General Harmar's Expedition against the Indians--Colonel Hardin
Ambushed--Bravery of the Regulars--Outgeneraled by the
Indians--Harmar and Hardin Court-martialed--General St. Clair's
Expedition and its Defeat.
The outrages upon the part of the Indians became so alarming that
Congress was forced to see that the only way to check them and
to give anything like security to the frontier, was to send a
regularly-organized army into the country, which should so cripple the
power of the combined tribes that they would be compelled to sue for
peace.
A force of eleven hundred men was therefore organized and placed under
the command of General Harmar, who was directed to march against the
Indian towns of the Northwest. In the latter part of September, Harmar,
at the head of this large body, moved against the villages on the
Miami. The savages, as a matter of course, knew of their coming, and
were gone. General Harmar laid waste their cornfields and applied the
torch to their lodges, making the destruction as complete as possible.
Discovering a fresh trail, he detached one hundred and eighty of his
men, and placing them under the command of Colonel John Hardin and
Ensign Hartshorn, sent them with orders to move with all speed with a
view of overtaking the fugitives.
Pursuit was pushed with great vigor, when the whole force ran directly
into ambush and were assailed on all sides by a large force of Indians.
At the beginning of the attack, the militia, numbering five-sixths of
the whole force, broke and scattered, while the few regulars stood
their ground and fought bravely, until nearly every man was shot down.
When night came, the Indians held a jollification dance over the
dead and dying soldiers, and the great victory they themselves had
again obtained. Among the witnesses of the curious scene were Ensign
Hartshorn (who, having stumbled over a log in the tall grass, was
prudent enough to lie still where he was unnoticed) and Colonel Hardin,
who was sunk to his chin in mud and water, where he stayed until he
gained an opportunity of crawling out. He and Hartshorn succeeded in
rejoining the main body.
The news of the frightful slaughter so discouraged General Harmar
that he broke up his camp and began a retrogade movement toward the
settlements. When a few miles from the Indian towns which he had
burned, he halted and sent out Colonel Hardin with three hundred
militia and sixty regulars.
They were victimized more shamefully than before. It seems
unaccountable how men in such circumstances, and with the crimson
lessons of the preceding few years before them, could be so deceived as
were the leaders of the expeditions in the West.
Colonel Hardin had not advanced far, when a small company of warriors
showed themselves and succeeded with little difficulty in drawing off
the militia in pursuit of them--the very purpose of the stratagem--and
then the main body of savages attacked the regulars in overwhelming
force and with tiger-like ferocity.
Although unused to such fighting, the regulars stood their ground like
Spartans, and loaded and fired with great accuracy and rapidity. The
warriors dropped like autumn leaves, and had there been only a few
hundred of them, the soldiers would have routed them very quickly; but
re-enforcements continued to swarm forward, the woods were alive, and
every tree and bush seemed to conceal a savage who aimed with deadly
effect at the brave soldiers.
The latter stood and fought until only ten men were left, including
their intrepid commander. These escaped, while fifty were killed--the
fight, scarcely heard of in this day, being one of the most remarkable
exhibitions of bravery ever given in the history of our country.
Just about the time the little force was practically annihilated, the
militia came back, so as to take their turn in offering themselves as
victims to Indian treachery and bravery. The warriors were ready for
them, and they were attacked with the same fierceness. The horrible
massacre went on until two-thirds of the militia were slain, when the
others scattered for the main body.
It would seem that mismanagement could not go further, and the
indignation against Harmar and Hardin was so intense that they were
court-martialed. Hardin obtained a unanimous acquittal, as did Harmar;
but the latter felt the disgrace so keenly that he resigned his
commission in the army.
One of the inevitable results of these repeated blunders on the part
of the soldiers was the renewal of the Indian outrages, which became
bolder than ever. The condition of Kentucky was so critical that
Congress appointed St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory,
Major-General, and he was instructed to raise a new regiment for the
defence of the frontier.
General St. Clair was given command of the expedition, and it was the
crowning act of imbecility and disgrace on the part of those who had
in charge the protection of the border. Arthur St. Clair was born at
Edinburgh, Scotland, and was in the prime of life when he assumed
command of the expedition against the western tribes. It was he who
in the month of June, 1777, was besieged in Ticonderoga by Burgoyne's
troops and compelled to evacuate the fort with great loss. His career
in the Revolution had not been creditable to him, and there was no man
in whom the Kentuckians had less confidence than he. When it became
known that he was to lead the large force against the Indians, the
dissatisfaction was universal, and the predictions of failure were
heard in every quarter.
The distrust was so deep that his call for volunteers received no
response. It was intended that his command should consist of two
thousand regular troops, composed of cavalry, infantry and artillery.
These rendezvoused at Fort Washington, the site of Cincinnati, in
September, 1791. Kentucky finally sent forward a thousand of her
militia, but they so disliked service under St. Clair, that the most of
them deserted and returned to their homes.
The chief object of this formidable campaign was to establish a series
of posts, extending from the Ohio to the Maumee; and by leaving a
garrison of a thousand men on the latter river, it was believed that
the neighboring tribes could be kept in a state of submission.
Fort Jefferson was established close to the present boundary line
between Ohio and Indiana, but the progress of the army was so
snail-like that desertions became numerous. A month passed before the
march was resumed, and the impatient Kentuckians left by scores. In one
instance at least a whole detachment drew off and went home.
The principal guide and scout attached to the expedition was a
Chickasaw chief, who saw what was certain to be the result of this
wholesale insubordination, and he with his few warriors also left. The
wiser course would have been for St. Clair to have done the same, for
nothing but irretrievable disaster stared him in the face.
St. Clair, however, pressed forward, and on the 3d of November, he
encamped upon a tributary of the Wabash. Indians were seen continually,
but they kept beyond reach. The regulars and levies encamped in two
lines, covered by the stream, while the militia were a quarter of a
mile in advance on the other side of the river. Beyond these, Captain
Clough was stationed with a company of regulars, with orders to
intercept the advance of the enemy. Colonel Oldham was directed to send
out patrols of twenty-five men each, through the woods to prevent the
insidious approach of the Indians.
No attack was made, but during the succeeding night, Captain Clough was
rendered uneasy by the discovery that the woods were full of savages,
who were evidently carrying out some pre-arranged plan, for the tribes
had proven long before their ability to outgeneral the whites in
fighting battles in the forest.
The captain reported his discovery to General Butler, who failed to
notify the commanding general, and, at sunrise, the Indians made a
furious charge upon the camp of the militia. The regulars, as usual,
fought with the greatest daring, and the militia, as usual, displayed
the greatest cowardice, breaking and fleeing in a panic. The regulars
were enabled to hold the savages in check for a short time, but the
panic of the militia was irretrievable.
There were none quicker to perceive this than the Indians themselves,
who immediately massed and poured a terribly destructive fire into the
advance, the artillery and the second line.
The surprise was complete, but credit must be given St. Clair and his
officers, who were personally brave, and who fought with the utmost
daring, striving at great personal risk to rally the men.