LITTLE TURTLE
FIRST AN ENEMY, THEN A FRIEND
At the close of the Revolution, the boundaries of the United States
were the Mississippi River on the west, the St. Lawrence and Great
Lakes on the north, and the thirty-first parallel on the south. But
for the famous expedition of Captain George Rogers Clark in 1778, the
western boundary would have been the Allegheny Mountains. Clark was an
elder brother of Captain William Clark, who, with Captain Merriwether
Lewis, made his memorable journey across the continent to the Pacific,
a quarter of a century later.
The opening of the vast region to the west of the old original thirteen
States set flowing a tide of emigration into the new and inviting
territory. The stream poured steadily year after year, but was often
checked by the enmity of the Indian tribes, who claimed the country as
their own, and resisted the inroads of the white men. Exposed cabins
and small settlements were burned, and the inhabitants slain, while the
stream of flatboats going down the Ohio had to run the gauntlet of the
redskins along the shores. Although the craft had bullet-proof sides,
even those, in many instances, failed to save them from destruction.
The most active leader of the Indians in their fights with the military
forces sent thither to bring them to terms, was Little Turtle, or
Michiniqua, a Miami chief, of great ability. Although his father
was also a chief, Little Turtle won his rank at an early age by his
skill and bravery. Every attempt having failed to bring peace to the
frontier, President Washington sent a powerful military force into
the region. It was under the command of General Josiah Harmar, who
had served well through the Revolution, and was commander-in-chief of
the United States army from 1789 to 1792. He marched from old Fort
Washington, the site of Cincinnati, in 1790, at the head of three
hundred and twenty regulars, to whom more than a thousand militia were
soon afterward added. Six hundred Kentucky troops, led by Colonel
Hardin, pushed in advance, and, finding the Indian villages deserted,
destroyed them, after which a part of his force was sent in pursuit of
the savages. They had not gone far when they met a body of warriors,
under the command of Little Turtle. The latter attacked the whites so
furiously that over fifty were quickly killed, and the militia fled in
headlong panic. General Harmar laid waste the only remaining Indian
village in the neighborhood, and returned to Fort Washington. He
determined to try again. Halting within a few miles of Chillicothe, he
ordered Colonel Hardin to hunt out the Indians, and give them battle.
Little Turtle was quite willing to be found, and again under his lead,
the redskins fought with such daring that a hundred and fifty of the
regulars and militia, including several leading officers, were killed.
Although the survivors fled, General Harmar claimed a victory. The only
ground for this claim was that the Turtle lost so many of his men, that
he permitted the soldiers to retreat unmolested.
The result of these disasters was bad indeed. The Indians became
so bold in their raids that a reign of terror spread along the
western border. The situation was so grave that Congress ordered the
organization of a force for the punishment of the savages. In addition
to several forts and garrisons, this army numbered fully two thousand
men, under the command of General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the
Northwest Territory. Before he set out on his campaign, President
Washington called him to Philadelphia and warned him to guard against a
surprise by the Indians. "They have a leader of great ability in Little
Turtle," said he, "and have proved more than once that they will fight
with bravery. Remember, my words: _Beware of a surprise!_"
[Illustration: LITTLE TURTLE'S BATTLE-AXE]
General St. Clair left the nation's capitol with the words of the
President ringing in his ears, and went directly to Fort Washington,
arriving there in the middle of May, 1791. Various causes delayed the
campaign, which began early in September, one year after the defeat of
General Harmar. Fort Hamilton was built on the Miami in the country of
Turtle, and Fort Jefferson forty miles farther on. Leaving a garrison
in each, the army advanced, but its strength was reduced by desertions
to fourteen hundred effectives. The militia were dissatisfied and
unreliable.
Early in November, St. Clair made his camp on high ground, within
fifteen miles of the Miami villages. The militia, to the number of
three hundred, crossed a creek and halted on the first elevation a
quarter of a mile beyond the main body. While forming their camp,
Little Turtle attacked them. The militia immediately broke in a wild
panic. Without attempting any fight, most of them flung away their
guns, the warriors at their heels, and cutting them down as they ran.
The Indians pursued them all the way to the main body and then attacked
it. The soldiers fought heroically, and drove back their enemies
several times, but the charges were repeated under the direction of the
Turtle, with a boldness rarely shown by his race. The end of it all
was another crushing disaster, in which the troops lost thirty-eight
officers and about eight hundred men. Many of the wounded suffered
shocking barbarities. Thus, out of a total of fourteen hundred, nearly
seventy per cent. were slain or disabled.
In this woful affair, the opposing forces were equal--the Indians being
perhaps a trifle the greater in number--and the credit of the victory
by the red men is therefore the more marked. The horde was commanded
by Little Turtle, and although there is no way of knowing his loss, it
was certainly less than that of the whites. Years afterward, the chief
declared that only nine of his warriors were killed, but the number was
probably fifty or sixty.
Nothing could have been more complete than the panic of the soldiers.
General Butler, second in command, was killed; the camp and artillery
were abandoned, because not a horse was left alive to draw off the
cannon, and the panting fugitives continued to throw away their guns
and accoutrements long after the pursuit ceased. They did not halt
until they reached Fort Jefferson, twenty-nine miles from the scene of
the massacre.
Personally no one could have shown more bravery than General St. Clair.
His clothing was pierced eight times by bullets, three horses were
killed under him, and he strove with all the power and authority at his
command to check the flight and rally the troops; but terrified men
are as uncontrollable as so many thirsting buffaloes in their rush for
water.
Washington was of a serene temperament, and very rarely did he give
way to anger. We know, however, of two occasions in which his rage
overmastered him. One of these was at Monmouth Court House, on that
flaming day in June, 1778, when he came face to face with General
Charles Lee, leading a retreat of a part of the patriot forces, and the
other was when the news reached him of the disaster to St. Clair and
his army. He stormed up and down his room, his passion so terrible,
that none of his attendants dare address him.
"_Right there!_" he thundered, pointing at a chair, "he sat, and the
last words I said to him were a warning against the very thing that
has happened; _there can be no excuse_ for such atrocious, horrible
blundering."
One of the noblest attributes of the noblest of men was his disposition
to do right, and to be just to every one. When the tempest of emotion
had passed, and his natural calm returned, he added:
"I will not condemn him too harshly until I have heard his story from
his own lips."
In due time, St. Clair presented himself before Washington, timid and
fearful as to his reception. He was quickly set at ease, however, and
the President kindly but earnestly questioned him. Despite the bad
light in which the officer appeared, he had something to say in his own
defence, and was entitled to a hearing. The regulars in his command
were reliable, but most of the militia proved themselves worse than
useless, for the example of their panic, which no one could check, had
its disastrous effect upon their braver comrades as well.
Washington, however, made sure that the next general sent to the West
was one who would not repeat the blunders of the others. He named that
daring veteran "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and no officer could surpass him in
the qualities required to overcome the hostiles, who had grown bolder
than ever.
General Wayne began his campaign with the resolution to do the work
thoroughly. He was eager to meet the hostiles, but was too wise to do
so until every preparation was made. After entering the Indian country
he did not neglect the slightest precaution. In the autumn of 1793,
he built Fort Recovery on the site of St. Clair's defeat, followed by
the erection of Fort Defiance, at the junction of the Miami and the Au
Glaize. The next summer he began his march with two thousand regulars
and eleven hundred mounted Kentucky militia. He entered the hostile
section by a new and roundabout route, hoping to deceive Little Turtle
as to his real line of march, but that wily chief was not misled.
Despite his fighting mood, Wayne did not give up hope of securing
peace without a battle with the Indians. He thought that when they
knew of the strong force marching against them, they would see the
folly of resisting it. Learning that the redskins were in camp near the
rapids of the Miami, he decided to send a messenger to them with peace
proposals.
Now, while the office of a messenger to a civilized army brings no
personal danger, it is otherwise when he visits an Indian force. Those
people have no respect for a flag of truce, and have an unpleasant
habit of killing visitors whom they do not like, when they present
themselves with the white emblem fluttering over their heads. Among
Wayne's troops was a man who had lived for several years with the
Indians, who could speak their language, and knew all about them.
When Wayne asked him to take his message to Little Turtle, he shook
his head. He said the Indians were set upon war, that no argument or
proposals could change that determination, and the chances were a
hundred to one that they would kill him as soon as he appeared before
them. Wayne told him he might have any escort he chose, and that he
would hold eight prisoners then in his hands, as hostages. He was to
warn the chiefs that if they did any harm to the messenger, or if he
did not return to Wayne at the end of three days, every one of the
eight captives would be put to death at once.
[Illustration: THE UNSUSPECTING WHEELWRIGHT]
The soldier finally consented to go, taking one man and a squaw with
him as his companions, instead of an armed escort, which he knew would
be very dangerous to him. He started one afternoon and reached the
Indian camp the next morning, without his approach being observed,
until he was among the hostiles. The moment he displayed his flag, and
said he was a messenger, he was met on all sides with shouts, "Kill
him! Kill the spy!" He explained matters in their own language, and
instead of slaying him, the redskins told him he was their prisoner. He
then gave the rest of his message, telling about the letter of General
Wayne, and warning them that if he was held longer than the next day,
all the eight Indians in camp would be put to death at sunset.
This language had its effect. The visitor was set free after a few
hours, and took back a message to General Wayne to the effect that
if he would stay where he was for ten days, and would then send the
same messenger to them, they would treat with him, but if he made any
advance with his army, he would be attacked.
It should be said in this place that the only wise one among the Indian
chiefs was Little Turtle. He opposed a battle with the American army.
He reminded his associates that they had made many attempts to surprise
the commander, but had not done so in a single instance; there were
more "Long Knives" than had ever before entered their country, and they
were led by their best general. In such circumstances, defeat at their
hands was more than likely.
One of the chiefs replied to these wise words by taunting the Turtle
with cowardice. The leader was enraged enough to brain the sachem, but
he mastered his anger, and said nothing; it was decided that the battle
should be given on the morrow and he was ready.
On his way to camp, the messenger met General Wayne and his army. That
officer was so certain of the answer to his message that he decided
not to wait any longer. He reached the Miami Rapids on August 18th,
near the enemy's camp, and threw up fortifications. He was on the march
again by the 20th, using all care against surprise. A few hours later,
his advance scouts were fired upon, and Wayne formed his line of battle
and advanced in three columns.
Little Turtle had posted his men with his usual skill, a rocky bank of
the river being on the left, and had cut down a large number of trees
in his front, so as to make the cavalry useless. The warriors were
formed in three lines, within supporting distance of one another, with
a front fully a mile and a half long.
It is not necessary to describe this historical battle, which was
conducted with such skill by Wayne that in a brief time the whole
force of hostiles were routed in headlong flight. They were shot down
and pursued until they took refuge under the guns of Fort Maumee, a
British post. When the commandant of this warned Wayne to cease slaying
the warriors, the American replied that he would do as he saw fit,
and, if the British officer was not pleased therewith, he might bring
his garrison outside and he would serve _them_ in the same way as the
Indians.
Seven tribes were represented in this battle,--the Shawnoes, Miamis,
Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Delawares, Ottawas and Senecas. One year
later, the treaty of Greenville was signed, twelve tribes giving
their written assent to its terms, which ceded twenty-five thousand
square miles of territory to the United States in the present States
of Indiana and Michigan, in addition to sixteen tracts, including
lands and forts. The Indians who agreed to this cession were paid
twenty thousand dollars in presents and promised an annual allowance
of ten thousand dollars. The peace thus secured lasted, with slight
interruption, until the breaking out of the war of 1812, some years
after.
Among those who accepted the treaty of Greenville were Little Turtle
and Tecumseh (of whom we shall learn presently). They never left any
doubt of the sincerity of their pledge, though the Turtle, like Red
Jacket and others, raised a good deal of enmity among his own people,
because of the respect the whites showed him, and the self-evident
fact that the sachem had more wisdom than any or all of their own
chiefs. The Americans built him a comfortable home on Eel River, a few
miles from Fort Wayne, and he made his home there. He showed such a
preference for civilized life that our Indian agents were ordered to
see that he never wanted for anything necessary to his comfort. He made
several visits to Philadelphia, and to Washington, when the seat of the
national government was removed to the latter city. In every case he
received marked attention, and became a general favorite. The famous
French traveler and scholar, Count Volney, sought out Little Turtle in
Philadelphia, in 1797, and with the aid given him by the chief, formed
a vocabulary of his language, copies of which are still well preserved.
Volney, who became quite fond of Little Turtle, asked him one day why
he did not live in Philadelphia, instead of in his cabin on the Wabash.
The chief replied: "I admit that on the whole you have the advantage
over us, but here I am deaf and dumb. I do not talk your language;
I can neither hear nor make myself heard. When I walk through the
streets, I see every person in his shop employed at something. One
makes shoes, another makes hats, a third sells cloth, and every one
lives by his labor. I say to myself, 'Which of all these things can you
do?' Not one. I can make a bow or an arrow, catch fish, kill game and
go to war; but none of these is of any good here. To learn what is done
here would require a long time. Old age comes on; I should be a piece
of furniture useless to my nation, useless to the whites, and useless
to myself; I must return to my own country."