Week 11: Indigenous and Colonial Relationships, Effects of Colonialism Part 3

American Colonial Relations

The American Revolution 

Excerpt from David D Plain, From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga, Trafford Publishing 2013 pp 157-159.

The “Town Destroyer”

In 1778 the British send 200 of Colonel John Butler’s Rangers

into the Wyoming Valley to evict 6,000 illegal immigrants who

were squatting on “Indian lands”. They had with them 300

of their First Nation allies mostly members of the Three Fires

Confederacy. The Wyoming valley was situated in the middle of

the Seneca’s best hunting grounds and land never ceded by them.

Most of the forts the illegals had built were quickly abandoned

and the inhabitants fled. Fort Forty was the lone exception. When

the warriors feigned a withdrawal the colonials foolishly poured

out of their fort and into an ambush. This resulted in the killing

of 227 of them.

The Revolutionary government turned to propaganda releasing

a series of outlandish stories of the “massacre”. One such story read

that it was a “mere marauding, a cruel and murderous invasion

of a peaceful settlement . . . the inhabitants, men women and

children were indiscriminately butchered by the 1,100 men, 900 of

them being their Indian allies”. In truth there were only 500 men,

300 of them being their First Nation allies. And according to an

exhaustive study done by Egerton Ryerson only rebel soldiers were

killed and the misinformation put out by the Congress Party was

totally exaggerated and highly inflammatory.

Colonial propaganda was designed to inflame hatred among

the populace toward the British’s First Nation allies. However, it

had the effect of inflaming hatred toward all First Nation’s people

due to the decades of violence along the frontier over land. The

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frontiersmen were convinced they had the right to push ever

westward while harboring in their hearts the axiom “the only good

Indian is a dead Indian”.

General Washington bought into his own government’s

propaganda releases. In 1779 he decided to act. The Six Nation

Iroquois League was divided on where their loyalties lay. Only

the Oneida and Onondaga backed the rebel cause and even their

loyalties were split. Washington charged General John Sullivan

with a war of extermination against the Iroquois. Sullivan headed

into Iroquois territory with an army of 6,500 men. His war of

extermination was a failure but he did destroy forty Seneca and

Cayuga towns along with burning all their crops. Although it is

true that atrocities were committed by both sides those committed

by the rebels were mostly forgotten. During this campaign the

Iroquois dead were scalped and in one instance one was skinned

from the waist down to make a pair of leggings!

The famished Iroquois fled to Niagara where they basically

sat out the rest of the war. With their crops destroyed the British

supplied them with the necessities putting a tremendous strain on

their war effort. This expedition earned George Washington the

infamous nickname of “Town Destroyer”. Now not only was any

hope gone of assistance from the Shawnee but also the Iroquois.

Meanwhile, in Illinois country George Rogers Clark was

determined to retake Fort Sackville at Vincennes. He had captured

it the year before only to lose it to Colonel Hamilton who had

marched immediately from Detroit. He left Kaskaskia on February

5th marching his 170 militiamen across flooded plains and waist

deep, freezing water. When he arrived at Vincennes he used the

old dodge of marching his men across a small patch of tableland

visible to the fort. He repeatedly marched them across this plateau

giving the enemy the impression that he had many more men

than he actually had. The history books claim that this had such

an alarming affect on the First Nations at the fort that they were

“scared off” by the ruse and the fort fell immediately.

It is true that the British were abandoned by their First Nation

allies. They were members of the Three Fires Confederacy. It is

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 159

not true that they were “scared off”. Of the 170 militiamen with

Clark some were Frenchmen from New Orleans. The French,

like some of the First Nations, were also split in their allegiances.

Captain Alexander McKee wrote to Captain R.B. Lernoult

quite worried about news he had received regarding Three Fires

support. In the letter he wrote that the Ottawa and Chippewa

had sent a belt of peace to other surrounding nations saying they

had been deceived by the British and the Six Nations into taking

up the hatchet against the rebels. If they remained with the

hatchet in their hands they would be forced to use it against their

brothers the French. They reported seeing them coming with

Clark and his Virginians and therefore withdrew as they still had

great affection for the French. Old loyalties die hard. They were

determined now to lay down the hatchet and remain quiet thus

leaving the whites to fight among themselves. They were advising

their brothers the Shawnee to do the same and that the tribes of

the Wabash were also of like mind. This was not good news for

the British.

The withdrawal of support from the Three Fires Confederacy

and the sidelining of the Six Nations Iroquois that year left the

British with only support from the Miami, Shawnee and some of

the Delaware. There would be more atrocities to follow but still

it would be another three years before the British would see any

Three Fires’ support.

Gnadenhutten Massacre 1782

Excerpt from David D Plain, From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga, Trafford Publishing 2013 pp159-162.

Massacre at Gnadenhutten

Hatred toward First Nations people by the rebels continued

to be the norm among the general populace. Most, especially

frontiersmen, failed to distinguish between their First Nation

160 David D Plain

allies, their First Nation enemies and the First Nation communities

that were neutral and wanting only to sit out the war in peace.

In the spring of 1782 the Moravian Delaware were living near

their town of Gnadenhutten on the Muskingum River. They had

been long converted to Christianity by the Moravian missionaries

and had taken up western societies’ ways. They were farmers. They

wore European dress and had their hair cropped in European

style. They lived in houses rather than lodges. They worshipped

in a Christian church on Sundays. Their community functioned

under the auspices of their Moravian mentors.

The Muskingum had become a dangerous war zone. They

realized the danger was particularly heightened for them being

“Indians”. They had determined to abandon their farms and move

the whole community further west to seek safe haven among the

Wyandotte of Sandusky as many of their Delaware brothers who

were not Christian had done already.

Before they could leave they were approached by Colonel

David Williamson and 160 of his Colonial Militia. They

claimed to be on a peaceful mission to provide protection and

to remove them to Fort Pitt where they could sit out the war in

peace. The leaders of the Gnadenhutten community encouraged

their farmers to come in from the fields around Salem and take

advantage of the colonel’s good offer. When they arrived all were

relieved of their guns and knives but told they would be returned

at Fort Pitt.

As soon as they were defenseless they were all arrested and

charged with being “murders, enemies and thieves” because

they had in their possession dishes, tea cups, silverware and

all the implements normally used by pioneers. Claims that the

missionaries had purchased the items for them went unheeded.

They were bound and imprisoned at Gnadenhutten where they

spend the night in Christian prayer. The next day the militia

massacred 29 men, 27 women and 34 children all bound and

defenceless. Even pleas in excellent English on bended knees failed

to save them. Two escaped by pretending to be dead and fled to

Detroit where the stories of the rebels’ atrocities were told.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 161

The Virginians decided to continue the massacre at

Gnadenhutten with a campaign of genocide. The plan was to

take the Wyandotte and their allies at Sandusky by surprise and

annihilate all of the inhabitants. They gathered a force of 478 men

at Mingo Bottoms on the west side of the Ohio River. General

Irvine, who had abhorred Williamson’s actions at Gnadenhutten,

deferred command of the expeditionary force to Colonel William

Crawford.

The force left Mingo Bottoms on May 25th avoiding the main

trail by making a series of forced marches through the wilderness.

On the third day they observed two First Nation scouts and

chased them off. These were the only warriors they saw on their 10

day march. Just before they crossed the Little Sandusky River they

came unwittingly close to the Delaware chief Wingenud’s camp.

Finally Crawford arrived at the Wyandotte’s main village

near the mouth of the Sandusky River. He assumed his covert

operation had been a success and they had arrived at their objective

undetected. But he was dead wrong. His Virginia Militia had

been closely shadowed by First Nation scouts and reports of their

progress had been forwarded to the chiefs.

War belts were sent out to neighboring Delaware, Shawnee

and other Wyandotte towns and their warriors had gathered at the

Half King Pomoacan’s town. Alexander McKee was also on his

way with 140 Shawnee warriors.

An urgent call for help had been sent to the British

commandant Major Arent S. De Peyster at Detroit. He responded

by sending Captain William Caldwell with 70 of his rangers. One

hundred and fifty Detroit Wyandotte joined Caldwell along with

44 “lake Indians”. Caldwell complained to De Peyster “The lake

Indians were very tardy but they did have 44 of them in action”.

These “lake Indians” were Chippewa warriors from

Aamjiwnaang at the foot of Lake Huron. The Aamjiwnaang

Chippewa were members of the Three Fires Confederacy and

were at Vincennes when they withdrew support from the British

in 1779. The fact that they only raised 44 warriors attests to the

162 David D Plain

lack of their war chiefs’ support. They were probably young men

incensed by the stories of Gnadenhutten and acting on their own.

Crawford was dumbfounded when he arrived at the Wyandotte

village and found it deserted. He and his officers held council and

decided to move up river hoping to still take the Wyandotte by

surprise. They didn’t get far when they were met by the warriors

from Pomoacan’s town. They were held in check until McKee and

Caldwell arrived. The battle lasted from June 4th to the 6th and

resulted in a complete First Nation’s victory. The rebel’s expedition

to annihilate the Wyandotte ended in disaster for the Virginians.

It cost them 250 dead or wounded. Caldwell’s Rangers suffered

two killed and two wounded while the First Nations had four

killed and eight wounded.

Colonel Williamson was able to lead the rebel survivors back

to safety but Colonel Crawford was captured along with some of

the perpetrators of the Gnadenhutten massacre. They were taken

to one of the Delaware towns where they were tried and sentenced

to death. Their punishment for Gnadenhutten atrocities was not

an easy one.

Viewing Assignment 1

View the film The Moravian Massacre: http://turtlegang.nyc/gnadenhutten-massacre/ last viewed February 6, 2022.

Indian War of 1790-95

Excerpt from David D Plain, From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga, Trafford Publishing 2013 pp 166-181.

The Indian War of 1790-95

Little Turtle’s War

United States’ Indian policy grew out of the idea that

because First Nations fought on the side of the British during

the Revolutionary War they lost the right of ownership to their

lands when Britain ceded all territory east of the Mississippi.

First Nations were told that the United States now owned their

territories and they could expel them if they wished to do so. This

right of land entitlement by reason of conquest stemmed from

their victory over the British and the hatred of “Indians” which

had been seething for decades. They needed First Nation’s lands

northwest of the Ohio River to sell to settlers in order to raise

much-needed revenue. But the impoverished new nation could not

back up their new policy. So they took a different tact.

In March of 1785 Henry Knox was appointed Secretary of War

and he began to institute a new policy. He proposed to Congress

that there were two solutions in dealing with the First Nations.

The first was to raise an army sufficient to extirpate them.

However, he reported to Washington and Congress that they

didn’t have the money to fund such a project. The estimated

population of the First Nations east of the Mississippi and south of

the Great Lakes was 76,000. The Miami War Chief Little Turtle’s

new “Confederation of Tribes” was quickly gaining numbers and

strength and they were determined to stop American advancement

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 167

at the Ohio. To try to beat them into submission not only seemed

infeasible but immoral. He argued it was unethical for one people

to gain by doing harm to other people and this could only harm

America’s reputation internationally.

The second solution, which he favored, was to return to

the pre-revolutionary policy of purchasing First Nation Lands

through the cession treaty process. In order to sell this idea to

Washington and Congress he pointed out that the First Nations

tenaciously held on to their territories and normally would not

part with them for any reason. This was because being hunting

societies the game on their lands supported their population. But,

as proven in the past, time and again, when too many settlers

moved into their territories game became scarce. Because the

land was overrun by whites and ruined as a hunting territory

they would always consider selling their territory and move their

population further west.

In 1785 an Ordinance was passed by Congress dividing

the territory north and west of the Ohio River into states to be

governed as a territory. In 1787 this Ordinance was improved upon

by passing the Northwest Ordinance appointing Major General

Arthur St. Clair governor of the new territory. The new Ordinance

covered a huge tract of land encompassing the present-day states

of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Land would

now be purchased and hostilities would cease unless “Indian”

aggression were to provoke a “just war”. America was determined

to expand westward as its very existence depended upon it. Clearly

there would be “just wars”.

The first of these cession treaties was signed at Fort Harmar

in 1789. This small cession did little to change the minds of the

First Nations Confederacy. Hostilities continued provoking the

first of the “just wars”. In 1790 President Washington authorized

St. Clair to raise troops to punish Little Turtle’s Confederacy of

Miami, Shawnee, Ottawa, Potawatomi and Ojibwa nations. He

raised an army of 1,200 militia and 320 regulars and set out from

Fort Washington, Cincinnati, under the command of Brigadier

General Josiah Harmar.

168 David D Plain

Little Turtle retreated before Harmar’s lumbering army. He

led Harmar deep into enemy territory where he had set a trap in

the Maumee River valley near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Harmar’s army was strung out in one long column. The trap was

sprung and Little Turtle attacked Harmar’s flank killing 183 and

wounding 31. Panic set in. Harmar retreated in disarray. Little

Turtle pursued intent on wiping out the American army. However,

an eclipse of the moon the next night was interpreted as a bad

omen so the pursuit was called off.

General Harmar claimed a victory but had to face a board of

inquiry. The defeat was whitewashed but Harmar was replaced by

General St. Clair who was a hero of the Revolutionary War. Little

Turtle’s stunning success bolstered the ranks of the Confederacy.

In 1791 St. Clair raised another army of 1,400 militia and 600

regulars. He marched them out of Fort Washington and took up a

position on high ground overlooking the Wabash River.

Little Turtle and his war council decided to take the

Americans head on. Not their usual tactic it took St. Clair by

surprise. Confederacy warriors scattered the Kentucky Militia.

Other militiamen shooting wildly killed or wounded some of

their own men. Bayonet charges were mowed down by fire from

the surrounding woodlands. St. Clair tried to rally his troops but

could not. With General Richard Butler, his commanding officer,

wounded on the battlefield he ordered a retreat. It was no orderly

one. Most flung their rifles aside and fled in a panic.

The American army was completely destroyed. Suffering

nearly 1,000 casualties it would be the worst defeat ever suffered

by the United States at the hands of the First Nations. Washington

was livid. He angrily cursed St. Clair for being “worse than

a murderer” and the defeat on the Wabash became known as

St. Clair’s Shame. On the other hand First Nations’ hopes and

confidence soared.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 169

Congress at the Glaize

St. Clair’s Shame left the fledgling new nation in a precarious

position. The First Nations had just destroyed the only army

the United States had. President Washington put Major General

Anthony Wayne in charge of building a new one and Congress

appropriated one million dollars toward the project.

Wayne’s nickname was “Mad Anthony” which he earned

during the Revolution, but there was nothing “mad” about the

man. He was methodical and extremely determined. Wayne set

out to build the new army at Pittsburgh. It would be an army well-trained,

disciplined and large enough to take care of the “Indian

problem”. And he would be sure to take enough time to ensure a

successful campaign.

He began recruiting in June of 1792. His goal was an army of

5,120 officers, NCOs and privates whipped into the crack troops

needed to defeat a formidable enemy. By the end of 1792 he had

moved twenty-two miles south of Pittsburgh to Legionville where

he wintered. In the spring of 1793 he moved to Hobson’s Choice

on the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Mill Creek. Finally, in

October of 1793 he made his headquarters near Fort Hamilton.

Wayne received new recruits daily all the time relentlessly

drilling them into the army he knew he needed. But all did not

go well with the project. Desertion rates were extremely high.

The First Nation’s stunning successes on the Wabash and in

the Maumee Valley had instilled terror in the hearts of ordinary

pioneers and moving further toward “Indian Country” only

heightened their fear. Many new recruits would desert at the first

sign of trouble.

The problem had become so chronic that Wayne posted a

reward for the capture and return of any deserter. After a court-martial

the guilty would be severely punished usually by 100

lashes or sometimes even executed. An entry in the Orderly Book

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Mss. dated August 9, 1792 reads, “Deserters have become very

prevalent among our troops, at this place, particularly upon the

least appearance, or rather apprehension of danger, that some

men (for they are unworthy of the name of soldiers), have lost

every sense of honor and duty as to desert their post as sentries, by

which treacherous, base and cowardly conduct, the lives and safety

of their brave companions and worthy citizens were committed to

savage fury.”

Meanwhile, warriors from other First Nations joined the

confederacy Little Turtle and Blue Jacket had forged. In October

1792 the Shawnee hosted a congress held at the Glaize, where

the Auglaize River flows into the Maumee. Delegates from the

nations whose territories were being defended attended. These

were Wyandotte from Sandusky, Delaware, Shawnee, Mingo,

Miami, Munsee, Cherokee and Nanticoke. Also attending were

other First Nations from further away but all offering support for

the war effort. Some of these were Fox and Sauk from the upper

Mississippi, Six Nations and Mohican from New York, Iroquois

from the St. Lawrence and Wyandotte from Detroit. There were

also many warriors from the Three Fires Confederacy. They

were Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa from Detroit as well

as Chippewa from Aamjiwnaang and Saginaw. There were even

some Chippewa from Michilimackinac. This was the largest First

Nation congress every brought together by First Nations alone.

Even though the United States had suffered two humiliating

defeats at the hands of the First Nation Confederacy they still

had little respect. Henry Knox characterized them as Miami and

Wabash Indians together with “a banditti, formed of Shawanese

and outcast Cherokees”. However, because their military was

in shambles and they had a deficiency in revenue peaceful

negotiations were preferable to another war.

Washington at first sent delegates to the Glaize from their First

Nation allies with offers to negotiate. There were still some groups

of individual First Nations friendly with the Americans despite the

treatment received. The delegation of “U.S. Indians” arrived and

the celebrated Seneca orator Red Jacket spoke for the U.S.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 171

Red Jacket rose to speak to the nearly one thousand conferees.

He spoke on two strings of wampum bringing the American

message that even though they defeated the mighty British and

now all Indian territories belonged to them by right of conquest

they may be willing to compromise. They offered to consider

accepting the Muskingum River as the new boundary between

the United States and “Indian Country”. But the Confederacy

saw no need to compromise. After all they had defeated American

armies not once but twice in the last two years. They insisted

the boundary agreed to in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 be

adhered to. That boundary was the Ohio and they would accept

no other.

The Shawnee chief Painted Pole reminded Red Jacket that

while his Seneca group was in Philadelphia cozying up to the

Americans the Confederacy was busy defending their lands. Now

he was at the Glaize doing the Americans dirty work. He accused

Red Jacket of trying to divide the Confederacy and demanded that

Red Jacket speak from his heart and not from his mouth. Painted

Pole then took the wampum strings that Red Jacket had spoken

on and threw them at the Seneca delegation’s feet. Red Jacket was

sent back to the Americans with the Confederacy’s answer, “there

would be no new boundary line”.

There was a tell-tale sign at that conference that Red Jacket’s

task would be difficult if not impossible. In normal negotiations

the civil chiefs would sit in the front with the War Chiefs and

warriors behind them. In this arrangement it would be the much

easier to deal with Civil Chiefs that would negotiate. But at the

Glaize the War Chiefs sat in front of the Civil Chiefs meaning

that Red Jacket would be dealing with the War Chiefs.

The British sat in the wings waiting for the new republic’s

experiment in democracy to fail and hoping at least for an

“Indian boundary state” to be formed. The Spanish at New

Orleans also sat by hoping for this new “Indian State” as it would

serve as a buffer state preventing American expansion into Illinois

country. The British even had observers at the Great Congress at

the Glaize in the person of Indian Agent Alexander McKee and

172 David D Plain

some of his men. Hendrick Aupaumut, a Mohican with Red

Jacket’s emissaries, accused McKee of unduly influencing the

conference’s outcome. But the Americans were not about to be

deterred so easily.

Peace Negotiations

 The year following Red Jacket’s failed negotiations President

Washington appointed three Commissioners to try to negotiate

a peace with the First Nations Confederacy. Benjamin Lincoln,

Timothy Pickering and Beverly Randolph left Philadelphia

travelling north to Niagara. John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant-

Governor of Upper Canada, afforded them British hospitalities

while they waited for word on a council with the First Nation

chiefs. They hoped to meet with the Confederacy at Sandusky

that spring.

The Americans thought the British would be useful as an

intermediary, but the British’s interests were really making sure

the Confederacy didn’t fall apart and long-term that an “Indian

barrier state” would be formed. The United States also had

ulterior motives. Although they would accept a peace as long as

it was on their terms they would be just as happy with failure

to use as an excuse for their “just war”. Simcoe had assessed the

situation correctly when he wrote in his correspondence “It

appears to me that there is little probability of effecting a Peace

and I am inclined to believe that the Commissioners do not

expect it; that General Wayne does not expect it; and that the

Mission of the Commissioners is in general contemplated by the

People of the United States as necessary to adjust the ceremonial

of the destruction and pre-determined extirpation of the Indian

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 173

Americans”. While all this was going on Wayne advanced his army

to Fort Washington.

Meanwhile Washington asked the Mohawk chief Joseph

Brant to travel to the Miami River where the Confederacy was

in council. He was to try to persuade the Chiefs to meet the

Commissioners at Sandusky. He was partially successful in that

they sent a delegation of fifty to Niagara to speak to the American

Commissioners in front of Simcoe.

The delegation demanded the Commissioners inform them

of General Wayne’s movements and they also wanted to know

if they were empowered to fix a permanent boundary line. The

Commissioners must have answered satisfactorily because the

delegation agreed that the Chiefs would meet them in council at

Sandusky.

The Commissioners travelled with a British escort along

the north shoreline of Lake Erie stopping just south of Detroit.

Fort Detroit had yet to be handed over to the Americans and

Simcoe refused to let them enter the fort so they were put up at

the house of Mathew Elliott an Irishman who had been trading

with the Shawnee for many years. While they were there another

delegation arrived from the Miami. The Chiefs had felt that the

first delegation had not spoken forcefully enough regarding their

demands that the original boundary line of the Ohio River was

to be adhered to and that any white squatters be removed to south

of the Ohio. They also wanted to know why, if the United States

was interested in peace, Wayne’s army was advancing? No answer

was forthcoming. However, the Commissioners did inform this

delegation that they were only authorized to offer compensation

for lands and it was the United States’ position that those lands

were already treated away. Besides, the United States felt that

it would be impossible to remove any white settlers as they had

been established there for many years. The delegation returned to

the Miami with the Commissioners’ response which was totally

unacceptable to the Chiefs.

A council was held at the foot of the Maumee rapids where

Alexander McKee kept a storehouse. Both McKee and Elliott

174 David D Plain

were there as British Indian Agents. Joseph Brant suggested they

compromise by offering the Muskingum River as a new boundary

line. The Chiefs were in no mood to compromise having just

defeated the American Army not once but twice. Brant accused

McKee of unduly influencing the Chiefs’ position. The Delaware

chief Buckongahlas indicated that Brant was right. With the

Confederacy unwilling to compromise and the United States,

backed by Wayne’s army, standing firm things appeared to be at

an impasse. The Chiefs crafted a new proposal. A third delegation

carried it to the Commissioners on the Detroit.

The First Nations said money was of no value to them.

Besides, they could never consider selling lands that provided

sustenance to their families. Since there could be no peace as long

as white squatters were living on their lands they proposed the

following solution:

We know that these settlers are poor, or they would

never have ventured to live in a country that has been

in continual trouble ever since they crossed the Ohio.

Divide, therefore, this large sum which you have offered

us, among these people; give to each, also, a proportion

of what you say you would give to us annually, over

and above this very large sum of money, and we are

persuaded they would most readily accept of it, in lieu

of that lands you sold them. If you add, also, the great

sums you must expend in raising and paying armies

with a view to force us to yield you our country, you

will certainly have more than sufficient for the purposes

of repaying these settlers for all their labours and their

improvements. You have talked to us about concessions.

It appears strange that you expect any from us, who

have only been defending our just rights against your

invasions. We want peace. Restore to us our country

and we shall be enemies no longer.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 175

The delegation also reminded the Commissioners that their

only demand was “the peaceable possession of a small part of

our once great country”. They could retreat no further since the

country behind them could only provide enough food for its

inhabitants so they were forced to stay and leave their bones in the

small space to which they were now confined.

The Commissioners packed up their bags and left. There

would be no council at Sandusky. They returned to Philadelphia

and reported to the Secretary of War, “The Indians refuse to make

peace.” Wayne’s invasion would be “just and lawful.”

Meanwhile, at the Maumee Rapids a War Feast was given and

the War Song sung encouraging all the young warriors to come

in defense of their country. “The whole white race is a monster

who is always hungry and what he eats is land” declared Shawnee

warrior Chicksika. Their English father would assist them and

they pointed to Alexander McKee.

The Battle of Fallen Timbers

While the United States was busy trying to relieve the First

Nations of their lands peacefully and on their terms General

Wayne was busy preparing for their “just” war. He moved steadily

west establishing Forts Washington and Recovery along the way.

They would serve his supply lines during the upcoming battles.

In October 1793 he reached the southwest branch of the Great

Miami River where he camped for the winter. The Confederacy

made two successful raids on his supply lines that autumn then

returned to the Glaize for the winter.

Meanwhile, Britain had gone to war with France in Europe.

Sir Guy Carleton, Canada’s new Governor, was sure that the

176 David D Plain

United States would side with France and this would mean war in

North America. He met with a delegation from the Confederacy

in Quebec and reiterated his feelings on a coming war with the

Americans. He informed them that the boundary line “must be

drawn by the Warriors.” He then ordered Fort Miami to be re-established

on the Maumee River just north of the Glaize as well

as strengthening fortifications on a small island at its mouth.

Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe visited the Glaize in April 1794

and informed the council that Britain would soon be at war with

the United States and they would reassert jurisdiction over lands

south of the Great Lakes and tear up the Treaty of Fort Harmer.

Several years before the Americans talked some minor chiefs and

other warriors into signing that treaty turning all lands formerly

held by the British over to the United States of America for a

paltry $ 9,000 and no mention of an “Indian” border. Meanwhile,

Indian Agents McKee and Elliott encouraged their Shawnee

relatives with the likelihood of British military support. All of this

was very encouraging indeed.

General Wayne had his army of well-trained and disciplined

men. They numbered 3,500 including 1,500 Kentucky

Militiamen. This army was not the lax group of regulars and

volunteers the Confederacy had defeated at the Wabash and

Maumee Valley. Neither was the Confederacy the same fighting

force of three years earlier. Many warriors had left to return to

their homelands in order to provide for their families.

The American Army left their winter quarters and moved

toward the Glaize. Little Turtle saw the handwriting on the wall.

He advised the council “do not engage ‘the General that never

sleeps’ but instead sue for peace”, but the young men would have

none of it. When he could not convince them he abdicated his

leadership to the Shawnee War Chief Blue Jacket and retired.

Blue Jacket moved to cut Wayne’s supply lines. He had a

force of 1,200 warriors when he neared Fort Recovery which was

poorly defended. Half of his warriors were from the Three Fires

Confederacy and they wanted to attack and destroy the fort for

psychological reasons in order to give another defeat for Wayne

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 177

to think about. But Blue Jacket was against this plan. The day

was wasted taking pot shots at the fort and they never cut off

Wayne’s supply line. Blue Jacket’s warriors returned to the Glaize

deeply divided.

In the first week of August an American deserter arrived at the

Glaize and informed Blue Jacket of Wayne’s near arrival. He had

moved more quickly than anticipated and had caught them off

guard. Many the Confederacy’s 1,500 warriors were off hunting

to supplement their food supply. Others were at Fort Miami

picking up supplies of food and ammunition. Blue Jacket ordered

the villages at the Glaize to evacuate. Approximately 500 warriors

gathered up-river to make a defense at a place known as Fallen

Timbers. It was an area where a recent tornado had knocked down

a great number of trees.

Out-numbered six to one the warriors fought bravely. They

established a line of defence and when they were overcome by

the disciplined advance of American bayonets they retreated only

to establish a new line. This happened over and over until they

reached the closed gates of Fort Miami where they received the

shock of their lives!

The fort was commanded by Major William Campbell and he

only had a small garrison under his charge. He was duty bound

to protect the fort if it was attacked but not to assist the King’s

allies. If he opened the gates to the pleading warriors he risked not

only his own life but the lives of the soldiers under him. Not only

that but there would be a good chance of plunging England into a

war with the United States, a war they could not afford being fully

extended in Europe. He made his decision quickly. He peered over

the stockade at the frantic warriors and said “I cannot let you in!

You are painted too much my children!” They had no choice but

to flee down the Maumee in full retreat.

It was not the defeat at Fallen Timbers that broke the

confederacy. They could always regroup to fight another day.

It was instead the utter betrayal of their father the British they

did not know how to get over. It also established the United

States as a bona fide nation because it defeated Britain’s most

178 David D Plain

important ally along the frontier. One chronicler wrote that

it was the most important battle ever won by the United States

because it was the war with the First Nations’ Confederacy that

would make or break the fledging nation. It also showed just how

trustworthy the British could be as an ally. Years later Blue Jacket

would complain “It was then that we saw that the British dealt

treacherously with us”…

A Peace Treaty with Washington

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 179

…the First Nations Confederacy under Blue

Jacket being defeated by General Anthony Wayne at Fallen

Timbers in 1794. The following year chiefs of the various First

Nations began arriving at Greenville, Ohio to negotiate a peace

treaty with the United States. That summer over 1,000 First

Nations people gathered around Fort Greenville. These included

chiefs from the Wyandotte, Delaware, Shawnee, Ottawa,

Chippewa, Potawatomi, Miami and Kickapoo.

This treaty was primarily a peace treaty between George

Washington, President of the United States, and chiefs representing

the above mentioned First Nations. My great-great grandfather

signed as one of the seven War Chiefs of the Chippewa. But not

all former combatants were represented. Among those missing

and vehemently against the peace were Shawnee chiefs Tecumseh

and Kekewepellethe. Rather than deal the Americans Tecumseh

with his followers migrated first to Deer Creek, then to the upper

Miami valley and then to eastern Indiana.

Land cessions were also included as part of the terms for

peace. Article 3 dealt with a new boundary line ‘between the

lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes’.

This effectively ceded all of eastern and southern present day

Ohio and set the stage for future land grabs. Included in the

United States’ ‘relinquishment’ of all ‘Indian lands northward of

the River Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and

southward of the Great Lakes’ were cessations of sixteen other

tracks of land, several miles square, located either were U.S. forts

were already established or where they wished to build towns.

However, the term “lands of the said Indian tribes” had vastly

different meanings to the two sides.

The First Nations wanted their own sovereign country but the

United States dispelled any thought along these lines with Article

5. It defined relinquishment as meaning “The Indian tribes that

have a right to those lands, are to enjoy them quietly . . . but when

those tribes . . . shall be disposed to sell their lands . . . they are

to be sold only to the United States”. In other words we had no

180 David D Plain

sovereign country but only the right to use lands already belonging

to the United States of America!

The Chippewa and Ottawa also ceded from their territories

a strip of land along the Detroit River from the River Raisin to

Lake St. Clair. It was six miles deep and included Fort Detroit.

The Chippewa also ceded a strip of land on the north shore of the

Straits of Mackinaw including the two islands of Mackinaw and

De Bois Blanc. The stage was now set for further U.S. expansion.

As a footnote the metaphorical language changed at the

conclusion of the peace agreement. First Nations had always

used familial terms when referring to First Nations and

European relationships. First the French and then the British

were always referred to as father. The Americans, since their

beginning, were referred to as brother. This continued through

the negotiations at Greenville until its conclusion at which time

the reference to Americans in the person of Washington changed

from bother to father.

Unfortunately because of a clash of cultures this patriarchal

term held different meanings to each side. To the First Nations

a father was both a friend and a provider. The Wyandotte chief

Tarhe spoke for all the assembly because the Wyandotte were

considered an uncle to both the Delaware and Shawnee and he

was the keeper of the council fire at Brownstown. He told his

‘brother Indians’ that they now acknowledge ‘the fifteen United

States of America to now be our father and . . . you must call

them brothers no more’. As children they were to be ‘obedient

to our father; ever listen to him when he speaks to you, and

follow his advice’. The Potawatomi chief New Corn spoke after

Tarhe and addressed the Americans as both father and friend.

Other chiefs spoke commending themselves to their father’s

protection and asked him for aid. The Chippewa chief Massas

admonished the assembly to ‘rejoice in acquiring a new, and so

good, a father’.

Tarhe eloquently defined a father for the American emissaries:

‘Take care of your little ones and do not suffer them to be imposed

upon. Don’t show favor to one to the injury of any. An impartial

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 181

father equally regards all his children, as well as those who are

ordinary as those who may be more handsome; therefore, should

any of your children come to you crying and in distress, have pity

on them, and relieve their wants.’

Of course American arrogance stopped up their ears and they

could not hear Tarhe’s sage advice. Until this present day they

continue to live out their understanding of the term father as a

stern patriarch and one either to be obeyed or disciplined.

Viewing Assignment 2

View the film The Battle of the Wabash, last viewed February 6, 2022.

Tecumseh’s Vision 1808-13

Excerpt from David D Plain, From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga, Trafford Publishing 2013 pp 192-217, 240-250.

The War of 1812

Disaster at Prophetstown

Tecumseh arrived back at Prophetstown in late January 1812

but there was no warm welcome awaiting him. To his bitter

amazement the Shawnee town at the junction of the Tippecanoe

and Wabash Rivers lay in ruins. When told the details of the

disaster he was furious. He had left specific orders with his brother

not to engage the Big Knives but to appease them at all cost. He

had told Tenskwatawa, the Prophet that the time would come for

war, but not now. It was too early. It is reported that he was so

enraged that he grabbed his brother by the hair, shook him and

threatened to kill him.

The summer of 1811 was one of fear and apprehension all

along the frontier. The summer of unrest was caused by a few

young warriors loyal to Prophetstown but nevertheless hotheads

acting on their own. They had been raiding settler’s farms, stealing

their horses and a few had been killed.

William Henry Harrison, the governor of Indiana, met with

Tecumseh at Vincennes in July. Tecumseh tried to convince him

that the confederacy he was building was not for war but for

peace. He was not successful. They had met in council before

and although they had respect for each other they disagreed

strenuously. The year before their council almost ended violently.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 193

Winamek, a Potawatomi chief loyal to the Big Knives

suggested the warriors at Vincennes raise a large war party

and attack Prophetstown but Black Hoof convinced him

otherwise. Black Hoof and The Wolf two Shawnee chiefs loyal

to the Americans attended several councils with settlers in Ohio

convincing them that they and their three hundred warriors were

peaceful. Black Hoof took this opportunity to set all the blame for

all the troubles at the foot of Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa.

Meanwhile, in June some of Tecumseh’s entourage were

busy recruiting followers from the Wyandotte of Sandusky. They

encountered some resistance so they handled it by preying on the

Wyandotte’s fear of witchcraft. They accused their opposition

of it and three were burned alive as sorcerers including the old

village chief Leather Lips. American officials called for conferences

with their First Nation allies at Fort Wayne and Brownstown on

the Detroit River. They came from eastern Michigan, Ohio and

Indiana and all denounced the Shawnee brothers. The Shawnee

delegation to Brownstown was led by George Bluejacket and

Tachnedorus or Captain Logan the Mingo chief. Although they

affirmed their loyalty to the Big Knives they took the opportunity

to visit British Agents across the river at Amherstburg.

Harrison was convinced that all the turmoil on the frontier

emanated from Prophetstown. There was more trouble perpetrated

by the young hot head warriors. Three of these warriors believed

to be Potawatomi had stolen horses on the White and Wabash

Rivers terrorizing the settlers there. While Tecumseh was on

his three thousand mile sojourn building the confederacy

Harrison began to assemble a large army at Vincennes. He was

determined to disperse the First Nations who had congregated at

Prophetstown.

Harrison made his plans public telling Black Hoof to keep

his Shawnee followers in Ohio so they would not be connected to

the coming conflict. He also gave the same advice to the Miami

and Eel River Wea but his words did not sit well with some of the

Miami. Prophetstown was situated across the boundary in Miami

territory and they did not appreciate having their sovereignty

194 David D Plain

impinged upon. Word of the military buildup quickly traveled up

the Wabash to Prophetstown.

Tenskwatawa hurriedly call a council to decide what to

1. The decision was made to send a Kickapoo delegation to

Vincennes. Probably led by Pamawatam the war chief of the

Illinois River Kickapoo the delegation was not successful. They

had tried to negotiate that a settlement of the troubles with the

settlers be sorted out in the spring.

The news they returned with was not good. Harrison had

assemble an army of one thousand soldiers and they were about

to march up the Wabash. The only thing that would deter them

was the return of stolen horses and for those who had committed

murders along the frontier to be handed over for punishment.

Harrison also demanded the dispersal of Prophetstown.

The Prophet had to decide whether to comply or fight.

They were not in good shape for a major battle. They needed

the little lead and powder they had to get them through the

upcoming winter. They were outnumbered. The congregation

at Prophetstown consisted of mostly Kickapoo and Winnebago

warriors that had camped there to hear Tenskwatawa preach along

with a sprinkling of Potawatomi, Ottawa, Ojibwa, Piankeshaw,

Wyandotte and Iroquois. There were also a small number of

Shawnee followers that lived there permanently. In total they could

only muster four to five hundred warriors. Tecumseh was right.

The time for a fight with the Big Knives had not yet arrived.

Harrison started the long, lumbering 180 mile journey up

the Wabash on the 29th of October. One third of the army he

commanded were regulars from the 4th Regiment of the U.S.

Infantry. The rest was made up of 400 Indiana Militia, 120

mounted Kentucky volunteers and 80 mounted Indiana riflemen.

Harrison had hoped that his show of American military might

would force Prophetstown to capitulate but he underestimated

First Nations tenacity. The Prophet decided to disregard

Tecumseh’s orders and stand and fight.

Prophetstown scouts monitored Harrison’s progress up the

eastern side of the Wabash while the warriors prepared spiritually

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 195

for the upcoming battle. Tenskwatawa pronounce the Master of

Life was with them and the spirits would assist in the battle by

making them invisible. He prophesied that he had the power to

turn the American’s powder to sand and their bullets to mud.

When Harrison’s army arrived the warriors had worked

themselves into a frenzy. The Americans made camp about a mile

north of Prophetstown on a patch of high ground at Burnett’s

Creek. They sent a delegation to give The Prophet one last chance

to sue for peace but the three chiefs they met with refused the

offer. Harrison planned to attack the next day.

The Prophet and his council of war chiefs determined that

being outnumbered 2 to 1 and low on ammunition the only real

chance for success was to take the fight to Harrison that night.

Before dawn about 4 a.m. on the 7th of November 1811 the

warriors surrounded the American encampment. They could see

the silhouettes of the sentries outlined by their campfires. Harrison

and his officers were just being aroused for morning muster. The

surprise attack began.

The Winnebago led by Waweapakoosa would attack from

one side while Mengoatowa and his Kickapoo would strike from

the other. The warriors crept stealthily into position and just as

they were about to commence the assault an American sentry saw

movement in the underbrush that surrounded the encampment.

He raised his rifle and fired and the battle was on!

Blood curdling shrieks and war whoops filled the air

accompanied by volleys of gunfire from the darkness all around.

The warriors rushed forward and the American line buckled.

Others scrambled to form battle lines. The volleys of musketry

from the warriors were intense and some of the new recruits as

well as the riflemen protecting the far left flank broke for the

center. However, the main line of regulars held and the warriors

were unable to break through. The right flank now came under

a tremendous assault of gunfire from a grove nearby. Officer

after officer, soldier after soldier was felled. The line was about to

collapse when a company of mounted riflemen reinforced it.

196 David D Plain

The warrior’s surprise attack was now in trouble. The

American army was badly mauled but managed to hold.

Ammunition was running low and daylight was breaking. The

war party that had been so successful from the grove were now

uprooted by a company of riflemen and were in retreat. Harrison

turned from defense to offense routing the warriors who were

out of ammunition. They began a full retreat back to an empty

Prophetstown. When they arrived there with ammunition spent

they decided to disperse.

Harrison spent the rest of the 7th and some of the 8th of

November waiting for the warriors to commence a second assault.

When they didn’t he marched to Prophetstown only to find the

town’s inhabitants consisted of one wounded man and one old

woman who had been left behind. They were taken prisoner

but treated well. Harrison burned Prophetstown to the ground

including the granary. It was going to be a long, hard winter.

Harrison and his army limped back to Vincennes where

he would claim a great victory. But his badly mauled forces told

another story. American casualties amounted to 188 including

68 killed. First Nation estimates range from 25 to 40 killed. The

warriors had given a good account of themselves having assailed a

superior force on its chosen ground and inflicting higher casualties

on them.

War Clouds on the Horizon

When the Prophetstown warriors retreated from the battlefield

they carried some of their fallen with them. They quickly buried

them at their town and withdrew to see what Harrison would do

next.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 197

Although the Americans held their ground during the surprise

attack they were bruised and stunned. Harrison ordered them

to stand at the ready expecting the warriors to mount another

frontal assault. He waited all through November 7th and part way

through the 8th. That attack never came. Little did he know the

warriors had withdrawn due to lack of ammunition.

When the warriors failed to materialize he marched on

Prophetstown burning it to the ground destroying everything

that was there. The warriors watched from afar. They could see

the large billows of black smoke rising from the valley. The next

day their scouts informed them the Big Knives had left so they

returned to see what the enemy had done. They were horrified at

the sight that greeted them. Debased American soldiers had dug

up the fresh graves of their brave fallen warriors. The bodies were

strewn about and left to rot in the sun. They were livid. They reinterned

their dead and left for their hunting grounds short of

enough ammunition to get them through the winter.

Tecumseh’s confederacy had been dealt a serious setback.

Warriors from the several nations that had been at Prophetstown

left viewing the Prophet with disdain. They declared him to be a

false prophet because of the outcome of the battle. Tenskwatawa

claimed the spirits deserted them because his menstruating

wife had defiled the holy ground that he was drumming and

chanting on during the battle. Often a reason such as this would

be accepted for a failed prophecy. But not this time. The nations

from the western Great Lakes that supported Tecumseh and his

vision now rejected the Prophet which left them disenchanted

with Tecumseh’s vision as well. He had a lot of work ahead of him

rebuilding the confederacy.

Harrison was basking in the glory of self-proclaimed total

victory. He confidently claimed the Indians had been dispersed in

total humiliation and this would put an end to their depredations

upon white settlers up and down the frontier. The American

press lionized him and President Madison endorsed the message

in an address to congress on the 18th of December. The “Indian

problem” had been dealt with or so they thought.

198 David D Plain

That congress was bristling with war hawks enraged at Great

Britain mostly for impressing American merchant sailors at sea

into British service in their war with France. They thought that a

declaration of war on Great Britain and an attack on its colony of

Upper Canada would give them an easy victory and the whole of

the continent as a prize. Upper Canada was weakly defended and

Great Britain’s military might was stretched thin as all its resources

were being used in Europe.

In 1808 Congress tripled the number of authorized enlisted

men from 3,068 to 9,311. In 1811 Secretary of War, William

Eustis, asked for 10,000 more regulars. Virginia Democratic

Senator William Branch Giles proposed 25,000 new men.

Democrats for the most part held anti-war sentiments. It was

thought he upped the ante to embarrass the administration

because it was generally thought that 25,000 could not be raised.

However, Federalists William Henry Clay from Kentucky and

Peter B. Porter of New York pushed through a bill enacting

Giles’ augmentation into law on the 11th of January 1812. By

late spring authorized military forces had been further pushed to

overwhelming numbers: 35,925 regulars, 50,000 volunteers and

100,000 militiamen.

When Tecumseh had visited Amherstburg in 1810 he made

the British authorities there aware just how close the First Nations

were to rebellion. Upon realizing this they adjusted their Indian

Policy. Because of their weakened position they did not want to be

drawn into a war with the Americans. So they informed their First

Nation allies that the new policy stated that they would receive

no help from the British if they attacked the United States. If they

were attacked by the U.S. they should withdraw and not retaliate.

Indian Agents were ordered to maintain friendly relations with

First Nations and supply them with necessities but if hostilities

arose then they were to do all in their power to dissuade them

from war. This policy was continued by the new administrators

of Upper Canada. Sir James Craig was replaced as governor-general

by Sir George Prevost and Francis Gore with Isaac Brock

as lieutenant-governor.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 199

However, all the admonition to encourage peace by the British

and Harrison’s claim that peace on the frontier had already been

achieved by his victory at Tippecanoe was for nought. The British

lacked the necessary influence with the war chiefs and Harrison’s

proclamation was a myth. The Kickapoo and Winnebago suffered

through a particularly hard winter. The snow had been unusually

deep and game was scarce. The Shawnee suffered even more due

to the destruction of their granary. They were forced to survive by

the good charity of their Wyandotte brothers at Sandusky.

When spring arrived they were still seething at the desecration

of their graves at Prophetstown. Tecumseh was travelling

throughout the northwest rebuilding his confederacy. Although he

preached a pan-Indian confederacy to stop American aggression

his message was tempered with a plea to hold back until the time

was right. But the war chiefs had trouble holding back some of

their young warriors.

The melting snows turned into the worst outbreak of violence

the frontier had seen in fifteen years. Thanks to governor

Harrison First Nation warriors were no longer congregated in

one place. Now they were spread out in a wide arc from Fort

Dearborn (Chicago) to Lake Erie. They were striking everywhere

at once. In January the Winnebago attacked the Mississippi lead

mines. In February and March they assaulted Fort Madison

killing five and blockading it for a time. In April they killed two

homesteaders working their fields north of Fort Dearborn. That

same month five more settlers were killed along the Maumee and

Sandusky Rivers with one more on Greenville Creek in what is

now Darke County.

The Kickapoo were just as busy. On the 10th of February a

family by the name of O’Neil was slain at St. Charles (Missouri).

Settlers in Louisiana Territory were in a state of panic. Potawatomi

warriors joined in. April saw several attacks in Ohio and Indiana

Territory. Near Fort Defiance three traders were tomahawked to

death while they slept in their beds while other raids were made

on the White River and Driftwood Creek.

200 David D Plain

On the 11th of April two young warriors named Kichekemit

and Mad Sturgeon led a war party south burning a house just

north of Vincennes. Six members of a family named Hutson along

with their hired hand were killed. Eleven days later it is believed

that the same Potawatomi party raided a homesteader’s farm

on the Embarras River west of Vincennes. All of the Harryman

family including five children lost their lives.

The frontier was ablaze with retribution for Prophetstown and

settlers were leaving the territories in droves. Governor Edwards

complained that by June men available for his militia had fallen

from 2,000 to 1,700. A militia was raised by each of the Northwest

Territories for protection. At times American First Nation allies

were caught in the middle. Two friendly Potawatomi hunters were

killed near Greenville and their horses confiscated. Both Governors

Edwards and Louisiana Governor Benjamin Howard called for a

new campaign against their antagonizers but the Secretary of War

was occupied with the clamoring for war with Great Britain and

its accompanying invasion of Upper Canada.

The raids on settlers stopped as quickly as they started. By

May the warriors committing the atrocities declared their anger

over grave degradation at Prophetstown was spent. Tecumseh’s

coalition had gelled in the Northwest. In the south the Red Sticks

had taken ownership of his vision and had become extremists

acting on their own and not really part of his confederacy. The

stage was now set for a major war. In June of 1812, while General

Hull and his army of 2,000 hacked their way through the

wilderness to Detroit Tecumseh sent a small party of his followers,

mostly Shawnee, to Amherstburg while he traveled south to visit

Fort Wayne.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 201

The Detroit Theater

Tecumseh arrived at Fort Wayne on June 17, 1812. He met

with the new Indian Agent Benjamin Stickney and stayed three

days discussing their relations with the Americans. He laid the

blame for all the unrest in the spring at the feet of the Potawatomi

and informed Stickney he would travel north to Amherstburg to

preach peace to the Wyandotte, Ottawa, Potawatomi there as well

as the Ojibwa of Michigan. Stickney was new but no fool. He did

not believe him so he told Tecumseh that a visit to Amherstburg

could only be considered an act of war considering the two

colonizers were so close to going to war themselves. Tecumseh left

Fort Wayne on June 21st not knowing that the United States of

America had declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.

Earlier that spring General Hull assembled an army in

Cincinnati. In May he marched them to Dayton where he

added to his forces before continuing on to Urbana. Meanwhile,

Governor Meigs also called for a conference at Urbana with chiefs

friendly to the U.S. The purpose was to secure permission for

Hull to hack a road through First Nations’ land to Fort Detroit.

This new road would also serve as a supply line for the American

invasion force.

Tarhe spoke for the Wyandotte and Black Hoof for the Ohio

Shawnee. Their speeches were followed by harangues by other

chiefs including the Seneca chief Mathame and the Shawnee

Captain Lewis. Captain Lewis had just returned from Washington

and like the others declared their undying fidelity to Americans.

They not only gained permission for the road but permission also

to build blockhouses at strategic places along the way. Captain

Lewis and Logan also agreed to act as interpreters and scouts for

General Hull. The long and arduous trek to Michigan began.

While Hull slowly trudged through the dense forests of Ohio

and Michigan the other governors of the Northwest Territories

202 David D Plain

arranged for another conference at Piqua with friendly First

Nations. One was planned for August 1st and included groups

of Miami, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Wyandotte. The Americans

assumed that when war broke out a few groups might flee to

Canada and join Tecumseh’s forces but the majority would

remain neutral. They were expecting 3,000 First Nations people.

The conference was designed to keep them neutral with the

combination of presents and supplies along with an expectation

that the size of Hull’s forces and its reinforcement of Detroit would

overawe them. But, Hull’s over-extended journey left supplies short

and the presents failed to arrive on schedule so the conference was

postponed to August 15th. Meanwhile British agents spread the

rumor that the conference was a ploy designed to get the warriors

away from their villages where American militia would fall upon

them killing their women and children.

Tecumseh took ten of his warriors and left for Amherstburg on

June 21st. He planned to join the warriors already sent on ahead.

They skirted Hull’s lumbering army arriving at Fort Malden at the

end of the month.

Amherstburg was a small village some seventeen miles south of

the village of Sandwich on the Canadian side of the Detroit River.

Located at the north end of the village was a small, dilapidated

outpost called Fort Malden. It was poorly maintained and under

garrisoned. Although over the previous two months it had been

tripled it still only amounted to 300 regulars from the 41st

Regiment of Foot and one detachment of Royal Artillery. There

were also 600 Essex Militia available but they were insufficiently

armed and most were without uniforms. They were mostly farm

boys from the surrounding homesteads who had no real interest in

fighting but only joined the militia for a Saturday night out.

The infantry was commanded by the able Scot Captain Adam

Muir. Lieutenant Felix Troughton had command of the artillery.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Bligh St. George, who had overall

command, stationed 460 militiamen along with a few regulars

directly across the river from Detroit to protect the border. They

settled in at the village of Sandwich to meet the invasion.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 203

Directly in front of Amherstburg was a large heavily wooded

island called Bois Blanc. There had been Wyandotte and Ottawa

villages there since the founding of Detroit over 100 years earlier.

The island provided a place for the numerous encampments of

other warriors who had begun to gather in the area. A large main

council lodge was erected opposite the island on the mainland

near the village’s small dock yard. The dockyard provided slips

for the three British ships that commanded Lake Erie; the brig

Queen Charlotte, the schooner Lady Prevost and the small ship

General Hunter.

When Tecumseh arrived he found his warriors joining in war

dances with the others. Near the council lodge warriors would

give long harangues detailing their exploits in previous battles

striking the war post with their war clubs and working themselves

into a frenzy. The drums would begin their loud rhythmic

pounding and the dancing warriors would circle their sacred

fire all the while yelling their blood curdling war whoops. The

garrison would respond with cannon salutes. Soldiers would shout

out cheers while they fired their rifles into the air from the rigging

of the three ships.

Although the din of the warrior’s preparation for war was

impressive their numbers were not. They were mostly Wyandotte

from the Canadian side under Roundhead, his brother Splitlog

and Warrow. Tecumseh was present with his thirty Shawnee.

War Chief Main Poc was there with a war party of Potawatomi.

The contingent of warriors also included thirty Menominee, a

few Winnebago and Sioux, sent by the red headed Scottish trader

Robert Dickson from Green Bay. The Munsee Philip Ignatius was

also present with a few from the Goshen mission at Sandusky. The

number was rounded out by a sprinkling of Ottawa, Ojibwa and

Kickapoo. On July 4th a large war party of Sac arrived to bring

the total warrior contingent to 350.

Canada was looking decidedly the underdog. Only 300

British regulars, 600 ill equipped militia and 350 First Nation

warriors protected the Detroit frontier. Hull was approaching with

an army of 2,000 and the Americans were raising another large

204 David D Plain

invasion force in the east to attack at Niagara. And there would be

no help arriving from England because of the war in Europe.

The general population of Upper Canada was a mere

77,000 with many of them recent American immigrants. Their

loyalty was questionable. The population of the U.S. Northwest

Territories was 677,000. The American Congress had approved

a total allotment of over 180,000 fighting men. General Brock

was looking at a war on two fronts with only 1,600 regulars and

11,000 militiamen at his disposal. Tecumseh had sent out many

war belts as a call to arms but the large and powerful Three Fires

Confederacy’s feelings were that they should remain neutral. They

saw no reason to get involved in a war with the Americans that

did not look winnable. Only a few young hotheads such as Ojibwa

warriors Wawanosh, Waboose or The Rabbit, Old Salt and Black

Duck from the St. Clair had joined Tecumseh at Amherstburg.

Canada’s prospects were looking very grim!

Hull Invades Canada!

General Hull finally arrived at Detroit on July 6, 1812. He was

in overall command of his forces while Lieutenant-Colonel James

Miller commanded the veterans of Tippecanoe, the 4th Regiment

of United States Infantry. Also with him was the 1,200 strong

Ohio Militia under Lewis Cass, Duncan McArthur and James

Findlay. The Michigan Militia joined him there raising his total

force to over 2,000 fighting men.

This impressive show of American strength had the Canadian

side of the Detroit in a panic. Canadian militiamen began

deserting in droves. Their rolls quickly dropped from 600 to

less than 400. Townspeople began to flee inland taking what

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 205

they could with them. Some communities such as Delaware sent

overtures to Hull on their own. Canadian civilians were not the

only citizens to be apprehensive about the prospects of war in

their own environs. Six months earlier the settlers of Michigan

Territory sent a memorial to Congress pleading for protection from

perceived threats from the surrounding First Nations. In it they

claimed it was not the British army they feared, however they did

not trust them for protection against attacks by “the savages”.

The invasion came on July 12th. American troops crossed

the Detroit and occupied Sandwich. The few British regulars and

what was left of the Essex Militia defending the border quickly

scrambled back to Fort Malden. On the 13th Hull crossed over

to make his proclamation to the Canadians. He entered Canada

presenting himself as a glorious liberator. All citizens who

remained neutral would be treated kindly and their property

respected. However, anyone found to be fighting beside and

“Indian” would receive no quarter but “instant destruction would

be his lot”.

In an area of wetlands and tall grass prairie laid the only

defensible position between Amherstburg and Sandwich. About

five miles north of Fort Malden a fairly wide, slow moving stream

meandered toward the Detroit. There was a single bridge which

crossed the Aux Canard connecting the only road between the two

villages. On July 16th it was protected by a few regulars with two

pieces of artillery and about fifty warriors.

Suddenly, Lewis Cass and his Militia along with a few

American regulars appeared at the bridge. Cass positioned a few

marksmen on the north side of the river while he took the rest of

his 280 men upstream to find a ford to cross over. Meanwhile,

his riflemen picked off two British soldiers killing one. When he

arrived back at the bridge on the south side of the Aux Canard

he overwhelmed the warriors and their British counterparts. Shots

were fired by both sides but there were few casualties. The warriors

and their contingent of British regulars wheeled their artillery away

and retreated back to Malden.

206 David D Plain

The Americans had tasted their first real military success at

the Aux Canard as Sandwich was given up without a fight. But

this victory was short lived. That night the warriors preformed

a loud, boisterous war dance on Amherstburg’s wharf to prepare

for the expected upcoming battle. The next day Roundhead led

his Wyandotte warriors north up the road to the bridge. Main

Poc followed with his Potawatomi while the rest were under

Tecumseh’s command. To their utter amazement the Americans

had abandoned the bridge and were retreating back up the road

to Sandwich. They retook the bridge and moved the Queen

Charlotte upstream to the mouth of the Aux Canard to provide

cannon cover. While the soldiers ripped up the bridge except for a

few planks and built a rampart on the south side of the stream the

warriors hounded the Americans with wasp like sorties until they

withdrew from Canada to the safety of Fort Detroit.

General Hull was a much older soldier that he had been in

the American Revolution Then he had been daring and far more

decisive. He had grown much more cautious and vacillating in

his old age. Not only was he indecisive but he had developed an

extraordinary fear of native warfare. In fact the warriors terrified

him. It was him that ordered Cass to retreat much to the chagrin

of his men. Now he sat day after day in war council trying to

determine what to do next. But nothing was ever decided. He

fretted about the security of his supply line from Ohio and he

imagined far more warriors surrounding him than the few that

were at Amherstburg. His men, including his officers, began to

complain bitterly behind his back.

On the day after the American Invasion while Lewis

Cass retreated to Detroit the small American post, Fort

Michilimackinac, at the head of Lake Huron fell. It had come

under attack by the British Captain Charles Roberts who had

393 warriors with him. They included 280 Ojibwa and Ottawa

warriors from Superior country as well as 113 Sioux, Menominee

and Winnebago braves recruited by Robert Dickson from

those who had been loyal to Tecumseh and Main Poc. That

most northerly fort was lightly garrisoned and ill equipped so it

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 207

capitulated without a shot being fired. The warriors were on their

best behavior that day attested to by Mr. Askin Jr. who wrote, “I

never saw a so determined people as the Chippewas and Ottawas

were. Since the capitulation they have not drunk a single drop of

Liquor, nor even Killed a Fowl belonging to any person (a thing

never Known before) for they generally destroy everything they

meet with”.

When Hull received word of the fall of Michilimackinac

it only added to his anxiety. He envisioned hordes of “savages”

descending on Detroit from the north. He sent dispatches back

to Eustis begging for more reinforcements to be sent to provide

protection from the 2,000 war-whooping, painted, feathered

warriors he imagined approaching from the north.

While Hull fretted and vacillated back and forth Duncan

McArthur moved his men back down the dusty road to the Aux

Canard. As he advanced he kept encountering pesky bands of

warriors. The warriors were so determined that they forced the

Americans back. In one skirmish Main Poc was shot in the neck

and had to be helped from the field. He later recovered. In another

skirmish McArthur who was retreating had his men turn and fire

upon the pursuing warriors. A story later sprang up that when the

volley was fired the warriors all hit the ground face first except

one who remained defiantly on his feet. That one was reportedly

Tecumseh!

The Invasion Stalls

Hull worried about his supply line from Ohio. He was also

convinced he was outnumbered by fierce, unrelenting warriors.

Anxious to keep “his friendly Indians” in Michigan Territory

208 David D Plain

neutral he called for an all native conference to renew their pledges

of neutrality. Captain Lewis, Logan and The Wolf acted as scouts

for Hull when he hacked his way through the bogs of northwestern

Ohio and dense forests of Michigan to Detroit. Black Hoof joined

them just after their arrival. Hull assigned them the task of calling

the friendly chiefs to a council at Walk-In-The-Water’s Wyandotte

village near Brownstown. Tecumseh, Roundhead and Main Poc

were invited but declined.

On July 15th Black Hoof spoke to the council of nine nations.

Chiefs from the Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Wyandotte,

Kickapoo, Delaware, Munsee, Sac and Six Nations of the Grand

attended. He brought them a message from the great American

war chief who was at Detroit explaining that the Americans were

obliged to go to War with Great Britain because they would not

permit them to enjoy their neutral rights. Further, it was not of

interest to the First Nations to concern themselves with the two

government’s differences. And because the British were too weak

to contend with them they were enticing all the nations around

to join them in their fight. It was the desire of their Great Father

in Washington that they not do so but remain neutral and enjoy

their peace.

Lewis and Logan followed with reminders of how the British

treated them at the end of the War of Independence and how

they were abandoned at Fallen Timbers. They argued that they

all should let the Red Coats and the Big Knives fight their own

battles and if they did they could be assured their Great Father in

Washington wanted no more of their land and he would always

care for their needs.

The chiefs still believing the British were fighting an

unwinnable war professed their continued neutrality and on July

20th the conference ended. Black Hoof, Logan, Lewis and The

Wolf left immediately for Piqua and the Conference called for on

August 1st.

A week later Major James Denny moved down the Canadian

shore of the Detroit to just short of the Aux Canard. He was at the

head of 120 Ohio Militiamen when they came upon a small party

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 209

of warriors who were out of range. They traded shots to no avail

while the warriors sent for reinforcements. Denny also sent one

of his men back up the road to Sandwich and their main camp.

Unfortunately, he ran into another small war party of thirteen at

Turkey Creek where he was tomahawked. He would be the first

American soldier killed in the war.

Tecumseh and Main Poc rushed from Malden with 150

Shawnee, Ottawa and Potawatomi warriors. They skirted the road

to a tall grass prairie called Petite Cote just beyond the bridge and

set up an ambush. The small war party that killed the militiaman

at Turkey Creek appeared and twenty militiamen gave chase

down the road and past the ambush. The main body of warriors

emerged from the tall sunflowers and wild carrots amid screeching

war hoops and gunfire directed at Denny. He saw that he had a

disaster on his hands. His troops were scattered so he broke with

the main body for a wood lot on his left to set up a defensive line.

The line held but the warriors moved to take possession of the

road to his right. When they saw their only escape route was about

to be cut off and they would be surrounded they panicked. They

rushed for the road, every man for himself, with the warriors hot

on their flank. They managed to reach the road safely but were

in full retreat, running pell-mell back to Sandwich. The warriors

hounded them all the way stopping along fence lines, orchards

and behind homesteads to take pot shots at the fleeing Americans.

They finally broke off the chase at Turkey Creek. Denny lost five

killed, two wounded and one taken prisoner. The warriors lost one

killed and three wounded.

The American captive was treated very badly because one

of his comrades, William McColloch, found time during the

skirmish to scalp the dead warrior. He was bound and whipped

with ramrods but he did live and was ransomed by British Indian

Agent Matthew Elliott.

The warriors now shifted their efforts to the other side of

the Detroit. On August 3rd Tecumseh, Roundhead and Captain

Adam Muir led a large force of warriors along with 100 Red

Coats across the Detroit to Brownstown. They surrounded

210 David D Plain

the towns of Maguaga and Brownstown and rounded up the

inhabitants. Maguaga, Blue Jacket’s town, was inhabited by a mix

of Shawnee and Wyandotte while Walk-In-The-Water’s town were

all Wyandotte. The total population was approximately 300 all

remaining neutral in the war.

The whole population was spirited back across the border

to Bois Blanc Island where a council was held. Tecumseh and

Roundhead pleaded for the Confederacy’s cause. Miere or Walk-

In-The-Water retorted with his intention of keeping his word to

remain neutral. In the end Tecumseh won out convincing the

neutral First Nations to capitulate and join his cause. This added

about eighty warriors to his force.

Two days later Tecumseh left Amherstburg again. This time

he crossed the river with a much smaller force of just twentyfive.

Their scouts made them aware of a mail run making its way

north from Frenchtown with communications from Ohio. They

ambushed the unsuspecting column killing eighteen of the French

volunteers and capturing the mail. Of the seven that made it back

to Frenchtown two were wounded.

Tecumseh’s scouts returned with more news. They had run

across William McColloch, the same man that scalped the dead

warrior at Petite Cote, who was with a scouting party for a mail

run moving south. After learning that Major Thomas Van Horne

was moving down the road from Detroit with 200 militiamen they

killed all of the advance party including McColloch. Van Horne

was intending to meet with the northbound mail to exchange

communications. Tecumseh prepared an ambush at a most suitable

spot and waited.

Van Horne approached with his mail pouches protected in the

center of his column. It was preceded and flanked first by infantry

then mounted militiamen. As they passed the point of ambush the

trap was sprung. Mounted men and officers fell first. The militia

panicked and fled. Over the next two days they straggled into

Fort Detroit in a state of shock. They had lost twenty-five killed

and twelve wounded. Tecumseh lost one dead and two wounded

but captured both north and southbound communications. One

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 211

letter from Hull to Eustis pleading for reinforcements revealed

his belief that there were 2,000 unrepentant warriors about

to descend on Detroit from the north, a most valuable piece of

information indeed.

Hull was fraught with anxiety. His most vulnerable asset

was now breached. His supplies were cut off. He failed to take

the bridge on the Aux Canard or Fort Malden. He seemed to see

Tecumseh’s warriors everywhere. He withdrew his small advance

stationed at Sandwich back to the fort and he sent a dispatch to

Fort Dearborn to abandon their post and retreat either to Fort

Wayne, Detroit or Michilimackinac. Now Hull gave up any

notion of advancing and he assumed a defensive position inside the

fort. The American invasion was over!

The Fall of Detroit

Tecumseh’s confederacy began to grow. Early successes

against the Big Knives bolstered the First Nations around Detroit.

Teyoninhokarawenor or The Snipe whose English name was John

Norton arrived with seventy warriors. He was a Mohawk from the

Grand River. His war party consisted of Iroquois from the Grand

and some Munsee Delaware he had recruited from the Thames.

Miscocomon or Red Knife joined him with a party of Ojibwa

warriors also from the Thames.

The young warriors Kayotang and Yahobance, or Raccoon,

from Bear Creek (Sydenham River) raised a war party and joined

with war chief Waupugais and his party from the Sauble. They

traveled down the eastern shore of Lake Huron to Aamjiwnaang

at the mouth of the St. Clair River. They met Misquahwegezhigk

or Red Sky at the mouth of the Black River. He was the war chief

212 David D Plain

of the Black River band of Saulteaux Ojibwa. They were all joined

by Quakegman also known as Feather a war chief of the St. Clair

band across the river. The whole entourage made its way south

down the St. Clair to the lake of the same name. They picked

up Petahgegeeshig or Between Day as well as Quaquakebookgk

or Revolution with a large group of Ojibwa warriors from the

Swan Creek and Salt River bands. The whole group arrived at

Amherstburg sometime in early August 1812.

Okemos, who was a nephew of Pontiac, was the chief of the

Cedar River band near present day Lansing, Michigan. They

were a mixed band of Ojibwa and Ottawa people. He also arrived

about the same time as the Saulteaux Ojibwa. Manitocorbay also

came leading a large party of Ojibwa from Saginaw. Tecumseh’s

coalition grew to about 600 warriors.

On the 9th of August Captain Adam Muir crossed the Detroit

with just over 100 Red Coats, most of them regulars and started

down the road to Bluejacket’s village of Maguaga. They were

joined by Tecumseh with 300 warriors. Main Poc and Walk-In-

The-Water led the Potawatomi and Wyandotte bands. Just as they

arrived some of their scouts came rushing down the road with

news. They excitedly told their chiefs that a large party of Big

Knives were arriving from Detroit.

Hull had sent out a force to re-take the road that was his

supply line from Ohio. This time the size of the force he sent

out was much larger and included a healthy contingent of battle

hardened regulars. The allied forces picked a place conducive to

the ambush style forest warfare. Muir’s men flattened themselves

on the ground on each side of the road while Main Poc and Walk-

In-The-Water took up position ahead of the British in the woods

on one side while Tecumseh covered them from the other side.

There they lay, still and silent, awaiting the Americans. They

didn’t have to wait long.

The Big Knives appeared marching down the road in two

columns one on each side of the road with a column of cavalry

in between. They were led by an advance guard of infantrymen

under Captain Josiah Snelling while Lieutenant-Colonel James

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 213

Miller rode at the head of the cavalry. Behind them were their

baggage and heavy armament, one six-pounder and one howitzer.

These were flanked by a small rear guard of regulars from the 4th

U.S. Infantry. The unsuspecting Americans marched right passed

the hiding enemy.

The warriors opened up fire upon the advance guard and the

main column. The Red Coats joined the fire and the Big Knives

broke ranks. However, they were battle tested veterans and among

Hull’s finest soldiers. They regrouped under Miller and quickly

formed battle lines. They began to advance firing mainly upon

the British as the bright red jackets made easier targets than the

warriors. Their 6 pounder also joined the fray by spraying the

wooded areas with grape-shot.

Then things began to go wrong for the allies. One report said

that the American’s forced one of the bodies of warriors to fall

back and Muir’s men mistook them for advancing Blue Coats and

so fired upon their own allies. Another report said the Red Coats

mistook a command to advance as one to retreat giving up ground

to Miller’s troops. Later Proctor would only record that during the

battle something went amiss.

The Red Coats retired from the battlefield and retreated

back to Malden. The warriors fought on for a time but were

overwhelmed by superior numbers and they gave up the road to

the Americans. But they didn’t hold control of their supply line for

very long.

Inexplicably on August the 12th the “Old Lady”, that’s what

Hull’s officers had come to call him, ordered Miller to withdraw

back to the safety of Fort Detroit. Tecumseh moved back across

the river and took control of the road to Urbana once again.

Tecumseh lost two warriors killed and six wounded in the

Battle of Maguaga. He was slightly wounded himself. Muir lost

five killed including Lieutenant Charles Sutherland, fourteen

wounded and two missing. The Americans fared much worse.

Miller suffered eighty-two casualties including eighteen dead. Jim

Bluejacket, son of the great Shawnee Chief was also killed scouting

214 David D Plain

for Miller. The Canadians lost the battle but in the end, because

of Hull’s trepidation, the blockade of Fort Detroit remained intact.

The Americans had also planned an invasion of Upper Canada

at Niagara to coincide with Hull’s arrival at Sandwich but it was

delayed. This freed up the commander of the British forces Isaac

Brock to personally survey the situation on the Detroit frontier. He

left Long Point with 350 men skirting the north shore of Lake Erie

and up the Detroit. When he arrived at Amherstburg, sometime

after the sun had set on August 13th, he was greeted with a volley

of gunfire. The rounds were not deadly but fired off into the air as

a greeting by the warriors on Bois Blanc Island.

A meeting of the officers was hastily called. Mathew Elliot, the

old Indian Agent, quickly left to fetch Tecumseh. When Tecumseh

and the General met they immediately hit it off. Both men were

bold warriors, decisive in deed and had the military acumen only

great generals enjoy. In short they were made of the same mettle.

When Brock heard of the trembling fear General Hull had

of Tecumseh’s warriors he wanted to exploit that weakness. He

decided to go on the offensive by attacking Fort Detroit. Colonel

Proctor, who was sent to replace St. George, was against the plan

as were most of the officers except for two. But Tecumseh was

filled with affirmative excitement. When that meeting broke up

the decision had been made to send Hull a letter giving him the

chance to surrender the fort. If the offer was refused they would

attack. Now Brock would replace Proctor as commander of the

forces on the Detroit front.

On August 15th the letter containing Brock’s offer was sent

across the river to Hull. In it Brock reminded Hull “the numerous

body of Indians that have attached themselves to my troops will

be beyond control the moment the contest commences”. He was

preying on Hull’s most paralyzing fear but the bluff didn’t work.

Hull refused to surrender. The following day British cannon fire

roared across the Detroit from Sandwich. Hull returned the fire

The British cannonade proved more deadly than Hull’s. Several

shots found their mark landing inside the fort killing several

people.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 215

Brock marched his men boldly up the road to within sight of

the main gate and its gatehouse. He led 800 men who included

300 regulars and 400 Militia with some dressed in red coats to

give the impression he had more regulars than he did. Norton

and his seventy Mohawk and Munsee warriors also marched with

Brock. When they arrived to within sight of the fort they realized

they were about to be met with the deadly fire of two twenty-fourpounders

and one 6 pounder loaded with grape and canister shot.

Brock peeled off taking shelter in a small ravine.

Roundhead, Walk-In-The-Water, Main Poc and Splitlog led

their warriors through woods in order to attack the fort from the

left and rear. Tecumseh led the rest of the coalition and joined

them as they faced off against Hull’s militia. One story relates

that during the face off Tecumseh had the 530 warriors march

out of a small wood lot across an open field and into the main

woods, circle around to the starting point. They filed passed

the Americans again all the time screeching blood curdling war

hoops in full view of the enemy. Three times the warriors showed

themselves deceiving the militia and General Hull into actually

believing the warriors they feared so much were there in the

thousands.

While Brock had his men stationed in the ravine trying to

entice Hull out of the fort he received bad news from scouts who

had been patrolling the road south of the fort. They reported

that a force of 350 militiamen under McArthur and Cass were

approaching from the south. They had been sent two days earlier

skirting through the forest to meet a supply convoy at the River

Raisin. Before they reached their goal they were urgently recalled

by Hull when he received Brock’s letter. Now it seemed Hull had

Brock and his allies hemmed in.

However, neither Brock nor the war chiefs would entertain

retreat. It was a tactic only to be used as a last resort. Brock

decided to abandon the ploy to entice the Americans out of the

fort to fight in the open. About 10 o’clock in the morning as Brock

was preparing his men for a frontal assault the big American guns

stopped firing across the Detroit. To Brock’s utter amazement a

216 David D Plain

white flag was hung over the fort’s wall. The militia facing the

warriors withdrew. Not a shot was fired by either side.

Hull had fretted all morning about unrelenting “savages”

overrunning the fort and committing unspeakable atrocities on the

civilian populace. He especially worried about the safety of his own

daughter and grandchildren who were with him. He surrendered

the fort, the American army and all armament and supplies. There

had been only a few cannonades exchanged across the river. Never

before had First Nation warriors so overwhelmingly contributed to

such an immense victory over a common enemy.

Hull’s men were utterly dismayed and humiliated at being

denied the chance to give account of themselves. They are said to

have piled their small arms in heaps along the fort’s palisade with

tears in their eyes. Cass and McArthur’s men had stopped to roast

an ox they had caught running through the woods and were never

a factor in the almost battle.

The American colors were lowered and the Union Jack hoisted

above Fort Detroit to the sound of volleys of gunfire shot in the

air. Sandwich returned the salute with cannon fire to celebrate

the victory. The British flag had been absent from the Territory of

Michigan for seventeen years. Now it had returned. The Territory

of Michigan would be annexed into the Province of Upper Canada.

General Hull was taken prisoner along with 582 regulars and

1,606 militiamen. There was also 350 Michigan Militia taken

into the British forces because they were not part of American

federal forces. However, half of them had already defected

when the engagement commenced. Hull also gave up 39 guns

including 9 twenty-four pounders, 3,000 rifles, a huge quantity of

ammunition and twenty-five days’ worth of supplies. The spoils

also included the Adams, a new American war ship not yet quite

finished.

When Hull was returned to the U.S. he faced a court-martial

charged with treason, cowardice, neglect of duty and bad

conduct. The trial took place in April of 1814 where he was found

not guilty of the first two charges but guilty of neglect of duty

and bad conduct. He was sentenced to be shot but mercy was

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 217

recommended because of his age and his exemplary war record

during the Revolution. President Madison remitted his sentence

and William Hull spent the rest of his life trying to defend himself

and explain his conduct. He died in 1825.

240 David D Plain

Fort Meigs

Meanwhile, in the Detroit Theater General Harrison was

laying plans for his second attempt at a Canadian invasion. In

February 1813 he set Captain Wood busy improving Fort Meigs’

fortifications. The fort was vital to his plans as he wanted to use

it as a springboard for his invasion. Wood worked feverishly and

by spring the improvements were almost complete. The fort was

a potato shaped structure near the mouth of the Maumee River

just south of the old British Fort Miami but on the opposite bank.

Wood had added a twelve-foot palisade fronted by huge mounds

of earth.

On April 1st the six month tour of duty was up for the Virginia

and Pennsylvania militias and all but 250 men left the fort for

home. The 250 men that remained only planned to stay another

two weeks. Tecumseh’s scouts had the fort under surveillance

and reported the departure to him immediately. Tecumseh told

General Proctor the time to attack Fort Meigs had come and

Proctor agreed but bad weather held him up at Amherstburg until

April 23rd. Proctor arrived at the mouth of the Maumee on April

26th with 450 regulars and 475 militiamen. Tecumseh joined him

with 600 warriors and then Roundhead arrived with another 600.

Harrison who had heard of the British plans to advance on

Fort Meigs rushed forward from his winter quarters at Cincinnati.

He managed to arrive at Fort Meigs before Proctor and his First

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 241

Nation allies. All he could do now was take shelter in the fort

along with the few troops left there and their Shawnee scouts.

They anxiously awaited reinforcements who were on their way

from Kentucky.

By May 1st the British had built reinforced blockhouses across

the river and were firing on the fort. However, their cannonballs

sunk uselessly into the soft mud of the earthen ramparts.

Meanwhile, hidden among the woods the warriors busied

themselves by taking pot shots at any slight movement behind the

stockade. The siege continued for four days during which General

Green Clay made his way down the Maumee with 1,200 Kentucky

Militiamen.

Most of the Shawnee scouts loyal to the Americans were holdup

in the fort but a few others were leading Clay’s forces. These

Shawnee were rather reluctant participants. They had preferred

to remain neutral in the conflict but were enlisted by the Indian

agent John Johnston after he put them under considerable

pressure. Among these reluctant warriors was Black Fish the son of

a Shawnee war chief.

Black Fish and three militiamen traveling ahead of the main

force in a canoe reached a point within sight of the fort. There

they ran into a hostile party of Potawatomie. They turned and

fled back up the river but two of the Kentuckians were captured.

However, Black Fish and the other man who was wounded in the

encounter escaped. Clay kept coming.

On May 1st they landed just south of the fort on the American

side of the river. Clay, acting upon Harrison’s orders, split his forces

in two. He sent 800 militiamen under Colonel William Dudley

along with all his Shawnee warriors across the river with orders

to capture and spike the British cannon then recross the river to

the fort as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, he and the other 400

fought their way to the fort.

Dudley was successful. The warriors who were fighting Clay

outside the fort realized what Dudley was up to and quickly swam

the river to engage him. Dudley’s men were raw recruits with

no military experience and they became over exuberant at their

242 David D Plain

victory. Tecumseh’s warriors arrived and lured the militia deeper

and deeper into the woods. When the Shawnee, who were adverse

to the adventure in the first place, saw what was happening

surrendered to the British immediately. Tecumseh and Roundhead

sprung their trap and the militia panicked and fled back toward

British lines to surrender. Dudley was killed and many were cut

down. Many more were captured. Of Dudley’s 800 Kentucky

Militia fewer than 150 made it back to the fort.

The prisoners were escorted to old Fort Miami where they

were held under a small British guard. The warriors were in a

highly excitable state and began tormenting the Americans by

making them run the gauntlet. Suddenly one was tomahawked

and scalped on the spot. Things were getting out of hand. The

British soldiers in charge tried to control the situation but one of

them was killed so they backed off and sent for help.

Help quickly arrived in the form of one very recognizable

warrior riding into the ruins that was once a British fort

brandishing a tomahawk and yelling orders to cease and desist.

It was Tecumseh and he quickly took control. He reamed out

the leaders of the agitated warriors by threatening death to the

next one to disturb any of the prisoners. He didn’t want another

massacre like Frenchtown laid at the feet of his confederacy.

Black Fish insisted he and his warriors had been coerced

into service by the Americans. In fact he told Proctor that all

the Shawnee in Ohio had British sentiments but were being held

prisoner in their villages at Wapakoneta and Lewistown. Upon

hearing this Proctor made an offer to Harrison; the return of all

American prisoners if they would allow any loyal Shawnee to

remove to Canada. However, this British offer only served to cast

suspicion on the Shawnee at Wapakoneta loyal to the Americans.

They came under attack again by militia and settlers alike. Black

Hoof complained so Johnston intervened managing to settle

things down.

The warriors collected all the booty from the battlefield. One

by one individual war parties withdrew following their chiefs back

to their villages as was their custom after a great military victory.

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 243

This left Proctor and Harrison stalemated so Proctor withdrew.

The weather had been bad the whole time so he blamed his failure

to take Fort Meigs on it. He also blamed his commanding officer,

General DeRottenburg for not adequately supplying the mission.

Fort Stephenson

Robert Dickson, a tall Scotsman with flaming red hair, had

been appointed Indian Agent for the First Nations of the far North

West Territories. He had traded with them for some time with

the reputation of being always honest and fair. The Sioux called

him Mascotopah or The Red-Haired Man and he was married

to one of their own, a Yanktonais woman. In short he was well

liked. It was only natural that he was tasked by the British Indian

Department to recruit warriors for the cause. Dickson had great

success. Sioux war chiefs Little Crow, Itasappa and Red Thunder

joined him easily as they had already been plied by Tecumseh and

The Prophet a few years earlier.

Tecumseh’s warriors began amassing at Amherstburg again in

July. Main Poc returned from Illinois Territory where he had been

recruiting with the help of fellow Potawatomi chiefs White Hair

and White Pigeon. At the same time a large group of warriors

from the North West Territories, flags flying, all decked out in

their finest war regalia paddled out of Lake St. Clair and into the

Detroit River. In the lead canoe was the red-headed man Dickson.

His entourage included Ojibwa, Sioux, Menominee, Potawatomi,

and Winnebago warriors all recruited from his base at Le Bay or

Green Bay. Their arrival at Amherstburg bolstered Tecumseh’s

forces to 2,500.

244 David D Plain

Tecumseh pressured Proctor to invade Ohio again. Captain

Barclay warned Proctor of the fleet being built at the U.S. Naval

Yards at Presque Isle. But Proctor was short on supplies for his

heavy artillery so he postponed an attack on the ship yards.

However, he did have 2,500 men to add to Tecumseh’s 2,500 which

he felt was more than enough to mount an invasion. Tecumseh

wanted to return to Fort Meigs but Proctor wanted to attack Fort

Stephenson a much weaker fort on the Sandusky River. To take

Fort Stephenson would have cut the supply line to Fort Meigs but

Tecumseh was insistent so he left Amherstburg in the middle of

July bound for Fort Meigs. Proctor followed on July 19, 1813.

General Harrison had left Fort Meigs in the command of

General Green Clay while he moved to the Lower Sandusky.

Tecumseh’s warriors arrived first at the mouth of the Maumee

so Clay called for reinforcements from Harrison. He sent none

convinced Fort Meigs with its current garrison was strong

enough to withstand any assault. Instead Harrison withdrew

up the Sandusky to Old Seneca Town leaving Fort Stephenson

under the command of Major George Croghan. From this

vantage point he could either move on Fort Stephenson or Fort

Meigs wherever he was needed. This was good strategy the

only hindrance being he would have to contend with the Black

Swamp which lay between them.

Proctor settled in for a siege of the fort and began pounding

the stockade with cannon fire. But his guns were not heavy

enough. He had come with only three six-pounders and two

howitzers. The warriors spread out among the thickets surrounding

the fort taking pot shots at the men inside whenever they popped

up to fire through the loopholes. Tecumseh complained it was

too difficult fighting these Americans who were acting like

groundhogs instead of coming out and fighting like men.

He came up with a plan to lure them out. The warriors moved

to the road that led to Fort Stephenson just out of Clay’s sight.

They began firing their rifles and hollering loud war whoops

increasing in intensity. This ruse was intended to convince Clay

they were engaging a relief force sent by Harrison. But Clay had

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 245

already received word from Harrison that he would not send

reinforcements unless he received the call from Clay and he

had sent no such message. Although he had trouble convincing

his officers it was a trap he did manage to hold them back.

Tecumseh’s plan failed.

The siege of Fort Meigs was also a failure. A few hundred

of Dickson’s warriors from the west drifted away since there was

no plunder to be had. Proctor packed up his cannon and sailed

to the mouth of the Sandusky and up the river to within a mile

of Fort Stephenson. It was a much smaller post than Fort Meigs

and although it was an impressive looking fort it was in truth

weakly defended. It had a stockade of sixteen foot pickets and

was surrounded by an eight foot wide moat. Each picket had a

bayonet thrust horizontally through its tip. However, it only had

one heavy gun, an old six-pounder left over from the Revolution

affectionately referred to as “old Betsy”.

Tecumseh had moved his warriors up the Sandusky between

Fort Stephenson and Old Seneca Town to cut off any retreat or

prevent any reinforcements arriving. Okemos was a redoubtable

Ojibwa war chief from Cedar River and also a nephew of the

renowned war chief Pontiac. He and his cousin Manitocorbway

from Saginaw were further upriver scouting for any signs of

Harrison coming to Croghan’s aid. They ran into one of Harrison’s

patrols and Okemos was severely wounded in the skirmish.

Meanwhile, the seven hundred warriors with Proctor settled in

among the surrounding woods as spectators. A frontal assault

facing cannon fire out in the open was not their style of warfare.

Proctor decided to storm the fort. He was in the habit of

becoming unsure of himself when patience and resolve was

required. His men were unprepared to storm the garrison. They

didn’t have the ladders to scale the palisade which was higher than

they thought. Their axes were dull from lack of use. The moat was

deeper than they realized. Proctor’s men became bogged down

in the moat and “old Betsy” raked them lengthwise with grapeshot.

They lost 150 men either killed or wounded. Proctor made

246 David D Plain

no second attempt to take the fort but withdrew limping back to

Amherstburg.

The Americans had a clear and decisive victory at last. And

they had a national hero in Major Croghan a mere youth just

turned twenty-one, who had defeated the British General in

command of their western army and a force five times his size.

Proctor had to explain himself to his superiors. He openly admitted

he ordered the disastrous assault on Fort Stephenson under the

threat of First Nations withdrawal from the war. General Prevost

retorted he never should have committed any part of his valuable

force due to the clamoring of “the Indian warriors”. To Tecumseh

the failure to take either fort may have been a sign that the tide of

the war was turning but he was resolved to fight on.

Retreat up the Thames

The Americans continued their shipbuilding efforts at Presque

Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania) unabated. Proctor wanted to use a naval

attack to destroy the fruits of their labors but he was just not

ready. All summer long they waited for supplies and ammunition

to arrive. The supplies included sail and guns for the brig Detroit

which was still under construction. There were few trained

seamen at Amherstburg to sail the other three war ships anchored

there. On June 3rd 1813 Captain Robert Heriot Barclay arrived at

Amherstburg with nineteen sailors and the schooners Lady Prevost

and Chippewa. These two brought the British fleet to six ships.

Barclay had arrived from England that spring fresh from naval

action in the Napoleonic wars. He had lost an arm at Trafalgar.

In charge of the American Lake Erie fleet was Master

Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry. He was in charge of the

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 247

shipbuilding at Presque Isle when Barclay arrived at Amherstburg.

He also had to oversee the transfer of five ships built at Black Rock

which, with the ships built and under construction at Presque

Isle would consolidate his Erie fleet there. During the third week

of June while Barclay was cruising the lake trying to catch the

transfer Perry slipped the five vessels into the harbor at Presque

Isle under the cover of fog. Barclay missed them. The American

fleet was now consolidated and the construction phase was nearing

completion. But the British fleet was still not ready so Barclay

advised Proctor to attack the U.S. shipyards by land. Proctor had

500 regulars and Tecumseh 1,000 warriors at Amherstburg but

he vacillated saying that he needed to wait for reinforcements to

bolster his regiment the 41st Foot.

By August 10th Perry was out on the lake with his fleet of nine

war ships. They included the brigs Lawrence 20 guns, Niagara 20,

Caledonia 3, schooner Ariel 4, schooner Scorpion 2, sloop Trippe 1

and schooners Tigress, Porcupine and Ohio 1 each. His plan was to

attack Barclay’s fleet at Amherstburg before the Detroit could be

completed but he became gravely ill along with 270 of his sailors

with lake fever and had to postpone.

The British were now in a desperate situation. Supplies were

held up at Long Point because Perry now controlled the lake.

DeRottenburg had to impress wagons from the general populace

and haul them to the Thames where they could be barged down

river to Proctor. On September 5th some supplies along with

thirty-six more sailors arrived at Amherstburg. Still not enough

but Prevost and DeRottenburg both pressed Proctor to take

action. Proctor gave in and stripped Fort Malden of its guns to

outfit Detroit.

On September 14th Barclay sailed out of the Detroit River

and into Lake Erie woefully out manned and out gunned.

His fleet consisted of H.M.S. Detroit 21 guns, H.M.S. Queen

Charlotte 18, schooners Lady Prevost 14 and Chippewa 1, the brig

Hunter 10 and the sloop Little Belt 3. He could only supply each

ship with ten experienced sailors. The balance of the compliment

of 440 men was made up of infantrymen supplied by the 41st.

248 David D Plain

They engaged Perry off the Bass Islands. For two hours the

roar of the ship’s big guns could be heard back at Amherstburg

but could not be seen. Then silence. It would be two days before

Proctor got word of Barclay’s total defeat. In the meantime

Harrison was moving north toward Detroit with 2,500 regulars,

3,000 Kentucky Militia and 150 Pennsylvania Militia. Proctor’s

situation had gone from being desperate to hopeless. He planned

to evacuate the fort and retreat up the Thames but kept his

decision to himself for three days.

Tecumseh wanted to cross back into Michigan and ambush

Harrison at the Huron River. But some men were seen dismantling

Fort Malden and Tecumseh and the other chiefs demanded a

conference with Proctor. Ojibwa war chiefs Naiwash and Nahdee

were with him but his closest ally and staunchest supporter

Roundhead was not. He had died unexpectedly of natural causes

earlier that summer. Finally, after several days they met in council.

Tecumseh spoke for the chiefs:

Listen! When war was declared, our Father stood up

and gave us the tomahawk, and told us he was now

ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our

assistance; and that he certainly would get us our lands

back which the Americans had taken from us. Listen!

You told us at that time to bring forward our families

to this place. We did so, and you promised to take care

of them, and that they should want for nothing while

the men would go and fight the enemy . . . When we

last went to the rapids [Fort Meigs] it is true we gave

you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live

like groundhogs. Father, listen! We know that our fleet

has gone out. We know they have fought. We had heard

the great guns, but know nothing of what has happened

to Our Father with One Arm . . . We are astonished

to see our Father tying up everything and preparing to

run . . . without letting his red children know what his

intentions are . . . and we are sorry to see our Father

From Ouisconsin to Caughnawaga 249

doing so without seeing the enemy . . . Listen Father!

The Americans have not yet defeated us by land; neither

are we sure they have done so by water. We, therefore,

wish to remain here and fight our enemy should they

make their appearance. Father! You have got the arms

and ammunition, which our Great Father [the King]

sent for his red children. If you have an idea of going

away, give them to us, and you may go . . . Our lives are

in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to

defend our lands, and if it is his will, we wish to leave

our bones upon them.

Proctor was embarrassed by Tecumseh’s speech so promised

his answer in two days. Again they met in council but this time

Proctor was more forthcoming. With a map of the Detroit area

laid out on a table he explained that both his supply lines were

now cut off. Fort Malden was now defenseless having lost her

guns along with the brig Detroit. Not only did Perry control

Lake Erie but he could sail right past the fort into Lake St. Clair

to stop supplies arriving via the Thames. Proctor saw no other

option but to retreat up the Thames and make a stand near

Chatham. Tecumseh reluctantly agreed but Main Poc left with his

Potawatomi warriors crossing back into Michigan determined to

harass Harrison’s advance.

Harrison crossed into Canada occupying Amherstburg

unopposed seventeen days after the battle of Lake Erie. Proctor

and Tecumseh left Sandwich about the same time heading for

the Thames. Twelve miles upriver they passed the great burial

mound left over from the Iroquois War more than a century

earlier. They passed Chatham deciding instead to make a stand

at the Delaware village of Moraviantown. Harrison left Brigadier

General Duncan McArthur with 700 men to defend Detroit and

pursued Proctor and Tecumseh up the Thames. On October 3rd

Tecumseh decided to test the Americans. He had 1,500 warriors

and he prepared an ambush after destroying the two bridges over

McGregor’s Creek. One they burnt but the other was too wet so

250 David D Plain

they tore up the planks. Harrison had over 3,000 men and the

skirmish lasted for over two hours. Tecumseh’s lines finally broke

and he retreated back to Moraviantown. Seeing the strength of the

Harrison’s forces many of his warriors drifted away and he was left

with only 500.

On the morning of October 5th Proctor formed a line three

and one half miles west of the village of Moraviantown. It ran

north from the river for 500 yards to a large swamp. That line was

held by 540 men of the 41st Foot Regiment and 290 men of the

Royal Newfoundland Regiment. The warriors took up positions

in the swamp and they waited.

Harrison arrived at eight o’clock in the morning with 1,000

Mounted Kentucky Riflemen, 2,300 Kentucky Volunteers and

140 regulars. The mounted riflemen were unusually well-trained

by Colonel Richard M. Johnson. Each carried a tomahawk, a

scalping knife and a long rifle and Johnson had drilled them over

and over again in a highly unusual maneuver Instead of charging a

defensive line then dismounting and continuing the fight on foot

they rode right through the line then dismounted attacking from

the rear. This took the British by surprise and they surrendered

almost immediately. When Proctor saw this he fled in his carriage.

Tecumseh fought on. Johnson’s tactic could not be employed

because of the swamp. So they dismounted and advanced on foot.

The warriors would wait until the Kentuckians were almost upon

them then shower them with a hail of bullets. The Kentuckians

kept coming screeching cries of “Remember the Raisin”. Then the

great leader fell and the warriors broke away. The British suffered

12 killed, twenty-two wounded and 600 captured. The Americans

lost seven killed and twenty-two wounded. The warriors’ casualties

are unknown except for the incalculable loss of their august

Shawnee leader Tecumseh.

Viewing Assignment 3

View the film Tecumseh’s Vision – We Shall Remain – YouTube last viewed February 6, 2022.

Removal Policy of 1830

Introduction

Reading Assignment 1

For an introduction to “Indian Removal” read: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html last viewed February 6, 2022.

Viewing Assignment 4

View the film The “Indian Problem” last viewed February 6, 2022.

Trail of Tears 1838-39

Viewing Assignment 5

View the film The Trail of Tears: They Knew It Was Wrong last viewed February 6, 2022.

Although The Trail of Tears was the most famous Indian Removals, every First Nation was affected. For example, the Treaty of Detroit in 1807 created two reservations in Michigan, Swan Creek and Black River. Those two bands ceded their reservations in 1836, losing their lands and federal recognition. The United States government offered them land in Kansas.

The removal of the Swan Creek and Black River bands caused much angst and turmoil among the people. A few families accepted the offer and moved to Kansas but most wanted to stay in their homeland. Many moved across the border into Upper Canada but most moved to the reservation at Saginaw, Michigan.

The Swan Creek and Black River bands have kept track of their membership and are today appealing to Congress to have their federal recognition restored.

Questions

1. Sullivan’s devastating attack on the Seneca resulted in what fate for the Six Nations Iroquois?
2. What underpinned the American Militia’s hatred for the Moravian Delaware?
3. Why do you think the most consequential war of all the Indian Wars is the most forgotten?
4. What would have been the outcome of the War of 1812 if the First Nations had remained neutral?
5. If Tecumseh and Brock had survived, do you think Tecumseh’s vision would have come to fruition?
6. Do you think the small group of Cherokees who believed the only way for their nation to survive was to give up their homeland and move west were right?