Fremont in History. 49
FREMONT IN HISTORY.
BY JULIA M. HAYNES. The Sandusky country, in aboriginal history, possesses a peculiar charm and fascinating interest. During that period of years which fills western annals with the story of intrigue |
|
and bloody conflict, the plains and prairies of the Sandusky valley were the home of the most powerful and most generous of the sav- age nations. Less than a century ago, these plains, now covered by a thriving city, presented an interesting variety of the scenes of Indian life-primitive agriculture, rude cabins, canoe- building, amusements and the council fire. Tradition goes back a century farther, and |
makes the locality of this city the seat of a still more in- teresting people; a people who, for a time, preserved ex- istence by neutrality, while war, which raged with shocking ferocity, effected the extinction of the neighboring tribes. Noth- ing is known of the aboriginal occupation of Ohio previous to 1650, but, according to a tradition of the Wyandots, during the long and bloody wars between the Eastern and Western tribes, there lived upon the Sandusky, a neutral tribe of Wyandots, called the Neutral Nation. They occupied two villages, which were cities of refuge, where those who sought safety never failed to find it. These villages stood near the lower rapids of the Sandusky river, where Fremont now stands. This little band preserved the integrity of their tribe and the sacred character of peace makers. All who met upon their threshold met as friends, for the ground upon which they stood was holy. It
Paper read before the Ursula Wolcott Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of Toledo, at Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio, June 30, 1899, by Julia M. Haynes, daughter of Col. William E. Haynes, Fremont, O. Vol. X-4 |
50 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
was a beautiful institution; "a
calm and peaceful island looking
out upon the world of waves and
tempests." The Wyandot
tradition represents them as having
separated from the parent
stock during the bloody wars with their
own tribe and the Iro-
quois, and having fled to the Sandusky
River for safety. The
tradition runs, that, at the lower
rapids, two forts were erected,
one for the Iroquois or Six Nations, the
other for their enemies.
These traditions, handed down along the
generations for nearly
two centuries, may, perhaps, be
inaccurate in detail, but the
general fact of the existence of two
such towns, near the head
waters of navigation on the Sandusky
River, is entitled to as
much consideration as any other fact of
early Indian history.
Just when the Wyandots finally migrated
to the plains of
the Sandusky, is not known. Colonel
Smith, in his narrative,
claims to have visited, in 1757, a town
on the "Little Lake"-
which was the name given Sandusky
Bay-named Sunyendeand,
which was probably in Erie county.
Although he ascended the
river, he makes no mention of a village
at the lower rapids.
"When we came to the fall of
Sandusky," says the narrative,
"we buried our birch bark canoes,
as usual, at a large place,
for that purpose, a little below the
fall; at this place the river
falls about eight feet over a rock, and
it was with much difficulty
that we pushed up our wooden
canoes." The Wyandots were
the guardians of the great council fire;
they alone had the privi-
lege of sending their messengers with
the well known creden-
tials, wampum and tobacco, to summon
other tribes to meet
their uncle, the Wyandot, when an
important subject required
deliberation.
The Wyandots were the keepers of the
Grand Calumet,
and were acknowledged to be at the head
of the great Indian
family. Lower Sandusky became the
principal war seat of the
Wyandots, and "Tarhe, the
Crane," the principal war chief,
lived here until Wayne's victory and the
treaty of Greenville
in 1795. Crane led his warriors from
Lower Sandusky against
General Wayne, and he, himself, carried
the Grand Calumet.
The first mention of an Indian village
at Lower Sandusky
is made by Colonel Bouquet, in his
report of 1764, where he
speaks of the Wyandot village
"Junque-in-dundeh," near the
Fremont in History. 51
falls of the Sandusky, on an Indian
trail leading from Fort Pitt
in a northwesterly direction. We have no
satisfactory knowl-
edge of this Indian village which
occupied the hill, rising to-
ward the east from the head waters of
navigation, until about
1780 when the well known borderer,
Samuel Brady, at the sug-
gestion of George Washington, came here
as a spy, to learn,
if possible, the strength of the Indians
and the geography of the
country. The name Sandusky is derived
from the language
of the Wyandots. The pronunciation of
the word was "Sa-un-
dus-tee." Its signification has
been a matter of some question
and dispute, but, according to the best
authorities, it meant
"Water within water pools," or
a river or water course where
water stands in pools. The name having
this peculiar signifi-
cation, in early times, was used to
designate the whole country
along the Sandusky River, and the
village at this point was
called Lower Sandusky.
Affairs at Lower Sandusky during this
long period of border
war, extending from the opening of the
Revolution to the cele-
brated victory of General Wayne,
possesses a peculiar interest.
This was an important military center,
and every narrative re-
lating to the place is a glimpse into
the enemy's camp. The
Wyandots had corn fields all along the
river bottom, which were
cultivated by the squaws and boys, each
family having a small
field with no fences between them. The
plains now covered
by the lower part of the city of Fremont
were cleared land when
first seen by white men and, except the
tract used for the village,
the councils, the racing and gaming,
bore corn season after sea-
son. The northwestern part of Ohio being
almost an impene-
trable swamp, the Sandusky river became
the common thor-
oughfare of all the Ohio tribes. War
parties usually came to
this point on foot, or on horses
captured in the white settle-
ments, and, when captives were to be
taken further, as most of
them were, canoes were used for
transportation. Probably more
captives were brought to Lower Sandusky
than to any other
place in Ohio. This place was a retreat
where prisoners were
brought and disposed of, many being sent
to Detroit and Canada.
So far as is known, not a prisoner was
tortured here at the stake,
and in most cases captives who had
passed the gauntlet safely
52
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
and bravely, were kindly treated. A
certain class of writers,
who depend upon a vivid imagination to
supply deficiencies of
information, have made the Indian
gauntlet an institution of the
most shocking cruelty. It is true,
severe tortures were often
inflicted upon prisoners, the degree
depending much upon their
fortitude and presence of mind, for no
people admired bravery
as the Indians did. But the gauntlet was
rather a place of
amusement than punishment, unless the
offence had been one
worthy of particular revenge. The
gauntlet track of the Wyan-
dots, here at Lower Sandusky, has been
almost positively located,
on what is now North Front street in
this city. According to
the description, the lines of the
savages extended from the corner
of Front and Croghan streets, to the old
Kessler House corner,
and the council was probably held on the
site of the business
blocks on the west side of Front street.
The fact that Daniel
Boone was brought through Lower
Sandusky, while in captivity,
is worthy of mention, because of the
celebrity of that unequalled
hero of border annals.
About the year 1780, a party of negroes
was captured by
the Indians, in Virginia, and brought to
the Sandusky River,
where they were held as slaves. They
were placed in charge
of a peninsular tract of land, about six
miles down the river,
which they cultivated for the Indians,
no doubt to the great
satisfaction of the squaws, upon whom
devolved all the menial
labor. The peninsula became known as
"Negro Point," or in
common parlance "Nigger Bend,"
a name which is familiar to
us all, and which it has retained ever
since-a period of a century
or more.
It should be remembered, that, in their
treaties and con-
veyances of the Great West to Great
Britain, the Indians did
not part with their title to the land.
They simply placed them-
selves under the protection of Great
Britain and their lands
were to be held in trust for them and
their heirs. Hence, the
Indians were justified in contending for
the possession of their
inheritance. True it is, they had no
title papers, signed by man
or by any human authority, but they
believed that the Great
Spirit had given them their happy
hunting grounds, and when
they saw the "pale faces"
settling and building on their domains,
Fremont in History. 53
and killing the game which was given
them to live upon, they
were roused to resistance. They had no
court to try their titles,
but that court of last resort, the court
of force, a trial by wager
of battle and their arguments were not
made by attorneys, but
by the rifle, the tomahawk and the
scalping knife. The recital
of their cruelties curdles the blood
with horror,-the burning
of Colonel Crawford in 1782, the
destruction of St. Clair's army
in 1791, the butchery of Harmar's men,
were attended by scenes
and incidents of indescribable cruelty.
The final contest over
the right to occupy the Northwest took
place on the banks of
the Maumee River in 1794, in the battle
of Fallen Timbers, and
had a powerful influence in settling the
title to the lands in San-
dusky county. By the treaty of
Greenville, the Indians ceded
to the United States, among other
parcels of land, "Two miles
square at the lower rapids of the
Sandusky River,"-which was
the first land in Sandusky county ceded
by the Indians to the
United States. The tract was afterwards
surveyed by the United
States, and the lines of that survey are
now the boundary lines
of the city of Fremont. It is a fact
worthy of note, and one of
which we may well be proud, that the
title to every foot of
Ohio soil was honorably acquired from
the Indians.
WAR OF 1812.
About seventeen years after the treaty
of Greenville, the
war commonly called the War of 1812,
between the United States
and Great Britain, was declared.
We, of Fremont, are fortunate in having
here, in our midst,
preserved nearly in its original form
and appearance, by the
thoughtfulness which set it apart and
adorned it as a park, the
place of one of those picturesque events
of war, which from
the first, fastened the public
attention. It was not necessary
to dig it out of oblivion, and there was
no danger that any one
should say that local pride had
magnified a thing, which the
world had forgotten. In every history of
our country it has
been caught up by the historian, as a
brilliant picture with which
to enliven his pages. Fort Stephenson
was from the first an
historic place, and Major Croghan's
defence of it, was recognized
54 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
as an heroic act, worthy of being
described in the noblest words
thai history can use.
In 1813 there was no city of Fremont.
Even Lower San-
dusky, as the spot was called, had not
yet become a civilized
town, and only marked the place, where a
village of Wyandot
Indians had long been known. Fort
Stephenson covered the
pretty knoll now occupied by the City
Hall, Birchard Library
and the Monument. But what was it? A
feeble earthwork,
surrounded by a ditch and stockade, with
a little block house at
the southwest corner, which served as a
sort of a bastion to
sweep the ditch. Its garrison was a mere
handful of men; its
only artillery a single six-pound gun.
No legalized white set-
tlement had, at this time, been made on
the lake shore in Ohio,
west of the new village of Cleveland, as
the tide of civilized
migration had only lately crossed the
Ohio. The whole north-
western quarter of the state, therefore,
was Indian territory, and
its tribes, confederated by the genius
of Tecumseh, a man of
no ordinary power, were banded with the
red nations of Indiana
and the great West, to resist the
further advance of the whites.
The forts were only isolated outposts,
in the midst of the hostile
territory, built to protect the
communications of the army, with
the more distant posts at Chicago and
Detroit. For this pur-
pose Fort Stephenson was built, here at
Lower Sandusky, on
the hostile side of the river, so that a
crossing might always
be in the power of our troops. Here was
the promise of a
frontier place of importance, both for
trade with the Indians, in
times of peace, and a depot of supplies
for interior settlements,
as they might be formed. The name
Stephenson was probably
given to the fort, owing to the fact
that Colonel Stephenson
at one time commanded the post, and it
is supposed to have been
built under his direction in 1812. The
walls of the fort were
made of logs, some round and some flat
on one side, averaging
about eighteen inches thick and ten feet
high, set perpendicu-
larly in the earth, each picket crowded
closely against the other,
and sharpened at the top. The walls
inclosed about one acre
of ground, on a bluff formed by the
hills, bounding the valley
of the river on the east, and a ravine,
running in a northeasterly
direction, cutting through the bluff
north of the fort. After
Fremont in History.
55
Major Croghan arrived at Fort Stephenson
he labored day and
night to place it in a state of defence.
He had a ditch six feet
deep and nine feet wide dug around it
outside, throwing the
earth against the foot of the pickets,
and grading it sharply
down to the bottom of the ditch. Later
in the year an addi-
tional area, equal to the area of the
original fort, was added
to the enclosure. In order to prevent
the enemy from scaling
the walls, should they succeed in
leaping the ditch, Major
Croghan had large logs placed on the top
of the fort, and so
adjusted that the least weight would
cause them to fall from
their position, and crush all who might
be below. Fort Steph-
enson was wisely located to give
protection to our growing set-
tlements, and to become the nucleus of a
vigorous colony. It
is only when we remember all this that
we fully appreciate its
military importance, and the necessity
of holding it with a firm
and determined grasp.
About this time, the English, taking
advantage of the dis-
satisfaction of the Indians, as they
supposed they had the right
to do, made alliance with them, and gave
Tecumseh the rank
of a general in their army. Out of this
alliance, grew the great
peril of the frontier. Only a little
while before, the fort where
Chicago now stands had surrendered, upon
a promise of pro-
tection to the lives of the garrison, by
the English, but the sav-
ages had disregarded the agreement which
the English troops
were not strong enough to enforce, and
the prisoners had been
massacred. A still more fearful and
hopeless peril lurked about
the cabin door of every white settler of
the West. Even death
by the tomahawk and scalping knife
seemed mercy itself com-
pared to the atrocious tortures which
all the tribes, but the Wy-
andots, were in the habit of inflicting
upon their captives, and
of which we have so fearful a picture in
the blood-curdling story
of the capture and death of Colonel
Crawford, a little earlier in
our history. It may well have been, that
the expectation of such
a fate, if they surrendered, nerved the
hearts and arms of Major
Croghan and his little garrison, to dare
any fate but that, and
to resolve to die, if need be, but never
to be taken.
Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, a wise and
brave man, who,
both before and afterward, signalized
his courage and his skill,
56 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
was in command of the department at this
time, with headquar-
ters at Fort Seneca, or Seneca Town, as
it was sometimes called,
about nine miles south of Fort
Stephenson. Several days be-
fore the British had invested Fort
Meigs, General Harrison,
with Major Croghan and some other
officers, had examined the
heights which surround Fort Stephenson
and, as the hill on the
opposite side of the river was found to
be the most commanding
eminence, the General had some thought
of removing the fort
to that place, and Major Croghan
declared his readiness to un-
dertake the work. But the General did
not authorize him to do
it, as he believed that, if the enemy
intended to invade our ter-
ritory again, they would do it before
the removal could be com-
pleted. It was then finally concluded
that the fort, which was
calculated for a garrison of only 200 men, could not
be defended
against the heavy artillery of the
enemy; and that, if the British
should approach it by water, which would
cause a presumption
that they had brought their heavy
artillery, the fort must be
abandoned and burned, provided a retreat
could be effected with
safety.
In the orders left with Major Croghan,
it was stated,
"Should the British troops approach
you in force, with cannon,
and you discover them in time to effect
a retreat, you will do so
immediately, destroying all the public
stores. You must be
aware that an attempt to retreat in the
face of an Indian force
would be vain. Against such an enemy
your garrison would
be safe, however great the number."
General Harrison had been for a short
time at Upper San-
dusky, several miles further south,
hastening the assembling
of a little army with which he hoped to
take the aggressive, and
was sorely disappointed by the slow rate
at which his reinforce-
ments could thread the paths of the new
country. Three or
four hundred dragoons were all he had
when the news of Proc-
tor's expedition reached him. A regiment
from Kentucky was
on its way but had not yet arrived. On
the evening of the 29th
of July General Harrison received word
from General Clay,
that the enemy had abandoned the siege
of Fort Meigs and, as
the Indians on that day had swarmed in
the woods around his
camp, he entertained no doubt but that
an immediate attack
Fremont in History. 57
was intended, either on Fort Stephenson
or Fort Seneca. He
therefore called a council of war,
consisting of Generals Mac-
Arthur, Cass, Ball and others, who were
unanimously of the
opinion that Fort Stephenson was
untenable against heavy ar-
tillery and that, as the enemy could
bring, with facility, any
quantity of battering cannon against it,
by which it must ine-
vitably fall, and as the post contained
nothing the loss of which
would be felt, that the garrison should
not be reinforced but with
drawn and the place destroyed. In
pursuance of this decision
the General immediately despatched the
order to Major Croghan,
directing him to abandon Fort Stephenson
at once, set it on
fire and repair with his command to
headquarters. This order
was sent by a Mr. Conner and two
Indians, who lost their way
in the dark and did not reach Fort
Stephenson until 11 o'clock
the next day. When Major Croghan
received it he was of the
opinion that he could not then retreat
with safety, as the Indians
were hovering around the fort in
considerable force. He called
a council of his officers, a majority of
whom coincided with him
in the opinion that a retreat would be
unsafe, and that the post
could be maintained against the enemy,
at least until further
instructions could be received from
headquarters.
Such a command as Major Croghan had
received, probably
seemed to a young officer, to imply a
suspicion of his valor or
his capacity, and, stung perhaps, by
this view of it Major Croghan
sent back a reply which well nigh cost
him his commission.
He said: "Sir, I have just received
yours of yesterday, 10
o'clock p. m., ordering me to destroy
this place and make good
my retreat, which was received too late
to be carried into execu-
tion. We have determined to maintain
this place, and by
heavens we can." Major Croghan was
at once relieved of the
command and ordered to General
Harrison's headquarters in
arrest, but when the General saw the
man, and knew that his
confidence was that of true courage and
no mere vaporing,
he easily accepted the explanation that
the terms of Croghan's
reply had been worded with the
expectation that the dispatch
might fall into the enemy's hands, and
that in that case he wished
to impress them with the danger of an
assault; and he sent
58
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the young hero back to resume his
command just as the British
entered the river.
The portrait of Colonel Croghan, which,
through the kind-
ness of General Hayes, was placed in
Birchard Library, and with
which we, of Fremont, are so familiar,
well bespeaks the char-
acter of young Croghan, and his singular
beauty of person.
Only twenty-one years of age, full of
the hardy courage of the
frontier, an experienced woodsman, you
can not look upon that
face without feeling that it represents
one of nature's noblemen;
full of intellect and feeling, as well
as of soldierly courage and
hardihood. It was a happy conjuncture
for his country when
the time and the man thus came together.
A reconnoitering party, which had been
sent from head-
quarters to the shore of the lake, about
twenty miles from Fort
Stephenson, discovered the approach of
the enemy, by water,
on the evening of the 31st of
July. They returned, by the fort
after 12 o'clock the next day, and had
passed it but a few hours
when the enemy made their appearance.
The Indians showed
themselves first on the hill, across the
river, and were saluted
by a six-pounder, the only piece of
artillery in the fort, which
soon caused them to retire. In about
half an hour the British
gunboats came in sight, and the Indian
forces displayed them-
selves in every direction, with a view
to intercept the garrison,
should a retreat be attempted. The
six-pounder was fired a few
times at the gunboat, and the fire was
returned by the artillery
of the enemy. A landing of their troops,
with a five and a half-
inch howitzer, was effected about a mile
below the fort and
Major Chambers, accompanied by Dickson,
was dispatched to-
wards the fort with a flag, and was met,
on the part of Major
Croghan, by Ensign Shipp of the
Sixteenth Regiment. After
the usual ceremonies, Major Chambers
observed that he was in-
structed by General Proctor to demand
the surrender of the
fort, as he was anxious to spare the
effusion of human blood,
which he could not do should he be under
the necessity of re-
ducing it, by the powerful force of
artillery, regulars and In-
dians at his command. Ensign Shipp
replied that the com-
mandant of the fort and its garrison
were determined to defend
it to the last extremity, and that no
force, however great, could
Fremont in History. 59
induce them to surrender, as they were
resolved to maintain
their post or to bury themselves in its
ruins.
Dickson then said that their immense
body of Indians
could not be restrained from murdering
the whole garrison,
in case of success, and urged them to
surrender and prevent
the dreadful massacre that would be
caused by their resist-
ance. Mr. Shipp replied that when the
fort was taken there
would be none to massacre, as it would
not be given up while
a man was able to resist. The enemy now
opened their fire
from their six-pounders in the gunboats
and the howitzer on
shore, which they continued through the
night with but little
intermission and very little effect. The
forces of the enemy
consisted of 500 regulars and about 800 Indians,
commanded
by Dickson, the whole being commanded by
General Proctor in
person. Tecumseh was stationed on the
road to Fort Meigs,
with a body of 2000 Indians, expecting to intercept a reinforce-
ment on that route. Major Croghan,
through the evening, occa-
sionally fired his six-pounder; at the
same time changing its
place often to induce a belief that he
had more than one piece.
As it produced very little effect on the
enemy, and he was desi-
rous of saving his ammunition, he soon
discontinued firing,
The enemy had directed their fire
against the northwest angle
of the fort, which induced the commander
to believe that an
attempt to storm the works would be made
at that point. In
the night Captain Hunter was directed to
secretly remove the
six-pounder to a block house, from which
it would rake that
angle. The embrasure was masked and the
piece loaded with
a double charge of slugs and grape shot.
Early in the morning of August 2 the enemy opened fire
from their howitzer and their
six-pounders, which they had
landed in the night and planted in a
point of woods about 250
yards from the fort, which convinced
Major Croghan that they
would endeavor to make a breach and
storm the works at that
point. He therefore strengthened that
place as much as possi-
ble, with bags of flour and sand, which
was so effectual that the
picketings in that place sustained no
material injury. Late in
the evening, when the smoke of the
firing had completely en-
veloped the fort, the enemy proceeded to
make the assault.
60
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Two feints were made toward the southern
angle, where Captain
Hunter's lines were formed, and at the
same time a column of
350 men was discovered advancing through
the smoke within
twenty paces of the northwestern angle.
A heavy, galling fire
was now opened upon the enemy from the
fort, which threw
them into some confusion. Colonel Short,
who was at the head
of the principal column, soon rallied
his men and led them with
great bravery to the brink of the ditch.
After a momentary
pause he leaped into the ditch, calling
to his men to follow him,
and in a few moments it was full. The
masked port-hole was
now opened and the six-pounder, at a
distance of thirty feet,
poured such destruction among them that
but few who had
entered the ditch were fortunate enough
to escape. Colonel
short, while ordering his men to cut
down the pickets and give
the Americans no quarter, fell, mortally
wounded, and, hoisting
his white handkerchief on the end of his
sword, begged for that
mercy which he had a moment before
ordered to be denied to
his enemy.
A precipitate and confused retreat was
the immediate con-
sequence of the encounter, although some
of the officers at-
tempted to rally their men. The other
column, led by Colonel
Warburton and Major Chambers, was also
routed in confusion
by a destructive fire from the line
commanded by Captain Hunter.
The whole of them fled into an adjoining
wood, beyond the reach
of our arms. During the assault the
enemy kept up an inces-
sant fire from their howitzer and five
six-pounders. They left
Colonel Short and twenty-five privates
dead in the ditch. The
number of prisoners taken was
twenty-six, most of them badly
wounded. The total loss of the British
and Indians was 150.
The loss of the garrison was one killed
and seven slightly
wounded-Samuel Thurman, the one man of
the garrison who
was killed, met his death through his
desire to shoot a red coat.
He climbed to the top of the block house
and, while peering
over, a six-pound ball from the enemy's
cannon, took off his
head.
The assault lasted only about half an
hour. The dark
storm cloud that had been hovering over
the West passed north-
ward; a gentle breeze from the southwest
bore the smoke of
Fremont in History. 61
battle far away over the forest, toward
Lake Erie, and in the
lonely twilight of that memorable
Sabbath evening the brave
young Croghan addressed his gallant
little band with eloquent
words of praise and grateful
thanksgiving. As the night and
the silence deepened, and the groans of
the wounded in the ditch
fell upon his ears, his generous heart
beat with sympathy. Buckets
filled with water were let down by ropes
from the outside of
the pickets and, as the gates of the
fort could not be opened
with safety during the night, he made a
communication with the
ditch by means of a trench, through
which the wounded were
borne into the little fortress and their
necessities supplied.
All who were able preferred, of course,
to follow their de-
feated comrades and many others were
carried from the vicinity
of the fort by the Indians, particularly
their own killed and
wounded. About 3 o'clock in the morning
the whole British
and Indian force commenced a disorderly
retreat. So great was
their precipitation that they left a
sailboat containing some
clothing and a considerable quantity of
military stores, and the
next day seventy stands of arms and some
braces of pistols were
collected around the fort. Their hurry
and confusion were
caused by the apprehension of an attack
by General Harrison,
of whose position and force they had
probably received an ex-
aggerated account.
It was the intention of General
Harrison, should the enemy
succeed against Fort Stephenson, or
should they turn his left
and fall on Upper Sandusky, to leave his
camp at Fort Seneca
and fall back to the latter place. But
by the firing on the even-
ing of the 1st he discovered that the
enemy had nothing but
light artillery, which could make no
impression on the fort,
and he knew that an attempt to storm it,
without making a
breach, could be successfully repelled
by the garrison. He
therefore determined to wait for the
arrival of 250 mounted vol-
unteers, approaching by the way of Upper
Sandusky, and then
to march against the enemy and raise the
siege if possible. He
sent scouts to ascertain the situation
and force, but the woods
were so infested with Indians that none
of them could proceed
near enough to the fort to make the
necessary discoveries. About
9 o'clock in the evening Major Croghan
had ascertained, from
62 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
their collecting about their boats, that
the enemy were preparing
to embark and had immediately sent word
to General Harrison,
who, determined to wait no longer for
the reinforcements, im-
mediately set out with the dragoons for
Fort Stephenson. The
road by which he came follows an old
Indian trail, meandering
the river all the way until it
approaches Fremont, where it passes
through Spiegel Grove and, winding
around through the town,
turns northwestward toward Fort Meigs
and the Maumee. It
was known as the "Harrison
trail" and, though crooked and
sometimes almost impassable, was at
least a guide through the
Black Swamp, which travelers could
follow without fear of losing
their way.
General Harrison reached the fort early
in the morning,
having ordered Generals MacArthur and
Cass to follow him,
with all the disposable infantry, at
that place. Finding that
the enemy had fled entirely from the
fort, so as not to be reached
by him, and learning that Tecumseh was
near Fort Meigs with
2000 warriors,
he sent the infantry back to Fort Seneca, lest
Tecumseh should make an attack on that
place. In his official
report of this affair General Harrison
observes that: "It will
not be among the least of General
Proctor's mortifications that
he has been baffled by a youth who had
just passed his twenty-
first year. He is, however, a hero
worthy of his gallant uncle,
Gen. Geo. R. Clarke."
"Too much praise," said Major
Croghan, "can not be be-
stowed on the officers and privates
under my command for their
gallantry and good conduct during the
siege." The brevet rank
of Lieutenant-Colonel was immediately
conferred on Major Cro-
ghan by the President of the United
States for his valorous con-
duct on this occasion, and his gallantry
was further acknowledged
by a joint resolution of Congress,
approved in February, 1835,
presenting to him a gold medal and a
sword to each of the offi-
cers under his command.
Of the life of Colonel Croghan we know very
little, except
that he was a native of Kentucky, having
been born near Louis-
ville in 1791. His father, Major Wm.
Croghan, was a native of
Ireland and a gallant soldier of the
Revolution. He received a
good education, graduated at William and
Mary College in Vir-
Fremont in History. 63
ginia, and soon afterward began the
study of law. In 1811 he
volunteered as a private, was appointed
aide to General Harrison
and distinguished himself in the battle
of Tippecanoe. After the
declaration of war with Great Britain he
was appointed Captain
in the Seventeenth Regiment of Infantry
and was made Major
in 1813. He again distinguished himself
at the memorable
sieges of Fort Meigs, and in July, 1813,
was placed in command
of Fort Stephenson. He was made
Inspector General of the
Army in 1825, and in that capacity
served with General Taylor
in Mexico in 1846-7. He died in New
Orleans in 1849.
The Fort Stephenson fight was typical of
its period. It
was, at once, part of the struggle for
independence and a type
of the desperate conflict of the
frontiersman with savage hordes,
with wild beasts and with the unsubdued
wilderness itself.
Immediately associated with Colonel
Croghan's victory are
the frontier names of the pioneer
history of the West-General
Harrison, Commodore Perry, General Cass,
General MacArthur,
Governor Meigs and a long list of other
men, whose names were
household words in the homes of the
first settlers of this region,
were all closely identified with the
military events which hinged
upon the brilliant victory which was
gained here and which
decided the struggle for the vast and
noble territory which is
tributary to the Great Lakes of the
Northwest.
General Sherman, in speaking several
years ago, of the
strategic value of the triumphant
defence of Fort Stephenson,
said: "The defence of Fort
Stephenson by Croghan and his gal-
lant little band was the necessary
precursor to Perry's victory
on the lake, and of General Harrison's triumphant
victory at the
"Battle of the Thames." These
assured to our immediate an-
cestors the mastery of the Great West,
and from that day to this
the West has been the bulwark of the
nation.
The heroes of the Revolution have all
passed away, and
very few of the War of 1812 are still
living. Sergeant Wm.
Gaines, about fifteen years ago, was the
only surviving mem-
ber of Croghan's brave band and now, he
too, has joined the
silent majority.
We still have with us, however, the old
iron gun that did
such faithful service on that bright
August day, nearly eighty-six
64
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
years ago. After the War of 1812 it was sent to the Government
Arsenal at Pittsburg, and remained there
until about 1851,
when Mr. Brice J. Bartlett, then mayor
of Fremont, conceived
the design of procuring the old gun as a
relic, to be kept at
the place it so greatly aided to defend.
He sent a soldier who
had helped use the gun in Fort
Stephenson to Pittsburg, to
identify it by some peculiar mark on the
breech and, by per-
sistent effort, finally succeeded in
locating it and ordered it sent
to Lower Sandusky. But there were then
several Sanduskys
and, by some mistake, the old gun was
sent to Sandusky City,
where, I believe, there never was a
battle. But the Sandusky
people wanted to keep the gun and a
sharp controversy arose
in regard to it. They, however, it is
said, to secure the gun
against seizure, buried it. But Mr.
Bartlett, not to be foiled,
employed a detective, who, finally
learning where the gun was
buried, and aided by others, went to
Sandusky, uncovered the
cannon and brought it back to its old
resting place. The garri-
son, it is said, named the gun
"Good Bess." In 1852, on August
2, at
a celebration of Croghan's splendid victory here, Mr.
Thomas L. Hawkins, a Methodist local
preacher, who was also
a poet, read a poem which was a
salutation to the old six-pounder,
in which he addressed her as
"Betsey Croghan," a name by which
the gun has ever since been known. In
another poem on Colonel
Croghan's victory at Fort Stephenson,
this poet calls the gun
"Our Bess."
Historically, the heart of the city of
Fremont is Fort Steph-
enson Park, with its City Hall, its
monument and its public
library, while the historic Betsey
Croghan and other disused
cannon add a sterner touch to the scene.
Within the memory of many present
citizens of Fremont
the place was little more than a
frontier settlement, and the few
houses scarcely more than huts and
shanties. The change in
the past fifty years has been striking,
and even the name of
the place is not the same, for in 1850
it was changed from Lower
Sandusky to Fremont, in honor of the
famous "Pathfinder."
SPIEGEL GROVE.
Spiegel Grove, whose hospitality we now
enjoy, is also a
storied region full of charm and legend
for the student of the
Fremont in History. 65
past. What the term means is a question
often asked and sel-
dom answered. Spiegel is the German word
for "Mirror" and
in the uncleared, boggy woods of fifty
years ago, one could
probably see his reflection almost
anywhere in the tangled swamp
land. As the mirror has long been a
symbol of superstition,
so the myths and legends have always
hung thick about the
old woods.
The place was purchased many years ago
by Mr. Sardis
Birchard, one of our most honored
citizens, the uncle and guard-
ian of our great citizen, ex-President
Hayes, and was by him
named Spiegel Grove. Here Mr. Birchard
passed many years
of his life, and here the young
attorney, the Colonel, the General,
the Representative, the Governor and the
President used to come
to visit, until, after his retirement
from the presidency, General
Hayes enlarged the house and brought his
family here for per-
manent residence. His delight in the
place was always very great.
He was acquainted with every tree and
shrub in it. He set
out choice varieties, sent him from
China and Japan and the
isles of the sea, and he gathered
historic plants from everywhere.
Here he would show the visitor a weeping
willow with a famous
pedigree, its ancestors running back to
Washington's grave at
Mount Vernon; and to Napoleon's at St.
Helena; farther on,
a sapling from an acorn of the charter
oak; and in another place
venerable oaks, under which an ancestor
camped during the
War of 1812, or to which was tied a captive maid by the In-
dians, while a swift runner went to
Detroit to obtain her re-
lease. Here also General Hayes set out
the "Lucy Hayes
Chapel," in young walnut trees, and
in almost every direction
are beautiful vistas through the woods
and across the valley,
and the identical drive to which I have
before alluded down
which General Harrison brought his
troops in 1813, on his way
to Fort Stephenson.
BIRCHARD LIBRARY.
"The opening of a free public library,"
says James Russell
Lowell, "is the most important
event in the history of any town,"
and as this was what Mr. Sardis
Birchard, the generous founder
Vol. X-5
66 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
of our public library, wished to do for
the people of this county,
he was moved in 1873 to set aside the
sum of fifty thousand
dollars for the establishment of
Birchard Library.
At an early day after the village of
Lower Sandusky was
chartered, it was suggested that the
site of the fort should be
purchased and preserved as a memorial of
those who so bravely
defended it, and an act of the
Legislature empowered the village
to do so, but the owner of the property
being unwilling to sell
it, the project was for the time
abandoned. Among those who
had been particularly desirous that the
site should be purchased
by the city, was Mr. Birchard. It was
his earnest wish that
the library should be located on the
site of the old fort, and
that the city should own the ground for
a park.
General Hayes, and a few other public
spirited citizens,
interesting themselves in the matter,
the whole block was pur-
chased at a cost of about thirty
thousand dollars, and the Library
Association and the city are now joint
owners of the square.
The citizens of this place, it seems to
me, have shown com-
mendable zeal in doing themselves,
without any outside assist-
ance, that for which other cities have
asked appropriations from
the State.
The people of Fremont have dedicated the
ground so hero-
ically defended by Major Croghan and his
brave men to their
memory forever, and have further
consecrated it, by erecting
upon it a stately monument which, for
years to come shall tell
the unadorned tale of their sacrifices,
and, ages after the stone
itself has crumbled into dust, history
shall transmit the record.
Surely, the occasion is worthy a
monument to the skies
and the granite soldier looking down
from its summit is a proper
guardian for the site of Fort
Stephenson, one of the most mem-
orable of all our historic places.
FREMONT, OHIO, June 30, 1899.
Fremont in History. 49
FREMONT IN HISTORY.
BY JULIA M. HAYNES. The Sandusky country, in aboriginal history, possesses a peculiar charm and fascinating interest. During that period of years which fills western annals with the story of intrigue |
|
and bloody conflict, the plains and prairies of the Sandusky valley were the home of the most powerful and most generous of the sav- age nations. Less than a century ago, these plains, now covered by a thriving city, presented an interesting variety of the scenes of Indian life-primitive agriculture, rude cabins, canoe- building, amusements and the council fire. Tradition goes back a century farther, and |
makes the locality of this city the seat of a still more in- teresting people; a people who, for a time, preserved ex- istence by neutrality, while war, which raged with shocking ferocity, effected the extinction of the neighboring tribes. Noth- ing is known of the aboriginal occupation of Ohio previous to 1650, but, according to a tradition of the Wyandots, during the long and bloody wars between the Eastern and Western tribes, there lived upon the Sandusky, a neutral tribe of Wyandots, called the Neutral Nation. They occupied two villages, which were cities of refuge, where those who sought safety never failed to find it. These villages stood near the lower rapids of the Sandusky river, where Fremont now stands. This little band preserved the integrity of their tribe and the sacred character of peace makers. All who met upon their threshold met as friends, for the ground upon which they stood was holy. It
Paper read before the Ursula Wolcott Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of Toledo, at Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio, June 30, 1899, by Julia M. Haynes, daughter of Col. William E. Haynes, Fremont, O. Vol. X-4 |