Part 1

A

JOURNAL

CONTAINING

AN ACCURATE AND INTERESTING ACCOUNT

OF THE

HARDSHIPS, SUFFERINGS, BATTLES, DEFEAT, AND CAPTIVITY

OF THOSE HEROIC

KENTUCKY

VOLUNTEERS AND REGULARS,

COMMANDED BY

GENERAL WINCHESTER,

In the Years 1812-13.

ALSO,

TWO NARRATIVES,

BY MEN THAT WERE WOUNDED IN THE BATTLES ON THE RIVER RAISIN, AND TAKEN CAPTIVE BY THE INDIANS.

BY ELIAS DARNELL.

PHILADELPHIA: LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO, AND CO. 1854.

PHILADELPHIA:

T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS.

PREFACE.

The author of this Journal wrote it for his own satisfaction. When he returned home, he was induced to show it to a number of his acquaintances for their information. Several, on whose judgment he could rely, requested him to publish it to the world. He begs leave simply to remark that he was an eye and ear witness to many things he has narrated. He has represented things as he understood and remembered them. Other facts he obtained from testimony in which he could fully confide. It is worthy of remark that witnesses of probity, in giving their testimony in courts respecting the same things, often differ from one another as to many circumstances, owing to their different capacities, positions, and the like. It may be expected, therefore, that some who were in the army, may not exactly agree with the author in all things stated in this Journal. Let that be as it may, he is conscious that he sought the most correct information, and that he endeavored to communicate it in a plain, perspicuous style. If he has made any important mistakes, should those interested convince him of them, in a friendly way, he will use the best means in his power to correct them.

As to the narratives subjoined to this Journal, they are short, and he thinks, interesting. He is acquainted with Mr. Davenport, and believes him to be a man of veracity. He had no acquaintance with Mr. Mallary before he applied to him for his narrative. His acquaintances will best know what credit ought to be given to him.

The gentlemen who gave the narratives, it is obvious, are the _only persons responsible for the truth of them_.

The whole is, with diffidence, submitted to the candor of a generous public, by

ELIAS DARNELL.

JOURNAL OF THE CAMPAIGN,

_&c. &c._

For a few years past differences existed between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Great Britain. Every possible means had been used on the part of the executive and legislative departments of the general government of the United States, to adjust those differences upon honorable and equitable terms. But Great Britain treated every reasonable proposition with haughtiness and contempt, and still persisted in violating the just rights of the Americans, by committing depredations on the high seas, and by impressing the citizens of the United States into the service of his Majesty, and employing the savages to murder the defenceless inhabitants of the frontiers. The United States having long borne these outrages with great patience, at length wearied with insults, resorted to the last and most painful alternative of declaring war (which was done on the 18th of June, 1812); and the government having called for volunteers, more than the quota of this State rallied round their country’s standard, ready to assist in a vigorous prosecution of the war, in order to hasten a speedy and honorable peace.

General Hull having been appointed by the general government to take possession of part of Upper Canada, his forces, amounting to about 3,000, not being considered sufficient to execute that design, three regiments of volunteer infantry and one regiment of United States infantry, amounting in all to about 2,300, were called and destined to his assistance.

Agreeably to a general order, the following regiments rendezvoused at Georgetown, August 15, 1812, to wit:--

The first regiment was commanded by Colonel John M. Scott, the fifth regiment was commanded by Colonel William Lewis, the first rifle regiment by Colonel John Allen, the 17th United States regiment by Colonel Samuel Wells; the whole under the command of Brigadier-General Payne.

_16th._ The troops paraded early in the morning, and were received by Governor Scott. We paraded again at 10 o’clock, and marched to a convenient place in close order, where the Rev. Mr. Blythe preached a short sermon, and the Honorable Henry Clay delivered an appropriate discourse.

_17th._ The troops were inspected by Major Garrard.

_18th._ We drew two months’ pay in advance. There being a general complaint amongst the volunteers respecting sixteen dollars, which were expected to be drawn in lieu of clothing, Major Graves paraded his battalion, and gave them their choice to go on without the sixteen dollars, or return home. _Six_ chose to return; these, to fix an odium upon them, were drummed out of camp and through town.

_19th._ We commenced our march in high spirits to join General Hull at Detroit, or in Canada. Each regiment, for convenience and speed, marched separately to Newport. We arrived at Newport the 24th; it is 80 miles from Georgetown. It rained most of the time, which made it disagreeable travelling and encamping. These hardships tended a little to quench the excessive patriotic flame that had blazed so conspicuously at the different musters and barbecues.

Here we received information of General Hull having surrendered Detroit and Michigan Territory to General Brock, on the 15th of this instant, while in possession of the necessary means to have held that post against the forces of Upper Canada.[A] This we could not believe until confirmed by handbills and good authority; when thus confirmed, it appeared to make serious impressions on the minds of officers and privates. Those high expectations of participating with General Hull in the laurels to be acquired by the conquest of Malden and Upper Canada, were entirely abandoned.

We drew our arms and accoutrements, and crossed the Ohio on the 27th. Our destiny was thought to be Fort Wayne.

The following general order will show some of the evolutions which were performed by this army while on its march.

“HEADQUARTERS, _Cincinnati, August 23, 1812_.

“The troops will commence their march in the direction to Dayton, by Lebanon, at an early hour to-morrow morning. The generale will be beat instead of the reveille; the tents will then be struck, the baggage loaded, and the line of march taken up as soon as possible.

“The commandants of the several corps will immediately commence drilling their men to the performance of the evolutions contemplated by the commander-in-chief, for the order of march and battle. The principal feature in all these evolutions is that of a battalion changing its direction by swinging on its centre. This, however, is not to be done by wheeling, which, by a large body in the woods, is impracticable. It is to be formed thus: the battalion being on its march in a single rank, and its centre being ascertained, the front division comes to the right about, excepting the man in the rear of that division who steps two paces to the right, at the same time the front man of the second division takes a position about four feet to the left of the man in the rear of the front division, and dresses with him in a line at right angles to the line of march. These two men acting as marks or guides for the formation of the new alignment at the word--Form the new alignment, March! the men of the front division file round their guide, and form in succession on his right. At the same time the men of the rear division file up in succession to the left of the guide, and dress in a line with him and the guide of the front division. This manœuvre may be performed by any number of men, by company and platoon as well as battalion.

“WM. H. HARRISON, “_Major-General Commanding_.”

_31st._ General Harrison overtook the army between Lebanon and Dayton. He was received joyfully by all the troops as commander-in-chief, with three cheers.

_September 1._ The army arrived at Dayton, fifty miles from Cincinnati, and was saluted by the firing of cannon. One of the men who were firing the cannon got one of his hands shot off, and the other badly wounded. We arrived at Piqua, September 3, thirty miles from Dayton, on the Big Miami.

_4th._ Received information of the critical situation of Fort Wayne. Colonel Allen’s[B] regiment and two companies from Colonel Lewis’s, drew twenty-four rounds of ammunition, and started with all possible speed to the relief of that fort.

_5th._ General Harrison having paraded the remaining part of the army in a circle in close order, delivered a speech to them, stating that he had just received intelligence from Fort Wayne; that it was in great danger of being taken by the Indians and British; he said that we were under the necessity of making a forced march to their relief. He read some of the articles of war, and stated the absolute necessity of such regulations and restrictions in an army, and if there were any who could not feel willing to submit to those articles and go on with him they might then return home. _One man_ belonging to Colonel Scott’s regiment made a choice of returning home, rather than submit to those terms. Some of his acquaintances got a permit to escort him part of the way home. Two of them got him upon a rail and carried him to the river; a crowd followed after; they ducked him several times in the water, and washed away all his patriotism.

_6th._ We marched at 12 o’clock--we left all our sick and part of our clothing and baggage at Piqua, in order to make as much speed as possible. On the morning of the 8th, three miles from St. Mary’s, one of Captain M‘Gowen’s company was accidentally shot through the body by one of the sentinels; the surgeon thought it mortal.[C] We marched four miles and encamped near the River St. Mary’s, one mile from the fort. General Harrison called the army together and stated, through emergency, we must be on half rations of flour for a few days, but should draw a ration and a half of beef, as he wished to go as light and as quick as possible. He said, “any who do not feel willing to go on these terms may remain at the fort and have plenty.” I know of none that stayed. St. Mary’s block-house is thirty miles from Piqua, on the River St. Mary’s.

_9th._ We marched through some first-rate woodland, and through a large prairie of the best quality. It is badly watered; the water in the wagon-ruts was the only drink we could get to cool our scorching thirst, and but very little of that. We encamped near the River St. Mary’s, eighteen miles from the fort. At 11 o’clock and at 3 we were alarmed by the sentinels firing several guns; we formed in order of battle, and stood so fifteen minutes.

The following extract of a general order is designed to show the order of battle for night and day attack.

“HEADQUARTERS, “_Second Crossing of St. Mary’s, Sept. 10, 1812_.

“The signal for a general charge will be beating the _long-roll_. Officers and men will be upon their arms and in their clothes.

“Two or more guns firing in succession will constitute an alarm, at which the whole army will parade in the order of encampment (that is, in a hollow square), unless otherwise directed. When a sentinel discharges his gun in the night the officer of the guard to whom he belongs will immediately ascertain the cause, and should he have sufficient reason to believe, on an examination, that an enemy is near, he will cause two guns to be fired in quick succession. Should the firing of a sentinel appear to have proceeded from a cause not sufficient to give an alarm, the officer of the guard will immediately call out ‘_all is well_,’ which will be repeated through the army. The same thing will take place upon an accidental fire made in the day.

“The order of battle for rear attack will be so far attended with regard to the rear line; the rear battalions of Colonel Lewis’s regiment and Colonel Allen’s only are to turn upon their centre, while the heads of the front battalions are to close up the front lines, then, facing from the centre, march out until they respectively gain the flanks of the front line. Should the attack be in front, the senior officer nearest the flank battalion will judge of the propriety of bringing up that battalion to form on the flank of the front line. The second battalion of Colonel Lewis’s and Colonel Allen’s regiments will, in all cases, close up as the leading battalions shall advance, and make room for them. Captain Garrard’s troop, forming the rear guard, will also close up and act as circumstances may require.

“WM. H. HARRISON, “_Major-General Commanding_.”

_10th._ The order of march for the infantry was as follows: the first and fifth regiments formed one line in single file on the left, two hundred yards from the road, the 17th United States and the rifle regiments on the right in the same manner. The baggage in the road. The order of march for the horse troops: One of Colonel Adams’s battalions of Ohio volunteers was placed at the distance of half a mile in front of the columns of infantry, and marched in columns of companies in files, and in such open order as to cover the whole front of the army. The other battalion of Ohio volunteers formed the right flank guard of the army, at the distance of three hundred yards from the column of infantry, and parallel to it. The Kentucky mounted riflemen on the left, the same distance from the left column of infantry for the left flank guard; Captain Garrard’s troop formed the rear guard. We marched twelve miles.

_11th._ The spies wounded an Indian and got his gun and blanket; our day’s march was eleven miles; we stopped earlier than usual in order to make breastworks, and because it was a convenient place for water. We fortified this place very strongly with timber. At 11 o’clock the camp was alarmed by the firing of many guns by the sentinels. The whole army was formed in quick time, the horse troops being in the centre ready to assist any line or to obey any order which might be given. One half of the men were dismissed and retired to their tents for one hour, then they relieved the first half. At 3 o’clock another alarm took place from the sentinels, a general parade was again made. We stood in order of battle for some time. The watchword was “_fight on_,” after which this place was called “Fort Fight On.”

_12th._ We continued our march towards Fort Wayne with as much caution as the nature of our hurrying would admit; we expected to meet with the enemy before we reached the fort. In a certain well-known swamp, through which we had to pass, we thought probably the enemy would harbor. We passed the swamp unmolested for a mile, we were then alarmed. The rear battalions formed in order of battle, but saw no enemy to fight; we immediately resumed our march. This alarm and the one the night preceding seemed to shake the boasted valor of some of our bravest heroes.

This day’s march was twenty miles to Fort Wayne, through a great deal of first-rate land, rich, level, and well timbered, but badly watered near the road; we suffered extremely for water these three days. Our arrival at this fort gave great joy to the inhabitants, who were one company of regular troops and a few families. The Indians had closely invested the fort for several days, and burned the United States factory and all the other valuable houses which were not inside of the stockading. Three of our men who were caught out of the fort were killed by the Indians. The Indians encamped about the fort two weeks before they made the attack on it, and were admitted in by Captain Ray, the commanding officer of the garrison, who would have surrendered to the savages, had it not been for his lieutenant, who defended the fort with great bravery. Three Indians were killed and a few wounded. Captain Ray was arrested and would have been broken had he not resigned. The fort was well provided for a siege, having in it one hundred men, plenty of provisions, ammunition, four small pieces of cannon, and a good well of water.

Fort Wayne is one of the most elegant situations I ever saw, and must be an important place to the United States. Three weeks ago the neighborhood around the fort would have exhibited a pleasing prospect to those who had seen nothing for several days but a dreary wilderness of one hundred miles. A number of well-cultivated farms, with neat houses, in view of the fort, would have excited emotions of pleasure. I suppose there were four hundred acres of land in cultivation. All the houses were reduced to ashes, together with a large quantity of small grain and hay, by the savages; they were principally Pottowatomies; they also destroyed all the stock of every kind about these farms, which was very considerable. Fort Wayne is situated on the south side of the River Maumee, opposite the junction of the River St. Mary’s and St. Joseph, which are considerable navigable streams in lat. 41° 4′, N. long. 11° 5′ west from the meridian of Philadelphia.

We were alarmed by the report of some guns which were fired by the sentinels; we formed in order of battle for half an hour, during which time it rained very hard, and rendered many of our guns unfit to do execution, except the bayonets. The alarm must have proceeded from the timidity of the sentinels.

_14th._ The whole force was divided and placed under the command of General Payne and Colonel Wells. General Payne’s command was composed of Colonel Lewis’s regiment, Colonel Allen’s and Captain Garrard’s troop. Colonel Wells’s command was composed of Colonel Scott’s regiment, the regulars and the mounted riflemen. General Payne was instructed to destroy the Miami towns at the forks of the Wabash. Colonel Wells was directed against the Pottowatomies’s village at Elkheart. General Harrison thought proper to go with General Payne; so we proceeded on to the waters of the Wabash; five miles from Fort Wayne we encamped. Next morning we came to an Indian hut and a small cornfield, two miles from our encampment; here all the wagons and baggage were left, and Captain Langhorne’s company as a guard; from this place we marched twenty-three miles to an Indian town at the forks of the Wabash; we found the town evacuated; we pulled down some of their houses and built up fires and encamped; we had plenty of roasting ears of the best kind. It is a small kind of corn, shallow grain, and very suitable for roasting ears, which answered us a very good purpose, as we had only a little provision with us.

_16th._ We marched through their towns, four in number, in the bounds of three or four miles, in which there were fresh signs of Indians. We cut up their corn and put it in piles, sixty or eighty acres, so that it might rot. A variety of beans were found growing with their corn; potatoes, pumpkins, water-melons, and cucumbers were also cultivated by them. Their houses were all burnt by the orders of General Harrison; some of them were built of bark and some of logs. The tomb of a chief was discovered; it was built on the ground with timber and clay, so that no rain or air could enter; the chief was laid on his blanket, his head towards sunrise, his rifle by his side, his tin pan on his breast, with a spoon in it; he was ornamented in their style, with ear-rings, brooches, &c. This is one of the most beautiful places in the western country; the land is level, well timbered, well watered, and the soil equal to any part of Kentucky. Near the town, where the timber has been cut, it is covered with an elegant coat of blue grass.

_17th._ We got back to the baggage, and found all was well. Capt. Langhorne had fortified against the enemy with rails, so that he would have been able to have held his place against a considerable force. We took some refreshments and pursued our journey, and encamped near our former encampment.

_18th._ We arrived at Fort Wayne, and met with a reinforcement of five hundred mounted riflemen and cavalry, from Kentucky. A man was accidentally shot through the head by one of the mounted riflemen. Colonel Wells’s division returned this evening from their route, which was fifty miles from Fort Wayne, on the waters of St. Joseph’s River, very much fatigued. They found nothing but deserted houses and corn to destroy, which was about the same amount as was found at the Wabash. Capt. Morris’s 1st sergeant (David Irwin) died on the road. One of the light-horsemen wounded a man as he was feeding his horse, believing him to be an Indian.

_19th._ We encamped in the forks of the river half a mile from the fort. Gen. Harrison not being legally authorized by the general government, as commander of this army, the command, of course, devolved on Winchester. This resignation of Gen. Harrison’s was done with much reluctance, as he had placed great confidence in the Kentuckians, and found he was their choice, in preference to Gen. Winchester. The conduct of Gen. Harrison at Tippecanoe, and his familiarity with the troops while on their march to this place, had gained to him a peculiar attachment. Gen. Winchester being a stranger, and having the appearance of a supercilious officer, he was generally disliked. His assuming the command almost occasioned a mutiny in camp; this was prevented by the solicitations of some of the officers to go on.

_20th._ The Kentucky mounted riflemen started to St. Mary’s under the command of Gen. Harrison, in order to pursue the Indians in some other quarter; their number was about fifteen hundred.

_21st._ We received marching orders to march to-morrow morning at 7 o’clock.

The following general order, will show Gen. Winchester’s order of march.

“GENERAL ORDERS.--_Fort Wayne Sept. 22, 1812._

“The army will march in the following order, to wit: the guard in front in three lines, two deep in the road, and in Indian file on the flanks, at the distance of fifty to one hundred yards from the centre line, when not prevented by obstructions.

“A fatigue party, to consist of one captain, one ensign, two sergeants, two corporals, and fifty privates, will follow the front guard for the purpose of opening the road. The remainder of the infantry to march on the flanks in the following order; Col. Wells’s and Allen’s regiments on the right, and Scott’s and Lewis’s on the left.

“The general and brigade baggage, commissaries’ and quartermasters’ stores immediately in the rear of the fatigue party. The cavalry in the following order: Capt. Garrard and twenty of his men to precede the guard in front, and equally divide at the head of each line. A lieutenant and eighteen men in rear of the whole army and baggage. The balance of the cavalry equally divided on the flanks of the flank lines.

“The regimental baggage wagons fall in according to the rank of the commanding officers of the respective regiments. The officers commanding corps, previous to their marching, will cause the arms and ammunition to be carefully examined, and will see that they are in _good order_. They will also be particularly careful that the men do not waste their cartridges. No muskets are to be carried in the wagons. One half of the fatigue party are to work at the same time; the other half are to carry the arms and accoutrements while on fatigue. The wagon-master will attend to the loading of the wagons, and see that the different articles are put in in good order, and that each wagon and team carry a reasonable load. The hour of march is deferred until 9 o’clock, instead of 7. The officer of the day is charged with the execution of these orders.

“The line of battle shall be formed agreeably to Gen. Harrison’s order on his late march to Fort Wayne.