Chapter VIII: Appendix: C

OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY ON THE MAUMEE AS GIVEN IN THE IRWIN MANUSCRIPT[170]

"The next Day after the rear arrived a Detachment of 400 men was ordered out under the Command of Col. Trotter of Kentucky with orders to assertain what Course the Indians had went to Draw 2 Days provisions and Be out over night I was a volunteer in S^d. Detachment There was about 25 Mounted men attached to the Same a short Distance after we crossed the St Joseph River from where part of the Town stood fell in with 2 Indians Killed Both and Lost one man marched all Day after in good order Seen considerable Signs Could not assertain which way They had gone The Six pounders was Shot about Sun Set at the main Camp The Col Concluded it was Done to Call the Command in we returned to Camp a short time after Dark Lay out side of Camp all night had our own guards out, Turned out next morning to perform the 2d Day under Command of Col Hardin went a northwest Course from whence we Crossed s^d river after going 3 or 4 mile found a Large fresh Indian trail pursued it with all Speed in Single file or in any way they Could get allong from front to the rear was over half a mile The Indians retreated with a view to draw the front into ambuscade which they Done Completely with Two fires Cut off the front Entirely our Company being in front the first Day had to take the rear the Second Day when the front was Cut off we formed a Line in the rear Cols Hardin Hall and Major Fountain was all on horse Back halted with us when we formed, The Indians pursued the front untill they Come within one hundred yards Then halted we had But about 75 in our Company had all treed in Line across the trace They Could see the officers on horse Back with us we Stood in that situation untill near Dark Then Covered the retreat got into Camp a short time after Dark I never could assertain how many men we Lost in that Scrap a Captn Scott son of Gen or governor Scott of Kentucky was killed in that Scrap our Troops was very much scattered a Number Came in after Night as the Cannon was fired Every hour through the Night at the main Camp perhaps there was 15 or 20 killed, perhaps more or Less The Commencement was one of the most unexpected Surprises Ever any troops met with Two of us went out and Examined their Encampment where their trace was first Discovered over 2 mile on this Side where the Battle was as there was there a general Halt for a short time I would have Said there was 4 or 5 hundred Indians and we had not Near as many Men that Day as was out the Day Before There was Experienced officers along that ought to have known Better they was too anxious on the pursuit the Troops should have Been marched in such a Situation that no advantage Could have Been Taken of them as was the Case the Day Before The army remained in Camp perhaps 2 Days making ready to return to Fort Washington when the army moved from Camp perhaps about the 10th or 12th of November 1790 four or five mounted men with an officer placed themselves on a high Eminence so that they could see over all the place where the Indian town Stood about two hours after the army Cleared out the Indians Came in from Different Quarters to get provision as they had Considerable hid under ground Said Spies remained there untill Dark Came into Camp which was about 4 or 5 mile Informed Harmar and the officers what Discoveries they had made a Detachment of 4 or 5 hundred men was Drafted from the Different Companies of s^d army that Night to be on the ground Next morning by Day Light and to Be placed under the Command of Col Hardin the plan of attack was made By the officers previous to their march and was well Executed By the officers and troops Engaged in the Same There was too few troops in said Detachment for the number of the Enemy they had to Contend with if 200 men had arrived there about Sunrise they would have give the Enemy a Complete Defeat They give them a pretty good Drubing as it was There was about 60 regulars under the Command of Major ---- They fought well Done great Execution Lost Their major and Lieutenant in the Battle. Col Hardins post in The aforesaid plan was on The west side of The St. Joseph river opposite to where The Indian town stood he was There in good Time The other Troops Crossed the Maumee went right to where The Town Stood The Indians was Encamped in and round where it stood Major Fountain had the Command of The Light horse and mounted men he Charged right in among The Enemy fired off his pistols and Drew his Sword Before They Could recover The Shock George Adams informed them that he was Near The Major at That Time That it appeared when The Enemy got over Their surprise Ten or Twelve Indians Discharged Their guns at him The Major kind of fell or hung on his horse They then Discharged Several Guns at said Adams he received Several flesh wounds But recovered By this Time The Militia and regulars Come up. The Indians fought with Desperation was Drove from Their Encampment By The Militia and regulars Down The Bank into the river which was perhaps 20 yards wide and perhaps 6 inches Deep Col Hardins men on The opposite Side which placed them Between two fires The Indians charged on Hardins troops having no other Chance to Escape Hardins troops give way and retreated the Same way They went out and was not in That Battle any more. Some of the Troops informed me That Major Fountain was Living when our Troops Drove the Indians from The Battle ground. Major Mcmillin of Kentucky Collected The Troops and Tarried on The Battle Ground untill They Indians had entirely Disappeared and not one to Be Seen or heard I never understood what was the Number of our Troops Killed by the Enemy on That Campaign Though it was Considerable my oppinion is There was more Indians Killed in That Battle Than was Killed when Gen^l --ayne defeated Them in 1794 if Harmar had Sent out a Detachment of Six hundred men Next Day to Collected The Dead and Buried Them and assertained how many of The Enemy was Killed I think There would have Been no risk in it as The Indians was So Completely Cut up on The Day of The Battle Such a move would have Been an honor and Credit to that Campaign I can Never agree That Harmars Campaing was a Defeated one."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For a sketch of the position of this campaign in the Revolution, and its leading details see _Historic Highways of America_, vol. vi, pp. 161-166.

[2] Our principal source of information concerning the Kaskaskia campaign is George Rogers Clark's _Memoir_, written probably in 1791, the original of which is preserved in the Draper Manuscripts in the library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Extracts of such portions as refer to the march to Kaskaskia will be found in Appendix A.

[3] Page's _History of Massac County_, p. 35.

[4] _Draper MSS._, xxi J, fols. 40, 44.

[5] _Id._, fol. 51.

[6] _Id._, fol. 27.

[7] _Id._, fol. 76.

[8] _Id._, fol. 83; xxii, fol. 6.

[9] _Id._, xxii, fol. 5.

[10] _Id._, xxi, fol. 42; cf. p. 65.

[11] _Id._, xxi, fols. 40, 42. Probably the route of the later St. Louis-Shawneetown trace; see p. 34.

[12] _Id._, xxii, fols. 11, 35.

[13] _Id._, xxii, fol. 35.

[14] _Id._, xxi, fols. 16, 27, 29, 51, 52; and xxii, fols. 30, 35.

[15] _Id._, xxii, fols. 30, 37. Cox's Creek was crossed twice, the east fork in section 7, township 7, range 4, and the west fork in section 12, township 7, range 5.

[16] _Id._, xxi, fols. 80, 81; xxii, fol. 37.

[17] _Id._, xxii, fol. 37.

[18] Clark approached Kaskaskia by the route and the ford over the Kaskaskia River which he pursued on the Vincennes campaign in the February following. (English's _Conquest of the Northwest_, vol. i, p. 288.)

[19] _Historic Highways of America_, vol. vii, p. 168.

[20] A galley-batteau, armed with two four-pounders and four swivels, and carrying forty-six men, under the command of Captain John Rogers, left Kaskaskia February 4, for Vincennes by the river route. It was named "The Willing."

[21] Probably at "a small branch about three miles from Kaskaskia" mentioned by Clark in his letter to Mason (English's _Conquest of the Northwest_, vol. i, p. 430).

[22] The map of Clark's route from Kaskaskia to Vincennes in the standard work on his campaigns of 1778-79, English's _Conquest of the Northwest_ (vol. i, pp. 290-291), gives only the later Kaskaskia trace of the eighteenth century--the modern route which it is sure Clark did not pursue.

[23] _Draper MSS._, xxv J, fol. 76. See map on page 21.

[24] It seems to the writer useless to spend time and space in attempting to place exactly Clark's camping-spots. He has made several exhaustive schedules of these camps and all the contradictions discussed pro and con. At best, any outline of camps must be purest conjecture, and therefore not authoritative or really valuable. In certain instances the camping-spots are definitely fixed by contemporaneous records. Only these will be definitely described in this record--the others being placed more or less indefinitely.

[25] In possession of the Kentucky Historical Society; first published in the _Louisville Literary News_, November 24, 1840; see English's _Conquest of the Northwest_, vol. i, pp. 568-578, from which our quotations are made.

[26] _Draper MSS._, xxv J, fols. 37, 57, 58, 77.

[27] _Id._, fol. 78.

[28] _Id._, fol. 77.

[29] _Id._

[30] _Id._

[31] _Id._, xxiv, fols. 6-8.

[32] _Id._, xxv, fol. 50.

[33] Volney's _A View of the Soil and Climate of the United States of America_ (Brown's translation) 1808, pp. 339-341.

[34] These are the _Memoir_ and the _Letter to Mason_ previously described.

[35] No explanation of "Cot plains" was offered to Mr. Draper by his Illinois correspondents. If the present writer be allowed a pure guess it would be that "Cot" was the American spelling of the French _Quatre_, "four;" "Cot plains" would then be a "Four Mile Prairie" east or northeast of Skillet Creek. The Clay County route cut off a corner of Romaine Prairie just here--which may have been known as "Four Mile Prairie" in earliest days. It is not known that such was the case.

[36] See Appendix B.

[37] _Draper MSS._, xxv J, fol. 112. Clark's men marched two leagues before reaching "Sugar Camp." Mr. English's map (_Conquest of the Northwest_, vol. i, p. 313) and Bowman's _Journal_ are therefore utterly at variance.

[38] _Draper MSS._, xxv J, fol. 91.

[39] The British Fort Sackville.

[40] Referring to the fact that Hamilton was accused of buying scalps of Americans from the Indians. The shrewdness of this communication is conspicuous, the result of the experiences at Kaskaskia.

[41] English's _Conquest of the Northwest_ vol. i, p. 572.

[42] The author bases his remarks wholly on the belief, it will be observed, that Clark crossed the Little Wabash east of Clay City.

[43] See note 10.

[44] An interesting English version of Embarras--denoting the Creole pronunciation. On Hutchins's old map of 1768 the Embarras is called the "Troublesome River"--see map, p. 35.

[45] The western branch of the Bonpas, or the Fox?

[46] All efforts to find any locality bearing this name have failed. Possibly it was a double bend of the Little Wabash, east of Clay City, which may resemble an ox yoke. "Ox Bow" is not an uncommon name for such reverse curves of rivers in several of our states.

[47] A well-known salt spring lies just west of the McCauley settlement crossing of the Little Wabash.--_Draper MSS._, xxv J, fol. 25.

[48] Mr. Draper suggests that this may have been near Enterprise, Wayne County, in keeping with the idea that the route here described was the route that Clark followed. The most definite point known on Volney's route west of the Embarras was the Salt Spring, above mentioned, and this was on the more northerly route which crossed the Little Wabash east of Clay City. Slaves Gibbet must therefore have been just east of Xenia.

[49] Probably Harvey's Point, six or eight miles southeast of Salem.

[50] Skillet Creek.

[51] At the crossing of "Petit Fork"--Adams tributary of Skillet.

[52] Near Walnut Hill.

[53] Perhaps on head of Big Muddy in Grand Prairie.

[54] There seem to have been two old-time routes around Grand Prairie; the points of junction seem to have been in Grand Prairie and Elkhorn Prairie. Pointe aux Fesses is identified as Elkhorn Point, northeast of Oakdale.

[55] In Grand Prairie.

[56] See note 54.

[57] Oakdale.

[58] Coultersville.

[59] Northwest of Steel's Mills.

[60] Mr. Draper reduces these estimates to "probabilities," giving as the total distance 156 miles (_Draper MSS._, xxv J, fol. 49).

[61] This point of junction is eighteen miles east of Salem, which is given as the point of junction on Mr. English's map of Clark's route.--_Conquest of the Northwest_, vol. i, pp. 290, 291. Salem is the junction of the modern route from Kaskaskia with the St. Louis Trace.

[62] Additional testimony to the same effect is found in _Draper MSS._, xxv J, fol. 76.

[63] Evans's _History of Scioto County and Pioneer Record of Southern Ohio_ contains the best map of western Ohio extant.

[64] _Historic Highways of America_, vol. vi, p. 166.

[65] Josiah Morrow, to whom the author is indebted for much help in the study of Harmar's route, affirms that in the land records of Warren County he has found reference to this as "Clark's old war-road."

[66] November 27, 1782.

[67] _American State Papers_, vol. iv (Indian Affairs, vol. i), p. 88.

[68] _American State Papers_, vol. iv (Indian Affairs, vol. i), p. 97.

[69] _Id._

[70] _Id._

[71] _Id._, pp. 93, 94; St. Clair to Knox, _Id._, p. 87.

[72] _Id._

[73] _Id._

[74] _Id._, p. 88.

[75] The authorities used in connection with Harmar's route and march are: the Journal of Captain John Armstrong, of the Regulars (Dillon's _History of Indiana_, pp. 245-248); Thomas Irwin's account of Harmar's and St. Clair's campaigns, in the _Draper MSS._, iv U, fols. 3-17; Hugh Scott's Narrative, _Id._, fol. 99, and David H. Morris's Narrative, in the Troy (Ohio) _Times_ of January 29, 1840. Hereafter these will be referred to by name only. Harmar's route out of Cincinnati is thus described by J. G. Olden in his _Historical Sketches and Early Reminiscences of Hamilton County, Ohio_: "Moved from Ft. Washington up the little ravine that runs into Deer Creek near what is now the head of Sycamore street, Cincinnati, thence through Mt. Auburn and along the general course of what is now the Reading turnpike to the little stream since known as Ross run where he encamped for the night in what is now