80 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
arrive at its position till the first
assault was nearly over. After a
volley or two, in which the British
sustained some slight loss, the troops
at this point also were ordered to
retire. The loss amounted to 26
killed, 29 wounded and missing, and 41
wounded (most of them slightly)
and brought away; total 96. The
Americans state their loss at one
killed and seven wounded. Considering
the way in which they were
sheltered, and the circumstances of the
attack altogether, no greater
loss could have been expected.
"The American editors seem
determined to drag the Indians, in
spite of their confirmed and to an
American well-known habits, within
the limits of the 'fatal ditch.' 'The
Indians,' says Mr. Thomson, 'were
enraged and mortified at this
unparalleled defeat; and carrying their
dead and wounded from the field, they
indignantly followed the British
regulars to the shipping.' 'It is a fact
worthy of observation' says Mr.
O'Connor, 'that not one Indian was found
among the dead, although it
is known that from three to four hundred
were present.' A brave
enemy would have found something to
praise in the efforts of Colonel
Shortt and his men, in this their
'unparalleled defeat;' but all is forgotten
in the lavish encomiums bestowed upon
Major Croghan and the band
of 'heroes,' who 'compelled an army,'
says an American editor, 'much
more than 10 times superior,' to
relinquish the attack."
LAST SURVIVOR OF FORT STEPHENSON.
A group of distinguished visitors
entering unannounced the
Blue Room at the White House, during the administration of
President Hayes, were surprised to find
the beautiful mistress
of the house sitting on the floor,
needle and thread in hand,
while before her half reclining on the
central divan, sat an old
soldier in the uniform of an ordnance
sergeant of the United
States Army.
The callers, who were Sir Edward
Thornton, the British
Minister, with some English friends,
were about to retire, when
Mrs. Hayes looked up from her work, saw
them, and laughingly
called them to stay. She rose from the
floor, shook hands warmly
with the old man, and parrying his
thanks and assuring him that
his uniform was now perfect, handed him
over to the care of
her son.
The story is one of her many kindly,
self-unconscious acts.
One of her sons, visiting the Barnes
Hospital at the Soldiers'
home near Washington, had examined the
list of soldiers living
there and discovered that one was a
veteran of Fort Stephenson,
The Croghan Celebration. 81
at Fremont, Ohio, the home of the Hayes family, named William Gaines, late ordnance sergeant United States Army. Subsequently Sergeant Gaines was granted a pension for his service in the War of 1812 and also for the Mexican War, and a complete full dress uniform was ordered sent to the White House for him. Sergeant Gaines was brought in from the Sol- diers' Home to don his uniform and have his photograph taken in it. After putting on his uniform, the old soldier trembling with excitement and weakness discovered that the sergeant's |
|
|
Lake Erie and the decisive Battle of the Thames. At the request of the members of the Hayes family, Repre- sentative William McKinley introduced a bill to place William Gaines, late ordnance sergeant, U. S. Army, on the retired list of the army with seventy-five per cent. of the full pay and allowance of an ordnance sergeant; he having served faithfully and honorably in the army of the United States for more than fifty-one years, having been an ordnance sergeant for over thirty- three consecutive years of said service, and having participated Vol. XVI--6. |
82 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
in the siege of Fort Meigs, the defense
of Fort Stephenson, and
the Battle of the Thames in the War of
1812.
Gen. Anson G. McCook secured the passage of the bill
through the House of Representatives and
Gen. A. E. Burnside
secured concurrent action by the Senate,
and the Act was ap-
proved by President Hayes.
Sergeant Gaines' story as told by
himself in an interview
with Mr. Webb C Hayes at Washington in
1879, is as follows:
"My name is William Gaines. I was
born in Frederick City, Md.,
Christmas Day, 1799. My father and
mother were both born in Virginia.
My father and General Gaines were
cousins. My father had died and my
mother was not in very good
circumstances. We started from Frederick
City, and when we reached Washington
stopped for five or six hours
and called on President Madison. Our
folks came from Montpelier, Va.,
President Madison's home, and my uncle
and President Madison were
well acquainted. I had another uncle in
Kentucky named Daveiss. They
both lived in Lexington. During the
Indian war in 1811, my uncle,
Colonel Daveiss, raised a volunteer
regiment and joined General Harrison.
He took me along with him to take care
of his horses and that is the
way that I came to be in the battle of
Tippecanoe, November 5, 1811.
"I occupied a tent with the Orderly
Sergeant of the company. His
tent was next to that of my uncle,
Colonel Daveiss, and then came the
company tent. We were surprised by the
Indians, who got in the camp
before we were aware of it. Some rushed
into our tent, but we crawled
out on the opposite side. Before getting
out, however, the thumb of my
left hand was cut by an Indian tomahawk
or knife and laid wide open.
It was sewed up by Dr. Woodward. The
Indians were defeated, but my
uncle, Colonel Daveiss, was killed.
"I enlisted on July 18, 1812, as a
drummer boy in Captain Arm-
strong's company of the Twenty-fourth
Infantry. I was then in my
thirteenth year. We marched from
Knoxville to Nashville, and then
against the Creek nation. We marched
from Nashville down the Cumber-
land river to the Ohio, which was full
of ice and impassable, and were
obliged to stop at a small French fort
called Fort Massack, which was
occupied by one company, about forty men
of the Second Artillery under
Lieutenant Tanner. We remained there
until next spring and then started
for Fort Meigs. We marched first to
Newport, Ky., which took us, I
think, twenty days, but we made a stop
at Harrisonburg, where we were
invited to the farm of Col. George
Harrison and had everything we
wanted. We stopped at Newport three days
washing and cleaning our-
selves and then crossed to
Cincinnati. From Cincinnati we marched
due north through the state of Ohio
until we came to Franklinton, which
was the extreme frontier. At Franklinton
two deserters were tried and
The Croghan Celebration. 83
shot. They came from camp Meigs, where
they had mutinied and came
near killing the captain. They were
taken by some citizens between
Upper Sandusky and Franklinton. General
Harrison ordered a general
court martial and charges were sent from
Fort Meigs. Both were sen-
tenced to be shot and both were shot the
next day. They were buried
on the banks of the Little Sciota.
"We then marched due north to Upper
Sandusky. At Upper San-
dusky we drew two days' rations to carry
us through the Maumee Black
Swamp. We then marched due north until
we reached a point about five
or six miles from Fort Stephenson, and
then turning west the road ran
through the Maumee Valley Black Swamp on
to Fort Meigs, which we
reached the next day. Gen. Green Clay
was in command. While we were
at Fort Meigs, Gen. Harrison established
his headquarters at Fort Seneca,
so that he might be handy for the
different departments. We were at
Fort Meigs something like a month, and
during a portion of the time
were besieged by Indians and British,
and kept up a constant fire on
them for about eight days.
"Our company was then ordered to
Camp Seneca, in July I think,
and while there a rumor came that Fort
Stephenson was to be attacked.
A detail was made from the different
companies to relieve Fort Stephen-
son, and that was done that each company
should have equal chance in
the glory. All this time I was a private
in Captain Armstrong's com-
pany, Twenty-fourth Infantry, having
exchanged my drum for a musket,
and was acting as cook for Lieutenant
Joseph Anthony of my company.
Lieutenant Anthony, Samuel Thurman, John
Foster, James Riggs, a man
named Jones and myself composed the
detail from my company. We
started at the break of day, and got to
Fort Stephenson between nine
and ten o'clock. We had not been there
more than an hour and a half
or two hours before the British hove in
sight and began landing their
troops, cannon, etc. Between 11 and 12
o'clock there came a flag of
truce and an officer and six men; they
were blindfolded and taken in at
the west gate. It was rumored that the
officer was sent to demand the
surrender of the fort or to show no
quarter. When they were gone
Major Croghan told us to prepare
ourselves, as no quarter was to be
shown. They came around on the northwest
side which was covered
with woods, about 150 yards distant, and
between the woods and fort
was a ravine down which they would haul
the cannon to load and then
push up on the brow of the hill and
fire. They could not approach from
the east side because that was an open
field, and we could have brought
them down. To the north and south it was
also quite open. The
weather was good but warm, and a storm
which had threatened finally
disappeared. They fired on us for a
time, but Major Croghan would
not let us return it. Samuel Thurman was
in the block house and de-
termined to shoot a red coat. He climbed
up on top of the block house
and peered over, when a six-pound ball
from the enemy's cannon took his
head off. Finally toward evening they
made a charge, and when they got
84 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
on level ground we got orders to fire.
We shot through loop holes in
the pickets and port holes in the
blockhouses. I recollect very well
when Colonel Shortt fell. I see it all
now as distinctly as I see you two
gentlemen. Our cannon was loaded with
six-pound ball and grape. I
was in the blockhouse and after Col.
Short fell he held up a white
handkerchief for quarter. Somebody in
the blockhouse said, 'That man
is hollering for quarter. He said he
would show none. Now give him
quarter.' It passed all through the
fort. Then the bugle sounded the
retreat. They had old Tecumseh and about
1,500 Indians, and I think
about 700 or 800 regulars. I only
estimated them by seeing them march-
ing away.
There were no buildings near the fort,
nor any women in the fort,
as there was not settlement nearer than
Franklinton. They landed below
us, near the race track, opposite the
Island. The British wounded who
were not taken away lay in the ditch. I
do not know anything about the
passing of water over to the wounded. It
might have been done unbe-
known to me. The British soldiers were
buried the next day. I do not
know how many were killed. You see they
took them away at night and
we did not know anything about it.
"At the siege of Fort Meigs there
was a large tree into which an In-
dian climbed and thus obtained a view of
the interior of the fort. A
man named Bronson brought him down with
a rifle. I do not think it
can be true that we loaded our cannon
with nails and scraps on ac-
count of lack of ammunition. I have
often thought that if General Har-
rison had marched his troops from Fort
Seneca down the east side of
the Sandusky river and crossed, it would
have brought him between the
enemy and their boats, and thus we could
have captured them all. I
have often thought of it and talked it over with men of our company.
When the firing commenced, Lieut.
Anthony was panicstruck and secreted
himself, and did not come out until the
battle was over. He was put
under arrest by Major Croghan and sent
to Fort Seneca and court-
martialed for cowardice and cashiered
the service. Gen. Harrison was
a small and very slim man, a little on
the dark complected order, and
advanced in years. Major Croghan was a
very thin man and stood about
five feet eight or nine inches. He was
tall and slim. He became very
corpulent and fleshy some years after. I
remember well when Colonel
Croghan was placed in arrest. He had an
order from Gen. Harrison to
destroy all public property that he
could not bring away and retreat.
When he got the order it was too late to
retreat. He was tried and ac-
quitted. He was a very courageous man,
afraid of nothing under the
sun. After the battle of Fort Stephenson
we were returned to our com-
panies again. Every company got their
own men but ours, which had
one killed, Samuel Thurman, who was the
only man killed on our side.
We lay at Camp Seneca until the news
came from Commodore Perry
that "we have met the enemy and
they are ours." We then marched
past Fort Stephenson to the lake, where
we were furnished with boats
The Croghan Celebration. 85
and crossed over into Canada. We landed about one mile below Colonel Elliott's quarters. I must tell you a little story about this. I took six beautiful silver spoons from that man's house. Everybody had left and I was hard up. The house was furnished in the English fashion. I sold them at Detroit. We did not get paid in those days like we do now. We often went eighteen months without pay. From Elliott's we went to Fort Malden. They had evacuated and taken all they could get from there, and then we went up to Sand Beach. Colonel Johnson followed with more men, and we all followed the British troops until they got to Moravian Town. On the 2d of October we fought the battle of the Thames. I recol- lect that day just as well as I do sitting in this chair. It was their last battle. We made short work of the British. They knew we were com- |
|
ing and General Proctor and an aide fled before we were within a mile of them. We captured all of them but these two. We had more fighting with the Indians than with the British Regulars. The Indians retreated across the river in canoes, but many of them were shot and tumbled over in the water. We marched to Detroit, where we embarked in Com- modore Perry's fleet. General Harrison and my company were on the same boat with Commodore Perry, and also a British Commodore and other British officers who were prisoners. We sailed to Buffalo, and then marched to Sackett's Harbor, where we joined General Wilkinson's com- mand that was to attack Montreal. We took open boats and started across, but owing to the ice we had to abandon the expedition and return to the shore, from where we marched to a place called Chateaugay Four Cor- ners, on a little lake, and wintered there. The next spring the captain, |
86 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
one officer and myself went to New York
on recruiting service. That
was in 1814. I remained in New York
about two years. When we left
New York we marched with recruits to
fill up the companies stationed
on the northern frontier. I had
re-enlisted on the 23d of November,
1816, for five years. We marched to
Sackett's Harbor, and I was there
assigned to Company D, Second Infantry.
The other recruits were dis-
tributed at the different stations. I
was stationed at Sackett's Harbor
something like seventeen years. We
remained quietly at barracks all
this time, until the Black Hawk War
broke out beyond Chicago. We
started in the month of July, 1832, and
got back October 6, of the same
year. We had no battles in that
campaign. There was nothing but hard
marching, etc. I was appointed an
ordinance sergeant of the U. S. army
October 18, 1833, and was ordered to
Boston, but finally exchanged with
the ordnance sergeant at Madison
barracks. Colonel Kirby, paymaster,
and others arranged the matter for me.
During the Florida War I was
in Sackett's Harbor in charge of all the
property at that post. I was
there too during the Mexican War and got
an order from General
Augur to enlist all the men that I could
and send them to Syracuse. I
got from four to six every day, and sent
them to Syracuse for Mexico.
I was a recruiting officer for General
Augur. During the war of the Re-
bellion I was left alone in charge of
the quartermaster's stores, medical
and other property at Madison Barracks,
New York. I was discharged
December 31, 1866, by Secretary Stanton
and came to this home. I have
had charge of a great many improvements
in the home and was lodge
keeper at the Whitney Avenue gate for a
number of years."
Sergeant Gaines was at the time of this
interview an active
old man about five feet seven inches in
height, of dark complex-
ion. He had bright grey eyes, white hair
and strongly marked
features. He stood perfectly erect, and
had a very soldierly bear-
ing. His mind was clear and his memory
quite remarkable. He
described with great detail the incident
of his early service. He
was the last survivor of the gallant
defenders of Fort Stephenson.
He enlisted when in his thirtieth year
and probably no man served
longer in the United States Army than
he.
REUBEN CLEMENT.
In 1880 there still lived in Petersburg,
Va., a survivor of the
War of 1812, one of the Petersburg
Volunteers, one member of
which, Brown, fought at Fort Stephenson.
A letter from this
aged man, Mr. Reuben Clements, reads: