are many versions of the tragedy. He was buried near the place of his murder, but the exact spot is not known. Proctor arrived with his prisoners at Amherstburg on the morning of the 23d of January, and on the 26th proceeded to Sandwich and Detroit.³ Some of them were sent to Detroit, and others were forwarded to Fort George, on the Niagara, by way of the Thames. These suffered much from the severity of the weather and bad treatment of their guards. At Fort George they were mostly paroled, on condition that they should not "bear arms against his majesty or his allies during the war, or until exchanged." "Who are his majesty's allies?" inquired Major Madison. The officer addressed, doubtless ashamed to own the disgrace in words, said, "His majesty's allies are known." General Winchester, Colonel Lewis,⁴ and Major Madison,⁵ were sent to Quebec, and at Beauport, near that city, they were confined until the spring of 1814, when a general exchange of prisoners took place.

      ¹I am Indebted to Mrs. Sarah A. Noble for this sketch of La Salle's house, as it appeared at the time. It stood in front of the ford, was built of logs, and between it and the river was a "puncheon" fence. The "Laselle Farm" was known sometime as the "Humphrey Farm." It is now [1867] the property of the Honorable D.A. Noble.
      ²Nathaniel G. T. Hart was a son of Colonel Thomas Hart, who emigrated to Kentucky from Maryland, and settled in Lexington. Captain Hart was born at Hagerstown, in Maryland. One of his sisters married Henry Clay, another married James Brown, long the United States minister at the French Court. Hart was making a fortune in mercantile pursuits when the war of 1812 broke out, when (at the age of about twenty-seven years) he was in command of the Lexington Light Infantry, a company which was organized by General James Wilkinson, who was its first captain, in 1787. Under its fourth captain (Beatty) It was with Wayne in the campaign of 1794. Hart was its seventh captain, and was at the head of it in the expedition to the Raisin. When I visited Lexington in April, 1861, I called on the then commander of the company, Captain Samuel D. M^cCullough, who showed me the crimson silk sash of Captain Hart in his possession, which was torn and had blood-stains upon It. Cassius M. Clay, now [1867] American minister to the Court of St. Petersburg, commanded this company in the United States army In Mexico. In the battle of Buena Vista its flag was the regimental color of the Kentucky cavalry. On the 18th of January, 1861, a flag was presented to this company (now called the "Lexington Old Infantry") at the Odd Fellows Hall In Lexington, by General Leslie Combs, in behalf of the donor, David A. Sayre. On that occasion the United States band from the barracks at Newport, Kentucky, performed the musical part of the ceremonies. The Star-spangled Banner was sung, and the roll of all the captains, from 1789 to 1861, was called. The only survivors of the company when Hart was captain, who were present, were, Thomas Smith, of Louisville; Lawrence Daly, of Fayette County; and Judge Levi L. Todd, of Indianapolis. The latter, who was Hart's successor as captain, gave the opening address.
      ³A few days after the massacre at the Raisin Proctor ordered all the inhabitants there to leave their houses and move to Detroit. It was mid-winter and severely cold. The snow was very deep, and they suffered dreadfully. Some conveyances were sent down from Detroit for them. For a while Frenchtown was a desolation, and the remains of the massacred were unburied.
      ⁴William Lewis was in Gaither's battalion at St. Clare's defeat In 1791. He was then captain, and was appointed to the same position In the 3d Regiment of Infantry the following year. He resigned in 1797. In August, 1812, he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of Kentucky Volunteers, and, as we have seen, behaved gallantly at Frenchtown. He was a native of Virginia. His death occurred near Little Rock, Arkansas, on the 17th of January, 1825.
      ⁵George Madison was a native of Virginia, where he was born In 1763. He was a soldier in the Revolution, although he was only a lad of twelve years when it broke out. He was with General Clarke In the Northwest, and was at the head of a company in St. Clair's defeat in 1791, where he was wounded. He was also wounded In an attack by the In-- 360 -dians in the camp of Major John Adair the following year. For more than twenty years he was auditor of public accounts In Kentucky. When Kentucky was asked for troops in 1812 he took the field. He was kept a prisoner at Quebec for some time. In 1816 he was nominated for the office of governor of Kentucky. He was so beloved and popular that his opponent withdrew in the heat of the canvass, declaring that nobody could resist that popularity. He was elected, but died on the 14th of October the same year.
- 359 -

War-cry of the Kentuckians.

Honor conferred on Proctor.

"Guardians of Civilization."

      The loss of the Americans in the affair at the Raisin was nine hundred and thirty-four. Of these, one hundred and ninety-seven were killed and missing; the remainder were made prisoners. Of the whole army of about a thousand men, only thirty-three escaped. The loss of the British, according to Proctor's report, was twenty-four killed, and one hundred and fifty-eight wounded. The loss of their Indian allies is not known. The event was a terrible blow to Kentucky. It caused mourning in almost every family. The first shock of grief was succeeded by intense exasperation, and the war-cry of Kentucky soldiers after that was, Remember the River Raisin!

      At Sandwich Proctor wrote his dispatch [January 26, 1812] to Sir George Prevost, the commander-in-chief in Canada, giving an account of his expedition to Frenchtown, and highly commending the conduct of his savage Allies.¹ His private representations were such that the evidently deceived Assembly of Lower Canada passed a vote of thanks to him and his men, and the equally duped Sir George promoted him to the rank of brigadier general "until the pleasure of the Prince Regent should be known."² That "pleasure" was to confirm the appointment, and thereby the British government indorsed his conduct.

      I visited Frenchtown (now Monroe), in Michigan, early in October, 1860. I went down from Detroit by railway early in the morning, after a night of tempest-mingled lightning wind, and rain. The air was cool and pure, and the firmament was overhung with beautiful cloud-pictures. I bore a letter of introduction to the Honorable D. S. Bacon, a resident of the place for almost forty years, who kindly spent the day with me in visiting persons and places of interest on that memorable spot.

      Crossing the bridge to the north side of the stream, we passed down Water Street toward the site of La Salle's, the camp of Colonel Lewis, and other places connected with the battle and massacre Already described. We met the venerable Judge Du-

      ¹"The zeal and courage of the Indian Department," he said, " were never more conspicuous than on this occasion, and the Indian warriors fought with their usual bravery."
      ²It seems hardly possible that the Canadian Assembly or Sir George Prevost could have known the facts Of the horrors of Frenchtown, and Proctor's Inhuman abandonment of the prisoners, or they would have punished rather than rewarded the commander on that occasion. Sir George, In his general order announcing the promotion of Proctor, actually said, " On this occasion the gallantry of Colonel Proctor was most nobly displayed in his humane and unwearied exertions, which succeeded in rescuing the vanquished from the revenge of the Indian warriors!"
      British writers, unable to offer the shadow of an excuse for Proctor's conduct, either avoid all mention of the massacre, or endeavor to shield him from the scourge of just criticism by affecting to disbelieve the fact that he agreed to give protection, to the wounded, or accepted the surrender on any conditions whatever. 11 Indeed," says James, with an air of triumph In discussion, 11 General Winchester was not In a condition to dictate terms," because he was 11 stripped to his shirt and trowsers, and suffering exceedingly from the cold."--Account of the Military occurrences of the Late War, etc., i., 188. But the testimony of eye and ear witnesses to the fact are too abundant for any honest-minded man to doubt. Before all his men, In the presence of Colonel Proctor, not twenty rods from the house of François Lasalle, Major Madison declared the conditions that had been agreed upon. The late Judge Durocher, who was present, informed me that be heard these conditions announced, and that Proctor assented to them by his silence. This is in confirmation of Winchester's statement In his report, written at Malden on the 23d of January, the day after the surrender.
      It gives the writer no pleasure to record the cruelties of savages and the unchristian conduct of British commanders who employed them. He would prefer to bury the knowledge of these things In oblivion, and let the animosities which they engender the with the generation of men who were actors In the scenes; but when a Pharisee, affecting to be the " guardian of civilization," preaches censorious homilies to an equal In virtue and dignity, It Is sometimes a wholesome service to prick the bubble of his pride with the bodkin of just exposure. When the British government, in Its pride or blindmess, lectures that of the United States on lust for power, barbarity in warfare, and kindred subjects, as It did during the late civil war In the United States, an occasional lifting of the veil from the records of the censor's own shortcomings may be productive of a wholesome humility and a practical desire for reform. Posterity will point the finger of scorn toward the conduct of the government of that empire, and the journalists and publicists In Its Interest, during the trials of the government and loyal people of the United States In their late struggles against foul conspiracy and, frightful rebellion, as unworthy of an enlightened and Christian nation. That conduct--the manifestation of the Intense selfishness of the aristocracy of rank and wealth which have ever ruled England-will always appear darkly In the history of nations as a crime against humanity, and a libel upon the character of the overwhelming majority of the English people. The employment of bloody savages to butcher their relatives in America; the demoniac treatment of captive Sepoys in India; the encouragement of frightful atrocities In China, and the open sympathy with conspirators against a beneficent government for the avowed purpose of establishing a despotism whose corner-stone should be HUMAN SLAVERY, should forever close the lips of the English government when it attempts to lecture others on human' ity, or claims to be, par excellence, the -1 guardian of civilization." - 360 -

rocher, already mentioned in the narrative. as one of the actors in the scenes therea short, dark-complexioned man of French descent-who pointed out the spot, in an open lot between Water Street and the river, not far from where we were standing? a little westward of La Salle's house, where Captain Hart was murdered by the Indians. Promising me another and longer interview at his office, we left Judge Durocher, and passed on to the site of La Salle's dwelling, then the property of Hon. D. S. Noble, delineated on page 359, a part of which yet remains, with a pear-tree planted there during the last century.. Not far below this we came to the, railway and the common road leading from the Raisin to Detroit. On the corner of the latter, not far from the site of the houses of Godfrey and Jereaume, where the wounded were burned and massacred, was a large brick house, the residence of Matthew Gib- son. Very near it, in an orchard, might be seen the remains of the cellars of those buildings. From that point, around which the battle was fought, and near which the Americans were driven across the Raisin just before the massacre on the south side of the stream, I made the above sketch (looking westward) of the river, the railway bridge, and the distant town. Gibson's house is seen in the foreground, on the right; the railway bridge, on four piers in the water, with the town beyond it, is seen in the centre; and by the distant trees, seen immediately beyond the point on the left, is indicated the spot near which Winchester was captured. Returning to the village I called upon Judge Durocher, who, in the course of a pleasant interview of an hour, gave me many items of information concerning the events we have been considering. He spoke of Winchester as a " fussy man," quite heavy in person, and illy fitted for the peculiar service in which he was engaged. He also assured me that after the de feat of the Americans at Frenchtown, Proctor endeavored to persuade the Indians to destroy the French settlements there, because he believed the inhabitants to be favorable to the United States. It was even proposed to the Indians in council, and an other cold-blooded massacre, not by the permission, but at the instigation of Proctor, was only prevented by the firmness of the friendship which the Pottawatomies bore to the inhabitants on the Raisin. Judge Durocher was seventy-four years of -age when I visited him. A little less than a year afterward he was borne to the grave.1 Laurent Durocher was the son of a French Canadian, and was born at St. Genevieve Mission, in Missouri, in 1786. His father died when he was young, and his uncle sent him to a college In Montreal to be educated. At the close of his Our next visit was to the head-quarters of Winchester, delineated on page 354, which was occupied by the rector of the Protestant Episcopal church in Monroe. It was too unlike the original to claim the service of the pencil, and we proceeded to the house of James Knaggs, one of the oldest inhabitants of that region, and a remarkable character, who, as an Indian fighter and volunteer soldier, performed good service during the war of 1812. He had just returned from some toil at a distance, and, octogenarian as he was, he seemed vigorous in mind and body. He Was a Stoutbuilt man, about eighty years of age. His birth-place was at Roche de Bout, on the Maumee, a little above the present village of Waterville. His father was an Englishman, and his mother a Mohawk Valley Dutch woman.' From early life he was familiar with the Indians and the woods. He had been a witness of the treachery and cruelty of the savages, and his family had suffered severely at their hands. When speaking of the Indians and his personal contests with them, his vengeful feelings could hardly be repressed, and he talked with almost savage delight of the manner in which he had disposed of some of them.2 Soon after Wayne's campaign Knaggs Settled at Frenchtown, and became a farmer. In 1811 he established a regular ferry at the Huron River, on the road to Detroit, with only Indians as companions and neighbors. These, excited against all Americans by British emissaries, were very troublesome, and Knaggs bad frequent conflicts with them in some form. When Hull was on his way toward Detroit, Knaggs joined the army as a private in Captain Lee's company of dragoons--" River Raisin men the best troops in the world," as Harrison said3--and became very expert and efficient in the spy, scout, or ranger service. He was engaged in the various conflicts near 15 the Detroit River, already described, and in 1813 was in the battle of the Thames, under Colonel Richard M. Johnson. While with Hull at Sandwich, attached to Colonel MArthur'; regiment, he performed important scout service. On one occasion, accompanied by four men, he penetrated the Country as far as the site of the present village of Chatham, on the Thames, and there captured a Colonel M^cGregor, a burly British officer, and a Jew named Jacobs, and carried them to Hull's camp. He tied M^cGregor to a horse, and thus took him to the head-quarters of his chief After the surrender M^cGregor offered five hundred dollars for the capture of Knaggs, dead or alive. The Indians were constantly on the watch for him, and he had many studies, In 18% he settled at Frenchtown. At the beginning of the war of 1812, he, with other young Frenchmen of that region, joined the army of General Hull for a year. They were at the Raisin when Hull surrendered, and gave themselves up to Captain Elliott. During the remainder of the a UA lean commander with several. important trusts. When, In 1818, Monroe County was organized, Durocher was chosen Its clerk. He held that office for about twenty are He was for I years A member of the Territorial Council of Michigan, and in 1835 was a member of the Convention that framed the state Constitution. He was a member of the state Legislature, a justice of the peace, judge of probate, and circuit judge, and at the time of his-death, on the 21st of September, 1861, was clerk of the city of Monroe. The funeral services at the time of his burial were held in St. Anne's Catholic church of Monroe, where Father Joos officiated. 1 Knaggs's mother lived at or near Frenchtown at the time of the battle there, and was one of those whom Proctor ordered to Detroit. She was then eighty years of age. Thinly clad (having been robbed by the Indians), she proceeded in an open traineau, and reached Detroit in safety. When asked how It happened that she did not perish, she replied, My spunk kept me warm." . 2 On one occasion, as he Informed me, while he kept the ferry on the Huron, be dogged a troublesome Indian very severely. That night a brother of the savage came to Knaggs's cabin at a late hour to avenge the Insult. Hearing a summons, but not knowing the visitor, Knaggs went out, when the gleam of a knife-blade in the starlight warned him of danger. He ran to a spot where he had a large club, pursued by a savage, who, in striking at him with his knife, cut off the skirt of the only garment that Knaggs had on. The latter seized the club, turned upon his assailant, felled him to the ground, and beat him until every bone in his body was broken. Although nearly fifty years had elapsed since the occurrence, Mr. Knaggs became much excited while relating it. 3 1 am Indebted to Mr. Lyon, of Detroit, for the following copy of the first muster-roll of the 11 Raisin men," under Cornet Isaac Lee: Cornet, Isaac Lee. &Meant uillard , James Bentley. Corporal, John Ruland, Privates, James Knaggs, Louis Dro Orrin Rhodes, Michael M^cDermot, Scott Rolle, Samuel Dibble, Robert Glass, Cyrus Hunter, James Rolle, Silas Lewis, Samuel Youngs, John Murphy, Thomas Noble, Francis Moffatt, Daniel Hull, John Reddull, John Creamer. From October, 1818, to April, 1814, Captain Lee commanded a large company of dragoons. His lieutenants were (lace George Johnson and John Roland. The late Judge Laurent Durocher was cornet. Johnson was a very brave 0 cer, and in the battle of Maguags he actually commanded Smyth's dragoons. narrow escapes. This made him feel, bitterly toward them. At the battle of the Thames, Knaggs identified the body of Tecumtha, it is said, he having been long acquainted with the great Shawnoe. He was absent in Ohio on his parole when the battle of the Raisin occurred. He was the youngest of five brotl~ers, all of whom were active in military service. His four brothers served as spies, with Captain Wells, who- was killed Chicago. One of them was captured in the war of 1812, and carried a prisoner to Halifax. They were all men of strong convictions, and each, until the day of his death, hated both the British and their Indian allies, for they had all suffered at their hands. Mr. Knaggs Seemed in fine health and spirits when I visited him; but, a little more than three months afterward, he died suddenly. His death occurred on the 23d of De cember, 1860.1 I. returned to Detroit by the, evening train, filled with reflections concerning the events of the day, and those which made the Raisin terribly conspicuous in the annals of the war. I remembered that some of the newspapers of the day censured Harrison for not promptly supporting Winchester; and that in the political campaign of 1840, when Harrison was elected President of the United -States, his enemies cited his alleged shortcomings on this occasion as evidence that his military genius and services, on which his fame mostly rested, were myths. But contemporary history, and the well-settled convictions of his surviving companions in arms whom I met in the Northwest, as well as the gallant engineer, Colonel Wood, who afterward fell at Fort Erie,2 fully acquit General Harrison of all blame or lack of soldierly qualities on that occasion. It was not until the night of the 16th that he was informed by a messenger that General Winchester had arrived at the Rapids, and meditated a forwaO movement. The latter intimation alarmed Harrison, and he made every exertion to push troops forward from Upper Sandusky, where he was then quartered, sixty miles from the Rapids by way of the Portage River, and seventy-six miles by Lower Sandusky. He immediately ordered his artillery to advance by way of the Portage, with an escort of three hundred men, under Major Orr, with provisions; and he pressed forward himself, as speedily as possible, by the way of Lower Sandusky, where one regiment and a battalion were stationed, under the command of General Perkins. This battalion was ordered to march immediately, under Major Cotgrove, and Harrison determined to follow it the next morning. He was just rising from his I am Indebted to Mr. William H. Bowlsby, a photographer In Monroe, for the likeness of Mr. Knaggs. It was taken from life by that gentleman. The signature was written in my note-book by Mr. Knaggs when I visited him. I Lieutenant Colonel Wood, then Harrison's chief engineer, with the rank of captain, afterward said, 11 What human means within the control of General Harrison could prevent the anticipated disaster, and save that corps which was already looked upon as lost, as doomed to inevitable destruction 2 Certainly none, because neither orders to halt nor troops to succor him [Winchester] could be received in time, or at least that was the expectation. ]Ere was already In Motion, and General Harrison still at Upper Sandusky, seventy miles In his rear. The weather was inclement, the snow Was deep, and a large portion of the Black Swamp was yet open. What would a Turenne or a Buono have done, under such a pressure of embarrassing circumstances, more than Harrison did?" bed when a messenger came with the tidings of the advance of Lewis upon French town. Perkins was immediately ordered to press forward to the Rapids the remain. ing troops under his command. After hastily breakfasting, he and Perkins proceeded in a sleigh. They were met on the way by an express with intelligence of Lewis's victory at the Raisin. This nerved Harrison to *greater exertions. He pushed for- ward alone and on horseback, through the swamps filled with snow, in daylight and in darkness, and, after almost superhuman efforts, he reached. the Rapids early on the morning of the 20th. Winchester had departed for the Raisin the previous evening and Harrison could do nothing better than wait for his oncoming troops, under Perkins and Cotgrove, and the artillery by the Portage. What remained at the Rapids of Winchester's army, under Colonel Payne, were sent. forward toward the Raisin, and Captain Hart, the inspector general, was sent to inform Winchester of the supporting movements in his rear. Alas! the roads were so' almost impassable that the troops moved very slowly. After the utmost exertions they were too late. News came to Harrison, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 22d, of the -attack of the British and Indians on the Americans at Frenchtown. The fraction of Perkins's brigade which had arrived at the Rapids was sent forward, and Harrison himself hastened toward the Raisin. Ile met the affrighted fugitives, who told doleful stories of the scenes of the morning, and assured the commander that the British and Indians were in pursuit of the broken army of Winchester toward the Rapids. This intelligence spurred on the re-enforcements. Other fugitives were soon met, who declared that the defeat of Winchester was total and irretrievable, and that no aid in Harrison's power could win back the victory of the enemy. A council of officers 'was held at Harrison's head-quarters in the saddle, when it was decided that a farther advance would be useless and imprudent. A-few active men were sent forward to assist the fugitives in escaping, while the main body returned to the Rapids. There another council was held, which resulted in an order for the troops, numbering not more than nine hund red men, to fall back to the Portage (about eighteen miles), establish there a forti fied camp, wait for the arrival of the artillery and accompanying troops, and then to push forward to the Rapids again. The latter movement was delayed on account of heavy rains. On the 30th of Jan uary Colonel Leftwitch arrived with his brigade, a regiment of Pennsylvania troops, and a greater part of the artillery, and on the 1st of February General Harrison moved. toward the Rapids with seventeen hundred men. He took post on the right bank of the river, upon high and commanding ground, at the foot of the Rapids, and there established a fortified camp, to which was afterward given, in honor of the governor of Ohio, the name of Fort Meigs. All the troops that could be spared from other posts were ordered there, with the design of pressing on toward Malden before the middle of February; but circumstances caused delay, and the Army of the North west tarried for some time on the bank of the Maumee before opening the campaign of 1813 in that region.

Marshall Davies Lloyd

mlloyd@sms-va.com