ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT.
AN ORATION DELIVERED BY JUDGE SAMUEL F. HUNT ON THE CENTEN-
NIAL, OF THE DEFEAT OF
GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR AND ON
THE OCCASION OF THE RE-INTERMENT OF THE
DEAD
WHO FELL IN THE ENGAGEMENT ON THE BATTLE-
FIELD. FT. RECOVERY, O., OCT. 16, 1891.*
It is said that for more than six
hundred years after the
battle of Morgarten the Swiss peasantry
gathered on the field of
battle to commemorate those who had
fallen for freedom. We
have assembled to-day in the same spirit
to do honor to the gallant
dead, who, one hundred years ago, gave
their lives for their
country in this fatal field, and amidst
their hallowed ashes to per-
petuate the story of their unselfish
patriotism. A great Republic,
mighty in its perfect unity, guards with
tender care the memory
* NOTE.--(From the Cincinnati [Daily] Enquirer. October
17,
1891.)
FT. RECOVERY,
O., Oct. 16. -The
grand centennial celebration of
the battle of St. Clair closed to-day,
and the expectations of the Mon-
umental Association have been realized
fully. Great crowds of people
have assembled each day to pay homage to
the dead heroes.
This morning dawned with a clear sky,
seemingly the act of
Providence to prepare a perfect day for
the crowning event of the
exercises. Fully 15,000 people assembled
to-day on the old battle ground
of Ft. Recovery to witness the sad rites
of placing the remains of the
dead heroes in their third and last
resting place. It will be remembered
that the bones of the old soldiers were
discovered in a pit, where they
had been placed by their comrades after
the battle. The first skull
was found by the late Judge Roop by mere
accident after a rain, which
had washed them out to view. This was in
June, 1851, and they lay
in that state until October of the same
year, when they were interred
in a private cemetery amid grand
ceremonies. They rested in their
earthly abodes until a few days ago,
when they were again taken up
to prepare for their final resting
place. It was to-day this rite was
performed. The exercises this forenoon
were: Speaking at the grounds
and military parade, Colonel Bundy, of
Cincinnati, being the prin-
cipal orator.
General J. P. C. Shanks, of Portland,
Ind., delivered an inter-
esting address relative to the defeat of
Arthur St. Clair. At noon Judge-
Samuel F. Hunt, of Cincinnati, Senator
Godfrey, of Celina, and Mayor
(373)
374 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
of every man, whether on land or on sea,
who has lifted up his
hand for his country and the glory of
the flag.
We here reverently do honor not only to
the memory of the
gallant Butler and those who fell with
him on that day of dread-
ful disaster under St. Clair, but to
those tried and patriotic men
who followed Anthony Wayne and perished
at last at the Fallen
Timbers, and those hardy pioneers who
protected the frontier
before civil authority was established,
and saved defenseless set-
tlements from the tomahawk and scalping
knife of the Indian.
THE ILLIMITABLE WEST.
When George Washington, on the 25th day
of November,
1758, - then in his twenty-sixth year,-
planted the British flag
on the deserted ruins of the fortress at
the junction of the Monon-
Blackburn, of Cincinnati, arrived. The
procession was then formed
at the Christian Church, where the
remains were lying in state. The
Sidney Cornet Band headed the
procession, playing a slow march, fol-
lowed by the military company from
Portland, Ind. The Sons of
Veterans came next, followed by the G.
A. R. Post of this city. Then
came the catafalque on which the remains
were placed, drawn by four
horses. The Executive Board of the
Monumental Association followed
the catafalque and a procession of young
ladies, representing the dif-
ferent states of the Union, brought up
the rear. The procession slowly
marched from the church through the city
to the park, where the grave
had been prepared to receive the
remains. Prayer was offered by
Rev. O. S. Green, after which General
Shanks delivered the dedication
address. Three salutes were fired by the
military over the graves of the
soldiers. The scene was an impressive
one, and will be remembered
by all who witnessed it. Amid the
tolling of the church bells throughout
the city the remains of the five hundred
soldiers, together with those
of General Butler, were consigned once
more to the silent tomb, never
to be again disturbed. The park is a
most beautiful one, and was
purchased by the city for the site of a
monument, which will no doubt
some day be erected. The monument will
be placed directly in the
center of the park over the graves of
the dead soldiers. The remains
of General Butler were discovered and
interred in 1876, and a few
years later his sword was found nearly
on the same spot. His name
and the crown of England were engraved
upon it. The address of
Judge Hunt this afternoon was listened
to by 10,000 people. Thus closed
an event of national importance. The
fact that visitors were here from
half the states of the Union showed what
an interest has been taken
in the event throughout the country.
St. Clair's Defeat. 375
gahela and the Allegheny rivers, the
banners of England floated
for the first time over the Ohio. This
was the extreme western
post of British rule in North America,
and from the gateway of
the west there stretched toward the
setting sun the solemn and
mysterious forest. There was nothing but
an endless space of
shadowy woodland. The forests crowned
the mountains from crest
to river-bed and extended in melancholy
wastes toward the dis-
tant Mississippi. It has been well
expressed that the sunlight
could not penetrate the roof-archway of
murmuring leaves while
deep in its tangled depths lurked the
red foe, hawk-eyed and
wolf-hearted. Here and there were great
prairies with copses of
woodland like islands in the sunny seas
of tall, waving grass. In
all that solitude there was no sound
save that of the woodman's
axe.
The English had been driven from every
cabin in the basin
of the Ohio. France had her posts on
each side of the Lakes,
and at Detroit, at Mackinaw, at
Kaskaskia and at New Orleans,
and the claim of France to the valleys
of the Mississippi and the
St. Lawrence seemed established by
possession. The flag of the
Bourbon dynasty which floated from the
battlements of Quebec
was the emblem of sovereignty over this
vast territory.
The victory of Wolfe over Montcalm on
the heights of
Abraham, on September 9, 1759, decided
whether the vast central
valley of North America should bear
throughout all coming time
the impress of French or English
civilization. The continent
was saved from French domination, and
the dying hero praised
God for the victory over the French as
his spirit escaped in the
blaze of its glory. The historian says
that night, silence, the rush-
ing tide, veteran discipline, the sure
inspiration of genius, had
been his allies; his battle field, high
over the ocean-river, was the
grandest theatre on earth for
illustrious deeds; his victory, one
of the most momentous in the annals of
mankind, gave to the
English tongue and the institutions of
the Germanic race the
unexplored and seemingly infinite West
and North. He crowded
into a few hours actions that would have
given lustre to length of
life; and fulfilling his day with
greatness, completed it before
its noon.
376 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE NORTH WEST.
The North Western Territory, after the
conquest of the
French possessions in North America by
Great Britain, was
ceded to Great Britain by France by the
treaty of Paris in 1763.
By an act of Parliament of Great Britain
passed in 1774, the
whole of the North Western Territory was
annexed to and made
a part of the Province of Quebec as
established by royal procla-
mation of October 1763, and by the
treaty of peace, signed at
Paris, September 3, 1783, the claim of
the English Monarch to
the North Western Territory was ceded to
the United States.
The title claimed by Virginia,
Massachusetts, New York and Con-
necticut was vested in the United States
by the several deeds
of cession.
Congress now proceeded to perfect its
title to the soil and
jurisdiction by negotiation with the
Indian tribes-the original
owners and rightful
proprietors-notwithstanding charters and
grants and treaties of peace. The Indian
title to a large part
of the territory within the limits of
the State of Ohio having been
extinguished it became necessary for
Congress to provide a form
of government for the territory
northwest of the Ohio river. This
led to the adoption of the ordinance of
1787.
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR APPOINTED
GOVERNOR.
Arthur St. Clair, an officer in the old
French war, a Major
General in the army of the revolution
and President of the Con-
tinental Congress, was appointed
Governor of the North Western
Territory in 1788, with Winthrop
Sergeant as Secretary, and
who also acted as Chief Magistrate in
the absence of the Gov-
ernor. When St. Clair came to the
territory in July, 1788, the
tribes on the Wabash were decidedly
hostile. They continued
to invade the Kentucky settlements,
while George Rogers Clark,
at the head of the Kentucky Volunteers,
in return, destroyed their
villages and waged a relentless warfare
against them. Immigra-
tion was retarded by the fear of the
tomahawk and the scalping
knife.
St. Clair's Defeat. 377
THE REGULAR ARMY AND THE INDIAN
TRIBES.
At the close of the revolution the
"regular army" had been
reduced to less than seven hundred men,
and no officer was re-
tained above the rank of captain. This
force was soon after
reduced to twenty-five men to guard the
mighty stores at Pitts-
burg, and fifty-five men to perform
military duty at West Point and
other magazines.
It was estimated that all the tribes in
the territory at this time
numbered twenty thousand souls. They
were continually inflamed
by British emissaries and agents and a
feeling of hostility enkind-
led. These emissaries and agents made
their headquarters at
the frontier forts which had not been
given up by Great Britain
according to the terms of the treaty
with the United States.
The military force of the territory
consisted of about six hundred
men under the command of General Harmar
who had been
appointed a Brigadier General on the
31st day of July, 1787.
In the early part of 1789 Governor St.
Clair held a council
at Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the
Muskingum, with the
Chiefs and Sachems of the Six Nations,
and with the represen-
tatives of the Indian tribes from the
Mohawk Valley to the
Wabash, when old agreements were
confirmed and boundaries
established. Many of the tribes refused
to acknowledge the
Treaty as binding, and within a short
period after the Council
at Fort Harmar bands of maurading
Indians threatened the
frontiers of Virginia and Kentucky.
PERMANENT PEACE WITH THE INDIANS
IMPOSSIBLE.
It became evident that permanent peace
with the Indians
was an impossibility. They waylaid the
boats and wounded
and plundered the immigrants all along
the river from Pittsburg
to the Falls of the Ohio. General Harmar
endeavored to chastise
them, but his expedition was a disaster,
and his command
defeated at the Maumee Ford in October,
1790.
The Federal Government proclaimed that
the occupation
of the territory meant peace and
friendship and not war and
bloodshed. These appeals were only
answered by renewed depre-
378
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
dations on the part of the Indians, who
were largely instigated
by the infamous Simon Girty-a renegade
white man, at the
mention of whose name for more than
twenty years the women
and children of the Ohio country turned
pale.
The tribes of the West under Little
Turtle, Chief of the
Miamis, Blue Jacket, Chief of the
Shawnees, and Buck-onga-a-
helos, Chief of the Delawares, now
confederated to resist the
whites and drive them, if possible,
beyond the Ohio river which
the Indians regarded as the boundary of
their territory. Corn-
planter, a famous Chief, at the table of
General Wayne, at Legion-
ville, in 1793, said, "My mind is
upon that river," pointing to the
Ohio, "May that water ever continue
to run and remain the
boundary of lasting peace between the
Americans and Indians
on the opposite side."
THE EXPEDITIONS OF HARMAR AND SCOTT AND WILKINSON.
The expeditions of Harmar and Scott and
Wilkinson were
directed against the Miamis and
Shawnees, while the burning
of their towns, the destruction of their
corn-fields and the cap-
tivity of their women and children only
seemed to exasperate
them and aroused more desperate efforts
to defend their hunting
grounds and to harass the invaders. In
the meantime prepara-
tions were going forward for the main
expedition of St. Clair,
the purpose of which was to secure
control over the savages by
establishing a chain of forts from the
Ohio river to Lake Erie
and especially by securing a strong
position in the heart of the
Miami country. The defeat of Harmar
proved the necessity
of some strong check upon the Indians of
the North West.
THE CAMPAIGN OF GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.
Indeed the main object of the campaign
of 1791 was to build
a fort at the junction of the St. Mary
and the St. Joseph's Rivers
which was to be connected by other
intermediate stations with
Fort Washington and the Ohio. The
importance of this posi-
tion was recognized in a letter of
General Knox, Secretary of
War, to St. Clair, dated September 12, 1790, and the
Secretary of
War in his official report of St.
Clair's defeat, dated December
St. Clair's Defeat. 379
26, 1791, says, "that the great
object of the late campaign was
to establish a strong military post at
the Miami Village-Maumee
at the Junction of the Joseph and the
St. Mary." This object,
too, was to be attained, if possible,
even at the expense of a con-
test which otherwise he avoided.
The Secretary of War, under the
authority and direction of
President Washington, issued full and
complete instructions to
General St. Clair for the conduct of the
campaign. It was de-
clared to be the policy of the general
government to establish a
just and liberal peace with all the
Indian Tribes within the limits
and in the vicinity of the territory of
the United States; but if
lenient measures should fail to bring
the hostile Indians to a
just sense of their situation, it would
then be necessary to use
all coercive measures to accomplish the
result.
General St. Clair was informed that by
an Act of Congress,
passed September 2, 1790, another
regiment was to be raised and
added to the military establishment and
provision made for rais-
ing two thousand levies for the term of
six months for the service
of the frontiers. It was contemplated
that the mass of regulars
and volunteers should be recruited and rendezvous
at Fort Wash-
ington by the 10th of July following, so
that there would be a
force of three thousand
"effectives" at least, besides leaving small
garrisons on the Ohio, for the main
expedition.
GENERAL CHARLES SCOTT AND THE KENTUCKY
MILITIA.
In order to prevent the Indians from
spreading themselves
along the line of the frontiers, in the
event of the refusal of peace,
Brigadier General Charles Scott, of
Kentucky, was authorized to
make an expedition against the Wea or
Oniatenon towns, with
mounted volunteers, or militia from
Kentucky, not exceeding the
number of seven hundred and fifty,
officers included.
In his advance to the Miami Village St.
Clair was directed to
establish such posts of communication
with Fort Washington
on the Ohio, as should be deemed proper,
while the post at the
confluence of the St. Mary and the St.
Joseph was intended for
the purpose of awing and curbing the
Indians in that quarter
and as the only preventive of future
hostilities. It was necessary
that it should be made secure against
all attempts and insults of
380
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the Indians. The garrison to be
stationed there was not only
to be sufficient for the defense of the
place, but always to afford
a detachment of five or six hundred men,
either to chastise any
of the Wabash or other hostile Indians,
or to secure any convoy
of provisions.
FRIENDLY INDIANS EMPLOYED.
It was left to the discretion of the
Commanding General to
employ, if attainable, any Indians of
the Six Nations, and the
Chickasaws or other Southern Nations,
with the suggestion that
probably the employment of about fifty
of each, under the direc-
tion of some discreet or able chief,
might be advantageous.
There was a caution that they ought not
to be assembled before
the line of march was taken up, for the
reason that they soon
became tired and would not be detained.
The Secretary of War presumed that
disciplined valor would
triumph over the undisciplined Indian.
In that event the Indians
would sue for peace, and the dignity of
the United States Gov-
ernment required that the terms should
be liberal. In order to
avoid future war it was thought proper
to make the Wabash,
and thence over to the Miami-the
Maumee-and down the
same to its mouth at Lake Erie, the
boundary, except so far as
the same might relate to the Wyandots
and the Delawares, on the
supposition of their continuing faithful
to their treaties. But if
these tribes should join in war against
the United States they
should be removed beyond this boundary.
THE BOUNDARIES TO BE ESTABLISHED.
There was also a discretion given to
General St. Clair to
extend the boundary from the mouth of
the river Au Panse of the
Wabash in a due West line to the
Mississippi, since but few
Indians, besides the Kickapoos, would be
affected by such line,
but there was an admonition that the
whole matter should be
tenderly managed. The policy of the
United States dictated
peace with the Indians, for peace was of
more value than millions
of uncultivated acres.
St. Clair's Defeat. 381
JEALOUSY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.
It was thought possible that the
establishment of a post at
the Miami Village might be regarded by
the British officers on
the frontier as a circumstance of
jealousy. It was suggested,
therefore, that such intimations should
be made at the proper
time, as would remove all such
dispositions. It was the judg-
ment of the Secretary of War that such
intimations should rather
follow than precede the possession of
the post.
THE FEELING TOWARD GREAT BRITAIN.
It is interesting-after the lapse of one
hundred years-to
know the feeling entertained by the
Federal Government toward
Great Britain in the campaign of the
North Western territory.
Within twenty-one years after the defeat
of St. Clair on this fatal
field there was a formal declaration of
war between the United
States and Great Britain, and within
twenty-one years General
Harrison heard the thunder of Perry's
guns as they proclaimed
that the American arms had undisputed
possession of Lake Erie.
In the very instructions to which we
have alluded it was
declared that it was neither the
inclination nor the interest of the
United States to enter into a contest
with Great Britain, and
that every measure tending to any
discussion or altercation
should be prevented. General Knox said,
"The delicate situa-
tion, therefore, of affairs, may render
it improper, at present to
make any naval arrangements upon Lake
Erie. After you shall
have effected all the injury to the
hostile Indians of which your
force may be capable and after having
established the posts and
garrisons at the Miami Village and its
communications, and
placing the same under the orders of an
officer worthy of such
high trust you will return to Fort
Washington on the Ohio."
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF
THE FRONTIER.
"It is proper to observe,"
continued the Secretary of War,
"that certain jealousies have
existed among the people of the
frontiers relative to a supposed
interference between their interest,
382 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
and those of the marine States; that
these jealousies are ill founded
with respect to the present government
is obvious. The United
States embrace, with equal care, all
parts of the Union and,
in the present case, are making
expensive arrangements for the
protection of the frontier, and partly
in the modes, too, which
appear to be highly favored by the
Kentucky people. The high
station you fill as Commander-in-Chief
of the troops and Governor
of the Northwestern Territory, will
afford you pregnant oppor-
tunities to impress the frontier citizen
of the entire good dispo-
sition of the general government toward
them in all reasonable
things, and you will render acceptable
service by cordially em-
bracing all such opportunities."
ORGANIZATION OF ST. CLAIR'S ARMY.
General St. Clair proceeded to organize
his army under these
instructions. He was in Pittsburg in the
following April, toward
which point horses and stores and
ammunition were goingforward.
On the 15th of May St. Clair reached Ft.
Washington (now Cincin-
nati) and at that time, the United
States troops in the West
amounted to but two hundred and
sixty-four non commissioned
officers and privates fit for duty. On
the 15th of July the first
regiment, containing two hundred and
ninety-nine men reached
Fort Washington.
General Richard Butler-who fell in the
engagement and
for whom Butler County was named--was
appointed second in
command, and during the months of April
and May was engaged
in obtaining recruits, but when obtained
there was no money
to pay them, nor to provide stores for
them. There was great
inefficiency in the quartermaster's
department. Tents, pack
saddles, kettles, knapsacks and
cartridge boxes were all deficient
both in quantity and quality. The powder
was poor or injurea,
the arms and accoutrements out of repair
and not even proper
tools to mend them. Of six hundred and
sixty-five stand of
arms at Fort Washington, designed by St.
Clair for the militia,
scarcely any were in order; and with two
traveling forges furnished
by the Quartermaster, there were no
anvils. The troops gath-
ered slowly at Fort Washington, and
there were vexatious deten-
tions at Pittsburg and upon the river.
Intemperance prevailed to
St. Clair's Defeat. 383
a great extent. St. Clair then ordered
the soldiers removed,
now numbering two thousand men, to
Ludlow Station, about six
miles from the fort.
THE MARCH IN THE WILDERNESS.
The army continued here until September
17, 1791, when,
being two thousand three hundred strong,
moved forward to
a point on the Great Miami river when
Fort Hamilton was built,
the first in the chain of fortresses.
On the 13th of September
General St. Clair reconnoitred
the country and selected the ground to
erect another fort for the
purpose of a deposit. Two hundred men
were employed the
following day under the direction of
Major Ferguson, at the new
fort. This was the second in the chain
of fortifications and was
called Fort Jefferson. The army took up
the line of march
on the morning of the 24th
and pursued an old Indian path
leading north through a fine open woods,
and, after advancing
six miles encamped along the bank of a
creek with a large prairie
on the left. This camp was afterwards
called Fort Greenville by
General Wayne, and marks the site of the
town of Greenville.
On the 3rd day of November the army
encamped on pleasant
dry ground, on the bank of a creek about
twenty yards wide,
said to be the Pickaway fork of the
Omee, but known since
to be a branch of the Wabash. This was
ninety-eight miles
from Fort Washington. It was later than
usual when the army
reached the ground that evening, and the
fatigue of the men pre-
vented the general from having some
works of defense imme-
diately erected. Major Ferguson,
commanding officer of the
artillery, was sent for and a plan
agreed upon for work to com-
mence early next morning. Indeed it was
the intention of St.
Clair to leave the heavy baggage at the
place and move on
with the army to the Miami Village. The
high dry ground
was barely sufficient to encamp the army
so that the lines
were contracted. The front line was
parallel with the creek,
which was about twenty yards wide. There
was low wet ground
on both flanks, and along most of the
rear. The militia advanced
across the creek about three hundred
yards. The frequent firing
of the sentinels through the night had
disturbed the camp, and
384 Ohio Arch.
and His. Society Publications.
excited some concern among the officers,
while guards had
reported the Indians skulking about in
considerable numbers.
At ten o'clock at night General Butler,
who commanded the
right wing, was directed to send out an
intelligent officer and
party for information. There was much
bitter controversy on
this subject afterwards. An aid-de-camp
to General St. Clair
states that he saw Captain Slough, with
two subalterns and
thirty men parade at General Butler's
tent for that purpose,
and heard General Butler give Captain
Slough very particular
orders how to proceed. The aid-de-camp
with two or three offi-
cers, remained with General Butler until
a late hour, and then
returned to the Commander-in-Chief, who
was unable to be up
and whose tent was at some distance on
the left. General St.
Clair had been indisposed for some days
past with what at
times appeared to be "a billious
colic, sometimes a rheumatic
asthma, and at other times symptoms of
the gout."
THE STORY OF AN EYE-WITNESS.
In the Military Journal of Major
Ebenezer Denny, an officer
in the Revolutionary and Indian Wars,
and an aid-de-camp to
General St. Clair, published by the
Historical Society of Penn-
sylvania, will be found, perhaps, the
best account of the engage-
ment itself.
A light fall of snow lay upon the ground
-so light that it
appeared like hoar frost. On a piece of
rising ground, timbered
with oak, ash and hickory, the
encampment was spread with a ford-
able stream in front. The army lay in
two lines, 70 yards apart,
with 4 pieces of cannon in the center of
each. Across the stream,
and beyond a rich bottom land 300 yards
in width, as an
elevated plain, covered with an open
front of stately trees. There
the militia, three hundred and fifty
independent, half-insub-
ordinate men, under Lieutenant Colonel
Oldham, of Kentucky,
were encamped.
The troops paraded on the morning of the
fourth of Novem-
ber, 1791, at the usual time. They had
been dismissed from the
lines but a few minutes, and the sun had
hardly risen, when the
woods in front resounded with the fire
and yells of the savages.
The volunteers who were but three
hundred yards in front had
St. Clair's Defeat. 385
scarcely time to return a shot before
they fled into the camp of the
enemy. The troops were under arms in an
instant, and a brisk
fire from the front line met the enemy.
The Indians from the
front filed off to the right and left
and completely surrounded the
camp, and, as a result, cut off nearly
all the guards and approaches
close to the lines. The savages advanced
from one tree, log,
or stump to another under cover of the
smoke of the guns of
the advancing army. The artillery and
musketry made a tremen-
dous noise, but did but little
execution. The Indians braved
everything, and when the army of St.
Clair was encompassed
they kept up a constant fire which told
with fatal effect, although
scarcely heard. The left flank, probably
from the nature of the
ground, gave way first. The enemy got
possession of that part
of the encampment but were soon repulsed
because the ground
was very open and exposed.
General St. Clair was engaged at that
time toward the right.
He led in person the party that drove
the enemy and regained
the ground on the left.
The battalions in the rear charged
several times and forced
the enemy from the shelter, but the
Indians always turned and
fired upon their backs. The savages
feared nothing from the
Federal troops. They disappeared from
the reach of the bayonet
and then appeared as they pleased. They
were visible only when
raised by a charge. The ground was
literally covered with the
dead and dying. The wounded were taken
to the centre where it
was thought most safe, and where a great
many had crowded
together after they had quitted the
posts. The general, with
other officers, endeavored to rally
these men, and twice they
were taken out to the lines. The
officers seemed to be singled out
and a great proportion fell or retired
from wounds early in the
action.
The men, being thus left with few
officers, became fearful,
and, despairing of success, gave up the
battle. To save them-
selves they abandoned their ground, and
crowded in toward the
centre of the field. They seemed
perfectly ungovernable, and
no effort could again place them in
order for an attack.
The Indians at length secured the
artillery, but not until the
Vol. VIII-25.
386 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
officers were all killed, save one, and
that officer badly wounded.
The men were almost all cut off and the
pieces spiked. As the lines
of St. Clair's army were gradually
deserted the lines of the
Indians were contracted. The shots then
centered, and with
deliberate aim the execution was
fearful. There was, too, a
cross-fire, and officers and men fell in
every direction. The dis-
tress and cries of the wounded were
fearful. A few minutes later
and a retreat would have been
impossible. The only hope was
that the savages would be so taken up
with the camp as not to
follow the retreating army. Delay was death. There was no
opportunity for preparation. Numbers of
brave men must be
left on the field as a sacrifice. There
was no alternative but
retreat. It was after nine o'clock when
repeated orders had been
given to retreat. The action had
continued between two and
three hours. Both officers and men were
incapable of doing
anything. No one was aroused to action
until a retreat was
ordered. Then a few officers advanced to
the front and the men
followed. The enemy then temporarily
gave way because there
was no suspicion of the retreat. The
stoutest and most active
now took lead, and those who were
foremost in breaking the
lines of the enemy were soon left in the
rear.
THE RETREAT OF THE ARMY.
When the day was lost one of the
pack-horses was procured
for General St. Clair. The general
delayed to see the rear.
This movement was soon discovered by the
enemy and the
Indians followed for not more than four
or five miles. They
soon returned to share the spoils of the
battle field. Soon after
the firing ceased an order was given to
an officer to gain the front
and, if possible, to cause a halt that
the rear might reach the army.
A short halt was caused, but the men
grew impatient and would
move forward. By this time the remainder
of the army was
somewhat compact, but in the most
miserable and defenseless
state. The wounded left their arms on
the field, and one-half
the others threw them away on the
retreat. The road for miles
was covered with fire-locks, cartridge
boxes and regimentals.
It was most fortunate that the pursuit was discontinued for a
St. Clair's Defeat. 387
single Indian might have followed with
safety on either flank.
Such a panic had seized the men that
they were ungovernable.
In the afternoon a detachment of the
first regiment met the
retreating army. This regiment, the only
complete and best dis-
ciplined portion of the army, had been
ordered back upon the
road the 31st of October. They were
thirty miles from the battle
ground when they heard distinctly the
firing of the cannon, were
hastening forward and had marched about
nine miles when met
by some of the militia who informed
Major Hamtramck, the
commanding officer, that the army was
totally destroyed. The
major judged it best to send a subaltern
to obtain some knowl-
edge of the situation, and to return
himself with the regiment to
Fort Jefferson, eight miles back, and to
secure at all events that
post. Stragglers continued to come in
for hours after the main
army had reached the fort.
The remnant of the army, with the first
regiment, was now at
Fort Jefferson, twenty-nine miles from
the field of action, without
provisions, and the former without
having eaten anything for
twenty-four hours. A convoy was known to
be upon the road,
and within a day's march. The general
determined to move with
the first regiment and all the levies
able to march. Those of the
wounded and others unable to go on, were
lodged as comfortably
as possible within the fort. The army
set out a little after ten
o'clock that night and reached Fort
Hamilton on the afternoon
of the 6th, the general having reached
there in the morning.
On the afternoon of the 8th the army
reached Fort Washington.
GALLANTRY OF ST. CLAIR.
St. Clair behaved gallantly during the
dreadful scene. He
was so tortured with gout that he could
not mount a horse with-
out assistance. He was not in uniform.
His chief covering was
a coarse crappo coat, and a three cocked
hat from under which
his white hair was seen streaming as he
and Butler rode up and
down the line during the battle. He had
three horses killed
under him. Eight balls passed through
his clothes. He finally
mounted a pack-horse, and upon this
animal, which could with
difficulty be spurred into a trot, he
followed the retreat.
388 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
That evening Adjutant General Sargent
wrote in his diary,
"The troops have all been defeated
and though it is impossible
at this time to ascertain our loss, yet
there can be no manner of
doubt that more than one-half the army
are either killed or
wounded."
Atwater in his History of Ohio says that
there were in the
army, at the commencement of the action,
about two hundred and
fifty women, of whom fifty-six were
killed in the battle, and the
remainder were made prisoners by the
enemy, except a small
number who reached Fort Washington.
THE CAUSE OF THE DEFEAT.
The true causes of the disaster have
been the subject of much
controversy. The Committee of the House
of Representatives,
as stated in the American State Papers
(Vol. XII, 38) exonerated
St. Clair from all blame in relation to
everything before and dur-
ing the action.
The real reasons were doubtless the
surprise of the army and
the consequent confusion and plight of
the militia who were
first attacked. The militia, as St.
Clair says, were a quarter of a
mile in advance of the main army, and
beyond the creek; still
further in advance was Captain Slough,
who, with volunteer party
of regulars sent to reconnoitre; and
orders had been given to
Colonel Oldham, who commanded the
militia, to have the woods
thoroughly examined by the scouts and
patrols as Indians were
discovered hanging about the outskirts
of the army. The want
of discipline and inexperience of the
troops, doubtless, contrib-
uted to the result. The battle began at
six o'clock in the morn-
ing and lasted until about half past
nine. They were not over-
whelmed, as St. Clair supposed, by
superior numbers. The
Indians, according to the best accounts,
did not exceed one thou-
sand warriors. They fought, however,
with desperate valor,
and at a great advantage from the nature
of the ground and from
the facilities the forest afforded for
their favorite mode of attack.
They were led, too, by the greatest
chieftain of that age. It has
been the received opinion that the
leader of the confederated
tribes on that fatal day was Little
Turtle, the Chief of the
Miamis; but from the family of that
celebrated warrior and
St. Clair's Defeat. 389
statesman, it is ascertained that Joseph
Brandt (Stone's Brandt,
II, p. 313) with one hundred and fifty
Mohawk braves were pres-
ent and commanded the warriors of the
Wilderness. Colonel
John Johnston, long the Indian Agent,
thinks that the number of
the Indians could not have been less
than two thousand men,
but this estimate is not accepted as
accurate. General Harmar
not only refused to join the expedition,
but the relations between
St. Clair and Butler were not of the
most cordial character. It
is evident from the events connected
with the campaign, as well
as from his subsequent career as
Governor of the North Western
Territory, that St. Clair was
dictatorial in manner and spirit.
THE EFFECT OF THE DEFEAT.
The battle which took place here on that
eventful day in
November, 1791, seems to pale before the
mighty achievements
of the late civil war when great armies
were picked up on the
banks of the Potomac and dropped on the
banks of the Cumber-
land and the Tennessee, and when the
shouts of more than a
million of men, mingled with the roar of
the Atlantic and Pacific
as they passed onward in the ranks of
war. The defeat of St.
Clair was the most terrible reverse the
American arms ever
suffered from the Indians. Even the
defeat of Braddock's army
was less disastrous. Braddock's army
consisted of twelve hun-
dred men and eighty-six officers, of
whom seven hundred and
fourteen men and sixty-three officers
were killed and wounded.
St. Clair's army consisted of fourteen
hundred men and eighty-
six officers, of whom thirty-seven
officers and five hundred and
ninety-three privates were killed and
missing, and thirty-one offi-
cers and two hundred and fifty-two
privates wounded. It is true
that when the army advanced from Fort
Jefferson it numbered
about two thousand men, but discharges
and desertions reduced
the effective strength on the day of
action to only about fourteen
hundred men. The second regiment had but
one battalion with
the army. It was well appointed, but
inexperienced. The
officers and men, however, did their
whole duty; they, with the
battalion of artillery, were nearly all
cut off.
Bancroft, in speaking of Braddock's
defeat, says that the
forest field of battle was left thickly
strewn with the wounded and
390 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the dead. Never had there been such a
harvest of scalps. As
evening approached, the woods around
Fort Du Quesne rung
with the halloos of the red men; the
constant firing of small
arms, mingled with the peal of cannon
from the Fort. The next
day the British artillery was brought
in, and the Indian warriors,
painting their skin a shining vermilion,
with patches of black and
brown and blue, gloried in the laced
hats and bright apparel of
the English officers. This language, but
for the British artillery
and the English officers, would be
descriptive of the field.
ALARM IN PENNSYLVANIA AND VIRGINIA.
The people of the Western Counties of
Pennsylvania and
Virginia memorialized their Governors
for protection. "In con-
sequence of the late intelligence of the
fate of the campaign to the
Westward," says a committee of the
citizens of Pittsburg, "the
inhabitants of the town of Pittsburg
have convened and appointed
us a committee for the purpose of
addressing your Excellency.
The late disaster to the army must
greatly affect the safety of this
place. There can be no doubt but that
the enemy will now come
forward and with more spirit and greater
confidence than they
ever did before, for success will give
confidence and secure allies."
"The alarming intelligence lately
received," said the people
of the Western portion of Virginia,
"of the defeat of the army of
the Western country, fills our minds
with dreadful fear and
apprehension concerning the safety of
our fellow citizens in the
country we represent, and we confidently
hope will be an excuse
for your Excellency, whose zeal has been
so frequently evinced
in behalf of the distressed frontier
counties for the request we are
compelled to make."
BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT NOT SO DISASTROUS AS
THAT OF ST. CLAIR.
But the comparative losses of the two
engagements, says
a writer in the Western Annals,
represents very inadequately
the crushing effect of the defeat of St.
Clair. An unprotected
frontier of a thousand miles, from the
Allegheny to the Mississippi,
was at once thrown open to the attack of
the infuriated and
victorious savages. The peace enjoyed
for the several preced-
St, Clair's Defeat. 391
ing years had wrought a great change in
the western settlements.
The Indian hunters of the Revolutionary
war had laid aside their
arms and their habits and devoted
themselves to the cultivation
of the soil; the block houses and forts
around which the first
settlers had gathered were abandoned,
and cabins, clearings and
hamlets instead were scattered in
exposed situations all along
the border. Everywhere the settlers
unprotected and unpre-
pared, were expecting in terror the
approach of the savages,
and everywhere abandoning their homes,
or awaiting in helpless
despair the burnings, massacres and
cruelties of Indian wars.
THE DISSENSION IN ST. CLAIR'S ARMY.
General Harmar was at Fort Washington in
September,
1791, to solicit a court of inquiry to examine info
misconduct
in the last campaign. The court was
orderd - with General Rich-
ard Butler as President- and
a report was made highly honor-
ble to General Harmar. He was then
determined to quit the
service and positively refused to take
any command in the cam-
paign of St. Clair. He conversed
frequently and freely with a few
of his friends on the probable results
of the campaign and predicted
defeat. He suspected a disposition in
Major Denny to resign
but discouraged the idea. "You
must," said he, "go in the
campaign; some will escape, and you may
be among the number."
It was a matter of astonishment to
General Harmar, who had
experience in fighting the Indians, that
General St. Clair, who
had an excellent military reputation,
should think of hazarding
that reputation and even his life, and
the lives of so many others,
with an army so completely
undisciplined, and with the officers so
totally unacquainted with Indian
warfare, and with not a depart-
ment sufficiently prepared. There, too,
was an absolute ignor-
ance of the collected force and
situation of the enemy. Indeed
the scouts who left camp on the 29th of
October under com-
mand of Captain Sparks, and composed
chiefly of friendly Indians,
missed the enemy altogether and knew
nothing of the battle, and
but for an Indian runner whom they met
after the engagement
would probably have all been captured.
It was unfortunate, too,
that both the general officers had been
disabled by sickness.
392 Ohio Arch.
and His. Society Publications.
CLAMOR AGAINST ST. CLAIR.
The popular clamor against St. Clair was
loud and deep.
He had suffered a great reverse and was,
therefore, accused by the
public voice of great incompetence. He
asked from the President
the appointment of a court of inquiry,
but the request was
denied because there were not officers
enough in the service of the
proper rank to constitute such a court.
He then offered to re-
sign his commission on condition that
his conduct should be
investigated, but the exigencies of the
service would not permit
of the delay, and his request was again
refused.
Governor St. Clair continued to exercise
the office of Gov-
ernor of the territory until 1802, and to the
last, says Marshall in
his life of Washington, retained the
undiminished esteem and
good opinion of Washington.
JOHN CLEVES SYMMES AND ST. CLAIR.
In a letter to Jonathan Dayton from John
Cleves Symmes,
dated North Bend, August 15, 1791, the
writer says that noth-
ing is known when the present army is to
be put into motion.
They are encamped at the Ludlow Station,
five miles from Fort
Washington, on account of better food
for the cattle, of which they
have near one thousand head from
Kentucky. Many and import-
ant are the preparations to be made
previous to their general
movement. Not long since I made General
St. Clair a tender
of my services on the expedition. He
replied, "I am very will-
ing that you should go, sir, but, by
God, you do not go as a Dutch
deputy." I answered that I did not
recollect the anecdote of
the Dutch deputation to which he
alluded. His Excellency
replied: "The Dutch, in some of the
wars, sent forth an army
under the command of a general officer,
but appointed a depu-
tation of burghers to attend the general
to the war, that they
might advise him when to fight and when
to decline." I inferred
from this that I should be considered by
him rather as a spy
upon his conduct than otherwise, and
therefore do not intend
to go, though I should have been happy
to have seen the country
between this and Sandusky.
St. Clair's Defeat. 393
It is needless to add that had Judge
Symmes accompanied
the army his opportunity for observing
the country in the neigh-
borhood of Fort Recovery would have been
too limited for
any practical use.
THE DEATH OF ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.
"In May, 1815," says a writer,
"four of us called on Arthur
St. Clair on the top of Chestnut Ridge,
eastwardly eight or ten
miles from Greensburg, Westmoreland
county, Pennsylvania.
We were travelling on horseback to
Connecticut, and being in-
formed that he kept tavern, we decided
to call for entertainment
for the night. We alighted at his
residence late in the afternoon,
and on entering the log house saw an
elderly, neat gentleman,
dressed in black broad cloth, with
stockings and small clothes,
shining shoes, whose straps were secured
by large silver buckles,
his hair clubbed and powdered. On
closing his book he arose
and received us most kindly and
gracefully, and pointing us to
chairs he asked us to be seated. On
being asked for enter-
tainment, he said: 'Gentlemen, I
perceive you are travelling and
though I should be gratified by your
custom, it is my duty to
inform you I have no hay or grain. I
have good pasture, but
if hay and grain are essential, I cannot
furnish them.' "
"There stood before us a Major
General of the Revolution -
the friend and confidant of Washington -
late Governor of the
territory northwest of the Ohio river,
one of nature's noble-
men, of high, dignified bearing, whom
misfortune, nor the ingrati-
tude of his country, nor poverty, could
break down nor deprive
of self-respect: keeping a tavern but
could not furnish a bushel
of oats nor a loch of hay. We were moved
principally to call
upon him to hear him converse about the
men of the Revolution
and of the North Western Territory, and
our regret that he could
not entertain us was greatly increased
by hearing him converse
about an hour. The large estate which he
sacrificed for the
cause of the Revolution was within a
short distance of the top
of Chestnut Ridge - if not in
sight." He died on the thirty-first
day of August, 1818, near Greensburgh,
Pennsylvania, in the
eighty-fourth year of his age. His best
eulogist speaks of him as
394 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
an enemy to the Indian tribes in war,
but more frequently their
friend and counsellor in peace.
THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD OF ST. CLAIR'S
ARMY.
In January, 1792, General James
Wilkinson, who then com-
manded at Fort Washington, made a call
for volunteers to accom-
pany an expedition to the scene of St.
Clair's defeat, for the
purpose of burying the dead. Ensign
William Henry Har-
rison- afterwards President of the
United States- was attached
to one of the companies of the regular
troops. The volunteers
numbered more than two hundred and fifty
mounted men, and
two hundred regular soldiers from Fort
Washington. They be-
gan the march on the 25th day of
January, 1792, from Fort Wash-
ington and afterwards completed the
organization by electing
Captain John S. Gano as Major. They
crossed the Big Miami
on the ice, with horses and baggage, at
Fort Hamilton, on the
twenty-eighth day of January. The
general in command issued
an order at Fort Jefferson abandoning
one of the objects of the
campaign, which was a demonstration
against an Indian town on
the Wabash, not far distant from the
battle ground of St. Clair.
The regular soldiers, all on foot,
returned to Fort Washington.
The expedition reached the scene of
disaster at eleven o'clock,
but for a long distance along the road
and in the woods, the
bodies of the slain could be seen
scalped, in many instances, and
mutilated by the wild beasts.
It is said that the body of General
Richard Butler was rec-
ognized where the carnage had been the
thickest and among a
group of the slain. The bodies were
gathered together, and in
the solitude of the forest, and amidst
the gloom of winter, were
given a last resting place.
THE DEAD OF THE BATTLEFIELD.
The field of honor is measured by the
cause and the self-
consecration. It may mean the field of
defeat as well as the field
of victory. It is the self-sacrifice
which determines the reward.
It is not possible to call the list of
the slain in any engage-
ment. Many must be left to catch the
tears of mothers and wives
St. Clair's Defeat. 395
and sisters shed in desolated homes and
by vacated firesides.
The officers who fell in the battle were
Major General Butler,
second in command; Major Ferguson,
Captain Bradford, and
Lieutenant Spear, of the artillery;
Major Heart, Captain Phelon,
Newman and Kirkwood, Lieutenant Warren
and Ensign Cobb
of the second regiment; Captains Van
Swearingen, Tibton and
Price, Lieutenants McMath and Boyd,
Ensigns Wilson and
Reeves, Brooks and Chase, Adjutant
Burges and Doctor Gray-
son, of the first regiment of Levies.
Captains Cribbs, Piatt,
Smith and Purdy, Lieutenants Kelso and
Lukens, Ensigns
McMichle, Beatty and Purdy, and Adjutant
Anderson of the
second regiment of Levies. Lieutenant
Colonel Gibson of the
Bayonets died of his wounds at Fort
Jefferson; and also Lieu-
tenant Colonel Oldham, Captain Lemon,
Lieutenant Briggs and
Ensign Montgomery of the Kentucky
Militia. General William
Darke, for whom Darke county was named,
was Lieutenant
Colonel of the first Regiment of Levies
and was wounded in the
engagement. He died on the 20th day of
November, 1801.
The death roll shows five hundred and
ninety-three privates
killed and missing in the engagement.
They are dead on the
field of honor.
THE DUTY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.
The National Government is gathering
together the remains
of those who fell under the flag and
reinterring them in cem-
eteries with appropriate memorials to
commemorate their names
and their deeds. A sacred duty to the
dead of the battlefield
will not have been discharged by the
Federal Government until
a stately shaft of magnificent
proportions shall be erected to tell
not only of that eventful day in
November, but to teach the
coming generations as well, by their
example, when duty re-
quires, to die for their country.
THE COUNTRY FOR WHICH THEY DIED.
We turn from the ashes of the heroic
dead to contemplate,
with a supreme affection, the country
for which they died. One
hundred years have passed since that day
of disaster for the
whole North Western Territory. It has
been a century crowned
396
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
by the blessings of liberty and order
and law. The gently
flowing Wabash traverses almost a
continent where the English
tongue is the language of Freedom until
its quiet waters mingle
with the gulf. The harvests are
peacefully gathered to their
garners and the songs of home are
uninvaded by the cries and
terrors of battle. The principle of
civil and religious liberty
upon which five great Republics of the
Northwest have erected
their law and constitution is strong in
the hearts of a people who
breathed the inspiration of freedom from
the very air of heaven
and whose soil was never cursed by the
unrequited toil of the
bondman. We may well have faith in the
greatness and perma-
nence of our political creations and in
unbroken unity, prophecy,
unconquerable strength.
Talleyrand characterized the United
States, in speaking to
the Emperor Napoleon, as a giant without
homes. If the dip-
lomat were here today he would find the
National sentiment
stronger than at any period since the
Revolution; nor will the
pages of history show a more splendid
example of self-sacrifice in
vindication of National integrity than
the late civil war. It is the
crowning glory of the century, and a
free people, having an
abiding faith in the strength and
permanency of their political
institutions, may look forward with
supreme confidence as they
march onward under the guidance of Him
who was with the
fathers in the path to imperial
greatness.