WAR.
The story of the impressment, service and sufferings of Fernando Stevens
and his friends are no exaggerations. Well authenticated history shows
that there were thousands of cases similar, and even worse than theirs.
The conduct of England was without precedent and unbearable. Their great
need of men might have been some excuse for impressment of Americans;
but there was a spice of hatred in their cruel treatment of the
unfortunate sailors.
We read much about the rulers moulding the destiny of the people; but in
our republic the people mould the destiny of the rulers. Long before the
president had dared express a thought of war, there were staid old
western farmers, level-headed old fellows, who declared that war was
inevitable. America is not a country to be ruled by one man. The people
rule it, and every man thinks for himself, so that out of the conflict
of opinions the truth is usually reached. Before even the fiery congress
of 1812 had taken up the subject of hostilities, the legislatures of
the several States, urged by their farmer constituency, had by
concurrent resolutions declared in favor of war; but the timid
president, influenced by his own convictions and the opinions of his
cabinet, still hesitated. Finally a committee of Democrats waited on Mr.
Madison and told him plainly, in substance, that the supporters of his
administration had determined upon war with England, that the patience
of the people had become exhausted at his delay, and that unless a
declaration of war should soon be made, his renomination and re-election
would probably not be accomplished. The president consented to yield his
own convictions to the will of his political friends. Thus we see that
President Madison was not moved through patriotic motives to declare war
against Great Britain, but from personal ambition. Patriotic motives
follow personal convictions, be they right or wrong.
On the first of April, 1812, he sent a confidential message to congress,
proposing, as a measure preliminary to a declaration of war, the passage
of a law laying an embargo upon all commerce with the United States for
the space of sixty days. This was done on the fourth of April, and on
the eighth, Louisiana was admitted into the Union as a State.
At the end of the sixty days embargo, Madison sent a message to congress
in which he reviewed the difficulties with Great Britain, portrayed the
aggressions of that power, and intimated the necessity of war for the
maintenance of the honor and dignity of the republic. The message was
referred to the committee on foreign relations, when a majority of
them--John C. Calhoun of South Carolinia, Felix Grundy of Tennessee,
John Smillie of Pennsylvania, John A. Harper of New Hampshire, Joseph
Desha of Kentucky and Seaver of Massachusetts reported, June 3, a
manifesto as the basis of a declaration of war. On the next day, a bill
to that effect, drawn by Attorney-General Pinckney in the following form
was adopted and presented by Mr. Calhoun:
"That war be, and the same is hereby, declared to exist between the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the dependencies
thereof, and the United States of America and their Territories, and
that the president of the United States is hereby authorized to use the
whole land and naval force of the United States to carry the same into
effect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United States
commissions, or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form as
he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against
the vessels, goods and effects of the government of the said United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the subjects thereof."
Pending these proceedings, congress sat with closed doors. The bill
passed the house of representatives by a vote of 75 to 49, and the
senate by 19 to 13. The president's immediate signature made it a law;
and two days later, June 19, 1812, Mr. Madison issued a proclamation, in
which he formally declared war against the offending government
and people.
Thus began the second war with Great Britain, generally known in the
annals of history as the War of 1812, though it was in reality the
second war for independence. It was the war which established
independence beyond the cavil of a doubt and sustained the honor of
the nation.
Immediate measures were taken by congress to sustain the declaration of
war. The president was authorized to enlist 25,000 men for the regular
army, accept 50,000 volunteers and call out 100,000 militia for the
defence of the seacoast. About $3,000,000 were appropriated for
the navy.
There were very few men in the United States trained in the art of war
at this time. West Point was in its infancy, having been authorized only
ten years before, and as yet had not been able to accomplish anything.
The older officers of the Revolution were already in their graves, and
the younger ones were far advanced in life; yet to the latter alone, the
government felt compelled to look for its military leaders. Henry
Dearborn, a meritorious New Hampshire colonel in the continental army,
was commissioned major-general and commander-in-chief. His principal
brigadiers were James Wilkinson, who was on the staff of General Gates
in the capture of Burgoyne, Wade Hampton, who had done good partisan
service with Marion, Sumter, and others in South Carolinia, William
Hull, who had served as colonel in the old war for independence, and
Joseph Bloomfield, who had been a captain in the New Jersey line.
At that time, Hull was a governor of the territory of Michigan.
Satisfied that the American navy could not cope with that of Great
Britain, the Americans based their hopes for success largely upon the
supposed dissatisfaction of the inhabitants of Canada and other British
colonial possessions on their border. It was believed that the Canadians
would flock to the American standard as soon as it was raised on their
soil. The American people have always clung to the belief that Canadians
were not loyal to Great Britain. It was the mistake of 1775, it was the
mistake of 1812, and strange to say Americans still hug the delusion to
their breasts that Canada favors annexation. They have reason for their
belief only in the doctrine that such an annexation would be in the
interests of Canada, disregarding the stubborn fact that in political
matters, prejudices, rather than interests, control.
Canada was then divided into the Upper and Lower Provinces, the former
extending westward from Montreal, along the shores of the St. Lawrence
and Lake Ontario, to Lake Huron and the Detroit River. It included about
one hundred thousand inhabitants, who were principally the families of
American loyalists, who had been compelled to abandon their homes in the
States at the close of the war of the Revolution, and had since lived
under the fostering care of the British government. They were loyal to
Great Britain from lingering resentment to the Americans, and because of
the kindness of the English government.
In 1812, George, Prince of Wales, was really the monarch of Great
Britain, for the court physicians had pronounced his father, George
III., hopelessly insane. Great Britain was waging a tremendous war
against Napoleon, having just formed an alliance with Russia against the
ambitious Corsican. England's naval armament on the American stations,
Halifax, Newfoundland, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands, then consisted
of five ships-of-the-line, nineteen frigates, forty-one brigs and
sixteen schooners and some armed vessels on Lakes Ontario and Erie, with
several others building. The British land forces in the two Canadian
provinces were about seven thousand five hundred, while the number of
Canadian militia did not exceed forty thousand with a frontier of seven
hundred miles to guard.
The governor of Michigan went to Washington City in the winter of 1812
and heard the question of the invasion of western Canada discussed. He
informed the president that the success of such an enterprise depended
on having armed vessels on Lake Erie, with a competent force in the
northwest to protect the American frontier against the Indians. In the
spring, Governor Meigs of Ohio summoned the militia of that State to
rendezvous at Dayton, to meet the impending danger. Hull accepted the
commission of brigadier, and late in May arrived at Dayton, Ohio, and
took command of the troops at that place. Hull had under him such noted
officers as Colonels Duncan McArthur, James Findlay and Lewis Cass. With
these forces, he marched to Detroit, through an almost trackless
wilderness. While on the march with about two thousand men, Hull was
informed of the declaration of war, which news at the same time reached
the British posts in Canada, and his little army was in imminent peril.
The government gave Hull discretionary power for invading Canada.
General Sir Isaac Brock, Lieutenant Governor of upper Canada, was in
command of the British forces. On July 12, 1812, Hull crossed the
Detroit River with his whole force and encamped at some unfinished works
at Sandwich, preparatory to an attack on Fort Malden near the present
Amherstburg. From this point, Hull issued a proclamation, promising
protection to the inhabitants who would remain at home and death to all
who should side with the Indians, then gathering under Tecumseh at
Malden. General Proctor was sent to take command at Fort Malden, while
Brock began to assemble a force about him at Fort George. Here he was
joined by John Brant, son of the great Mohawk chief with one hundred
warriors from Grand River.
By his extreme caution and delay, Hull lost his opportunity to capture
Fort Malden, which was soon strongly reinforced by British and Indians.
Meanwhile, information reached Hull of the fall of the fort on Mackinaw.
He also learned that Fort Dearborn at Chicago was invested, while a
detachment under Major Van Horne, sent down to the West side of the
Detroit River to escort a supply train from Ohio, was attacked by the
British and Indians, and after a sharp fight defeated. Hull decided to
retreat to Detroit. The order was a surprise and disappointment to the
army, and drew from some of the young officers very harsh remarks
concerning the imbecility and even treachery of General Hull. Sullenly
the army crossed the river, and on the morning of the 8th of August
encamped under the shelter of Fort Detroit. On the same day Colonel
Miller and several hundred men were sent to accomplish what Van Horne
had failed to do. They met and defeated the Indians under Tecumseh and a
small British force near the scene of Van Horne's disaster, and were
about to press forward to meet the supply party and escort them to camp,
when the commander-in-chief recalled them.
On the 13th of August, Gen. Brock, a brave, energetic officer reached
Malden with reinforcements. Aware of the character of Hull, he prepared
for the conquest of Detroit. On the 14th, he planted batteries at
Sandwich, opposite the fortress of Detroit and demanded its surrender,
stating that otherwise he should be unable to restrain the fury of the
savages. Instigated by his officers, Hull answered this by a spirited
refusal and a declaration that the fort and town would be defended to
the last extremity. The British commenced a cannonade, and Hull was
greatly distressed at the number of women and children in the fort,
exposed to the fire of the enemy. The more charitably inclined historian
interprets his acts as the result of tender regard for the helpless and
innocent, rather than cowardice, especially as his daughter and her
little children came near being slain by a ricocheting cannon-ball,
which almost annihilated a group of officers in front of the door of the
house in which the mother and her children were. The firing continued
until next day. The alarm and consternation of General Hull had now
become extreme. On the 12th, the field officers, suspecting that the
general intended to surrender the fort, had determined on his arrest.
This was probably prevented, in consequence of Col. McArthur and Cass,
two very active and spirited officers, being detached, on the 13th, with
four hundred men, on a third expedition to the river Raisin.
Early on the morning of the 16th, the British landed at Springwell,
three miles below the town, without opposition, and marched up in solid
column toward the fort along the river bank. The troops were strongly
posted, and cannon loaded with grape stood on a commanding eminence
ready to sweep the advancing columns. The troops, anticipating a
brilliant victory, waited in eager expectation the advance of the
British. What was their disappointment and mortification at the very
moment, when it was thought the British were advancing to certain
destruction, orders were given for them to retire within the fort, and
for the artillery not to fire. Then, the men were ordered to stack their
arms, and, to the astonishment of all, a white flag was suspended from
the walls, and Hull, panic stricken, surrendered the fortress without
even stipulating the terms. The surrender included, beside the troops at
Detroit, the detachments under Cass and McArthur, and the party under
Captain Brush at the river Raisin. No provision was made for the
unfortunate Canadians who had joined General Hull, and several of them
were hung as traitors.
The disgraceful surrender of Detroit, excited universal indignation
throughout the country. When McArthur's sword was demanded, he
indignantly broke it, tore the epaulettes from his shoulders and threw
himself upon the ground. When General Hull was exchanged, he was tried
by a court-martial, found guilty of cowardice and sentenced to be shot;
but, in consequence of his revolutionary services and his advanced age,
the president pardoned him. His fair fame, however, has ever since been
blasted with the breath of cowardice.
While General Hull was in Canada, he dispatched Winnemeg, a friendly
Indian, to Captain Heald, the commander of Fort Dearborn, at the small
trading post of Chicago, with the information of the loss of Mackinaw,
and directed him to distribute his stores among the Indians, and return
to Fort Wayne. Captain Heald had ample means of defence; but the order
received on the 9th of August left nothing to his discretion. The
Pottawatomies, however, having obtained intelligence of the war from a
runner sent by Tecumseh, collected, to the number of several hundred,
around the fort. Notwithstanding the evident hostile demonstration of
the Indians, Captain Heald proceeded to obey his superior's orders. He
distributed his stores among the Indians, excepting what was most
wanted; while liquors and ammunition which they could not take, were
thrown into the lake. This act enraged the Pottawatomies. On the 14th,
Captain Wells arrived with fifteen friendly Miamies from Fort Wayne.
This intrepid warrior, who had been bred among the Indians, hearing that
his friends at Chicago were in danger, had hastened thither to avert the
fate, which he knew must ensue to the little garrison, if they evacuated
the fort; but he was too late; the ammunition and provisions both being
gone, there was no alternative. The next day (August 15th), all being
ready, the garrison left the fort with martial music and in
military array.
Captain Wells, at the head of the Miamies, led the van, his face
blackened after the manner of the Indians.
The garrison, with loaded arms, followed, and the wagons with the
baggage, the women and children, the sick and the lame closed the rear.
The Pottawatomies, about five hundred in number, who had promised to
escort them in safety to Fort Wayne, leaving a little space, afterward
followed. The party in advance took the beach road. They had no sooner
arrived at the sand-hills, which separated the prairie from the beach,
about a half mile from the fort, when the Pottawatomies, instead of
continuing in the rear of the Americans, left the beach and took to the
prairie. The sand-hills intervened and presented a barrier between the
Pottawatomies and the American and Miami line of march. This divergence
had scarcely been effected, when Captain Wells, who, with the Miamies,
was considerably in advance, rode back and exclaimed:
"They are about to attack us; form instantly and charge upon them."
The words had scarcely been uttered, before a volley of musketry from
behind the sand-hills was poured in upon them. The troops were brought
immediately into line and charged up the bank. One man, a veteran of
seventy, fell as they ascended. The battle at once became general. The
Miamies fled in the outset.
The American troops behaved gallantly. Though few in number, they sold
their lives as dearly as possible. While the battle was raging, the
surgeon, Doctor Voorhes, who was badly wounded, and whose horse had been
shot under him, approaching Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieutenant Helm,
with his face the picture of dread and despair, asked:
"Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly wounded, but I think
not mortally. Perhaps we can purchase safety by offering a large reward.
Do you think there is any chance?"
"Doctor Voorhes," the brave little woman answered, "let us not waste the
few moments which yet remain, in idle or ill-founded hopes. Our fate is
inevitable. We must soon appear at the bar of God. Let us make such
preparations as are in our power."
"Oh, I cannot die! I am unfit to die! If I had a short time to
prepare!--oh, death, how awful!"
At this moment, Ensign Ronan was fighting at a little distance with a
tall and portly Indian. The former, mortally wounded, was nearly down
and struggling desperately on one knee. Mrs. Helm, pointing her finger
and directing the attention of the doctor to him, cried:
"Look at that young man; he dies like a soldier!"
"Yes," said the doctor, "but he has no terrors of the future; he is an
unbeliever."
A young savage sprang at Mrs. Helm, whose horse had been shot, and
raised his tomahawk to strike her. She instantly sprang aside, and the
blow intended for her head, fell upon her shoulders. She thereupon
seized him around his neck, and, while exerting all her efforts to get
possession of his scalping knife, was seized by another Indian and
dragged forcibly from his grasp. The latter bore her, struggling and
resisting, toward the lake. Notwithstanding, however, the rapidity with
which she was hurried along, she recognized, as she passed, the form of
the unfortunate doctor stretched lifeless on the prairie. She was
plunged into the water and held there, despite her resistance, with a
strong hand. It soon became evident, however, that it was not the
intention of her captor to drown her, as he took care to keep her head
above the water. Thus reassured, she gave him a careful look and
recognized him, despite his disguise, as "Black Partridge, the white
man's friend." It was this friendly savage who had warned Captain Heald
to beware of the march. Through the interpreter he said:
"Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day; be careful on the
march you are going to take."
The troops, having fought with desperation until two-thirds of their
number were slain, the remainder, twenty-seven in all, borne down by an
overwhelming force, and exhausted by efforts hitherto unequaled, at
length surrendered. They stipulated, however, for their own safety and
for the safety of their remaining women and children. The wounded
prisoners, however, in the hurry of the moment were forgotten, and were,
therefore, regarded by the Indians as having been excluded.
[ILLUSTRATION: IT SOON BECAME EVIDENT THAT HE DID NOT INTEND TO DROWN
HER.]
One of the soldiers' wives, having been told that prisoners taken by the
Indians were put to terrible tortures, resolved from the first not to
surrender. When a party of savages approached her, she fought with
desperation, although assured of kind treatment, and, exciting the anger
of the Indians, was killed and left on the field. After the surrender,
twelve children in one of the baggage wagons were slain by a
single savage.
Mrs. Rebecca Heald, the young captain's wife, like Mrs. Helm was mounted
on a horse. She carried a rifle with which she shot a savage dead.
During the massacre, an Indian, with the fury of a demon in his
countenance, advanced to her with his tomahawk raised. She had been
accustomed to danger and, knowing the temper of the Indians, with great
presence of mind, looked him in the face and, smiling, said:
"Truly, you will not kill a squaw?"
His arm fell powerless at his side. The conciliating smile of an
innocent female, appealing to the magnanimity of a warrior, reached the
heart of the savage and subdued the barbarity of his soul.
Captain Heald and his wife, by the aid and influence of To-pa-na-hee
and Kee-po-tah, were put into a bark canoe and paddled by the chief of
the Pottawatomies and his wife to Mackinaw, three hundred miles distant,
along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, and delivered to the British
commander. They were kindly received and afterward sent as prisoners to
Detroit, where they were finally exchanged.
Lieutenant Helm was wounded in the action and taken prisoner. He was
afterward taken by some friendly Indians to Au Sable, and from thence
to St. Louis, and was liberated from captivity through the intervention
of Mr. Thomas Forsyth, an Indian trader. Mrs. Helm was slightly wounded
in the ankle, and had her horse shot from under her, when assailed by
the savage from whom Black Partridge rescued her. After passing through
many trying scenes and ordeals, she was finally taken to Detroit and
subsequently joined her husband. The soldiers, with their wives and
children, were dispersed among the Pottawatomies on the Illinois, the
Wabash and the Rock Rivers, and some were taken to Milwaukee. In the
following spring, they were principally collected at Detroit and
ransomed. A part of them, however, remained in captivity another year,
and during that period experienced more kindness than they or their
friends had expected.
Captain Wells, the intrepid leader of the Miamies, remained with the
Americans after his warriors fled and fell in the massacre. On the spot
where this massacre occurred a little over two generations ago, now
stands a city, whose growth is one of the marvels in the history of the
progress of our great nation within the present century. It is the
centre of a railway system connecting the East with the West by fully
twelve thousand miles of railroad, all tributary to Chicago; and that
city, which was only the germ of a small village fifty years ago, now
has more than a million inhabitants, and is the great grain market of
the western continent.
On the bloody sands where Captain Heald's small command fought so nobly
is now (1893) being held a great international exposition, the "World's
Columbian Exposition" in celebration of the discovery of the New World
by Columbus.
Thus far, the war with England had not been encouraging to Americans.
Within two months from the time of this declaration, the whole
northwest, excepting Forts Harrison and Wayne in the Indian Territory,
were in possession of the enemy. Alarm and astonishment prevailed
throughout the West. The great mass of Indians, ever ready to join the
successful party, were flocking to the British; but by the spirited
exertion of the governors of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, three thousand
volunteers were quickly raised and placed under command of General W.H.
Harrison, for the purpose of subduing the Indians and regaining what was
lost at Detroit.