Address of Governor McKinley. 207
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR McKINLEY.
DELIVERED AT GREENVILLE, OHIO, AUGUST 8,
1895.
(INTRODUCTION BY J. R. KNOX: - The people of Ohio like
to see their Governor, the soldiers of
the army like to see their
old comrade, everybody wants to see
McKinley, and I have the
pleasure now, fellow citizens, of
presenting to you Governor Mc-
Kinley of Ohio, who will now address
you.)
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Your president has said that the people
of Ohio want to see
the Governor of their state. I heartily
reciprocate that feeling
when I say that the Governor of Ohio
wants to see the people of
Ohio. It affords me special pleasure, to
be present and rejoice
with you here to-day. It is pleasant,
not only to meet on this
historic ground and occasion, but both a
privilege and pleasure
to have the opportunity to attest my
respect and veneration for
the brave men and noble women who were
the pioneer settlers
of Ohio and of the great Northwest. It
is not too eulogistic for
us to claim that no better or purer
people ever laid the founda-
tions of society and government at any
other time or place in
all the world's history. Certainly the
record of the pioneers of
Ohio from 1788 to 1803 is a broad
heritage, a priceless legacy,
for any commonwealth to enjoy. Seldom
has a great community
been established under circumstances
more adverse, nor with
greater cost in blood and suffering,
privation and toil, than at-
tended the erection of the state of Ohio
in what was then a sav-
age and unbroken wilderness from the
river to the lake. It is
fitting that we should rejoice that it
is now so great and so pros-
perous and everywhere celebrated as
perhaps the fairest and most
beautiful land anywhere to be found in
our majestic common
country.
But not to us of the present day is the
praise and gratitude
due, but to the grand men of that
historic age, which produced
a Washington, a Wayne, a St. Clair, a
Putnam, a Cutler, a
208 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Symmes, a Worthington, a Tiffin and a
Meigs, and the hosts of
other illustrious patriots whose name
and fame are indissolubly
linked with the history of Ohio and
their common country. No
lack, my fellow-citizens, was in our
primal stock, no weakling
founders builded there. They were the
men of Plymouth Rock,
the Puritan, and the Cavalier. To them
let us give the honor
and tribute for the courage and
sacrifice which made us all we
are to-day.
The centennial anniversary we meet to
celebrate is of far
more than local or mere state interest.
If we may judge events
by their subsequent results, we can
heartily agree with the his-
torians that the signing of the treaty
of peace at Greenville on
August 3rd, 1795, was the most important
event necessary to per-
manent settlement and occupation in the
existence of the whole
Northwest territory. Indeed, its good
effects far outstretched
even the boundaries of that great
domain. The campaign which
preceded it is justly said by Atwater in
his clean history of Ohio
to have subdued the whole Indian
territory from Florida to the
northern lakes. The power of the savages
to stop the onward
march of civilization was broken, and
the soil of Ohio was prac-
tically free from Indian outbreaks and
outrages, from which the
struggling settlements had severely
suffered for more than seven
years. It is, my countrymen, at this
remote period difficult to
conceive the unprotected state of the
frontiersmen a century ago.
We too little appreciate their
sacrifices. From the first settle-
ment at Marietta until Wayne's great
victory there was not a day
and scarce an hour when the few white
inhabitants over a wide
region of the wilderness were not in
constant danger of massacre
by the Indians. They intercepted almost
every boat that passed
up the Ohio river. They picked off the
few farmers who ven-
tured to attempt to level the forests or
cultivate the soil beyond
the close proximity of the block house,
and emboldened by their
success, frequently attacked the
garrisons themselves. They
were constantly inspired to attack the
Americans, not only by
the Indians themselves and their
principal chiefs, but by almost
equally cruel and vindictive British and
Canadian officers of De-
troit, and at other lake posts still
occupied by them. So numer-
ous were these affrays and massacres and
murders that it is as-
Address of Governor McKinley. 209
sumed by one writer that twenty thousand
men, women and chil-
dren were killed by the Indians before
they finally abandoned the
attempt to prevent the occupation of
Ohio by the white people.
They had viewed the coming of the whites
from the first
with distrust, but it was not until 1790 that the lurking
dangers
had become so great, from the constant
watchfulness and treach-
erous attacks of the Indians, that
literally a reign of terror pos-
sessed all the settlements. In
September, 1790, General Josiah
Harmar, then chief lieutenant of the
United States Army, made
a raid into the Indian country, as the
whole territory northwest of
the Ohio was then properly called. This
expedition was unsuc-
cessful and also resulted in the
annihilation of his command.
So terrible were the perils to which the
people of the frontier
were now exposed that they attracted the
attention of the whole
country, of Congress and the President.
President Washington
had in person witnessed all the horrors
of savage warfare, and
persuaded Congress in 1791 to authorize
him to raise a regiment
of regulars and two of volunteers for a
campaign of six months
against the Indians. The command of this
army was intrusted
to General Arthur St. Clair, the
Governor of the Northwest terri-
tory, and late in October, 1791, he
advanced with a large force
upon the hostile savages whose principal
villages were upon the
Miami and Wabash rivers. The army had
reached a point about
twenty-three miles north of this city in
its toilsome march
through the wilderness, when it was
surprised by a large body
of Indians and routed with great loss
and confusion. More than
half the army was killed or captured.
The engagement occurred
November 4th, 1791, and the
horde of victorious Indians was led
by the noted chiefs Blue Jacket and
Little Turtle, and Girty, the
renegade. The shattered remains of St.
Clair's army retreated
to the walls of Fort Jefferson, or to
within about fifty miles of
the present city of Hamilton. Nearly
half the settlers of the ter-
ritory had entered upon this fatal
campaign, and so terrible was
the loss and panic attending the defeat
that all the settlements
of the Miami country, except those in
the immediate vicinity of
the forts, were almost entirely
abandoned. Many of the retreat-
ing soldiers continued their flight into
Kentucky, and it is said
that the Indians were so emboldened by
their great victory that
210
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
they even ventured by night into the
streets of Cincinnati to spy
out the exposure of the town and the
best points from which to
make an attack upon Fort Washington.
The situation of the frontier was
critical in the extreme, but
it was nearly a year before the national
government took any de-
cisive measures for the punishment of
the Indians. Meanwhile,
constant attacks were made upon them
with varying success
whenever opportunity presented.
Negotiations for peace were
attempted time and time again, but all
failed. Negotiations for
peace were again attempted by a
commission appointed by the
President, consisting of Benjamin
Lincoln, Beverly Randolph
and Timothy Pickering, but the hostile
savages could not be
brought to satisfactory terms. Further
military operations and
expeditions into the Indian country were
attempted by Colonel
Wilkinson and General Charles Scott, who
rendered excellent
services in the western frontier wars.
These were not entirely
without success, but they gave no
permanent relief to the imper-
iled settlements. The people of the
country were weary of the
distress and bloody massacres of the
Ohio Valley, and yet a few
opposed further preparations for the
prosecution of the war upon
the Indians. Indeed, so disheartened was
the country that it
was even proposed by a few timid members
of Congress to aban-
don the whole of the Northwest territory
and make the Ohio
river the northern bounds of the United
States. What an inex-
cusable and criminal blunder this would
have been. In these
fears, however, President Washington
fortunately did not share,
and the national government gradually
began gathering men and
supplies for a new expedition into the
Miami country. The rep-
utation of the nation was at stake and a
third defeat could not
be contemplated or permitted.
On April 17th, 1792, General Anthony
Wayne was ap-
pointed by Washington to command this
expedition. He was
then the Commander-in-chief of all the
armies of the United
States, and enjoyed not only great
reputation as a soldier, but
the confidence of the country as a brave
and fearless and ener-
getic man. In a hasty and necessarily
very imperfect sketch
like this his heroic services and fame
in the Revolution can only
be mentioned. One of his biographers
happily describes him as
Address of Governor McKinley. 211
a "born soldier," and says
that such was his aptitude and dili-
gence that in six weeks after the fight
at Lexington and Con-
cord he had organized the volunteers of
Chester county so per-
fectly that they had more the appearance
of a veteran than of a
militia regiment. With this command he
accompanied General
Sullivan in his ill-fated expedition to
Canada in 1776, and, al-
though wounded, effected the retreat
that saved the American
army both from capture and serious loss.
At Brandywine he
commanded a brigade, and at Germantown
he led a division in
the thickest fight, receiving two wounds
and a horse killed under
him. At Monmouth his conduct was marked
with particular ap-
proval by Washington, while his capture
of Stony Point in 1779
was one of the most brilliant exploits
of the Revolution. At the
commencement of the attack Wayne was
struck on the head by a
musket ball and sank to the ground.
Instantly recovering him-
self, he arose on one knee and
exclaimed, "March on! carry me
into the fort, I will die at the head of
this column." For this he
received the thanks of, and a gold medal
from, the Congress of the
United States. His attack upon Fort Lee
in 1780 was equally
brave but not so fortunate; while in
1781 he rendered the most
important service in quelling a revolt
against the Pennsylvania
troops to the great advantage of the
country and the entire satis-
faction of the discouraged troops. At
Green Springs, Virginia,
he was again wounded, but succeeded by
his splendid tactics in
frustrating Cornwallis and saving La
Fayette's army. He was
actively engaged in the investment and
capture of Yorktown.
Toward the close of revolutionary days
he was again in active
command, and was soon after sent to
Georgia to re-establish the
supremacy of the United States there. He
completely defeated
the British, the Tories, and the
Indians, and compelled them to
retire to and within the garrison at
Savannah. For this great
service the state of Georgia
subsequently made him a large grant
of land, upon which he went to live in
1789. He had the su-
preme satisfaction of receiving the
capitulations of the British
garrisons both at Savannah and
Charleston; and was made Ma-
jor-General in 1793, at a time when
sickness compelled him to
retire temporarily from the army, but
not until after hostilities
had entirely ceased.
212 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
In civil life he was a member of the
council of the govern-
ment of Pennsylvania, and was also
elected to the convention
which framed the constitution of that
state. When he returned
to Georgia he was elected to Congress in
1790, but his seat was
contested and at last declared vacant.
Disgusted with politics,
he returned to the army with greater
zeal and ardor than ever,
determined at all hazards to achieve
complete success.
Instead of proceeding precipitately into
this disturbed terri-
tory, he spent nearly a year in
collecting and drilling his men.
Meanwhile the commissioners of the
government exhausted
every effort for peace. But all such
efforts were unavailing. In
September, 1793, General Wayne had so
organized his army
that by rapid marches he advanced up the
valley of the Great
Miami to Fort Jefferson and thence
proceeded to establish a
strongly fortified camp for the winter
headquarters and called
the place Greenville. From that point he
advanced to the scene
of St. Clair's defeat and here built
another stockade, which he
named Fort Recovery. He pushed on
through the wilderness,
during the following summer, driving the
Indians before him to
the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee
rivers. Here he con-
structed in the very heart of the Indian
country a very strong
and scientifically arranged work which
he styled, in intrepidity,
Fort Defiance. The Indians had entirely
failed to surprise him
and did not dare to stand before his
brave and well-disciplined
troops. They vainly assailed Fort
Recovery on June 30th, 1794,
with great loss and slaughter. They
realized they must at last
fight one who, they were clear to see,
deserved their own titles,
"The Wind," "The
Tornado," and "The Warrior who never
sleeps." Having finished Fort
Defiance, Wayne again pressed
forward to what are called the Rapids of
the Miami and here
built Fort Wayne. His army consisted now
of 2,000 regulars and
1100 riflemen under command of General
Scott. On August 13th
he sent a pacific message to the
Indians, urging them to come into
camp and enter a permanent and lasting
peace with the United
States. They did not come. Encouraged by
assurances of assist-
ance from the British, the Indians,
contrary to the advice of their
chieftain, declined all these overtures.
General Wayne immediately
prepared for battle and on August 20th
attacked the savages almost
Address of Governor McKinley. 213
within the range of the guns of the
British forts. The Indian
forces amounted to fully 2,000 braves, the
resistance was stub-
born, but they were at length completely
routed and driven more
than two miles through the woods with
great slaughter until
within pistol shot of the British
garrison. Their houses, corn,
and personal effects were completely
destroyed throughout the
whole country, on both sides of the
Miami, for a distance of fifty
miles. General Wayne in his official
report to the President said,
"The horde of savages abandoned
themselves to flight, dispers-
ing with terror and shame, leaving our
victorious army in full
and quiet possession of the field."
The army returned to Greenville, where
it again went into
winter quarters, and here the humble and
subdued Indians soon
began to arrive to ask for peace upon
any terms which their re-
cent conqueror might dictate. Early in
January, 1795, measures
were taken to assemble all the tribes of
the Northwest to Green-
ville, and the following June the
council began between General
Wayne, acting for the United States, and
some 1100 chiefs, rep-
resenting the twelve principal tribes of
the West. After six
weeks deliberation the treaty was
signed. The Indians relin-
quished practically all control of the
soil of Ohio, with certain
small and unimportant reservations along
the Auglaize, St.
Marys, Sandusky and Miami rivers.
Washington was quick to recognize the importance
and ex-
cellence of Wayne's services, and
cordially commended them in
a public letter of thanks and in his
following message to Con-
gress. Wayne visited the city of
Philadelphia late in 1795, and
his entering into that city was like the
conqueror triumphal.
Business was suspended and he was
conducted through the
streets amidst the ringing of bells, the
roaring of cannons, and
the acclamations of the grateful people.
Congress, then in ses-
sion in that city, unanimously adopted
resolutions highly com-
mendatory of the General and the whole
army. There could not
have been a more gratifying or
spontaneous outburst of public
admiration than was shown to General
Wayne after the signing
of the Treaty of Greenville one hundred
years ago. On every
hand Wayne was greeted as a public
benefactor and a hero and
was given the most pleasant evidences of
the high appreciation
214 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
by people and government of the
important services he had ren-
dered to his country.
Besides putting an end to a brutal and
bloody war, waged
without respect for age or sex
throughout our western territory,
his success had the effect of quieting
Indian disturbances both
north and south, of opening to the
civilized population the fertile
region which had been the theatre of the
late hostilities, and
eventually added much greater territory
equally inviting to set-
tlement and culture. A further and most
useful effect was to
allay the agitated feeling at home, for
the disastrous defeat of
Harmar and St. Clair had gone far to
shake the confidence of
the people in the executive branch of
the federal government.
Abroad Wayne's services were equally
beneficial to the
United States, for they hastened the
execution of the pending
negotiations with Great Britain by which
the American posts, so
long and so stubbornly held by the
British, were at last given up.
He was appointed sole commissioner to
treat with the
Northwestern Indians. He soon returned
to the West, but his
life of singular activity and usefulness
was soon to come to a
close. After a prompt and faithful
discharge of his new duties,
he died at or near the humble log cabin
which was his home at
Presque Isle, on the shores of the lake,
now Erie, Pennsylvania,
in December, 1796, at the comparatively
young age of fifty-two.
His last request was that of a soldier.
He asked that his remains
be buried under the flag staff of the
old fort at Erie. Here they
remained until 1809, when they were
conveyed to Chester county
and buried with all the honors of war by
his late companions in
arms, The Pennsylvania State Society of
the Cincinnati.
Wayne, my fellow citizens, was in every
way a most remark-
able soldier. To my mind he was more
like the dashing Phil.
Sheridan than any other great military
chieftain in our history.
He was called Mad Anthony, not on
account of his imprudence,
but because of his mad zeal for his
country (and I wish we had
more of it now), and for his wonderful
bravery in every engage-
ment. Grant said that Sheridan never
needed but one command,
and that was, "to go in," and
he went in and always won. Wash-
ington had the same supreme confidence
in Wayne and is said
to have spoken sadly of his death in the
full vigor of life, in the
Address of Governor McKinley. 215
noontide of glory, and in the midst of a
most splendid usefulness.
On the other hand, Wayne's confidence in
Washington and his
obedience to him were without limitation
or bound. It was this
trust and love that led the brusque old
soldier once to say to
Washington, when asked by him if he
would accept the com-
mand of a most perilous expedition:
"If your Excellency will
plan it, I will undertake to storm hell
itself." The language
was emphatic but in no sense profane,
nor the expression of a
man who was deficient in respect for
piety and religion. It was
simply a natural outburst of admiration
for his old General, for
whom he would have cheerfully died at
any time.
My fellow citizens, of such stuff true
heroes are made, and
leaders that seldom fail. It is said
that on the morning of the
battle of Fallen Timbers William Henry
Harrison, of the staff of
General Wayne, said to his commander,
"General Wayne, I am
afraid you will go into this battle and
forget to give me the neces-
sary field orders." "Perhaps I
may," General Wayne replied,
"but if I do, recollect the
standing order of the day is to charge
all the rascals with the bayonet."
As characteristic of this illustrious
soldier, I want specially
to call your attention to the
correspondence which passed be-
tween him and the commander of the
British post on the banks
of the Maumee one hundred years ago.
Wayne's letter has the
genuine American ring. It is firm,
fearless and aggressive. It
is the language of a brave man engaged
in a great and holy
cause. It has the true American spirit,
and I wish we had more
of it now.
"Miami River, August 21st,
1794." (I read a letter now
from the British commander to General
Wayne. He says):
"Sir: The army of the United States
of America said to be un-
der your command have taken post on the
banks of the Miami
for upwards of the last twenty-four
hours, almost within the
reach of the guns of this fort, which,
being a post belonging to
his Majesty, the King of Great Britain,
occupied by his Majesty's
troops, and which I have the honor to
command, it becomes my
duty to inform myself as speedily as
possible in what light I am
to view your making such near approach
to this British garrison.
216 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
Signed, William Campbell, commanding a
British post on the
banks of the Miami."
To that letter old General Wayne
replied: "I have received
your letter of this day." (He
didn't wait until the next day). "I
have received your letter of this day
requiring from me the mo-
tives which have moved the army under my
command to the po-
sition they at present command. Without
questioning the au-
thority or the propriety, sir, of your
interrogatory, I think I may
without breach of decorum observe to you
that, were you entitled
to an answer, the most full and
satisfactory one was announced
to you from the muzzle of my gun
yesterday. I have the honor
to be, sir, yours with great respect,
Anthony Wayne, Major-Gen-
eral, Commander-in-chief of the armies
of the United States."
To me one of the greatest benefits of
the Treaty of Green-
ville has always seemed that it opened
wide the gateway of op-
portunity to the free and easy
settlement of the great West.
Other Indian wars and outbreaks there
were, but none so for-
midable after that great treaty was
signed. The immense flood
of emigrants that poured into Ohio found
happy and peaceful
homes on the old hunting grounds and in
the Indian villages of
the Northwest, and from them has
descended a sturdy people,
whose pluck and enterprise and energy
have never been surpassed
anywhere in the United States.
Mr. President, Greenville may justly
congratulate herself
that she is the site where the treaty
was signed, that her name
and fame are forever linked with its
history. Let us keep alive
those precious memories of the past and
instill into the minds of
the young the lessons of the stirring
patriotism and devotion to
duty of the men who were the first to
establish here the authority
of the Republic and founded on eternal
principles its free and
noble institutions. The centuries may
come, the centuries may
go. but their fame will survive forever
on this historic ground.
The day thrills with historic interest.
It is filled with stir-
ring memories, and recalls the struggles
of the past for peace,
and the majesty of constitutional
government. It is most fitting
to celebrate this anniversary. It marks
an epoch in our civiliza-
tion. One hundred years ago Indian
hostilities were suppressed
and the compact of peace concluded
between the government
Address of Governor McKinley. 217
and the Indians, which made the great
Northwest the undisputed
territory of the United States, and what
was once a dense wilder-
ness inhabited by barbarous tribes is
now the home of a happy
and progressive people, and the center
of as high an order of
civilization as is to be found anywhere
in the world.
It is a great thing to make history. The
men who partici-
pated in the Indian wars won victories
for civilization and man-
kind. And these victories all of us are
enjoying to-day. Noth-
ing, therefore, could be more
appropriate than that this great
section of the country, which a century
ago was the theatre of
war, should pause to celebrate the
stirring events of those times
and the peace which followed, and do
honor to the brave men
who participated in them.
It is a rich inheritance to any
community to have in its keep-
ing historic ground. As we grow older in
statehood, interest in
these historical events increases, and
their frequent celebration
is calculated to promote patriotism and
a spirit of devoted loyalty
to country. So many mighty events in our
national history have
transpired since the signing of this
treaty of peace, that in the
popular mind it does not possess that
importance which it de-
serves. I am glad that you have planned
this centennial cele-
bration to commemorate the event and
emphasize its importance
and value. It is well to realize that it
is one of the landmarks
of civilization and that it beckoned the
people on to greater and
greater achievements which opened the
way to progress, and its
celebration to-day is alike profitable
and inspiring to every true
lover of country and its happy and
peaceful homes.
We cannot have too many of these
celebrations with their
impressive lessons of patriotism and
sacrifice. Let us teach our
children to revere the past, for by its
examples and lessons alone
can we wisely prepare them for a better
and nobler future. The
city of Greenville, the people of Ohio,
the people of the country.
should see to it that at no distant day
a great monument shall
be erected to celebrate this great
event.