THE OCCUPATION OF ILLINOIS.
By the treaty of Paris the title to the Illinois region passed to Great
Britain, but Fort Chartres was not immediately occupied. Detachments
of British troops had taken possession of practically every other post
in the newly ceded territory as early as 1760. The occupation of the
forest posts of Green Bay, Mackinac, St. Joseph, Ouitanon, Detroit,
Fort Miami, Sandusky, Niagara and others seemed to indicate almost
complete British dominion in the West. The transfer of the Illinois
posts, however, remained to be effected, and although orders were
forwarded from France in the summer of 1763 to the officers commanding
in the ceded territory to evacuate as soon as the English forces
appeared,[12] almost three years elapsed before this was accomplished;
for soon after the announcement of the treaty of cession, that broad
belt of Indian tribes stretching from the fringe of the eastern
settlements to the Mississippi rose in open rebellion.[13] This
unexpected movement had to be reckoned with before any thought of the
occupation of the Illinois could be seriously entertained.
Of the two great northern Indian families, the Iroquois had generally
espoused the English cause during the recent war, while the Algonquin
nations, living in Canada, and the Lake and Ohio regions, had supported
the French. At the close of the war the greater portion of the French
had sworn fealty to the English crown; but the allegiance of their
allies, the Algonquins, was at best only temporary. It was thought
that, since the power of France had been crushed, there would be no
further motive for the Indian tribes to continue hostilities; but from
1761 there had been a growing feeling of discontent among the western
Indians. So long as France and Great Britain were able to hold each
other in check in America, the Indian nations formed a balance of
power, so to speak, between them. England and France vied with each
other to conciliate the savages and to retain their good will. As soon,
however, as English dominion was assured, this attitude was somewhat
changed. The fur trade under the French had been well regulated, but
its condition under the English from 1760 to 1763 was deplorable.[14]
The English traders were rash and unprincipled men[15] who did not
scruple to cheat and insult their Indian clients at every opportunity.
The more intelligent of the western and northern Indians perceived
that their hunting grounds would soon be overrun by white settlers
with a fixed purpose of permanent settlement.[16] This was probably
the chief cause of the Indian uprising. There remained in the forests
many French and renegade traders and hunters who constantly concocted
insidious reports as to English designs and filled the savage minds
with hope of succor from the King of France.[17] Many of the French
inhabitance had since 1760 emigrated beyond the Mississippi, because,
as the Indians thought, they feared to live under English rule.[18]
This doubtless contributed something toward the rising discontent of
the savages. Finally the policy of economy in expenses, which General
Amherst entered upon, by cutting off a large part of the Indian
presents, always so indispensable in dealing with that race, augured
poorly for the Indians's future.
On the part of the mass of the Indians the insurrection was probably
a mere outbreak of resentment; but Pontiac, the great chief of the
Ottawas, had a clearer vision. He determined to rehabilitate French
power in the west and to reunite all the Indian nations into one great
confederacy in order to ward off the approaching dangers. During the
years 1761-1762 the plot was developed. In 1762 Pontiac dispatched
his emissaries to all the Indian nations. The ramifications of the
conspiracy extended to all the Algonquin tribes, to some of the
nations on the lower Mississippi and even included a portion of the
Six Nations. The original aim of the plot was the destruction of the
garrisons on the frontier, after which the settlements were to be
attacked. The attack on the outposts, beginning in May, 1763, was
sudden and overwhelming; Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Niagara alone held
out, the remainder of the posts falling without an attempt at defense.
Had the proclamation of 1763, which aimed at the pacification of the
Indians by reserving to them the western lands, been issued earlier
in the year, this devastating might have been avoided. Peaceful
pacification was now out of the question. During the summers of 1763
and 1764 Colonel Bouquet raised the siege of Fort Pitt, penetrated into
the enemy's country in the upper Ohio valley region and completely
subdued the Shawnee and Delaware tribes upon whom Pontiac had placed
every dependence. Previous to Bouquet's second campaign, Colonel
Bradstreet had advanced with a detachment along the southern shore of
Lake Erie, penetrating as far west as Detroit, whence companies were
sent to occupy the posts in the upper lake region. In the campaign
as a whole the Bouquet expedition was the most effective. After the
ratification of a series of treaties, in which the Indians promised
allegiance to the English crown, the eastern portion of the rebellion
was broken.
It now remained to penetrate to the Illinois country in order to
relieve the French garrison. Pontiac had retired thither in 1764,
after his unsuccessful attempt upon Detroit; there he hoped to rally
the western tribes and sue for the support of the French. But as we
shall see, his schemes received a powerful blow upon the refusal of the
commandants to countenance his pleas.
To what extent Pontiac was assisted by French intriguers in the
development of his plans may never be positively known. As has already
been pointed out, French traders were constantly among the Indians,
filling their minds with hopes and fears. That the plot included French
officials may be doubted; although Sir William Johnson and General
Gage seemed convinced that such was the case.[19] Their belief,
however, was based almost wholly upon reports from Indian runners,
whose credibility as witnesses may well be questioned. A perusal of the
correspondence of the French officials[20] residing in Illinois and
Louisiana, and their official communications with the Indians during
this period goes far to clear them of complicity in the affair.[21]
General Gage, who succeeded Amherst as commander-in-chief of the
British army in America in November, 1763, was convinced that the early
occupation of the western posts was essential,[22] since it would in
a measure cut off the communication between the French and Indian
nations dwelling in that vicinity. The Indians, finding themselves
thus inclosed would be more easily pacified. But the participation in
the rebellion of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes of the upper Ohio
river region precluded for a time the possibility of reaching the
Mississippi posts by way of Fort Pitt, without a much larger force than
Gage had at his command in the east; and the colonies were already
avoiding the call for troops.[23] The only other available route
was by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi River whose navigation
had been declared open to French and English alike by the treaty of
Paris. Little opposition might be expected from the southern Indians
toward whom a much more liberal policy had been pursued than with the
northern tribes. Presents to the value of four or five thousand pounds
had been sent to Charleston in 1763 for distribution among the southern
nations which counter-acted in a large measure the machinations of the
French traders from New Orleans.[24] The Florida ports, Mobile and
Pensacola, were already occupied by English troops, and Gage and his
associates believed, that with the co-operation of the French Governor
of Louisiana a successful ascent could be made.[25]
Accordingly in January, 1764, Major Arthur Loftus, with a detachment
of three hundred and fifty-one men from the twenty-second regiment
embarked at Mobile for New Orleans, where preparations were to be made
for the voyage.[26] A company of sixty men from this regiment were to
be left at Fort Massac on the Ohio River, while the remainder were to
occupy Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres.[27] At New Orleans boats had to be
built, supplies and provisions procured, and guides and interpreters
provided.[28] The expedition set out from New Orleans February 27.
Three weeks later the flotilla was attacked by a band of Tonica Indians
near Davion's Bluff, or Fort Adams,[29] about two hundred and forty
miles above New Orleans. After the loss of several men in the boats
composing the vanguard, Loftus ordered a retreat, and the expedition
was abandoned. Depleted by sickness, death and desertion the regiment
made its way from New Orleans back to Mobile.[30]
Major Loftus placed the blame for the failure of his expedition upon
Governor D' Abadie and other French officials at New Orleans.[31] There
is probably sufficient evidence, however, to warrant the conclusion
that his accusations against the Governor were without foundation.
The correspondence of D' Abadie, Gage, and others indicates that
official aid was given the English in making their preparations for
the journey,[32] and letters were issued to the commandants of the
French posts on the Mississippi to render the English convoys all the
assistance in their power[33]. There may have been some justification
for the suspicion of Loftus that the intriguers were at work, for the
French as a whole were not in sympathy with the attempt; the success
of the English meant the cessation of the lucrative trade between New
Orleans and Illinois. They were no doubt delighted at the discomfiture
of the English officer, for when some of the chiefs engaged in the
ambuscade entered New Orleans they were said to have been publicly
received.[34]
Granting, however, the machinations of the French, the reason for
the failure of Loftus may be found in part in the almost total lack
of precautions adopted before undertaking the journey. Governor D'
Abadie had given the English officer warning of the bad disposition
of a number of tribes along the Mississippi River, among whom Pontiac
had considerable influence, and had assured him that unless he carried
presents for the Indians, he would be unable to proceed far up the
river.[35] The policy of sending advance agents with convoys of
presents for the Indians was successful the following year when the
Illinois posts were finally reached from the east; but no such policy
was adopted at this time.[36] No action was taken to counter-act any
possible intrigues on the part of the French. D' Abadie's advice
was not heeded, and his prophecy was fulfilled. General Gage in his
official correspondence implied that he did not think sufficient care
had been exercised to insure success, and expressed his belief that if
Loftus would make use of the "necessary precautions" he might get up
to the mouth of the Ohio with little interruption.[37] This want of
judgement, therefore, accounts in a large degree for the unfortunate
termination of the plans of an approach from the south.
The news of the defeat of Loftus had two results. First, it gave
Pontiac renewed hope that he might be able to rally again the western
and northern Indians, and, with French assistance, block the advance
of the English. In the second place it led General Gage to determine
upon an advance from the east, down the Ohio River, which was made
practicable by the recent submission of the Delaware Indians.
Meanwhile the Illinois country in 1764 presented an anomalous
situation. St. Ange was governing, in the name of Louis XV, a country
belonging to another king. He was under orders to surrender the place
as soon as possible to its rightful owner; but the prospect for such an
event seemed remote. He was surrounded by crowds of begging, thieving
savages; and the emissaries of the greatest of Indian chieftains,
Pontiac, were constantly petitioning for his active support against
the approaching English. A considerable portion of the French traders
of the villages were secretly, and sometimes openly, supporting the
Indian cause, which added greatly to the increasing embarrasment of the
commandant. So distressing became the situation that Neyon de Villiers,
St. Ange's predecessor, called the latter from Vincennes on the Wabash,
and left the country in disgust, taking with him to New Orleans sixty
soldiers and eighty of the French inhabitants.[38] He had shortly
before indignantly refused to countenance the proposals of Pontiac, and
had begged the Indians to lay down their arms and make peace with the
English.[39]
The news of Loftus' defeat aroused Pontiac the thought of the
possibility of meeting and repelling the advance from the east as
it had been met and repelled in the south. In spite of the news of
the defeat of his allies by Bouquet and the report that preparations
were being made by his victorious enemy to advance against him,
Pontiac determined to make a last supreme effort. By a series of
visits among the tribes dwelling in the Illinois, on the Wabash and
in the Miami country, he succeeded in arousing in them the instinct
of self-preservation, in firing the hearts of all the faltering
Indians and in winning the promise of their co-operation in his plan
of defense. He was in this temper when he met and turned back Captain
Thomas Morris in the Miami country early in the autumn of 1764. Morris
had been sent by Bradstreet from the neighborhood of Detroit with
messages to St. Ange in the Illinois country, whence he was to proceed
to New Orleans.[40] After being maltreated and threatened with the
stake, Morris effected an escape and made his way to Detroit.[41] It
was during his interview with Pontiac that the latter informed Morris
of the repulse of Loftus, of the journey of his emissaries to New
Orleans to seek French support, and of his determination and that of
his Indian allies to resist the English to the last.[42]
A few months later, in February, 1765, there arrived at Fort Chartres
an English officer, accompanied by a trader named Crawford. They were
probably the first Englishmen to penetrate thus far into the former
French territory since the beginning of the war.[43] They had been sent
from Mobile by Major Farmer, the commandant at that place, to bring
about the conciliation of the Indians in the Illinois.[44] Instead of
following the Mississippi, they worked their way northward through the
great Choctaw and Chicksaw nations to the Ohio, descended the latter
to the Mississippi and thence to the Illinois villages.[45] Although
St. Ange received them cordially[46] and did all in his power to
influence the savages to receive the English,[47] the mission of Ross
was a failure. The Indians had nothing but expressions of hatred and
defiance for the English; even the Missouri and Osages from beyond
the Mississippi had fallen under the influence of Pontiac.[48] Ross
and his companion remained with St. Ange nearly two months; but about
the middle of April they were obliged to go down the river to New
Orleans.[49]
During the winter of 1764-1765 preparations were made to send a
detachment of troops down the Ohio from Fort Pitt to relieve Fort
Chartres. To pave the way for the troops Gage dispatched two agents
in advance. He selected George Croghan, Sir William Johnson's deputy,
for the delicate and dangerous task of going among the Indians of
that country to assure them of the peaceful attitude of the English,
to promise them better facilities for trade and to accompany the
promise with substantial presents.[50] The second agent was Lieutenant
Fraser,[51] whose mission was to carry letters to the French commandant
and a proclamation for the inhabitants.[52] January 24, 1765, Fraser
and Croghan set out from Carlisle, Pennsylvania,[53] followed a few
days later by a large convoy of presents.[54] During the journey, the
convoy was attacked by a band of Pennsylvania borderers,[55] and a
large part of the goods destined for the Indians were destroyed,[56]
together with some valuable stores which certain Philadelphia merchants
were forwarding to Fort Pitt for the purpose of opening up the trade
as early as possible.[57] Croghan therefore found it necessary to
tarry at Fort Pitt to replenish his stores and to await the opening of
spring.[58] But another matter intervened which forced him to postpone
his departure for more than two months. A temporary defection had
arisen among the Shawnee and Delaware Indians.[59] They had failed to
fulfil some of the obligations imposed upon them by Bouquet in the
previous summer, and there was some fear lest they would not permit
Croghan to pass through their country. His influence was such, however,
that, in an assembly of the tribes at Fort Pitt, he not only received
their consent to a safe passage, but some of their number volunteered
to accompany him.[60]
Meanwhile Lieutenant Fraser, Croghan's companion, decided to proceed
alone, inasmuch as Gage's instructions to him were to be at the
Illinois early in April.[61] On March 23 he departed, accompanied
by two or three whites and a couple of Indians,[62] and reached the
Illinois posts in the latter part of April, shortly after the departure
of Lieutenant Ross and his party. Here Fraser found many of the
Indians in destitution and some inclined for peace.[63] Nevertheless,
instigated by the traders and encouraged by their secret supplies,
the savages as a whole would not listen to Fraser; they threatened
his life, and threw him into prison, and he was finally saved by the
intervention of Pontiac himself.[64] Fraser felt himself to be in a
dangerous situation; unable to hear from Croghan, whom he was expecting
every day, and daily insulted and maltreated by the drunken savages,
he took advantage of his discretionary orders and descended the
Mississippi to New Orleans.[65] Although the French traders continued
to supply the Indians with arms and ammunition, and buoy up their
spirits by stories of aid from the king of France, Pontiac himself
was being rapidly disillusioned. He had given Fraser the assurance that
if the Indians on the Ohio had made a permanent peace, he would do
likewise.[66] St. Ange continued to refuse the expected help,[67] and
when the news came of the failure of the mission to New Orleans and of
the transfer of Louisiana to Spain, the ruin of the Indian cause was
complete.
Having adjusted affairs with the Indians at Fort Pitt, Croghan set out
from there on May 15th with two boats, accompanied by several white
companions and a party of Shawnee Indians.[68] In compliance with
messages from Croghan, representatives of numerous tribes along the
route met him at the mouth of the Scioto and delivered up a number of
French traders who were compelled to take an oath of allegiance to
the English crown, or pass to the west of the Mississippi.[69] The
only other incident of importance on this voyage was the attack of
the Kickapous and Mascoutin Indians near the mouth of the Wabash on
June 8th,[70] which contributed greatly to the success of the mission.
After the attack in which two whites and several Shawnees were killed,
the assailants expressed their profound sorrow, declaring that they
thought the party to be a band of Charokees with whom they were at
enmity.[71] Nevertheless, they plundered the stores and carried Croghan
and the remainder of the party to Vincennes, a small French town on
the Wabash. Croghan was now separated temporarily from his companions
and carried to Fort Ouiatanon, about 210 miles north of Vincennes. The
political blunder of the Kickapous in firing upon the convoy now became
apparent;[72] they were censured on all sides for having attacked
their friends the Shawnees, since the latter might thus be turned into
deadly enemies.[73] During the first week of July deputations from all
the surrounding tribes visited Croghan, assuring him of their desire
for peace and of their willingness to escort him to the Illinois where
Pontiac was residing.[74] July 11th, Maisonville, whom Fraser had a
few weeks before left at Fort Chartres, arrived at Ouiatanon with
messages from St. Ange requesting Croghan to come to Fort Chartres to
arrange affairs in that region.[75] A few days later Croghan set out
for the Illinois, attended by a large concourse of savages; but he had
advanced only a short distance when he met Pontiac himself who was on
the road to Ouiatanon. They all returned to the fort where, at a great
council, Pontiac signified his willingness to make a lasting peace and
promised to offer no further resistance to the approach of the English
troops.[76] There was now no need to go to Fort Chartres; instead
Croghan turned his steps toward Detroit, where another important Indian
conference was held in which a general peace was made with all the
western Indians.[77]
Immediately after effecting an accomodation with Pontiac at Ouiatanon,
Croghan sent an account of the success of his negotiations to Fort
Pitt.[78] Here Captain Stirling with a detachment of about one hundred
men of the 42d or Black Watch regiment, had been holding himself in
readiness for some time, waiting for a favorable report before moving
to the relief of Fort Chartres. Although the 34th regiment under Major
Farmer was supposed to be making its way up the Mississippi to relieve
the French garrison in Illinois, General Gage would not depend upon
its slow and uncertain movements.[79] Upon receipt of the news, on the
24th of August, Stirling left Fort Pitt[80] and began the long and
tedious journey. Owing to the season of the year the navigation of the
Ohio was very difficult, forty-seven days being required to complete
the journey.[81] The voyage, on the whole, was without incident until
about forty miles below the Wabash River. Here Stirling's force
encountered two boats loaded with goods, in charge of a French trader,
who was accompanied by some thirty Indians and a chief of the Shawnees,
who had remained in the French interest.[82] On account of the
allegations of a certain Indian that his party had planned to fire on
the English before they were aware of the latters' strength, Stirling
became apprehensive lest the attitude of the Indians had changed since
Croghan's visit. He therefore sent Lieutenant Rumsey, with a small
party by land from Fort Massac to Fort Chartres, in order to ascertain
the exact situation and to apprise St. Ange of his approach.[83] Rumsey
and his guides, however, lost their way and did not reach the villages
until after the arrival of the troops.[84] Sterling arrived on the 9th
of October; and it is said that the Indians and French were unaware of
his approach until he was within a few miles of the village, and that
the Indians upon learning of the weakness of the English force, assumed
a most insolent and threatening attitude.[85] On the following day St.
Ange and the French garrison were formally relieved,[86] and with this
event, the last vestige of French authority in North America, except
new Orleans, passed away.