aia University 
 
 Souther 
 
 Libra]
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 W.P. Harrison
 
 Border Fights ^ Fighters
 
 < 
 1 They came on with fixed bayonets without firing.'
 
 Border Fights <^ Fighters 
 
 STORIES OF THE PIONEERS BETWEEN 
 THE ALLEGHENIES AND THE MISSIS- 
 SIPPI AND IN THE TEXAN REPUBLIC 
 
 BY 
 CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, LL.D. 
 
 Author of 
 
 American Fights & Fighters, Colonial 
 Fights & Fighters, &c. 
 
 With Maps, Plans, & many Illustrations by 
 
 Louis Betts, Howard Giles, J. N. Mar- 
 
 chand, Roy L. Williams, Harry 
 
 Fenn & A. de F. Pitney 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 MCCLURE, PHILLIPS &f C9 
 
 MCMII
 
 Copyright, 1901, by S. S. McCLURE Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1902, by 
 McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 
 
 Published, October, 1902, N 
 
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 173 
 
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 I? 
 
 jr 
 
 cr 
 
 o 
 
 < 
 
 I dedicate this book 
 in the bonds of an old affection to that 
 
 venerated and admired 
 SCHOLAR & GENTLEMAN 
 
 CO 
 
 ., etc* 
 
 Superintendent of Public Education, Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, whose VARIED LEARNING, PHILO- 
 SOPHIC CULTURE, WIDE EXPERIENCE, and 
 " mOSt of all, UNFAILING CHRISTIAN 
 
 COURTESY and KINDLINESS OF 
 
 HEART, have so endeared 
 
 him to all those who, 
 
 like myself, are 
 
 privileged to 
 
 call him 
 
 friend 
 
 
 o ^ 
 
 t 
 
 5 
 
 281279
 
 Prefatory Note 
 
 FROM De Soto, who opens the first book of this 
 Fights and Fighters Series, to Houston, who closes 
 the third, is just three centuries. 
 The salient incidents of these three hundred years, 
 from the Conquistador to the Pioneer, have engaged the 
 greater part of my attention for a long time, and with 
 the completion of this book they are set before the reader. 
 To me this last book of the series has been the most 
 interesting. It is more thoroughly American and the 
 men come more closely home to us therefore. Two of 
 them come especially close to me, since Captain John 
 Brady was my great-great-grandfather, and Captain 
 Samuel Brady my great-granduncle. It has been a 
 pleasure and pride to me to find them worthy of inclu- 
 sion in this category of heroes. 
 
 As I look back upon the history of America through 
 my studies therein, I seem to catch a glimpse of the 
 great purpose and plan back of it all. The story of our 
 land has been the story of a struggle for the possession 
 of a continent, a story of the rise to domination of that 
 branch of the Germanic Race known as the Anglo-Saxon. 
 Whatever be the continental affiliation of the early or 
 late settler, whether Irish, Dutch, Scots, German, or 
 Latin, he has been modified, changed, absorbed by the 
 dominant racial solvent, primarily into a Germane- Anglo- 
 Saxon, latterly into an American the new racial type. 
 Our social habits and political practices, like our Ian-
 
 viii Prefatory Note 
 
 guage, law, and religion, are English, with just enough 
 modification to differentiate us and give us an originality 
 of our own. 
 
 The struggle by which this has been brought about 
 is the true meaning of our history, and that is the story 
 told in these books. Alien races were compelled either 
 to affiliate or go out ; absorption or destruction were the 
 unconscious alternatives, and if they could not be ab- 
 sorbed they had to disappear in one way or another. 
 The French, the Spanish, the Indians, have gone, and 
 so jealous of control have we been that even the ties 
 that bound us to older civilizations of Europe had to be 
 ruthlessly broken. 
 
 To anticipate a little, the dominant idea of America 
 for the free Americans persisted through a Civil War of 
 appalling magnitude, and until we had driven the Spanish 
 flag from Cuba and the Antilles; and if I dare venture 
 a prophecy, though I personally am called an Anti- 
 Imperialist, this supreme idea of American Continental 
 Domination will not reach its limit until there is but one 
 flag from the Isthmus of Panama to the Arctic Circle, 
 and that the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 One of the greatest questions that troubles the Ameri- 
 can mind is the ultimate solution of what is known as 
 the race problem. How far modern ethics may modify 
 ancient habit cannot be said, yet the experience of the 
 past presented but two possibilities to the alien, assimila- 
 tion or disappearance and we cannot assimilate the 
 negro! 
 
 As to the particular volume in which this note appears 
 let me say that to these unfamiliar subjects I have given 
 more thought, study, and investigation, than to both the 
 preceding books. Again, I admit the free use of all
 
 Prefatory Note ix 
 
 authentic printed authorities, among them only citing 
 by name Roosevelt's great Epic, " The Winning of the 
 West," much old manuscript unprinted and some per- 
 sonal recollections of ancient men, together with family 
 traditions. Many of the incidents depicted, while more 
 or less familiar, are not easy to come at in detail, even in 
 the larger histories accessible to the people. 
 
 The period treated of was a most important one in 
 our history, and its masters must be judged according to 
 their tasks. The President in a recent speech well said : 
 
 " To conquer a continent is rough work. All really 
 great work is rough in the doing, though it may seem 
 smooth enough to those who look back upon it or gaze 
 upon it from afar. The roughness is an unavoidable part 
 of the doing of the deed. We need display but scant 
 patience with those, who, sitting at ease in their own 
 homes, delight to exercise a querulous and censorious 
 spirit of judgment upon their brethren who, whatever 
 their shortcomings, are doing strong men's work as they 
 bring the light of civilization into the world's darkest 
 places." 
 
 And Stuart Edward White, a welcome young apostle 
 of the west, in a recent clever novel writes: 
 
 " When history has granted him the justice of per- 
 spective, we will know the American Pioneer as one of 
 the most picturesque of her many figures. Resourceful, 
 self-reliant, bold; adapting himself with fluidity to di- 
 verse circumstances and conditions; meeting with equal 
 cheerfulness of confidence and completeness of capabil- 
 ity both unknown dangers and the perils by which he 
 has been educated; seizing the useful in the lives of the 
 beasts and men nearest him, and assimilating it with 
 marvellous rapidity; he presents to the world a picture
 
 x Prefatory Note 
 
 of complete adequacy which it would be difficult to 
 match in any other walk of life." 
 
 In this book I have striven to do the Pioneer justice, 
 as I have striven to lay aside prejudice all through the 
 series and to write fairly even of the enemy, be he Briton, 
 or Indian, or Mexican, or whatever he may. And in ad- 
 dition to a mere recital of heroic incidents I have endeav- 
 ored to depict the characters of men like Boone, Hous- 
 ton, Crockett, Brady, Sevier, Tecumseh, Bouquet, Santa 
 Anna, and the rest. 
 
 More pressing literary engagements will probably pre- 
 vent the issuance of the fourth volume of the series in 
 1903, as I had wished, but the next book is already 
 planned under the title of Beyond the Mississippi FigJrts 
 and Fighters, and I hope to have it ready in 1904. 
 
 C. T. B. 
 
 The Normandie, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PENNA., 
 
 June, 1902.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 PAGE 
 
 HOW HENRY BOUQUET SAVED PENNSYLVANIA . . i 
 
 I. A VETERAN SOLDIER AND His PROBLEM . . -3 
 
 II. THE MARCH OVER THE MOUNTAINS .... 8 
 
 III. THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN . ..... 13 
 
 IV. THE END OF BOUQUET ....... 19 
 
 CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY, CHIEF OF THE RANGERS . 21 
 I. A FAMILY OF FIGHTERS ....... 23 
 
 II. THE FIRST OF THE BORDERERS ..... 27 
 
 III. THE ADVENTURE AT BLOODY SPRING . . . .28 
 
 IV. BRADY'S FAMOUS LEAP ..... . -33 
 
 V. AN EXPEDITION WITH WETZEL AND OTHER ADVENTURES 36 
 
 PART II 
 VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE, THE CAROLINAS 
 
 ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION . ... .41 
 
 I. ANDREW LEWIS AND His BORDERERS . ... -43 
 
 II. THE BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT . . , . .48 
 
 III. THE FATE OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE CAMPAIGN . 56
 
 xii Contents 
 
 PAGB 
 
 THE PIONEERS OF EAST TENNESSEE . . . 61 
 
 I. JOHN SEVIER AND THE WATAUGA MEN . . . .63 
 
 II. "THE REAR GUARD OF THE REVOLUTION" . . .67 
 
 III. THE STATE OF FRANKLIN AND ITS GOVERNOR . . 68 
 
 IV. THE ASSEMBLING OF THE MOUNTAINEERS . . . 72 
 V. THE DASH TO CATCH FERGUSON 79 
 
 VI. KING'S MOUNTAIN; LAUNCHING THE THUNDERBOLT . 83 
 VII. AFTER THE BATTLE 91 
 
 UNPUBLISHED ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF KING'S 
 MOUNTAIN, BY THE REV. STEPHEN FOSTER, A PAR- 
 TICIPANT . ". 95 
 
 PART III 
 KENTUCKY 
 
 DANIEL BOONE, GREATEST OF PIONEERS . . .Ill 
 
 I. THE LAND BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS . . . .113 
 
 II. THE GREATEST OF THE PIONEERS 116 
 
 III. THE EXPLORATION OF KENTUCKY 118 
 
 IV. THE SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY 122 
 
 V. ADVENTURES WITH INDIANS . . 127 
 
 VI. THE DEFENCE OF BOONESBOROUGH 134 
 
 VII. THE LAST BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTION . . . .138 
 VIII. THE END OF THE OLD PIONEER 146 
 
 THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF BRYAN'S STATION . 149 
 
 I. THE WIVES OF THE PIONEERS 151 
 
 II. AN OLDTIME FRONTIER FORT 153 
 
 III. RUSE AGAINST RUSE ........ 155 
 
 IV. THE STORY OF THE MORGANS 163
 
 Contents xiii 
 
 PART IV 
 THE FAR SOUTH 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE MASSACRE AT FORT MIMS 165 
 
 I. THE BEGINNING OF THE CREEK WAR .... 167 
 
 II. CARELESS DEFENDERS . . .,...'-. . .171 
 
 III. PAYING THE AWFUL PENALTY 173 
 
 JACKSON'S VICTORY AT TOHOPEKA ... . .179 
 
 I. THE LAST STAND OF THE CREEKS 181 
 
 II. THE HEROISM OF YOUNG SAM HOUSTON . . .186 
 
 WHEN THE SEMINOLES FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM . . 191 
 
 I. THE INJUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES . , . . 193 
 
 II. THE MASSACRE OF DADE AND His MEN .... 197 
 
 III. AFTER THE BATTLE . . . 202 
 
 PART V 
 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 
 
 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE GREAT NORTH- 
 WEST . . . -. . .-, . . . .209 
 I. THE ORIGIN OF A GREAT IDEA . . . . . 211 
 II. THE FIRST SUCCESS . . . . . . . 218 
 
 III. "THE HAIR-BUYER GENERAL" . . . . . 224 
 
 IV. THE TERRIBLE MARCH . . . .. .- . . 229 
 
 V. THE CAPTURE OF VINCENNES . . . . . 234 
 
 VI. FORGOTTEN! . .".-.. . ... . 238 
 
 TECUMSEH AND WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON ,. . 2%t 
 
 I. THE GREATEST OF THE INDIANS 243 
 
 II. THE PROTAGONIST OF THE LEAGUE . . .: . . 248 
 
 III. THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE . 257 
 
 IV. THE BATTLE OF THE THAMES . . . . . . 264
 
 xiv Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE MASSACRE ON THE RIVER RAISIN . . . .269 
 
 I. THE ARMY OF THE WEST 271 
 
 II. A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION ...... 274 
 
 III. THE BATTLE OF FRENCHTOWN . . . . . . 280 
 
 IV. THE MURDER OF THE WOUNDED 286 
 
 GEORGE CROGHAN AND THE DEFENCE OF FORT 
 
 STEPHENSON 289 
 
 I. A BOY IN COMMAND OF OTHER BOYS .... 291 
 
 II. THE IMPUDENCE OF THE YOUNG CAPTAIN . . . 296 
 
 III. DESPERATE FIGHTING . 300 
 
 PART VI 
 TEXAS 
 
 DAVID CROCKETT AND THE MOST DESPERATE DE- 
 FENCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY . . .305 
 
 I. A TYPICAL AMERICAN 307 
 
 II. THE LONE STAR REPUBLIC 312 
 
 III. THE MISSION DEL ALAMO 314 
 
 IV. THE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY AGAINST THE FIVE THOU- 
 
 SAND 316 
 
 THE WORST OF SANTA ANNA'S MISDEEDS . . .327 
 
 I. THE DELAY AT FORT DEFIANCE 329 
 
 II. THE BATTLE OF THE COLETA 334 
 
 III. THE MASSACRE AT GOLIAD 338 
 
 SAM HOUSTON AND FREEDOM -345 
 
 I. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAN .... 347 
 
 II. IN THE SERVICE OF THE TEXAN REPUBLIC . . . 353 
 
 III. "THE RUNAWAY SCRAPE" 354 
 
 IV. SANTA ANNA is TRAPPED 357 
 
 V. THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO 363 
 
 INDEX ... 369
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 THEY CAME ON WITH FIXED BAYONETS WITHOUT 
 FIRING " Frontispiece 
 
 THAT WAR PARTY WAS ANNIHILATED" . . . .32 
 
 CORNSTALK RECEIVED THEM STANDING WITH WIDE OPEN 
 ARMS" , ... 58 
 
 FERGUSON SHOWED HIMSELF A VERY PALADIN OF 
 COURAGE" . . .88 
 
 THE KENTUCKIANS STOOD TO THEIR GROUND MANFULLY 
 AND RETURNED THE FIRE" 142 
 
 IT WAS INDEED A FEARFUL MOMENT FOR THE WOMEN" . 158 
 THE MAJOR BENT HIS BACK AND PUSHED LIKE MAD" . 174 
 
 THEY PLUNGED DAUNTLESSLY INTO THE FORD, ONLY TO 
 BE MET BY THE FIRE FROM COFFEE'S RIFLEMEN ON 
 
 THE FARTHER SIDE" l88 
 
 I CAN GIVE YOU NO MORE ORDERS, LADS. DO YOUR 
 
 BEST ! " 2O2 
 
 CLARK, WITH TRAGIC INTENSITY, BADE THEM GO ON 
 WITH THE DANCE" . . 220 
 
 1 MESSENGERS BROUGHT LETTERS . . . APPEALING FOR 
 VENGEANCE OR PROTECTION " . . . . . . 2$O 
 
 ' , XV
 
 xvi List of Illustrations 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 "PROCTOR . . . HAD A FIERY INTERVIEW WITH THE 
 AMERICAN COMMANDER" 284 
 
 "THE YOUNG SUBALTERN DID NOT SCARE A LITTLE BIT". 300 
 
 THE MISSION DEL ALAMO 314 
 
 " So HE MAKES A FINE END ! " 324 
 
 "SHE TOOK THE FAMILY FAR OVER THE ALLEGHENY 
 MOUNTAINS" 348
 
 1 
 
 LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN . . .15 
 II. PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN . . 86 
 
 III. PLAN AND PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF BOONESBOROUGH . 126 
 
 IV. PLAN OF FORT MIMS 170 
 
 V. MAP OF THE HORSE-SHOE BEND AND PLAN OF THE 
 
 BATTLE 182 
 
 VI. PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE . . . 256 
 
 VII. MAP OF FRENCHTOWN AND THE MASSACRE ON THE 
 
 RAISIN .- 278 
 
 VIII. MAP OF FORT STEPHENSON . . . . . 294 
 IX. PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO . . .361
 
 PART I 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 I 
 
 How Henry Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania
 
 " At once there rose so wild a yell 
 Within that dark and narrow dell, 
 As all the fiends, from heaven that fell 
 Had peal' d the banner-cry of hell /" 
 
 I. A Veteran Soldier and His Problem 
 
 IN the far western part of the province of Pennsyl- 
 vania on the night of the 5th of August, 1763, a 
 little party of English soldiers found themselves con- 
 fronted by as desperate a situation as ever menaced a 
 military expedition. They were encamped upon a low 
 barren hill with a few stunted trees upon it, which was 
 surrounded on all sides by a thick dense forest. Not a 
 fire was burning on the hill, not a light of any kind 
 could be shown. The sky was overcast and no star 
 sparkled like a beacon of heaven above them. 
 
 The troops, numbering four hundred and fifty, were 
 posted on the slopes of the hill in a large circle. Within 
 this circle some three hundred pack-horses were tethered. 
 On the very crest of the elevation, in the centre of the 
 cordon of soldiery, a temporary breastwork had been 
 made by piling in a circle bags of flour and meal which 
 had been the burden of the pack-horses. Within the 
 meagre shelter afforded by the enclosure so formed, 
 some thirty-five desperately wounded officers and men 
 
 3
 
 4 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 were lying. What slight attention the suffering soldiers 
 received was given them in the darkness. There was 
 not a drop of water on the hill. 
 
 At irregular intervals a flash of light would lance the 
 darkness of the mass of trees enclosing them like a wall, 
 and the report of a musket, followed by a terrifying war- 
 cry, would break the stillness of the night, apprizing the 
 anxious soldiers that their watchful enemies were still 
 there. The pickets crouching down on the slopes and 
 peering into the blackness about them, kept fearful watch 
 while the rest of the exhausted soldiers lay upon their 
 arms full of dismal forebodings for the morrow, vainly 
 endeavoring to stifle the pangs of thirst or to get a little 
 sleep. Across a little ravine in front of the position 
 they held, upon the slopes of a similar hill, the bodies 
 of some twenty-five of their fellow-soldiers lay still and 
 ghastly under the trees. The well-aimed bullet, the 
 brutal tomahawk, and the terrible scalping-knife had 
 done their fell work. There were no wounded there. 
 
 The soldiers on the hill were alone in the wilderness. 
 Back at Fort Ligonier, some fifty miles away, there was 
 a little garrison, the major part composed of sixty in- 
 valids too weak to accompany their comrades on the 
 expedition. About twenty miles before them another 
 small body of English soldiers, hopefully awaiting for the 
 arrival of the very party in such sore straits, were tena- 
 ciously defending Fort Pitt, situated at the confluence 
 of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. On all sides 
 of them extended the unbroken wilderness, virgin woods, 
 forests primeval, covering mountain range and valley. 
 The soldiers on the hill, therefore, could hope for no 
 assistance and must depend upon their own endeavors 
 to extricate themselves from their desperate position.
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 5 
 
 The locality in which they found themselves was preg- 
 nant with menacing history. A few miles away, a few 
 years before, twice their number of English troops had 
 been utterly defeated with dreadful loss, and some of 
 the same Indians who had overwhelmed Braddock with 
 such terrible success, lay encamped about these men 
 that night. Still nearer in time as the place was closer 
 in distance, these same red men could recall the disas- 
 trous beating they had given Major Grant and his High- 
 landers. They had never been conquered by the white 
 men they did not mean to be then. 
 
 Every military post on the western Pennsylvania bor- 
 der, except those two mentioned, had been captured 
 by these selfsame savages during the spring; their gar- 
 risons had been first tortured and then murdered and 
 the forts themselves burned and destroyed. All over 
 the northwest the Indians had risen, animated by the 
 genius and inspired by the enthusiasm of Pontiac, and 
 they had fed fat their ancient grudge against the hap- 
 less English. Not yet glutted by their successes and the 
 ensuing slaughter, they were slowly making their way 
 eastward into the populous and well-settled portions of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Such a scene of rapine and murder as had followed 
 the destruction of the military posts has never been 
 equalled. The frontier was left entirely unprotected. 
 In every clearing, where, a few months before, had dwelt 
 the settler in comparative peace and security, tilling the 
 soil, planting his crops and wresting from the wilder- 
 ness his hard-earned livelihood; and with his wife and 
 children devoting himself to the conquest of the country 
 to the arts of peace and to the spirit of civilization, now 
 stood the tottering remnants of a chimney amid the
 
 6 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ashes of a home. Unburied bodies by hundreds, the 
 prey of the wild beasts of the forest, the wolves and the 
 vultures, aye, of the very swine that ranged the wilder- 
 ness, gave mute attestation to the thoroughness with 
 which the border had been swept by the desolating 
 Indian. 
 
 The struggling little towns clustering about the walls 
 of some feeble fort, such as Shippensburg, Carlisle, and 
 Bedford, were crowded with terrified fugitives. With 
 their limited accommodations they were able to afiford 
 a shelter to but few of those who sought their protec- 
 tion. Their already depleted stocks of provisions were 
 soon exhausted, and famine and privation added their 
 pangs to the troubles of the people. And there were 
 many wounded and ill, some who had been tortured, 
 shot, even scalped, who yet lived, for whom nothing 
 could be done, who must needs suffer without any alle- 
 viation of their anguish. 
 
 Distracted wives who had been bereft of their hus- 
 bands gathered their children about them and lay house- 
 less in the fields. Starving children who had lost their 
 parents wandered from group to group, their pitiful 
 wailings almost unnoticed in the general misery. Here 
 a mother mourned a son, there a friend longed for a 
 friend. And there were many haggard desperate men, 
 too, who had seen their dear ones taken from them and 
 submitted to a fate too horrible to mention. These kept 
 watch and ward over the huddled fugitives; and, as they 
 grasped their rifles with nervous hands, with breaking 
 hearts they swore eternal vengeance against the red 
 man. 
 
 And the colony of Pennsylvania did nothing to pro- 
 tect its children!
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 7 
 
 Fortunately, however, there happened to be at the 
 time an officer named Henry Bouquet in command of 
 the king's forces at Philadelphia. He was one of the 
 most accomplished soldiers and gentlemen of his time; 
 an officer, the variety of whose talents was only equalled 
 by his bravery and sagacity. He had for some seven 
 years held a command in America. During this time he 
 had so mastered the tactics of the savage foeman, against 
 whom he most often warred, that in address and cun- 
 ning he proved himself able to give even the wiliest 
 Indian chief a bitter lesson. Though the service he 
 rendered America was of the utmost importance, though 
 he manifested in the performance of it the steadiest 
 courage, and exhibited the highest skill; though he 
 fought, all things considered, the most brilliant and 
 effective battle which was probably ever waged against 
 the Indians certainly the most notable engagement in 
 which a British officer commanded he is a forgotten 
 hero and his services are now but little remembered. 
 
 This great and gallant soldier was born in 1719, at 
 Rolle in Switzerland, on the north shore of the beautiful 
 lake of Geneva. Springing from an humble family and 
 possessed of little fortune, he made his way upward by 
 sheer force of natural ability and talent. As did many 
 Swiss, he chose to follow a military career, and entered 
 the Dutch service as a cadet when only seventeen years 
 of age. Shifting his allegiance, as was the habit of sol- 
 diers of fortune, he later became adjutant to the King 
 of Sardinia, in whose employ he saw much hard service, 
 in which he greatly distinguished himself. The Prince 
 of Orange made him lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss 
 Guards of Holland in 1748. 
 
 After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he spent his time
 
 8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 in mastering not merely military art but the polite learn- 
 ing of his day as well. In 1756 he was appointed 
 lieutenant-colonel commanding one of the four battalions 
 of the regiment called the " Royal Americans " which 
 King George III had directed should be raised in Amer- 
 ica for service in the French and Indian War. This was 
 a regiment composed mainly of Pennsylvania Germans, 
 and it was necessary, as the majority of the men spoke 
 little or no English, that officers who should be conver- 
 sant with their language should be appointed to command 
 them. A special act of Parliament had been required 
 in order that Bouquet and other foreigners could be 
 commissioned by the English king, a most fortunate act 
 indeed. The regiment performed superb service on 
 many hard-fought battle-fields in the French War; and 
 various detachments, since the Peace of Paris had ended 
 that conflict, had made up most of the garrisons of the 
 different posts in the west and northwest which had just 
 been ovenvhelmed by the savage onslaught. 
 
 II. The March Over the Mountains 
 
 Sir Jeffrey Amherst, who commanded all the English 
 forces in America, when he received news of the Indian 
 outbreak, immediately directed Colonel Bouquet to ad- 
 vance to relieve Fort Pitt, and to afford some protection 
 to the distressed inhabitants of western Pennsylvania 
 with whatever forces he could assemble without delay. 
 Bouquet could only gather up about six hundred men 
 and this he did by ordering the remnants of two regiments, 
 the Forty Second Highlanders and the Seventy Seventh 
 infantry, which had just been invalided home from the 
 West Indies, to the front. The men were so broken by
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 9 
 
 their arduous and wearing service in the tropics that 
 they were really fit for nothing but garrison duty. Some 
 of them had to be carried along on the march in wagons 
 on account of their weakness. There were no other 
 troops available, however, and they had to go. They 
 cheerfully undertook the campaign for the relief of the 
 suffering people. 
 
 On the 3rd of July, 1763, the expedition arrived at 
 Carlisle, to which point orders had been sent that sup- 
 plies and transportation should be in readiness. Noth- 
 ing had been done,, owing to the panic of the inhabitants. 
 In fact, so far from finding any supplies, Bouquet, who 
 was a man of extreme sensibility, felt obliged to share 
 the meagre provisions of his little army with the starv- 
 ing women and children. The situation was apparently 
 hopeless, but such was the energy, ability, and tact of the 
 commander that eighteen days after his arrival the ex- 
 pedition left Carlisle with a large number of wagons fully 
 provided. Fort Ligonier, the most westerly post, except 
 Fort Pitt, which still held out, was relieved by a party 
 of thirty of the strongest men, who were sent ahead on 
 forced march and succeeded in breaking through the be- 
 sieging Indians and gaining the fort. 
 
 Bouquet arrived at Fort Bedford on the 25th and on 
 the 28th he reached Fort Ligonier. There, putting what 
 supplies he could on pack-horses, and leaving his wagons 
 and heavy baggage he pushed forward toward Fort Pitt 
 in much apprehension. The little army followed Forbes* 
 road,* which, through neglect, had become almost im- 
 passable; and their progress led them through such 
 scenes of desolation that the hearts of the men were in- 
 
 * See my book Colonial Fights and Fighters: The Struggle for the Valley 
 of the Ohio.
 
 io Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 flamed with an ever-growing desire for vengeance upon 
 the red authors of the ruin. 
 
 The army marched with the greatest care. A little 
 body of backwoodsmen scouted before them, followed 
 by a strong advance party, then came the main body, then 
 the baggage train, then the rear-guard, while another 
 party of frontiersmen covered the rear and the flanks. 
 There were only thirty of these valuable adjuncts, how- 
 ever, and the protection they could give and the scout- 
 ing they could do, was limited. Bouquet had left the 
 weakest of his men in the forts and his force now 
 amounted to about five hundred men all told. 
 
 On the 5th of August they had arrived in the vicinity 
 of a little creek called Bushy Run, about twenty-five 
 miles from their goal. Their advance had been subjected 
 to desultory firing from time to time, so that it was per- 
 fectly well known that savages were marking their 
 progress. 
 
 Early in the afternoon, in a dense wood, they came in 
 touch with the Indians. The firing, which began with 
 startling suddenness, was too heavy for a mere skirmish. 
 The Indians were in great force and had determined to 
 intercept them, having temporarily raised the siege of 
 Fort Pitt for that purpose. The continual rattle of arms 
 and the wild yells which rang through the wood, apprized 
 the experienced leader that the engagement was fast be- 
 coming serious. In fact twelve out of the eighteen men 
 who led the advance were shot down almost instantly. 
 Ordering the baggage and convoy to halt where they 
 were on the top of the hill mentioned, and leaving the 
 rear company to look after it, Bouquet hurried to the 
 front followed by the main body of his soldiery. Ad- 
 vancing his troops and deploying them into such a line
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania n 
 
 as the forest growth permitted, Bouquet charged through 
 the woods with the bayonet. The Indians at once gave 
 way before the onrush of the Highlanders and the light 
 infantry, but when Bouquet halted the charge and re- 
 called his men lest they should become scattered, and 
 he lose control of them, the savages crept back through 
 the trees and resumed the engagement. 
 
 As they had done years before to Braddock's men, so 
 now they extended themselves through trie wood on 
 either side and endeavored to attack the British on the 
 flanks. But whatever they did the soldiers met them. 
 There was no panic this time on the part of those weak 
 and feeble half-invalid soldiers. Bouquet was an entirely 
 different man from Braddock and he had won the confi- 
 dence of his men. They trusted him entirely and they 
 had seen and heard too much of the Indian customs on 
 their march not to know that to break and run meant 
 destruction. 
 
 Bouquet carefully manoeuvred his men through the 
 trees, skilfully checking and driving back the advancing 
 Indians from time to time by well-delivered volleys or 
 short rushes with the bayonet. The battle was going 
 favorably when firing in the rear told him that the 
 Indians, who much outnumbered the English, had en- 
 gaged the rear-guard. Still keeping his front to the 
 enemy Bouquet withdrew his troops and posted them 
 around the hill in rear of the first position, thus afford- 
 ing protection to the convoy and the baggage. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon now and until night fell 
 the battle was kept up. The Indians surrounded the 
 camp and fought from behind the trees. There was no 
 more volley firing by the British, but they lay on the 
 ground availing themselves of all possible cover, firing
 
 12 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 slowly and endeavoring to make every shot tell. When- 
 ever the impatient Indians, growing bolder as they ap- 
 parently saw their prey within their grasp, left cover and 
 advanced they were driven back to the woods with the 
 deadly bayonet. 
 
 Presently the welcome night came and the attack 
 ceased. The situation of the British was indeed deplo- 
 rable, A line of dead men from the first hill where the 
 first onset had been met, back to the camp, showed how 
 faithfully they had fought and how resolutely they had 
 been attacked. There were no wounded out in the 
 forest glades either. The Indians ruthlessly butchered 
 and scalped all who fell. Some sixty of the English had 
 been killed or wounded. 
 
 They were surrounded by a large force of savages and 
 it appeared likely that the terrible experiences of the 
 past would be repeated upon them on the morrow. Bou- 
 quet wrote to Amherst that night, commending in brief 
 soldier-like words, the steadiness and valor of his men, 
 but preparing him for the worst possible results of the 
 expected action, which he realized would take place on 
 the morrow. He was too good a soldier not to recog- 
 nize the peril of their situation and too brave a man not 
 to admit it. 
 
 With almost any other commander in the English 
 service in a similar situation, the result would have been 
 certain. Bouquet, however, was in himself a host. He 
 knew that his only chance of escaping annihilation would 
 be in bringing the savages to a stand, where he could 
 deliver with his veterans such a decisive blow as would 
 completely defeat them, otherwise he was doomed. The 
 Indians could keep .him on that hill picking off his men 
 until they died of hunger or thirst, if nothing else. To 
 retreat was impossible.
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 13 
 
 III. The Battle of Bushy Run 
 
 There was no sleep for the anxious commander that 
 night. As he walked around the circle among his ex- 
 hausted men lying on their arms,' as he passed the heavy 
 cordon of sentries who kept watch over those who sought 
 to snatch a few moments of needed rest, as he thought 
 of the helpless wounded stifling their groans with heroic 
 resolution in the little enclosure on the crest of the hill, 
 as he recalled the wretched women and children, the ter- 
 rified inhabitants of the forts and towns who were look- 
 ing to him for protection, and praying God for the 
 success of his expedition which was the only barrier 
 interposed between them and the red scourge sweeping 
 through the forests from the westward, he sustained a 
 weight of responsibility which would have crushed a man 
 less stout of heart. In his desperation he concocted a 
 plan whereby he fondly hoped he could extricate his 
 forces from their deadly peril, and at the same time de- 
 liver a crushing blow upon the Indians. 
 
 It was a plan worthy of the keenest warrior that 
 ever endeavored to conquer his foe by savage subtlety 
 and woodland stratagem. Feverishly he waited for the 
 morning and prayed for a favorable time and opportu- 
 nity to put the plan from which he hoped so much, upon 
 which so much depended, into execution. 
 
 The night was marked by one instance of conspicuous 
 heroism. From a little brook hard by the hill, practically 
 gone dry in the summer weather and therefore neglected 
 by the besieging Indians, one of the frontiersmen named 
 Byerly, unobserved by the savages, succeeded in the 
 darkness in bringing in his hat from a hidden pool which
 
 14 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 he had discovered, a few mouthfuls of precious water 
 which was given to the most severely wounded. A 
 slight rain which fell toward morning also refreshed them 
 somewhat, but most of the men suffered greatly from 
 thirst during the night; they had had no water since 
 noon of the day before. 
 
 When the day broke over the haggard but desperate 
 and determined band, the Indians resumed the attack. 
 As soon as it was light enough to see, the firing began 
 again. Steadily the men fought on, lying crouched behind 
 such shelter or cover as they were able to come by, while 
 the slow hours of the hot morning dragged away. The 
 Indians, having learned by the experience of the preced- 
 ing day, at first took great care not to expose themselves 
 and the British sustained their fire as best they could. 
 The savage warriors at once marked their commander 
 from his brilliant uniform, and fired at him so constantly 
 that upon the insistence of his officers he changed his 
 clothing to render himself less conspicuous. The small 
 tree behind which he took shelter while he did this was 
 hit by no less than fourteen bullets during the time. 
 
 Many of the soldiers were struck down, and of the 
 pack-horses numbers were killed and others broke 
 through the lines, plunging upon the men, especially the 
 wounded, and creating wild confusion in the camp. 
 Their drivers as a rule proved cowardly and left the terri- 
 fied animals to their own devices. Still Bouquet did not 
 dare to drive the horses away. He would need them 
 when he had won the battle. 
 
 So he clung tenaciously to his position and his heroic 
 men fought on uncomplainingly while he waited for the 
 favorable opportunity to display the stratagem he had 
 planned. For four hours the men lay on that open hill
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 15 
 
 in the hot sun of August, without food or water, and 
 kept up the engagement. The Indians, as Bouquet had 
 foreseen, grew bolder from their immunity, being adepts 
 at fighting under cover, and as the certainty of success 
 grew upon them, they began creeping nearer and fight- 
 
 J.A RGC (\SWAMP 
 
 .iti*".. ~"~ 
 
 :/. C/V/0(S . 
 
 Z.LICHT INFANT 
 5. BATTALION MEN. 
 
 if-. RANGERS. 
 
 5. CATTLE. 
 
 6. nouses, 
 
 TKlNTBENCHMENTS Of 
 SACS FOR WOUNDED. 
 
 'p8.FlRST POSITION OF TROOP* 
 ?, CRAVES ON HILLOCK. 
 
 Plan of the Battle of Bushy Run. 
 
 ing more recklessly. At last the colonel determined that 
 the moment for striking had arrived. 
 
 Fortunately one side of the hill was cleft by a ravine 
 which gave entrance upon the surrounding valley. The 
 front of the English line where the main attack was
 
 1 6 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 being made, was held by two companies of the High- 
 landers. Explaining clearly to all his men what he pro- 
 posed doing, and why, so there would be no panic and 
 they would carry out his orders intelligently, Bouquet 
 ordered these two companies suddenly to withdraw from 
 the line and retreat rapidly across the hill until they 
 reached the ravine, which they were to enter, advance 
 down it, and hold themselves in readiness to attack from 
 it. At the same time the companies on either side of 
 the gap they left were ordered to extend across it in 
 open order to keep the circle intact. 
 
 At the word, the Highlanders immediately ran to the 
 rear and plunged into the ravine, where their movements 
 were sheltered from the view of the Indians by its depth 
 and by the bushes growing on its edge. The movement 
 was carried out perfectly. As the Scots rushed away 
 from the field the men of the companies to the right and 
 left closed the opening. 
 
 The Indians of course saw the manoeuvre. Imagin- 
 ing, naturally, that it was the beginning of a retreat, 
 they abandoned their cover and came swarming out into 
 the open. Pouring a furious fire upon the weakened 
 line, with most unusual courage they charged deliber- 
 ately at it, tomahawk and scalping-knife in hand. The 
 thin line of soldiers could not stand the massed onset of 
 the horde of the braves, and, although they fought hero- 
 ically hand to hand for a moment, they were about to 
 give way. In the very nick of time the Highlanders in 
 the ravine, came running out into the open. As they 
 appeared on the right flank of the Indians, without halt- 
 ing they poured in a volley at point-blank range. Though 
 they were greatly surprised by this unexpected dis- 
 charge, the savages, who displayed the most astonishing
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 17 
 
 resolution in this battle, at once faced about and returned 
 the fire, but when they saw through the smoke the fierce 
 Highlanders springing upon them, bayonet in hand, 
 revenge and triumph in their stern faces, they gave way 
 and fled. 
 
 " For life ! For life ! tney plight their ply 
 And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, 
 And plaids and bonnets waving high, 
 And broadswords flashing to the sky, 
 Are maddening in the rear ! " 
 
 Staking everything on this manoeuvre, Bouquet, when 
 he saw the Highlanders advance, broke his line again 
 and threw two companies of Light Infantry out of the 
 circle on the other flank. The flying Indians ran right 
 into them and a final volley swept them from the field. 
 The Indians in the rear of the camp had advanced to 
 attack at the same time those in the front had endeavored 
 to break the weakened line, but, witnessing the repulse 
 of those in front, they gave way on all sides before a 
 general advance and abandoned the field. 
 
 More than sixty dead Indians lay upon the ground 
 where the Highlanders and Light Infantry had charged, 
 and bloody trails through the woods in the direction of 
 their retreat, showed how many men had been wounded. 
 They had been beaten by an inferior force in a pitched 
 battle, in a fair field and an open fight. On the English 
 side the loss had been very heavy. One hundred and 
 fifteen, or nearly one fourth of the troops, had been killed 
 or wounded. The loss of the Indians was probably 
 equally as great, if not greater. But one Indian prisoner 
 was taken and the men, with the memory of the scenes 
 through which they had passed to animate them, shot 
 him to death as he had been a mad dog.
 
 1 8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Tactically this engagement, called the Battle of Bushy 
 Run, was one of the most brilliant fights against Indians 
 which ever took place on the continent, and it was ren- 
 dered memorable by the fact that the savages had ex- 
 hibited a willingness to join in hand to hand fighting 
 which was as remarkable as it was unusual. During 
 Forsyth's defence of the Arickaree in western Kansas, a 
 hundred years later, the Indians there made a charge 
 in the open and endeavored by close fighting to win the 
 day, but that is about the only similar instance I recall. 
 
 The expedition had been saved from destruction by 
 Bouquet's brilliant tactics alone. The English were 
 still, however, in a desperate state. Many of the pack- 
 horses had been shot and most of the precious supplies 
 had to be destroyed or abandoned. It was with the 
 greatest difficulty that the wounded could be transported, 
 yet Bouquet, making such dispositions for their comfort 
 as he could, resumed their march. Camped on the bank 
 of Little Turtle Creek that same evening, they were 
 again attacked, but the Indians manifested little diposi- 
 tion to fight after the decisive and costly defeat they 
 had sustained in the morning, and they were easily 
 driven away. 
 
 On account of the condition of his men it took Bouquet 
 five days to march the twenty miles between him and Fort 
 Pitt. He reached it, at last, however, and relieved the 
 garrison. The Indians crushed and broken by their 
 defeat and seeing no prospect of making head against 
 the combined forces, withdrew from that section of Penn- 
 sylvania. As the various posts were re-established and 
 garrisoned when re-enforcements were forwarded from 
 the east, many of the old settlers, and some new ones, 
 reoccupied their deserted clearings.
 
 How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 19 
 
 IV. The End of Bouquet 
 
 The Indians were eventually defeated everywhere in 
 the general conflict which was raging through the north- 
 west; and the year after his splendid fight, Bouquet led 
 a brilliantly successful expedition through the country 
 west of the Ohio, which brought about their complete 
 submission and which resulted in the restoration of hun- 
 dreds of captives to those who thought they had lost 
 them forever.* 
 
 For his extraordinary skill and courage and for the 
 success of his expedition, Bouquet was thanked by the 
 king and promoted to be brigadier-general. He died 
 in the service at Pensacola three years afterward while 
 still in the prime of life. In addition to his other claims 
 upon our consideration, romance appropriates him, since 
 he was the victim of an unrequited passion for a beauti- 
 ful Philadelphian. Anne Willing refused to accept him 
 because he was a soldier, and she married another and 
 less noted man! Poor, lonely Henry Bouquet, it almost 
 broke his heart. 
 
 It seems a heartless thing to say, but the bullet that 
 struck down Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, and the 
 fever that carried Bouquet away at Pensacola, did good 
 
 * There is a touching little story of a mother with this expedition whose 
 child had forgotten her and who had vainly endeavored to awaken her recol- 
 lection, which illustrates one phase of Bouquet's character. " Sing her the 
 song with which you put her to sleep as a baby," he said to the agonized 
 woman, with a touch of inspiration. And the woman sang this hymn : 
 
 " Alone yet not alone am I 
 
 Though in this solitude so drear, 
 I feel my Saviour always nigh, 
 
 He comes my weary hours to cheer." 
 
 When the little girl heard the familiar strain of her infancy, memory came 
 back to her with the first verse, and at last she knew her mother.
 
 20 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 service to the country destined to become the United 
 States of America; for they were such accomplished sol- 
 diers, men of such talent and genius, that had they been 
 in command of the British forces in the War of the Revo- 
 lution, that struggle might have been shorter and its 
 results possibly vastly different. They were both young 
 enough men when they died to have been available for 
 service in 1775. 
 
 We do not find such another Indian fighter as this 
 gallant Swiss in the colonial records, and it is noteworthy 
 that the same sort of troops as were found entirely inade- 
 quate to the situation when led by Braddock, proved 
 themselves heroes indeed when under the command of 
 a greater and abler man.
 
 PART I 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 II 
 
 Captain Samuel Brady, Chief of the Rangers
 
 CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY, CHIEF 
 OF THE RANGERS 
 
 I. A Family of Fighters 
 
 AS a typical pioneer and Indian fighter I have 
 chosen to include in this series some account of 
 a few of the exploits and adventures of Captain 
 Samuel Brady, whose name for cool daring, unremitting 
 vigilance, unsparing energy, fertility of resource, and suc- 
 cessful enterprise, was a household word in western 
 Pennsylvania during the beginnings of the nation. 
 
 Few families among our early settlers contributed 
 more generously and freely of their best to the service 
 of their country than that from which Brady sprang. 
 His father, Captain John Brady son of Hugh, the 
 Pr&positus of the family in America, who was descended 
 from that famous Irish family of which the noted versifier 
 of the Psalms was a member like Washington and 
 George Rogers Clark, was a surveyor. 
 
 He was commissioned captain in the 2nd Pennsylvania 
 Battalion in 1764 in Bouquet's expedition. He was a 
 noted frontiersman prior to the Revolution, and when 
 that war broke out was appointed a captain in the 
 1 2th Pennsylvania Continental Line. At the Battle of the 
 Brandywine his regiment was cut to pieces in the des- 
 perate fighting near the Birmingham Meeting House. 
 He was badly wounded and his son John, a lad of fifteen 
 
 23
 
 24 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 who had come like David of old with supplies for the 
 camp, and had remained for the battle, was also wounded, 
 and only saved from capture by the act of his colonel 
 in throwing the boy upon a horse when the troops re- 
 treated. So fierce was the fighting that every officer 
 in Captain Brady's company was killed or wounded, to- 
 gether with most of his men. 
 
 In 1778, Captain Brady was ordered to Fort Pitt and 
 attached to the regiment of Colonel Brodhead, who was 
 charged by Washington personally with the duty of pro- 
 tecting the western Pennsylvania frontier from the in- 
 cursions of the savages. It is estimated that there were 
 at one time or another more than twelve thousand 
 Indians in arms in the pay of the British. Campbell 
 states that four hundred Seneca warriors in three years 
 on the border, took more than one thousand scalps, two 
 hundred and ninety-nine of them having belonged to 
 women and twenty-nine to children! They were sent 
 by the Indians to the Governor of Canada, to be by him 
 sent as a present to the King of England. 
 
 As most of the able-bodied men west of the moun- 
 tains had enlisted in the Continental Line the valleys 
 were without protection until Washington sent Brodhead 
 thither. One of the frontier posts by which it was hoped 
 to protect the country was located near Muncy and 
 called Fort Brady in honor of its commander. 
 
 James Brady, Captain John's second son, who was 
 himself a militia captain, was killed near there by the 
 Indians. A small party of men were reaping in one of 
 the fields a short distance from Loyalsock, in the fall 
 of 1778. Captain James Brady was in command of 
 them. Four men watched while the others worked. A 
 large party of the Indians stole upon them unperceived
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 25 
 
 and opened fire, whereupon the most of them fled. 
 Captain Brady ran for his gun. According to one ac- 
 count, he secured it, shot one of the Indians dead, seized 
 another gun, was shot himself, then stabbed by a spear, 
 tomahawked, and scalped. He had long red hair. It 
 is related that one of his frontier friends a week before 
 his death, watching him dress and plait it in the queue, 
 which was the fashion of the day, remarked to him: 
 
 " Jim, the Indians will get that red scalp of yours 
 yet." 
 
 The young captain, who was only twenty at the time, 
 laughingly replied that if they did they would have 
 something to lighten their darkness for them! The red 
 hair was characteristic of the family and has persisted in 
 many members to the present day. Young Brady sur- 
 vived his frightful wound for five days and died at Fort 
 Brady in the arms of his mother, an heroic pioneer 
 woman. 
 
 A year after this, Captain John was shot and instantly 
 killed by Indians, who fled from the scene of the murder 
 with such precipitation that they did not scalp him, and 
 his body with his watch, seals, and weapons, was re- 
 covered intact. His son, Hugh, too young to fight in 
 the Revolution, rose to be a Major-General in the United 
 States Army. As commander of the 22nd Infantry, he 
 was shot through the body in the first charge at Lundy's 
 Lane. A letter from Hugh's nephew, Captain John's 
 grandson, who was an officer in his uncle's regiment, 
 tells how the general fell and fainted from loss of blood 
 but was lifted to his horse and continued in command 
 until nearly the close of the action. He had two horses 
 killed under him in this battle and only gave up the 
 command when he was unable to sit or stand from loss
 
 26 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 of blood.* Another of Captain John's grandsons, Will- 
 iam, volunteered for service in Perry's squadron and 
 fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. 
 
 There were thirteen children born to this old Pioneer 
 Captain, of whom five were girls. Two boys died in 
 infancy and another just before the War of 1812. The 
 other five fought in every war which took place while 
 they were alive. 
 
 The most distinguished of them all, however, unless 
 it be General Hugh, was the oldest, Captain Samuel 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers. On August 3rd, 1775, he 
 enlisted, being then only nineteen years of age, as a 
 private soldier, and was ordered to Massachusetts. He 
 participated in the operations around Boston, and in the 
 Battle of Long Island, where he so distinguished himself 
 for bravery that he was promoted to a lieutenancy, skip- 
 ping the grade of ensign. He fought at White Plains 
 and was one of that ragged starved little band of men 
 who clung to Washington and with which he made that 
 desperate strike back at Trenton and Princeton in the 
 darkest hour of the Revolution.f As one of Hand's 
 riflemen at Princeton, he barely escaped capture on ac- 
 count of his impetuous gallantry. 
 
 He was brevetted a captain for gallant service at 
 the Brandywine and Germantown. At the Massacre of 
 Paoli, he was surrounded, pursued, and narrowly escaped 
 with his life. So close were the British to him that as 
 he leaped a fence they pinned him to it by thrusting 
 bayonets through his blanket-coat. He tore himself 
 away, shot dead a cavalryman who had overtaken him 
 
 * See my book American Fights and Fighters. Niagara Campaign. 
 f See my book American Fights and Fighters. Washington's Greatest 
 Campaign.
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 27 
 
 and ordered him to surrender, found safety in a swamp, 
 where he gathered up some fifty-five men who had 
 escaped and led them safely to the army in the morning. 
 He, too, was ordered to western Pennsylvania with 
 his regiment, in which he appears at first as a captain- 
 lieutenant. He was borne on the rolls successively of 
 the Third, Sixth, and Eighth Pennsylvania Line until 
 the termination of the Revolution. 
 
 II. The First of the Borderers 
 
 It was his services as a borderer, however, that espe- 
 cially entitle him to attention. What Boone was to 
 Kentucky and Kenton to Ohio, that Sam Brady was to 
 western Pennsylvania. His services were so great that 
 Colonel Brodhead successfully urged his promotion to 
 a full captaincy and commended him specifically in a 
 personal letter to General Washington. Indeed, on 
 more than one occasion, he was selected by Washing- 
 ton, through Colonel Brodhead, for certain specific and 
 important duties; and there is a letter of Colonel Brod- 
 head's extant, which is published in the Pennsylvania 
 archives, in which the colonel states that he has just 
 received a special letter of commendation for Captain 
 Brady from the great Commander-in-Chief himself. Al- 
 though he was only twenty-seven years old when the 
 war closed he was by universal consent regarded as the 
 chief ranger, hunter, scout, and frontiersman on the 
 Pennsylvania border. 
 
 The Allegheny and Ohio rivers constituted the west- 
 ern and northern boundaries of the colonies. George 
 Rogers Clark, Boone, and others ranged over the north- 
 ern Kentucky line to protect the settlements, Poe and
 
 28 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Wetzel around Wheeling, and Brady and his men from 
 Fort Pitt to Lake Erie. His services were well-nigh 
 continuous. He was always in the woods. No enter- 
 prise was too dangerous for him to undertake. No 
 danger was so great as to deter him. He was constantly 
 employed until the war was over, and when General 
 Wayne mustered an army to avenge St. Clair's defeat 
 and crush the Indians, Brady was given command of all 
 his scouts, rangers, and pioneers. 
 
 Captain Brady died on Christmas Day, 1795, leaving 
 a name which is still remembered in western Pennsyl- 
 vania, and which has been much referred to by those 
 who have written the annals of the west. Indeed the 
 old settlers in their letters, reminiscences, and early 
 records, do not hesitate to compare him and not to his 
 disadvantage to the great Daniel Boone himself. 
 
 Partly from these records and partly from family tra- 
 ditions and old letters, some of his exploits have been 
 preserved. I shall not attempt to give them in chrono- 
 logical order. Indeed it is impossible to date some of 
 them. Like every other famous borderer he has been 
 made the subject of myth and legend, and heroic tale 
 has grown about him, but there is good authority for 
 the adventures here set down. 
 
 III. The Adventure at Bloody Spring 
 
 On one occasion he was ordered by Colonel Brodhead 
 upon a scouting expedition. He took with him two 
 tried comrades named Biggs and Bevington. Ranging 
 northward from Fort Pitt, at a place above the mouth 
 of the Beaver, near the present village of Fallston, where 
 there was a clearing, they came upon the ruins of the
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 29 
 
 cabin of a settler named Gray. The Indians had just 
 visited the cabin, the walls and chimney of which were 
 still blazing from the torch which they had applied. 
 
 There was not a living person to be seen. They were 
 carefully reconnoitring the place when the keen ears of 
 the captain detected the sound of a horse approaching. 
 Fearful lest the Indians who had committed the depreda- 
 tion might not have departed, Brady and his men scat- 
 tered and concealed themselves. The horseman proved 
 to be Gray, the master of the cabin, who had been away 
 some distance on that morning. 
 
 Brady and his companions, as was the usual custom 
 on such expeditions, were dressed to resemble Indians 
 and had painted their faces further to disguise themselves. 
 The captain knew if he showed himself to Gray in that 
 guise the settler would probably shoot him before he 
 could explain, so he waited concealed until Gray passed 
 him, leaped upon the horse, seized the settler in his arms 
 and whispered, " Don't struggle. I'm Sam Brady." 
 
 When the man became quiet he told him of the catas- 
 trophe at his cabin. Summoning Bevington and Biggs 
 the whole party cautiously made their way to the ruined 
 home. Gray's state of mind may well be imagined, for 
 he had left in the cabin that morning his wife, her 
 sister, and five children. A careful search of the ruins 
 satisfied them that there were no charred remains among 
 the ashes. They were confident, therefore, that the 
 Indians had taken the women and children away with 
 them. 
 
 The experienced woodsmen soon picked up the trail, 
 which they cautiously but rapidly followed. The Ind- 
 ians, who seemed to be in some force, made not the 
 slightest effort at concealment. Brady's men had wanted
 
 30 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 to return to Fort Mclntosh and get assistance before 
 they pursued. The captain of the rangers pointed out 
 that to do that would cause them to lose so much time 
 that they could not hope to overtake the Indians, so 
 the four men resolved to press on and do the best they 
 could. They swore to follow Brady's leadership and he 
 promised not to desert Gray, who would have gone on 
 alone if the others had failed him. 
 
 Brady's knowledge of the country enabled him to 
 foresee the path the Indians would probably take and 
 by making short cuts, toward evening the party caught 
 a glimpse of the Indians they were pursuing, trailing 
 over a mountain a mile away. They counted thirteen 
 Indians, eight of them on horseback, together with the 
 two women and five children. Bringing his woodcraft 
 again into play, Brady concluded that the Indians would 
 stop for the night in a deeply secluded dell in a ravine 
 in the mountains where there was a famous spring. The 
 configuration of the ground made it possible to light a 
 fire there without betraying the whereabouts of the fire- 
 builders to the surrounding country. 
 
 He therefore led his party up a little creek, which 
 thereafter was known as Brady's Run, until about seven 
 o'clock they reached a spur of the mountain from which 
 they could look down upon the spring. Sure enough, 
 there were the Indians. There, too, were the weary, 
 dejected women, and the children too exhausted and too 
 frightened to cry. Utterly unsuspicious of observation 
 the savages made camp, built a fire and prepared their 
 evening meal. 
 
 For three mortal hours the four woodsmen lay con- 
 cealed watching the camp. Finally the Indians disposed 
 themselves in a semicircle, surrounding the women and
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 31 
 
 children, with the fire in the centre. The muskets, 
 rifles, and tomahawks were piled at the foot of a tree 
 some fifteen feet from the right point of the circle. One 
 by one the Indians sank into slumber, as did the poor 
 dejected prisoners. 
 
 Brady had long since made his plan. There was only 
 one way to kill those Indians, and that was without 
 waking them. If they had fired on them they might 
 have killed four, yet the odds would have been still more 
 than two to one, besides which the rangers could hardly 
 have fired without killing some of the women and chil- 
 dren. He decided that the Indians should be knifed 
 while they slept. 
 
 Appointing Gray to take the right of the semicircle, 
 Bevington the left, choosing the centre himself, and di- 
 recting Biggs to secure the guns and tomahawks, the 
 three men approached to within three hundred yards of 
 the sleeping camp and then crept on their knees toward 
 the Indians. They were forced to leave their guns be- 
 hind them and trust only to scalping-knife and toma- 
 hawk. It was a frightful risk, but their only chance. 
 
 With snake-like caution and in absolute silence they 
 crawled over the ground. When within fifty feet of the 
 camp a dead twig cracked and broke under Biggs' hand. 
 The sound woke an Indian, who lifted himself on his 
 hands and stared sleepily over the fire. The four men 
 were as still as death. Hearing nothing further the 
 Indian sank back again. They waited fifteen minutes 
 for him to get sound asleep and once more began their 
 stealthy and terrible advance. They so timed their 
 manoeuvres that they reached the line simultaneously. 
 
 Three knives quietly rose and fell. Frontier knowl- 
 edge of anatomy was sufficient to enable them to strike
 
 32 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 accurately, and three Indians died. Again they struck. 
 And yet again. 
 
 The third Indian that Gray struck was not instantly 
 killed. He partially rose, whereupon Gray finished him 
 with his tomahawk. The body of the Indian fell across 
 the legs of the man next him. He opened his mouth 
 to cry out, but before he could make a sound Brady's 
 ready knife struck him in the heart. There were now 
 only three Indians left alive. 
 
 The women and children were awakened at the same 
 time and the woods rang with their frightened screams. 
 As they saw the supposed Indians, bloody knife in hand, 
 looking horribly in the flickering light of the fire, the 
 women and children fled to the woods. Gray pursued 
 them calling their names. 
 
 The three remaining Indians, now wide awake, at- 
 tempted to rise. Brady's terrible knife accounted for 
 one, his tomahawk did for the other, and Biggs, who had 
 at last reached the rifles, shot the last one dead. Brady 
 had killed six, Bevington and Gray each three, and Biggs 
 one. That war party was annihilated. 
 
 The women and children were soon found. The 
 horses, arms, and other plunder of the Indians were se- 
 cured, every one of the savages was scalped, and the 
 party returned in safety to Fort Mclntosh. The place 
 bears the name of Bloody Spring to this day. 
 
 It was the constant practice of frontiersmen to scalp 
 the Indians whenever they could. It is impossible for 
 us to enter into the spirit prevalent at that time, but it 
 is evident that the settlers thought no more of killing an 
 Indian than they would of killing a rattlesnake, or a pan- 
 ther; and indeed the horrors they witnessed and which 
 every one of them had felt, either in his own person,
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 33 
 
 or in the persons of those near and dear to them as 
 Brady's father and brother had rendered them abso- 
 lutely ruthless so far as Indians were concerned. Be- 
 sides, the scalp of an Indian had a commercial value. 
 In the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, under date of 
 Monday, February 19, 1781, Philadelphia, in the Minutes 
 of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, of 
 which Joseph Reed was President, I find the following: 
 
 " An order was drawn in favor of Colonel Archibald 
 Lochry Lieutenant of the County of Westmoreland, for 
 the sum of 12 Ibs, ics. state money, equal to 2500 dol- 
 lars, Continental money, to be by him paid to Captain 
 Samuel Brady, as a reward for an Indian scalp, agreeable 
 to a late proclamation of -this board." (Italics mine.) 
 
 This interesting document is signed by his Excellency 
 Joseph Reed. He, with his associates, therefore, is 
 particeps criminis in the scalp-taking business! It was 
 a government affair. 
 
 IV. Brady's Famous Leap 
 
 On another occasion Brady led a party of rangers into 
 what is now Ohio, in pursuit of some of the Sandusky 
 Indians. He ambushed them at a small lake in Portage 
 County, which was known thereafter as Brady's Lake. 
 The ambush was successful in that the party they were 
 pursuing were most of them killed, but unfortunately a 
 second and larger war party of Indians unexpectedly 
 appeared on the scene in the middle of the action. 
 Brady was captured after a desperate fight. Most of his 
 men were killed and scalped and but few escaped. 
 
 Rejoicing at the importance of their capture, the 
 Indians deferred his torture until they could take him to 
 3
 
 34 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 the Sandusky Towns which were the head-quarters for 
 all the Indians in that part of the country. They re- 
 solved to make his burning a memorable one and kept 
 him in confinement until they could communicate with 
 the surrounding tribes. 
 
 The day of his punishment finally arrived. He was 
 bound to a stake and the fires were kindled around him. 
 They were in no hurry to kill him and the fires were 
 kept rather low while different bodies of Indians arrived 
 on the scene. In the confusion attendant upon these 
 arrivals the watch upon Brady was somewhat relaxed. 
 He was a man of great physical strength. He cautiously 
 strained at the withes with which he was bound and 
 finally succeeded in loosing them. According to some 
 accounts the heat of the fire enabled him to break 
 them. 
 
 Although he was badly scorched, for he had been 
 stripped of his clothing when he was tied to the stake, 
 he leaped across the barrier of flame, seized, according 
 to one account, an Indian squaw, the wife of the princi- 
 pal chief, according to another, her child, pitched her 
 into the fire, and in the alarm caused by his bold action, 
 broke away. 
 
 He had kept himself in as good physical condition as 
 possible, taking what exercise he could though confined, 
 and he dashed madly for his life through the woods with 
 several hundred Indians upon his heels. He actually 
 made good his escape. He had no arms, no clothing, 
 nothing to eat. The Indians pursued him with implaca- 
 ble persistence. Yet, sustained by his dauntless resolu- 
 tion, he managed to keep ahead of them. For over a 
 hundred miles he plunged through the woods, subsisting 
 upon roots, berries or whatever he could get, until
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 35 
 
 finally he came to the Cuyahoga River, near what is now 
 Kent in Portage County. 
 
 He had intended to cross the river at Standing Rock, 
 a noted ford, but found that the Indians had intercepted 
 him. The river at the point where he struck it, flowed 
 between steep rocky banks rising some twenty-five feet 
 from the water's edge. It was a deep roaring torrent. 
 At the narrowest point, at that time, it was between 
 twenty-five and thirty feet across to the opposite bank, 
 which was not quite so precipitous as that upon which 
 he stood, being rough and somewhat broken. 
 
 Having cut him off from the ford, the Indians be- 
 lieved that they could take him without fail in the oul de 
 sac formed by the river. There was no other ford for 
 miles up and down. Running back into the woods tow- 
 ard the approaching Indians whose shouts he could hear 
 to get a start, Brady desperately jumped from the bank. 
 He cleared the river and struck the bank on the other 
 side a few feet below the edge and scrambled up it just 
 as the first pursuer appeared. 
 
 " Brady," said the man, " make damn good jump. 
 Indian no try." 
 
 The Indians, however, shot at Brady and wounded 
 him in the leg before the captain could escape. Without 
 waiting he resumed his flight, but his wounded leg so 
 hampered him that the Indians who had crossed the 
 ford were again hard upon his heels. In this extremity he 
 plunged into the water at Brady's Lake, where he had 
 been captured, stooped beneath the surface, and concealed 
 himself among the lilies, breathing through a hollow 
 reed. The Indians followed his bloody trail to the lake, 
 around which they searched for some time and seeing 
 no sign of his exit concluded that he had plunged in
 
 36 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 and was drowned. He afterward succeeded in getting 
 safely back to the fort. 
 
 V. An Expedition with Wetzel and Other 
 Adventures 
 
 The year 1782 was a remarkable one for savage Indian 
 outbreaks. It was known in local border history as 
 " The Bloody year," or " The Bloody '82." Rumors of 
 a grand alliance between the western tribes to descend 
 upon the settlements and finally wipe them out, reached 
 Washington, and the general requested Colonel Brod- 
 head-to send reliable persons to spy on the Indians and 
 if possible find out what they were about to do. The 
 choice, as usual, fell upon Brady. He asked but for one 
 companion, who was the famous Lewis Wetzel. 
 
 Brady and Wetzel were familiar with the Indian 
 tongue. They could speak Shawnese or Delaware like 
 the natives themselves. Contrary to the family habit 
 Brady was a swarthy man, with long black hair and 
 bright blue Irish eyes, taking after his mother in that. 
 
 The two men disguised themselves as Indians, de- 
 liberately repaired to the grand council at Sandusky, 
 representing themselves to be a deputation from a distant 
 sept of Shawnees, which was desirous of joining in the 
 projected conspiracy. They moved freely about among 
 the Indians at first entirely unsuspected. They partici- 
 pated in the council and obtained a complete knowledge 
 of the plans and purposes of the Indians. 
 
 One veteran chief, however, finally became suspicious. 
 Perhaps he detected the white man through the guttural 
 syllables, or the white faces under the war paint. The 
 two men whose every nerve had been pressed into ser-
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 37 
 
 vice and whom nothing escaped, caught the suspicious 
 glances of the old man. Consequently when he sprang 
 to his feet and seizing a tomahawk started toward them, 
 it was the work of a second for Brady to shoot him dead. 
 
 Concealment being no longer possible, Wetzel shot a 
 prominent chief, the men clubbed their rifles, beat down 
 opposition, sprang away from the council fires, dashed 
 through the lines, seized two of the best horses Ken- 
 tucky stock which had been captured in a raid and rode 
 for their lives. They were pursued, of course, by a great 
 body of Indians, and had many hairbreadth escapes. 
 
 Wetzel's horse finally gave out and thereafter the two 
 men, one riding the other running, pressed madly on. 
 Finally the second horse, fairly ridden to death, gave 
 way, but reaching a village of some friendly Delawares, 
 they got another horse and dashed on. Several times 
 they doubled on their trail and shot down the nearest 
 pursuers, checking them temporarily. 
 
 Finally they reached the Ohio. It was bank full, a 
 roaring torrent. It was early in March, and the weather 
 was bitterly cold. They forced their horse into the 
 water, Brady on its back, Wetzel, who was the better 
 swimmer, holding its tail and swimming as best he could. 
 They had a terrible struggle but reached the other bank 
 at last. The water froze on their bodies. Wetzel was 
 entirely exhausted and almost perished with the cold. 
 Brady killed the horse, disembowelled it and thrust his 
 companion's body into the animal, hoping that the ani- 
 mal heat remaining in it might keep Wetzel alive while 
 he built a fire, which he recklessly proceeded to do. 
 
 As soon as the fire was kindled he took Wetzel out 
 of the body of the horse and brought him to the fire 
 where he chafed his limbs until the circulation was re- 
 
 281279
 
 38 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 stored. The Indians gave over the pursuit at the Ohio, 
 and the two men escaped. 
 
 The plans of the Indians being discovered by this 
 daring exploit, the settlements prepared for them, the 
 conspiracy fell to pieces, and the projected incursion 
 came to naught. 
 
 Words fail to tell of the many incidents in which this 
 dashing young pioneer bore a prominent part. The 
 enterprise for which he was commended by Washington 
 was similar to the one just described. He went alone 
 to the Sandusky Towns in 1780 and made a map of the 
 region, located the towns, crept near enough to the 
 principal village to learn the plans of the Indians, capt- 
 ured two squaws, mounted them on captured horses and 
 made good his escape. 
 
 Near the Ohio one of the squaws escaped. With the 
 other, ranging through the forest, he came across an 
 Indian on horseback with a woman on the pommel of 
 the saddle and two children running alongside. Recog- 
 nizing the woman as the wife of a frontiersman named 
 Stupes, Brady, by a wonderful exhibition of marksman- 
 ship, shot the Indian dead without injuring the woman. 
 
 " Why," said Jenny Stupes, as she saw the painted 
 figure of the captain, for he was still in his disguise, 
 dashing toward her scalping-knife in hand, " did you 
 shoot your brother? " 
 
 " Don't you know me, Jenny? I am Sam Brady," 
 said the captain, grasping the terrified woman by the 
 hand. 
 
 Taking Jenny and her children and still retaining his 
 prisoner, he rapidly retreated toward the settlements. 
 The Indian he had shot had been separated from a small 
 band which happened to have retained Jenny Stupes'
 
 Brady, Chief of the Rangers 39 
 
 little dog. By the aid of the animal, which naturally ran 
 after its mistress, the fugitives were trailed. At the time 
 he shot the Indian Brady had but three loads for his rifle. 
 He could not afford to expend one of them on the dog 
 yet it had to be killed or it would betray its mistress. 
 They sat down and waited until the dog came running 
 up to them, when he was speedily despatched with a 
 tomahawk, and Brady succeeded in bringing the party 
 safely to Fort Pitt. 
 
 He was several times captured. On one occasion he 
 rolled to a fire in the night, burnt his bonds, brained one 
 of the Indians with a stake and got away. 
 
 At another time, after a long scouting expedition, he 
 suddenly came upon two Indians near a huge tree. One 
 was standing on the shoulders of the other cutting bark 
 for a canoe. Brady had but one load for his rifle. 
 Quickly deciding what to do he shot the lower Indian 
 through the heart, whereupon the other one came tum- 
 bling heavily to the ground. He was partially stunned. 
 Brady ran toward him knife in hand but the Indian stag- 
 gered to his feet and fled, by which the captain came 
 in possession of two guns and a supply of ammunition 
 and was enabled to proceed on his expedition. 
 
 Whenever there was danger or loss his services were 
 at command. Not only did he serve his country in sev- 
 eral of the battles in which he commanded his company 
 both in the east against the British, and in several expe- 
 ditions against the Indians in the west, but he did more 
 to guard the helpless settlers, rescue captured women 
 and children, and to discover and thwart the Indian plans 
 than any man in Pennsylvania. The women and chil- 
 dren loved him and the men swore by him, for he was 
 the protector of the frontier.
 
 40 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 From these gruesome tales it must not be imagined 
 that he was only a blood-thirsty and reckless borderer. 
 On the contrary, like most of his family, he was a devout 
 Presbyterian, and a marvellous student of the Bible. 
 His grandnephews and nieces tell how he used to arrive 
 at the cabin in which they lived, after some expedition, 
 and when the evening meal was over and the lesson of 
 Scripture with which these simple people prepared for 
 rest, was read, Captain Sam Brady would suggest that 
 they read it " varse about; " and they relate that when 
 his turn came he generally recited his verse without the 
 aid of the book, such was his mastery of the Bible ! To 
 his family and friends he was as kind and gentle as a 
 woman. A family tradition says that he was the model 
 for Cooper's famous Leatherstocking. 
 
 His brother, General Hugh, says that James Brady, 
 who was killed by the Indians, was six feet one inch in 
 height and that there was scarcely an inch difference in 
 height among all the brethren. Sam was a man of great 
 personal strength and activity. His favorite resting-place 
 when at home was on the floor by the open fireplace. 
 There he would lie and tell stories to the children who 
 adored him. There he slept rolled in his blanket. 
 
 He was a singular mixture of the Puritan and Cavalier. 
 He could pray like an old Covenanter and fight with all 
 the dash and spirit of Prince Rupert. Pennsylvania 
 owes him a debt of gratitude which should never be for- 
 gotten.
 
 PART II 
 VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE, THE CAROLINAS 
 
 I 
 On the Eve of the Revolution
 
 ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 I. Andrew Lewis and his Borderers 
 
 AROUND the pedestal of Crawford's Equestrian 
 Statue of Washington in Richmond, among those 
 of Jefferson, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, and 
 other worthies, is carved the figure of a huge man dressed 
 in a fringed hunting-shirt and carrying a rifle. It is the 
 effigy of General Andrew Lewis, one of the greatest of 
 the borderers. 
 
 Lewis was born in Ireland in 1720. His father was a 
 Huguenot, who came to America after a quarrel when 
 Andrew was a child. The family settled on the western 
 border of Virginia near what is now Staunton, and 
 speedily became prominent. Andrew was the oldest of 
 four brothers, all of whom did good service in the colo- 
 nies and in the Revolution. Three of them were sol- 
 diers, one of whom died in battle, and the last, prevented 
 from active campaigning by physical disabilities, shone 
 as statesman, was an associate of Patrick Henry, after- 
 ward a member of the Virginia Constitutional Conven- 
 tion, and in every way possible did what he could for 
 the cause of liberty. 
 
 Andrew was the most conspicuous member of the 
 family. He was one of the little band under Washington 
 that fought off Coulon de Villiers at Fort Necessity in 
 the Great Meadows, at the breaking out of the French 
 
 43
 
 44 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 and Indian War. Lieutenant Lewis was wounded on 
 this occasion. As captain he formed part of Braddock's 
 army in 1756, where, although he was not in the ac- 
 tual battle on the Monongahela, he did good service 
 under Washington in endeavoring to protect the rav- 
 aged border after the overwhelming defeat of the 
 British.* 
 
 In 1759 he was major of Washington's regiment under 
 General John Forbes. He participated in Grant's foray 
 against Fort Duquesne, where he was involved in the 
 defeat of that rash officer's foolish enterprise. He was 
 there captured after a desperate hand to hand fight in 
 which he was wounded again. When Grant, seeking a 
 scapegoat, strove to cast upon Lewis the odium of his 
 defeat, the Virginian in a towering rage at the false ac- 
 cusation, spat in his face and knocked him down. Grant 
 did not press the charge thereafter. 
 
 Promoted a colonel in 1759 he led an expedition 
 against the Shawnees which, through no fault of his, was 
 without decisive results, and which is known as the 
 " Sandy Creek Voyage," or campaign. He was a com- 
 missioner from Virginia at the celebrated treaty at Fort 
 Stanwix in 1768. Lewis was six feet two in height, and 
 of Herculean proportions and strength otherwise, al- 
 though he carried himself with great activity. " His 
 countenance was stern and forbidding his deportment 
 distant and reserved; this rendered his person more 
 awful than engaging." So writes a contemporary, who 
 further relates that the Governor of New York, one of 
 his fellow commissioners at Fort Stanwix, wrote of him, 
 " that the earth seemed to tremble at his tread." 
 
 * See my book Colonial Fights and Fighters : The Struggle for the Valley 
 of the Ohio.
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 45 
 
 In 1774 there was a little war with the Indians at 
 first known as Cresap's War, but latterly as Lord Dun- 
 more's War, the importance of which was so over- 
 shadowed by the Revolution that followed hard upon it 
 that, but for one incident, it would be quite forgotten 
 to-day. Yet the student now sees it was quite essential 
 to the prosecution of the greater war, to the first success 
 of which it contributed in no small degree. 
 
 The treaty consequent upon Bouquet's expedition in 
 1764, was not rigidly observed by the Indians. There 
 was constant trouble on the border, although nothing 
 like what had before obtained. The Indians continued 
 restless and active; there was a continual clashing of 
 arms everywhere and, in this instance decidedly, the sav- 
 ages were mainly the aggressors. That is not saying 
 that the settlers were blameless. Far from it, but the 
 balance of wrong-doing was against the Indians. 
 
 To these unsettled conditions the unseemly strife be- 
 tween Virginia and Pennsylvania for the possession of 
 the lands west of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies largely 
 contributed. In 1774 matters had reached such a state 
 that it was felt that an open war must soon break out. 
 Active hostilities were begun, tinder great provocation, 
 in the spring by a certain Captain Cresap, who led a 
 party of frontiersmen to the wilderness surveying, etc. 
 Some Indians were fired upon by Cresap's party and 
 killed, and the action, though small, was known as the 
 " Captina Affair." 
 
 Some forty miles west of Pittsburg on the Ohio, there 
 lived among the Mingos, or Shawnees, a Cayugan that 
 is, an Iroquois warrior, named Tah-gah-jute, who is 
 more commonly known to posterity by the name given 
 him by the settlers, Logan. Among the warring
 
 46 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 tribes, Logan had exercised a strict neutrality. Rather 
 more. He had befriended the white men on many occa- 
 sions. 
 
 The most serious happening, which finally put an end 
 to possibilities of even the quasi-peace which might have 
 been maintained, was the unprovoked murder of Logan's 
 entire family, including women and children, by a ruf- 
 fianly trader named Greathouse, on April 3Oth, 1774. 
 These Indians were first made drunk and then ruthlessly 
 butchered without opportunity of defence, and for no 
 occasion whatsoever. 
 
 The cruel murder turned the peaceable Logan into a 
 fiend. With a few companions he declared war on his 
 own account at once. Thinking that Cresap had ordered 
 the massacre, although he was entirely innocent of it, 
 and was, as frontiersmen go, too honorable a man to 
 have done it, Logan sent him a defiance and began to 
 raid the border. As usual, the vengeance fell on the in- 
 nocent. No less than thirty people were killed by him 
 before the authorities were awakened. 
 
 Lord Dunmore. the Royal Governor of Virginia, acted 
 with commendable promptness. He embodied the mili- 
 tia of the counties west of the Blue Ridge and called for 
 volunteers. The left wing was ordered to rendezvous at 
 the Great Levels of the Greenbriar, now Lewisburg, and 
 was placed under the command of General Andrew 
 Lewis. The other division, under the command of 
 Dunmore himself, assembled at Frederick. Lewis was 
 ordered to lead his men over the mountains until he 
 struck the Kanawha, down which he was to march until 
 he came to the place where it flowed into the Ohio. 
 There Dunmore, who was to march through Potomac 
 Gap to the Ohio, was to meet him, and the two divisions
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 47 
 
 conjoined were to march up the Scioto to the Shawanee 
 Indian towns, which they were to destroy. 
 
 The movement was vastly agreeable to the old back- 
 woodsman, and the sturdy pioneers of western Virginia 
 were embodied under their local officers and repaired to 
 his standard at Camp Union with joyous alacrity. Colo- 
 nel Charles Lewis, the brother of the general, led some 
 four hundred men from Augusta; Colonel William Flem- 
 ming an equal number from Botetourt. From over the 
 mountains came the settlers from the Holston and the 
 Watagua in Fincastle County, led by Colonel William 
 Christian. There was also an independent company led 
 by Colonel John Field. 
 
 Among the subordinate officers were men destined 
 afterward to achieve a wide reputation. Captain Evan 
 Shelby commanded a company in which his son Isaac 
 was first lieutenant. Isaac was afterward one of that 
 dauntless band which wiped out Ferguson, and when he 
 was a very old man and the Governor of Kentucky, he 
 led his volunteers to the assistance of William Henry 
 Harrison, and participated in the defeat of Tecumseh at 
 the Battle of the Thames "Old King's Mountain" 
 they called him. Another captain was Benjamin Harri- 
 son, one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence from Virginia, and the ancestor of two of our Pres- 
 idents. Valentine Sevier, brother of the great pioneer 
 of Tennessee, was with the force. A humble sergeant in 
 the ranks was one James Robertson, whose name is held 
 in the highest esteem in western Tennessee. 
 
 Others who participated in the war, although not with 
 Lewis' command, were George Rogers Clark, Simon 
 Kenton, Daniel Morgan, and the afterward infamous 
 renegade Simon Girty. In one way or another nearly
 
 48 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 everyone of prominence afterward in the then far west, 
 served in the war. Daniel Boone commanded three 
 small frontier forts. John Sevier was a captain, and 
 among the officers and soldiers were many men like 
 General George Matthews, the hero of Germantown, 
 General Andrew Moore, the first and only man ever 
 elected to the United States Senate by Virginia from the 
 west of the Blue Ridge, and many others of importance, 
 although most of them are now more or less forgotten. 
 In quality Lewis' force was remarkably high. They 
 were in the main an undisciplined lot, who submitted 
 grudgingly to his rule and would probably have utterly 
 refused to obey anybody else. They knew nothing of 
 the tactics of soldiers, but they were an unsurpassed body 
 of border fighters. 
 
 II. The Battle of Point Pleasant 
 
 The assemblage began about the first of September 
 and was nearly completed on the seventh. 
 
 On the eighth, the first division started accompanied 
 by four hundred pack-horses loaded with flour and driv- 
 ing one hundred and eight beef cattle. Field and his 
 company followed them and soon joined them. A few 
 days afterward the second division marched out with two 
 hundred pack-horses and the balance of the cattle. The 
 march led straight across the mountains. There was no 
 road; not even a trail. The men had to cut their way 
 through the timber. Such a thing as wagon transporta- 
 tion was absurd and unheard of. They made good time, 
 however, all things considered, and their progress was 
 greatly facilitated when they reached the Kanawha at the 
 mouth of the Elk, and marched down its banks.
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 4 9 
 
 They arrived at the mouth of the river on the 6th of 
 October, having traversed one hundred and sixty-five 
 miles of primeval forest and rugged mountain range. 
 Colonel Christian, with some two hundred men, had been 
 left behind at the camp to bring up the rear-guard and 
 the balance of the supplies. The pack-horses were un- 
 loaded when they reached the Kanawha and the supplies 
 were floated down the river in canoes or on rafts. The 
 horses were then sent back to the Greenbriar to bring 
 up the remainder of supplies under the direction of Colo- 
 nel Christian, who was very unwilling to delay his ad- 
 vance to take the part assigned. 
 
 Arrived at the mouth of the Kanawha, according to 
 one account they found a note in a hollow tree which 
 had been put there by Kenton and Girty; according to 
 another, they were met by these men with letters from 
 Dunmore ordering Lewis to march up the Ohio to join 
 Dunmore's force. Lewis' men were greatly exhausted 
 by their terrible march. They were not yet all assem- 
 bled, and it would not be safe to leave Colonel Christian 
 and his three hundred men alone in the wilderness, so 
 he determined to delay his departure until the rear-guard 
 had joined him. 
 
 The ninth was Sunday. The assemblage was by no 
 means the godless, reckless crowd which we naturally 
 imagine it might have been, for it is related that they 
 had services conducted by a chaplain in which the hardy 
 Scotch-Irish Presbyterians lustily took part, Lewis set- 
 ting the example, although personally he was an Episco- 
 palian. On the morning of the tenth two young men 
 started out before daybreak on a hunting expedition. 
 Some four or five miles from the camp they ran into a 
 large body of Indians. One was shot dead before he
 
 50 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 could get away and the other killed an Indian, made his 
 escape, and ran post-haste to the camp bearing the alarm. 
 
 The chief of the Shawnees, who were to the middle 
 west what the Iroquois were to the north and the Creeks 
 to the south, was a veteran warrior named Cornstalk. In 
 every war on the border he had borne a prominent part. 
 Ruthless and ferocious, as all the Indians were, he was 
 not without redeeming qualities. He was a man of the 
 greatest courage and capacity. Indeed he showed a 
 grasp of military science and tactics unusual in one of 
 his race. The Indians were perfectly aware of the ad- 
 vance of the Virginians. They knew they were coming 
 in two widely separated armies, and Cornstalk determined 
 to fall upon the weaker body and crush it before it had 
 time to effect a junction with the other, with which he 
 could then deal. It was sound strategy. 
 
 Massing his warriors, whose number about equalled 
 the Americans say eleven hundred on each side he led 
 them down the river designing to fall upon Lewis' camp 
 in the night and annihilate his force. The fortunate dis- 
 covery by the two hunters in a measure frustrated his 
 plans. Realizing that the escaping fugitive would give 
 the alarm, Cornstalk at once put his band in motion. 
 They were ferried across the Ohio in rafts and came tear- 
 ing through the woods close on the heels of the fugitive, 
 thinking, as they phrased it, to drive the borderers " like 
 bullocks into the river." 
 
 As soon as the alarming message had been delivered 
 Lewis ordered the long roll to be beaten. Some of the 
 men were not yet awake when the first rattle of the drum 
 echoed through the forest. They sprang to their arms 
 instantly, however, and fell into such line as their undis- 
 ciplined condition permitted.
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 51 
 
 The camp had been made at the confluence of, and 
 between, the two rivers. On the left lay the Ohio, on 
 the right the Kanawha. There was little chance, there- 
 fore, of either flank being turned. It was a good place 
 for defence, although if the American line were thor- 
 oughly broken the troops would be annihilated, for there 
 would be no way of escape, being penned in between the 
 Indians and the river. 
 
 No one at the time believed that the Indians were more 
 than a scouting party; they never dreamed that the 
 whole hostile force was upon them. Colonel Charles 
 Lewis with one hundred and fifty men was ordered to 
 march up the right flank along the Kanawha, Colonel 
 Flemming with a like force was ordered up the left flank. 
 Colonel Field was ordered to hold himself in readiness 
 to advance in the centre with another party. The rest 
 of the men were put in a state of preparation and kept 
 in hand by Lewis himself until he could determine what 
 was to happen. 
 
 The time was not long in coming. First one musket- 
 shot, then another and another, then a roaring fusillade, 
 apprized the listeners that here was no skirmishing party 
 but an attack in heavy force, and not three quarters of 
 a mile from the main camp. It was evident that the 
 Indians were in sufficient numbers to cover the whole 
 line between the rivers. 
 
 Back with the main body Lewis was calmly waiting. 
 He had just taken out his pipe when the first rifle-shot 
 rang out. Coolly waiting until he had completed the 
 lighting of his pipe, the sturdy backwoodsman quickly 
 sent Field's column forward to connect the two columns 
 led by Charles Lewis and Flemming. The men dashed 
 eagerly and gallantly through the woods until they 
 reached the battle line.
 
 52 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 The Americans had taken to the trees as the Indians 
 had done and the battle was raging fiercely. Colonel 
 Charles Lewis, a veteran of the French and Indian War, 
 with a brilliant record for courage and skill, disdained 
 the use of cover and walked about through his command 
 encouraging his men. He was shot and mortally wound- 
 ed. On the other flank Colonel Flemming, another 
 veteran, while holding his men bravely up to the battle, 
 was shot through the lung so severely that his life was 
 despaired of. 
 
 The Indians were massed in force in front of these two 
 bodies. There were probably three Indians to one white 
 man at the point of contact and their firing was terrible. 
 The trees offered little or no protection. Disheartened 
 by the loss of the two commanding officers the Virgin- 
 ians began to give ground. One moment more would 
 have turned their withdrawal into a disastrous retreat, 
 which would have ruined the whole command, when 
 Colonel Field arrived on the ground with his column and 
 restored the line. 
 
 Captain Evan Shelby, who had succeeded to the com- 
 mand of the right flank after the wounding of Charles 
 Lewis, managed to rally his men and the line held. 
 Seeing now that the battle was general, leaving a small 
 force to protect the camp and watch the river flanks, 
 General Lewis led his force forward into the battle, the 
 men extending in a long line which reached from river 
 to river for a distance of a mile and a quarter. He got 
 to the front just in time; Colonel Field had been killed 
 and the line was wavering again. 
 
 The Indians exhibited a most desperate and gallant 
 offence. They made charge after charge upon the Vir- 
 ginians, hurling themselves on the lines again and again;
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 53 
 
 and many a grim, hand-to-hand conflict was fought out 
 in the depths of woods between white arid red man. 
 The forest was full of smoke and fire, and rang with shots, 
 yells, and cheers. Tomahawks and knives were freely 
 used. Lewis was everywhere in the thick of the fray, 
 cool and calm, encouraging his men and doing every- 
 thing that a brave commander could do to ensure a vic- 
 tory, but what the end was to be was not easy to foresee. 
 
 The Indians were brilliantly led by old Cornstalk, who 
 showed himself a hero. His voice could be heard above 
 the din of the battle exhorting his braves to stand like 
 men, to fight it out, to be strong. The suddenness of 
 his attack and the tactics employed, which consisted in 
 alternate advance and retreat, made the battle the most 
 fiercely contested of any the Indians had ever taken part 
 in on the continent. During the heat of the action Corn- 
 stalk was seen to cut down a cowardly savage with his 
 tomahawk. 
 
 All day long the battle raged, but toward the late 
 afternoon the superior steadiness of the Americans began 
 to tell. Cautiously covering themselves, they advanced 
 from tree to tree, slowly forcing the stubborn Indians to 
 retreat. There was no rout, however, on the part of the 
 savages, and Cornstalk managed his retreat in a way that 
 would have done credit to a veteran European captain. 
 His tactics were masterly. He would hurl a body of his 
 Indians on the American advance, throw them into con- 
 fusion for a moment, and before they could rally he 
 would withdraw his attacking party, and when the Amer- 
 icans came on again they would be confronted by a new 
 line. The loss among the Americans was fearful. 
 
 Finally toward evening the Indians reached a heavily 
 wooded rise of ground from which they could not be
 
 54 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 driven. The battle so far was a drawn one, the advan- 
 tage if anything, being with the Americans, except in 
 the matter of loss. 
 
 Lewis, finding that Cornstalk had at last definitely 
 stopped the advance of his army, detached three com- 
 panies with Isaac Shelby in the lead, to march up the 
 Kanawha until they came to Crooked Creek, up which 
 they were to proceed until they got in rear of the Ind- 
 ian line, which they were immediately to assault. The 
 movement was a brilliant one, and as soon as the crack 
 of muskets and rifles apprized the general that Shelby's 
 detachment had engaged, he ordered a final advance on 
 the Indian line, which, however, did not wait the Ameri- 
 can attack. 
 
 Mistaking Shelby's party for the re-enforcements un- 
 der Colonel Christian, which they knew were due, the 
 Indians withdrew in good order, carrying most of their 
 dead with them, and the battle ended leaving the Ameri- 
 cans in possession of the field. They had paid a heavy 
 price for their victory. Seventy-five officers and men 
 had been killed and one hundred and forty wounded, 
 over half of them very seriously. The loss among the 
 officers was unusually severe. The Indian loss has never 
 been ascertained, but it was very heavy, although not so 
 great as that of the Americans, which was over twenty 
 per cent. Logan was not present at this battle. 
 
 Colonel Christian, to whom expresses had been sent, 
 arrived on the field that night. Waiting several days to 
 bury the dead, attend to the wounded, and erect a fort 
 for their protection, Lewis left three hundred men on the 
 battle field at Point Pleasant so the place was called 
 crossed the Ohio and marched up the Pickaway plains 
 to join Dunmore. His men were filled with wrath
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 55 
 
 against that commander. They thought he had betrayed 
 them to the Indians, that he had placed them in a posi- 
 tion subject to attack, and then had left them without 
 succor; that he never intended to meet them. 
 
 It was charged afterward that Dunmore would not 
 have been disappointed if the Virginians had been wiped 
 out on this occasion. The disaffection which culminated 
 in the Revolution six months later, was already widely 
 prevalent in Virginia, and the men thought that Dun-r 
 more, as Royal Governor, would have been glad to have 
 weakened the forces of the colonies by the annihilation 
 of this large detachment. 
 
 There is not much to admire in the character of Dun- 
 more. When the Revolution came, it is plain that he en- 
 deavored to incite not only a servile insurrection among 
 the slaves but also to throw the savages upon the border ; 
 but there is absolutely no foundation for the assertion 
 that he played false in this instance, and we must acquit 
 him 'of the charges made which have remained current 
 for many years. 
 
 Indeed he seems to have acted with considerable ca- 
 pacity as well as courage, for he adroitly took advantage 
 of the victory to make a treaty with the Indians, to which 
 they assented in spite of the strenuous efforts of Corn- 
 stalk and others to constrain them to continue the war. 
 And the peace was of lasting benefit to the rebellious 
 colonies, for the remembrance of their defeat kept the 
 Indians quiet during the early years of the Revolution; 
 just at the time, in fact, when their antagonism would 
 have been most serious in the colonies. 
 
 None of these things were then realized, and when 
 Dunmore and Lewis met, such was the state of affairs 
 that a guard of fifty men was required to prevent the
 
 56 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 undisciplined pioneers from taking summary vengeance 
 for the supposed treachery of Dunmore by putting him 
 to death. Lewis himself cherished great animosity to 
 Dunmore. 
 
 III. The Fate of the Participants in the Campaign 
 
 When the chiefs met at Camp Charlotte to sign the 
 treaty, Logan was not with them. He had refused to 
 be present, professing that he would be unable to con- 
 trol himself in the presence of the race which had so 
 bitterly wronged him. Knowing that no peace could be 
 permanent or valid without Logan's assent to it, an en- 
 voy, a veteran frontiersman, was sent to him to secure 
 his ratification. 
 
 To him Logan made a speech, very famous indeed, 
 and much quoted in history and in reading books, and 
 which used to be a great favorite with the youthful de- 
 claimers of the public schools, though now fallen into 
 disuse and neglect. It is this speech which, in a meas- 
 ure, has kept alive the remembrance of the war and of 
 Logan himself. It is undoubtedly the finest specimen of 
 savage eloquence extant, and compares with any effort 
 of the kind, civilized or otherwise. 
 
 Although its authenticity has been questioned, it may 
 be fairly considered as a faithful report of the old chief- 
 tain's impassioned words. Most investigators now ac- 
 cept it as genuine. The messenger took it down in 
 writing and translated it literally at the first opportunity, 
 and it was immediately given to the world. Several 
 versions of it exist. Although it does an injustice, un- 
 wittingly, to the brave Cresap, a soldier in the Revolu- 
 tion until he died he is buried in Trinity churchyard,
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 57 
 
 New York, by the way it is here subjoined in its ap- 
 proved form: 
 
 " I appeal to any white man if he ever entered Logan's 
 cabin hungry and he gave him no meat; if ever he came 
 cold and naked and he clothed him not? During the 
 course of the long and bloody war, Logan remained idle 
 in his camp, an advocate for peace. Such was my love 
 for the whites that my countrymen pointed as I passed 
 and said, ' Logan is the friend of the white man.' I had 
 even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries 
 of one man. 
 
 " Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and 
 unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not 
 even sparing my women and children. There runs not 
 a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. 
 This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I 
 have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. 
 
 " For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace; 
 but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. 
 Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to 
 save his life. 
 
 " Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one." 
 
 Roosevelt aptly calls it " no message of peace, nor an 
 acknowledgment of defeat, but instead, a strangely 
 pathetic recital of his wrongs, and a fierce and exultant 
 justification of the vengeance he had taken." 
 
 Logan afterward fell into bad habits; he drank to 
 excess, and constantly. He participated in the attacks 
 on the Kentucky settlements during the Revolution, 
 particularly in the massacres at Martin's and Ruddle's 
 Stations. He was killed by another Indian in a drunken 
 brawl a melancholy end indeed. 
 
 Lewis' conduct in the battle has been called in ques- 
 tion by no less an historian than Bancroft, but unjustly, 
 and most modern investigators give him full credit for
 
 58 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 undaunted courage and devotion. That Washington 
 continued to be his warm personal friend and that he 
 recommended him for a major-generalcy at the outbreak 
 of the Revolution, and privately implored him to con- 
 tinue in the service when his merits were passed over 
 and he was given only a brigadier's commission, is evi- 
 dence enough of his efficiency and the esteem in which 
 his contemporaries held him. 
 
 Singularly enough to Lewis in the Revolution was 
 committed the task of finally expelling Dunmore from 
 the state of Virginia. He accomplished this in his usual 
 thoroughgoing manner. He did not make much of a 
 mark in the war subsequently, however. The fact that 
 he had been passed over unjustly rankled in his mind 
 and at last he resigned his command as John Stark and 
 many others had done. His health, too, gave way; he 
 had been subjected to much exposure in his many hard 
 campaigns, and he died in 1780. 
 
 The fate of Cornstalk is a melancholy example fre- 
 quently met with in our records, of our dealings with 
 the Indian. In 1777, the old chief came to the com- 
 mander of Point Pleasant, Captain Matthew Arbuckle, 
 to warn him that the Shawnees were contemplating 
 going on the warpath; that he was endeavoring to re- 
 strain them, but he feared his success would be slight. 
 He also said that if they declared war he should be forced 
 to join them as they were his people. With a fatuity 
 which can hardly be understood, for he was removing 
 the sole check upon the Shawnees, the American captain 
 thereupon immediately made Cornstalk a prisoner, in 
 defiance of every law or custom of civilized nations. 
 
 The old chief seems to have had a premonition that 
 his race was run and for himself he did not greatly care.
 
 On the Eve of the Revolution 59 
 
 He had warred enough to satisfy even the heart of a 
 savage and was ready for his end. After he had been 
 a captive for some time his son Ellinipsico came to visit 
 him accompanied by two or three other Indians. The 
 day after their arrival two soldiers ranging the woods 
 were fired upon by a party of Indians and one was killed. 
 Charging that the Indians who had committed this of- 
 fence had been brought there by Ellinipsico, the enraged 
 soldiers proceeded to mob the fort shouting in their 
 fury, " Death to the Indians ! " 
 
 Old Cornstalk heard the cries and realized what they 
 meant. Although Ellinipsico was in no way privy to 
 the attack by which the soldier had been killed, and the 
 murder it was learned afterward was not committed by 
 any of his tribe, there was no use in remonstrating. The 
 officers were powerless to restrain the men indeed they 
 manifested little desire to interfere. The soldiers burst 
 into the hut where the Indians had been confined. 
 Cornstalk received them standing with wide open arms. 
 He was pierced by seven bullets and instantly killed. 
 Ellinipsico was also shot, as was Red Hawk, another 
 famous chief who had been at Point Pleasant battle, and 
 there was still a fourth Indian left, who was brutally 
 tortured. 
 
 Cornstalk had been a dreadful scourge on the border. 
 He had ravaged and burned and murdered in his time, 
 as few other Indians had ever done. In the French and 
 Indian War, in Pontiac's War, and in Dunmore's War, 
 he had taken the prominent part. All that, however, 
 does not make it right to have detained him as a pris- 
 oner when he came on a peaceable, helpful errand, nor to 
 have allowed him to be shot for an action with which 
 he had no possible connection,
 
 PART II 
 VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE. THE CAROLINAS 
 
 II 
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee
 
 THE PIONEERS OF EAST TENNESSEE 
 
 I. John Sevier and the Watauga Men 
 
 UPON a pleasant spring morning in the year 1772, 
 three horsemen dressed in hunting shirts, the 
 most convenient garb ever devised for wood 
 ranging, rode up to the cabin of James Robertson, the 
 principal man of the little settlement of North Carolina 
 pioneers in the valley of the Watauga, in what is now 
 eastern Tennessee. All three of them were destined to 
 play important parts in the building of the nation, and 
 one of them especially was to tower far above his con- 
 temporaries in character and achievement. 
 
 That man was John Sevier, the organizer of the first 
 free and independent democratic government upon the 
 continent, the leader of a great commonwealth; an 
 Indian fighter whom few have ever equalled; a soldier 
 who could meet the finest troops on the continent in the 
 field, and with inferior numbers win success from adverse 
 circumstances; an administrator who could conduct the 
 affairs of his fellow-men under circumstances of the 
 greatest difficulty; a statesman who takes rank not far 
 behind those colossal men who watched the travail pains 
 and facilitated the delivery of the new nation to be. Yet 
 in the long roll of books telling of our national heroes 
 I find singularly few which adequately treat of the char- 
 acter and career of this remarkable man. And the one 
 
 63
 
 64 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 series which professes to discuss his achievements with 
 authority is interesting but highly traditional and little 
 to be depended upon. 
 
 Save perhaps in the great state of Tennessee he is 
 more or less unknown or forgotten. Even his decisive 
 connection with one of the most notable battles of our 
 Revolution is obscured by the reflection cast by men of 
 less fame. To the trio of great Tennesseans, Crockett, 
 Houston, and Jackson, with whose career the world is 
 familiar, must be added the name of Sevier. He may 
 dispute pre-eminence fairly enough with all but a man of 
 such colossal characteristics as Andrew Jackson. 
 
 Crockett and Jackson came from the same people. 
 Their origin was humble, their opportunities limited, and 
 the success they achieved the more creditable. Hous- 
 ton was a man of fairly good family of the middle class, 
 Sevier, in the original sense of the term, when the word 
 specified degree instead of character, was a gentleman; 
 yes, a gentleman in modern sense, as well. His family, 
 it is claimed, was an ancient one in France and his name 
 was derived from the town of Xavier in Navarre at the 
 foot of the French Pyrenees, where his family had an 
 considerable estate and an old chateau. Possibly, as is 
 sometimes urged, the name may have been originally de 
 Xavier. 
 
 Sevier came naturally by his love for the mountains, 
 for his people had for centuries dwelt on the slopes of 
 that forbidding range. It is alleged that there was a 
 relationship between his family and that of the great 
 Jesuit St. Francis Xavier, than whom no more heroic 
 soul ever lived; but be that as it may, unlike their Spanish 
 namesake the French Xaviers were Huguenots, who fled 
 the country when Louis XIV perpetrated that atrocious
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 65 
 
 blunder nay, that ineffable crime known as the Revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 Abandoning their home the family went first to Lon- 
 don and then migrated to America, seeking freedom in 
 the land across the sea. The Old Dominion opened 
 hospitable arms to people of their gentle blood, and as 
 they had saved something from the wreck of their 
 fortunes they presently became people of prominence 
 among the planters of Virginia. There in 1745 young 
 John Sevier, for so the family name became anglicized, 
 was born. He was given the best education which it 
 was possible to receive in Virginia, and of which, with 
 his usual ambition, he made the most of in his life. 
 
 He was twenty-seven years of age, therefore, when he 
 rode up to Robertson's house on the Watauga. He had 
 been married some years at that time and was the father 
 of two promising sons. While a mere boy he had made 
 a name for himself as a hunter, trader, and pioneer, and 
 now held a commission as captain in the Virginia line, 
 the same corps in which Washington was afterward a 
 colonel. He had come across the Alleghenies to the 
 settlement on the Watauga to build himself a new home 
 in this recently opened country. 
 
 I cannot doubt but that God led him across the hills, 
 for charmed by what he saw, he determined to cast his 
 lot with the people there, of whom he speedily became 
 the idol and leader. His two companions, the elder a 
 grizzly veteran, who also held the rank of captain in the 
 Virginia line, were Evan and Isaac Shelby, father and 
 son, two sterling patriots of Welsh descent. Evan 
 Shelby rose to the rank of general in the Revolution 
 and although he had a distinguished career, may be dis- 
 missed from our consideration. Isaac Shelby, the son, 
 5
 
 66 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 however, reappears again in this narrative, and was asso- 
 ciated with Sevier in many heroic undertakings. 
 
 When Daniel .Boone, redoubtable hunter, explorer, 
 adventurer, man of heroic mould, first toiled over the 
 tree-crested summits of the Alleghenies and surveyed the 
 vast expanse of mountain and valley and river stretch- 
 ing inimitably before him toward the setting sun, country 
 which no white man had ever trod, a doubtful legend 
 says that he gave vent to his feelings in an outburst of 
 enthusiasm to his comrades, in these words : " I am 
 richer than the man in Scripture, who owned cattle on a 
 thousand hills. I own the wild beasts in a thousand 
 valleys ! " Whether he said it or no, he probably 
 thought it. 
 
 It is characteristic of the genius of the white race, 
 that to see a place, to set foot upon it, was sufficient to 
 establish a claim to any domain, any aboriginal inhabi- 
 tants to the contrary, notwithstanding. The great waste 
 of territory between the Ohio and the Tennessee, which 
 the English claimed had been ceded to the king in the 
 famous treaty of Fort Stanwix by the Iroquois, who 
 had no more right nor title to it than Germany has to 
 France, for instance, was the hunting ground, the place 
 of resort, of great tribes of the most enlightened and 
 warlike savages south of the Six Nations, upon the 
 continent. 
 
 De Soto had visited it in 1540, and an Irish trader, 
 named Dougherty, had settled within its confines within 
 the latter part of the seventeenth century, but no one 
 had ever presumed to attempt to colonize, or hold it, 
 not even the Cherokees, whose country lay adjacent to 
 the beautiful valley of the Watauga.
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 67 
 
 II. "The Rear Guard of the Revolution" 
 
 The first actual settlement was made in 1769-70 by 
 Robertson and a party of North Carolinians, who climbed 
 the mountains and built their huts in the fertile valley 
 on the other side. There in a well-watered plateau, some 
 two thousand feet above the level of the sea, in a coun- 
 try which was remarkable for the fertility of its soil and 
 the salubrity of its climate, they purchased land from the 
 Cherokees, erected cabins, and endeavored to make the 
 place a home. Thither Sevier resorted. Possessed of 
 ample means, indeed, being a man of wealth for the 
 time and place, his house became the resort of the hardy 
 settlers, whom he received with true Virginia hospitality. 
 
 A man of urbane and charming disposition, gay and 
 debonair, yet of inflexible resolution and matchless daring, 
 he became the idol of the settlers. Thenceforward for 
 forty-three years he led them in all their enterprises and 
 undertakings; he conducted thirty-four battles against 
 the Indians and met no defeat; he participated as the ani- 
 mating spirit in one great expedition against the British, 
 with overwhelming success. In 1772, he and his asso- 
 ciates in the trans-mountain settlements, organized the 
 first free and independent government on this continent, 
 administering the laws of their agreement and dealing 
 justice in the vast region across the Alleghenies. 
 
 During the Revolutionary War many times he broke 
 up the plans of the British for launching the savages 
 upon the borders and thus overwhelming the American 
 colonists; plans which, had they succeeded, might have 
 been as fatal to American hopes of independence as 
 would have been the success of Burgoyne's expedition.
 
 68 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 He and his men Gilmore felicitously calls them " The 
 Rear Guard of the Revolution " kept the Indians in 
 check, dauntlessly interposing their scanty numbers be- 
 tween the fierce warriors and the unprotected settlements 
 on the hither side of the Alleghenies, performing service 
 incalculable thereby. The borders were free, the patri- 
 ots could leave their families without fear of savage foray 
 because they were watched over by Sevier and his men. 
 It was given to him at one of the turning points of 
 the Revolution to inspire, and in large measure to strike 
 the blow which determined that the south land should 
 be free. 
 
 III. The State of Franklin and its Governor 
 
 After the Revolution, under Sevier's leadership, North 
 Carolina having cast them off, the mountaineers organ- 
 ized within the limits of the present commonwealth of 
 Tennessee, the state of Franklin,* named for the wise 
 old philosopher, and Sevier was its first governor. 
 
 He administered its financial affairs with a currency of 
 coon skins! When North Carolina withdrew the act of 
 cession, by which she had turned the territory over to 
 Congress and sought to assume her state rights again, 
 Sevier conducted himself in the trying crisis with discre- 
 tion and firmness, and had it not been for the machina- 
 tions of some bitter enemies this is the penalty of great- 
 ness, always to make enemies he might have succeeded 
 in preserving the integrity of the state he had founded. 
 
 It is interesting to note that North Carolina, which 
 was quick to follow the lead of her southern sisters in 
 
 * Commonly and erroneously called the state of Frankland, i. e. , land of 
 the Franks or Freemen !
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 69 
 
 seceding from the Union in 1861, pointed out at this 
 ancient date that if different communities were permit- 
 ted to withdraw from a mother state and organize states 
 of their own, at their own volition, the result would be 
 the disintegration of the Republic. North Carolina was 
 right in this instance, and Sevier was wrong in attempt- 
 ing to maintain his commonwealth. 
 
 He was treacherously betrayed, captured, and after- 
 ward tried at Morgantown, North Carolina, for high 
 treason. Fifteen hundred men of the trans-Allegheny 
 region, assembled to take him back, and a war between 
 the sections was imminent. Aided by some of his old 
 comrades in arms he made a romantic escape from the 
 custody of the officers; whereupon the people of the 
 Watauga district, having submitted to the inevitable, 
 promptly elected him to the North Carolina legislature, 
 in which, after some feeble protests, he took his seat. 
 
 When the state ratified the constitution and became 
 thereby a member of the Federal Union, one congress- 
 man was apportioned to the district across the Alle- 
 ghenies. Sevier was unanimously elected and was the 
 first man to sit in Congress from that great region be- 
 yond the mountains. 
 
 He was made general of the militia when Tennessee 
 was a territory, and when she became a state he was 
 chosen governor without opposition. For three succes- 
 sive terms he was elected, and then being ineligible con- 
 stitutionally, for a period of two years, he was thereafter 
 elected for three more successive terms, after which he 
 was sent back to Congress and thrice re-elected ! 
 
 He died in harness and in the field, in 1815, in a tent 
 on a surveying expedition for the government, sur- 
 rounded as he had lived, by his soldiers.
 
 yo Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 He lost his first wife in 1774 and was living at his 
 home on the Nolichucky, from which, by the way, he 
 was sometimes called in border parlance, " Nolichucky 
 Jack," or " Chucky Jack," in 1775, when the Revolu- 
 tionary War broke out. One of the first of the British 
 attempts was to assemble the savages on the Watauga 
 frontier, especially in the southern territory, sweep in- 
 land and ravage the settlements, while Sir Peter Parker 
 and his fleet attempted to capture Charleston, thus plac- 
 ing the colonists between two fires and making their 
 downfall apparently certain. 
 
 Moultrie and his little handful beat off Parker, and 
 Sevier and a still smaller handful broke up the plan in 
 the west by routing the Indians in a brilliant campaign 
 terminating in the siege at Fort Lee, a rude timber en- 
 closure which had been erected on the banks of the 
 Watauga. The fort was closely beleaguered by the sav- 
 ages for some forty days without a casualty among the 
 defenders, the Indians losing so severely in their attacks 
 that old Oconostota, their head war chief, the inveterate 
 enemy of the Americans so long as he lived, finally with- 
 drew his force in dismay and abandoned the campaign. 
 
 It was at this siege that there occurred a romantic 
 episode in the life of the young woman who became the 
 second wife of Sevier. In defiance of warnings some of 
 the people of the fort, irked by the confinement, had 
 gone beyond the limits of the walls. A party of savages 
 suddenly appeared and attempted their capture. The 
 people fled to gain the stockade, which was crowded 
 with women and children. 
 
 It would have risked everything to have left the gate 
 open, indeed there was no time for it. Sevier sent his 
 men to the walls to cover the escaping fugitives by a
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 71 
 
 smart rifle fire, and drive back the Indians till the set- 
 tlers could be taken in. One young girl, Katharine 
 Sherrill, in her terror actually leaped to the top of the 
 palisade and fell over the wall into the arms of the com- 
 mander. She leaped into his heart at the same time and 
 they were soon married. Bonny Kate is reported to 
 have said, 
 
 " I would take a leap like that every day to fall into 
 the arms of a man like my gallant husband." 
 
 The handsomest man in Tennessee, they called him, 
 and the bravest and best; tall, just under six feet, blue- 
 eyed, sunny-haired, graceful, he was a man to win any 
 woman's heart, and his qualities were equally attractive 
 to men. He was a glutton for work, a giant for endur- 
 ance, a very paladin of courage. 
 
 After twenty-eight days of marching and fighting in the 
 King's Mountain expedition, with scarcely any rest he set 
 out for another campaign in the wilds of the mountains 
 against the restless Cherokees. Another inveterate ene- 
 my of the white settlers was the chief of the Chicka- 
 maugas, named Dragging Canoe. When the British at- 
 tempted a second time to combine the savages and hurl 
 them upon the backs of the colonists, it was Sevier's 
 brilliant expedition in the heart of the Indian country 
 which broke the spirit of the Cherokees, " Sons of Fire," 
 and their allies. They smouldered thereafter and until 
 the state of Franklin was organized gave but little 
 trouble. 
 
 Such was the personal courage of Sevier that in this 
 expedition he slew Dragging Canoe with his own hand, 
 in a terrific hand-to-hand conflict. In thirty-four en- 
 counters with the Indians he was invariably successful. 
 
 It is difficult to describe any of these actions. They
 
 72 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 did not rise to the dignity of pitched battles, but gener- 
 ally consisted of a swift, noiseless approach, a surprise, 
 a wild desperate charge upon the Indians, driving them 
 into headlong rout, a destruction of their villages and 
 crops and then a quick withdrawal to the settlements. 
 Again and again were these tactics pursued. 
 
 Sevier had many qualities of Francis Marion, another 
 great American of French descent, who fought in the 
 Revolution. Instead of the slow, stealthy concealed ad- 
 vance, the hidden ambush, which the Indians made use 
 of, Sevier adopted other tactics and depended upon 
 audacity and speed. The Napoleonic idea of the value 
 of a small mobile concentrated body hurled swiftly upon 
 a slow-moving scattered if superior force, was exempli- 
 fied in his attempts before the Corsican was born. It 
 was exemplified nowhere so strikingly as in that most 
 remarkable battle of King's Mountain, which, for origi- 
 nality of conception, boldness of execution, success in 
 completion, stands among the most picturesque battles 
 of the world; and with the story of that battle in which 
 he won so many of his laurels, we will leave the old hero. 
 
 IV. The Assembling of the Mountaineers 
 
 One of the most distinguished officers of the king in 
 America during the Revolution was Major Patrick Fer- 
 guson of the Seventy-first Foot, the Royal Americans. 
 He was a brother of Adam Ferguson, the celebrated 
 Scottish philosopher, and in his own way quite as gifted. 
 To a reputation for bravery earned in Europe, he had 
 added new laurels, notably at the Brandywine, receiving 
 there a wound which permanently deprived him of the 
 full use of an arm thereafter, and at the battle of Camden,
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 73 
 
 where the Seventy-first under his leadership, displayed 
 such splendid courage and where he was again wounded. 
 
 He was a man of an ingenious turn of mind and had 
 invented a breech-loading rifle, in the use of which he 
 became very expert. Upon one occasion it is claimed 
 that he had a reconnoitring party of Americans headed 
 by a general officer within range of his rifle, and that 
 from motives of humanity he refrained from killing the 
 unsuspecting officer, which he could easily have done. 
 He afterward learned that the man he had spared was 
 George Washington. 
 
 For a time, after the overwhelming and disgraceful 
 defeat of Gates at Camden, South Carolina, August 16, 
 1780, Cornwallis virtually had the whole south at his 
 mercy. He moved slowly northward with the main 
 body of his army, sending out columns on either flank, 
 and in all directions in fact, endeavoring to occupy and 
 pacify the country he fondly considered permanently 
 subdued. 
 
 To Ferguson was given command of the various oper- 
 ations upon the left of the main advance. To him were 
 assigned one hundred and twenty of his own regular 
 regiment, and he was given power to embody and take 
 command of all the Tory volunteers he could win to his 
 following. 
 
 The Carolinas, be it remembered, with the exception 
 of New Jersey and New York in part were the only 
 states which were entirely swept from border to border 
 by the besom of war. There was scarcely a nook or a 
 corner in either one in which the rifle shot was not heard, 
 the torch was not lighted, in which the passions of Hell 
 were not let loose. The rancorous hatreds of civil strife 
 in no section were more in evidence than in these two
 
 74 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 brave little southern colonies. Even the animosities en- 
 gendered in central New York between the Whigs and 
 Tories were not so persistent, so rigorous, so bitter, or 
 so desolating in their effects. 
 
 Cornwallis soon awoke from his dream; for, while 
 partisan bands sprang up on either side and attacked each 
 other without mercy, success generally inclined to the 
 Americans. The British found they could only hold the 
 ground occupied by their armies. In their exasperation, 
 they and the Tories resorted to ferocious cruelties, which 
 were promptly met by reprisals in kind. Many of Corn- 
 wallis' parties and bodies of Tories were cut off without 
 mercy. In fact, except under Cruger, Tarleton, and 
 Ferguson, the British were defeated again and again 
 by Sumter, Marion, Pickens, Davie, McDowell, and 
 Williams. 
 
 Ferguson had experienced some reverses, but on the 
 whole had been very successful. He succeeded in em- 
 bodying some two thousand Tories, whom he organized 
 into regiments, which he trained and drilled in British 
 tactics with energy and success. 
 
 He had been brought in contact with a few of the 
 trans-Allegheny men, the first settlers of Virginia west 
 of the mountains and the pioneers of Tennessee; the 
 " Back Water Men," he called them on several occa- 
 sions and knew their quality, especially from one bloody 
 skirmish at Musgrove's Mills. Seeking to keep them 
 quiet he released a prisoner and sent him across the range 
 to inform the people there that if they did not " desist 
 from their opposition to British arms, he would march 
 his army across the mountains, hang the leaders, and lay 
 the country waste with fire and sword." 
 
 In Ferguson's army, which was then about sixty miles
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 75 
 
 from the Watauga, where was the principal settlement 
 in East Tennessee, were several Tories, who had been 
 expelled from the mountain region and who were thor- 
 oughly conversant with the passes through the moun- 
 tains. It was possible for him to have made the attempt, 
 although it is extremely doubtful that he ever had the 
 slightest idea of doing so; for, as he well knew, his 
 chances of success would have been of the very smallest. 
 It is probable that the threat was merely intended to 
 frighten the mountaineers into keeping quiet. They 
 were not the kind to be frightened by idle threats, and 
 Ferguson was to learn that it was a dangerous thing to 
 threaten to do the impossible, or at least he would have 
 learned it if the mountaineers had not killed him trying 
 to teach him the lesson. 
 
 " Never was threat so impotent, and yet so powerful." 
 Ferguson's messenger went first to Shelby, who acted 
 with instant promptitude. Sixty miles to the south was 
 the residence of Sevier on the Nolichucky. Throwing 
 himself upon his horse, Shelby tore down the valley to 
 apprize his friend and colleague of the news and to con- 
 cert as to the best course of action. 
 
 The " tall Watauga boys," as they were called, were 
 having a jollification at the time at Sevier's; oxen were 
 being roasted for a barbecue, horse-racing was going on, 
 and rustic sports were being enjoyed. Sevier was keep- 
 ing open house to all comers. One authority says that 
 the occasion was the marriage of the great pioneer to 
 the girl of the stockade episode, but other investigators 
 claim that the marriage occurred in the stockade during 
 the siege, or shortly after, and it is probable that this 
 was a rustic gathering to celebrate the garnering of the 
 harvest. But from whatever cause, a great many of the
 
 76 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 inhabitants, men, women, and children, were assembled 
 there having a good time, when Shelby dashed up on 
 his sweat-lathered horse and stopped the merriment in- 
 stantly by the sight of his grim, anxious, and troubled 
 face. 
 
 The two leaders retired at once for consultation, while 
 the people suspended their sports and with deepening 
 anxiety awaited the results of the deliberation. What 
 was to be done? Should they bid defiance to Ferguson, 
 occupy the mountain passes, and await attack there? 
 This was believed to be Shelby's idea. Sevier was more 
 audacious. They should not wait to be attacked, they 
 should assemble the men, cross the range and fall upon 
 the unsuspecting partisan before he realized that they 
 had more than received his message. His bold counsels 
 prevailed. The news was immediately circulated, and 
 the men and women assembled for the merrymaking 
 received the decision with shouts of approval. A ren- 
 dezvous was appointed at Sycamore Shoals on the Wa- 
 tauga, on the 25th of September. 
 
 Taking a fresh horse Shelby rode north to enlist for 
 the enterprise Campbell and his Virginians, settled about 
 the head waters of the Holston. Sevier sent messengers 
 to McDowell, who, with a small band of North Carolin- 
 ians, had been chased over the mountains by Ferguson. 
 Sevier was to assemble the Watauga men as well. 
 
 Campbell at first refused to participate in the expedi- 
 tion, but upon being further approached by argument 
 and appeal, finally consented. Expresses were de- 
 spatched over the mountains and one of the most cele- 
 brated partisans of North Carolina, Colonel Benjamin 
 Cleaveland, promised to join the assemblage with such 
 men as he could secure. On the 25th of September,
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 77 
 
 Campbell, Shelby, and Sevier, reached the rendezvous 
 at the appointed time. 
 
 The situation was peculiar. On one side of the little 
 settlement were hordes of savages who had only been 
 kept in check by severe campaigning and constant watch- 
 fulness, and who wanted but an opportunity to fall upon 
 the settlements. On the other side, with the mountains 
 between, were over two thousand well-trained British 
 troops, under a veteran officer. Yet so eager were the 
 men to go on the expedition that they resorted to a draft 
 to see who should stay behind to protect the women 
 and children from the red peril so dangerously near. 
 
 Four hundred and eighty of the Watauga men were 
 selected and divided into two regiments, commanded 
 by Sevier and Shelby. In Sevier's regiment were no less 
 than six persons who bore his name, including his two 
 sons. Two of his brothers were captains. The Wa- 
 tauga boys were joined by one hundred and sixty of 
 McDowell's men and two hundred Back Water Presby- 
 terians under stout old William Campbell, presently re- 
 enforced by two hundred more of the same sort under 
 Arthur Campb.ell, his brother. 
 
 The assemblage, though small, was remarkable for its 
 quality; tall, sinewy, powerful, brave, dead shots, accus- 
 tomed to the fatigues and hardships of frontier life, it 
 would be hard to match this body of borderers on the 
 continent. The little army was without baggage, with- 
 out equipment, without provisions, without everything 
 but arms. Most of the men had no horses, although 
 all were provided with the Deckhard rifle, a piece re- 
 markable in that day for the precision of its shot and 
 the length of its range. 
 
 Sevier and Shelby had long since exhausted their
 
 78 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 private resources, and they were hard put to know where 
 to find money to buy horses and equipments for those 
 who were without them, for they had determined that 
 the expedition should consist only of mounted riflemen. 
 There was one officer of North Carolina, however, on 
 their side of the mountains, who had money. This was 
 John Adair, the entry taker, whose business it was to 
 receive the payments of the settlers for the land which 
 they took up. 
 
 Sevier and Shelby went to him and asked him for the 
 money in his hands, some twelve thousand dollars, 
 pledging their personal honor and credit that thereafter 
 he should be paid back every farthing a pledge they 
 scrupulously redeemed. Adair rose to the measure of 
 the situation with true patriotism, as may be seen by 
 his splendid answer to the demand. 
 
 " Colonel Sevier," he said, " I have no right to make 
 any such disposition of this money; it belongs to the 
 impoverished treasury of North Carolina. But, if the 
 country is overrun by the British, liberty is gone. Let 
 the money go too. Take it. If by its use the enemy 
 is driven from the country, I can trust that country to 
 justify and vindicate my conduct. Take it ! " 
 
 With this money the men were promptly provided 
 with horses and powder. Even the women entered into 
 the spirit of the occasion, and it is related that some of 
 the powder which was afterward used with such deadly 
 effect was made by their assistance, for they burned the 
 charcoal on the family hearthstones.
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 79 
 
 V. The Dash to Catch Ferguson 
 
 Early on the morning of the 26th of September was 
 the hour appointed for the march. Old Parson Doak, 
 stern Presbyterian, black-gowned, stood in the midst of 
 the one thousand rugged riflemen in their hunting shirts, 
 who doffed their coon-skin caps, or buck-tail hats, and 
 ringed themselves about him, leaning upon their arms, 
 while he invoked the Divine blessing upon the expedi- 
 tion, bidding them to go forth and strike with the sword 
 of the Lord and of Gideon. After this impressive cere- 
 mony, the men, speeded by the cheers of those unwill- 
 ingly left behind, and followed by the prayers of the 
 women, immediately took up the march. With them, 
 rifle in hand, went another clergyman, the Reverend 
 Stephen Foster. 
 
 Being well mounted, they made great progress. Un- 
 encumbered by baggage train of any sort, they were able 
 to take short cuts and traverse apparently impracticable 
 paths over the range, which they found covered with 
 deep snow. There was no commissariat, a few beeves 
 were driven on the march and slaughtered for the first 
 day's rations, but the men depended upon what they 
 could pick up on the way, or shoot with the rifle, to 
 eke out the supply of parched corn which every man 
 carried for himself. It is not too much to say that the 
 west was won by parched corn and the powder horn. 
 
 They marched with great swiftness for several days, 
 being joined at the foot of the mountains by Cleaveland, 
 a redoubtable, if merciless and ferocious fighter, with 
 three hundred and fifty men from Wilkes and Surrey 
 Counties, on the 3Oth of September. On Monday, the
 
 8o Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ist of October, they marched eighteen miles, but were 
 stopped by the rain. On the 2d they determined to 
 select one of the various colonels who should command 
 the expedition, pending the arrival of an officer of rank. 
 
 Choice fell upon William Campbell of Virginia, who 
 had the largest regiment. McDowell of North Carolina, 
 who was senior, had the smallest regiment, and was not 
 thought sufficiently vigorous for such an undertaking. 
 He relieved the dilemma regarding him, by volunteering 
 to ride express to General Gates and ask him to send 
 an officer of merit to take charge. Campbell hesitated 
 to assume the command, and earnestly urged Sevier, 
 Shelby, or other officers to take it, but they insisted that 
 he should undertake the duty which they had devolved 
 upon him, and at last he consented. 
 
 On the 3rd of October, while still in the gap at South 
 Mountain, before the march was taken up, Cleaveland, 
 who seems to have been the orator of the assemblage, 
 addressed the men in the following terms: 
 
 " Now, my brave fellows, I have come to tell you the 
 news. The enemy is at hand, and we must up and at 
 them. Now is the time for every man of you to do his 
 country a priceless service such as shall lead your chil- 
 dren to exult in the fact that their fathers were the con- 
 querors of Ferguson. When the pinch comes I shall be 
 with you. But if any of you shrink from sharing the 
 battle and glory, you can now have the opportunity of 
 backing out and leaving, and you shall have a few min- 
 utes for considering the matter." 
 
 Other colonels in brief, terse words seconded old 
 Cleaveland, and then requested those who desired to 
 retire from the proposed expedition to step three paces
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 81 
 
 to the rear. No one did so, of course. Ferguson was 
 believed to be in the vicinity of Gilbert Town. They 
 proceeded cautiously, therefore, to that point, and the 
 next day learned that he had retreated and that he was 
 thought to have gone southward to Ninety Six. 
 
 In the vicinity of Beattie's Ford on the Catawba, 
 thirty miles away, were a body of Sumter's men under 
 Colonels Hill, who was too badly wounded to take part 
 in the campaign, and Lacey, and a small party of South 
 Carolinians under Williams, altogether about four hun- 
 dred in number. Williams had been appointed to com- 
 mand the militia, and Sumter had disputed his right. 
 Pending the settlement of the question, Sumter had 
 withdrawn from his troops, otherwise he would have ex- 
 ercised chief command in the battle that was to follow. 
 Williams, however, had remained in the neighborhood; 
 although Sumter's troops had refused to acknowledge 
 him, he had gathered a small body of his own. 
 
 When this assemblage heard these mountain men had 
 come for the purpose of taking Ferguson, Colonel Lacey 
 made an all-night ride through the wilderness to Camp- 
 bell's camp, on the Green River, which he reached an 
 hour or so before daybreak, offering to co-operate with 
 them and informing the mountaineers that Ferguson had 
 not gone to Ninety Six, but was marching toward King's 
 Mountain. They believed at first that Lacey was a Tory 
 spy, but he finally persuaded them of his integrity, and 
 they agreed to meet his party at the Cowpens, south 
 of the Broad, soon to be the scene of another famous 
 victory, the next evening, the 6th of October. Selecting 
 some seven hundred of the best men, the mountaineers 
 at once set out, leaving the rest to follow as fast as 
 possible. 
 
 6
 
 82 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 With scarcely an hour's sleep, Lacey mounted his 
 horse and returned to his men, reaching them about ten 
 o'clock in the morning, having ridden sixty miles in 
 fourteen hours. On the appointed evening the whole 
 party, now amounting to some eleven hundred men, 
 rendezvoused at the Cowpens. The indomitable Lacey 
 had succeeded in getting his men there at the hour 
 agreed upon. Before they took up their march again 
 they carefully selected, by a second weeding out, nine 
 hundred and ten of the most efficient with the freshest 
 horses, with whom they determined to push on to meet 
 Ferguson.* Fifty foot soldiers resolved to keep up with 
 the horsemen if possible. 
 
 Sure intelligence had been received that Ferguson had 
 halted on King's Mountain. This is a low spur of the 
 Alleghenies, sixteen miles long, running northeast and 
 southwest. Ferguson was encamped on the southern 
 end of it in York County, South Carolina, a mile and a 
 half from the border. He had sent despatches to Corn- 
 wallis, whom he had been endeavoring to join, urging 
 him to send Tarleton to escort him over the thirty miles 
 of rough broken country between his army and Char- 
 lotte, his lordship's head-quarters, for he had been ap- 
 prised by two deserters of the storm that was gathering 
 on his heels. 
 
 * This number was made up, according to McCrady, as follows : Camp- 
 bell, 200; Sevier, 120; Shelby, 120; Cleaveland, no; McDowell, a 
 brother of the officer who had gone to seek Gates, 90 ; and Winston, a 
 subordinate to Cleaveland, 60 ; making seven hundred chosen at Green 
 River. Additional troops were selected at the Cowpens, as follows : Lacey, 
 loo; Williams, 60, and Graham and Ham bright, 50, making 2 10: total, 910. 
 200 of these were Virginians, 510 were from North and 200 from South 
 Carolina. The foot soldiers mentioned did not arrive until the close of the 
 action, so they are not counted. The rest were to follow as fast as they 
 could.
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 83 
 
 Not that he had any fear of being able to defend his 
 present position, for he considered his force entirely ad- 
 equate to hold it forever, although not sufficiently strong 
 to take the offensive. The affair at Musgrove's Mills 
 had given his troops, if not himself, a healthy respect for 
 the mountaineers. Unfortunately for him, some of his 
 messengers were captured, and others were forced by the 
 dangers of the way to take such circuitous routes that 
 they did not reach Cornwallis until the battle was over. 
 
 Ferguson had chosen the position from the point of 
 view of the European soldier, with much skill. Profes- 
 sional soldiers have called it admirable for defence. He 
 is alleged to have said, in various profane ways, that he 
 could hold his post against any force that might be 
 brought against him. 
 
 A great deal of unscientific criticism has been heaped 
 upon him for this choice of position. To be sure he 
 did not hold it against an inferior force, which seems to 
 bear out the censures; but that force was unique in com- 
 position and its attack was an unusual one, which no 
 theoretical experience could have led Ferguson to ex- 
 pect. He could probably have held the place success- 
 fully against regular soldiers without difficulty. But the 
 men who were after him were not regular troops. They 
 knew nothing of the school of the soldier and cared less; 
 their character was peculiar and their tactics in accord- 
 ance. 
 
 VI. King's Mountain ; Launching the Thunderbolt 
 
 About nine o'clock on the night of the 6th, the army 
 set forth from the Cowpens for King's Mountain, some 
 thirty-three miles away. It was pitch dark and to add
 
 84 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 to their difficulties and discomforts a chill rain came 
 driving upon them for a large part of the night. To 
 keep their muskets dry the men were forced to take off 
 their blankets and shirts and wrap them around the gun- 
 locks. Chilled to the bone they urged their jaded steeds 
 through the clogging mud and cold driving rain of the 
 furious storm during the long night. 
 
 When day broke they reached the Catawba at Chero- 
 kee Ford, crossed it, still in the pelting rain, and plodded 
 on. Some chroniclers aver, that, oppressed by their 
 long, hard march, the slow progress they had made, the 
 worn-out condition of the men, some of the officers sug- 
 gested that they give over the attempt and return. 
 Shelby, marching in the van, curtly replied, 
 
 " I will not stop until night if I follow Ferguson into 
 Cornwallis' lines ! " 
 
 So they pushed resolutely on. It continued to rain 
 harder than ever during the morning until noon, when 
 the storm broke and the sun came out with a fine breeze, 
 to the great refreshment of the army. Spies and scouts 
 sent on ahead confirmed the truth of their impression 
 that Ferguson was on King's Mountain. At one Tory 
 farm-house, from which they could get no information, 
 one of the women came out secretly and ran across the 
 fields until she intercepted the American advance. 
 
 " How many men have you? " she cried. 
 
 " Enough to whip Ferguson if we can find him," was 
 the reply. 
 
 " You will find him on that mountain yonder," she 
 said, pointing to the hill three miles away. 
 
 It was two o'clock when the army reached the vicinity 
 of the mountain after their eighteen-hour struggle in the 
 dreadful storm. Hard on their heels followed the de-
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 85 
 
 voted fifty foot, who had made an unparalleled 
 march. 
 
 The portion of King's Mountain upon which the bat- 
 tle occurred is an isolated hill some six hundred yards 
 long, about one hundred feet high, and varying in width 
 from sixty to one hundred and twenty yards across. It 
 is a long stone-crested ridge, the sides covered with trees, 
 the top bare and desolate. The rocks around the edge 
 of the crest formed a natural breastwork. The narrowest 
 part of the hill was toward the south. At this narrow 
 end of the ridge a man standing could be seen from the 
 foot of either slope. Ferguson's camp was pitched near 
 the northern end, and except for the natural cover 
 afforded by the rocks and bowlders, had no other pro- 
 tection. The baggage-wagons were parked along the 
 northeastern, the most exposed edge, near the widest 
 part. 
 
 Ferguson had with him one hundred and twenty of 
 the Seventy-first regulars, and some eight hundred Tory 
 militia, about equally divided between the two Carolinas. 
 He had had this militia under his command for some time 
 and had drilled and exercised them with unfailing zeal 
 and success until he rated them equal to British regular 
 soldiery. His own troops, of course, were provided 
 with bayonets, and he caused the hunting knives of the 
 Tories so to be arranged that they could be fitted into 
 the muzzles of the guns; thus the militia contingent was 
 supplied with a formidable weapon for close quarters. 
 His main reliance was upon the bayonet, therefore. 
 There were no bayonets of any sort in the American 
 army, and it was to be rifle bullet against cold steel. 
 
 The second in command on the mountain was Cap- 
 tain de Peyster of New York, a brave, efficient officer. 
 It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Fer-
 
 86 
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 guson himself, there were probably no men of British 
 birth in either of the two contending armies. 
 
 Riding as near the hill as they dared without being 
 discovered, the men dismounted, with the exception of 
 a few of the ranking officers, and were formed up in four 
 
 FERGUSON'S HEADQUARTERS. 
 .+ PLACE WMEMC FERGUSON WA&KILLID. 
 
 H PLACE WHERE HOUSE* WCME LEFT, 
 
 Plan of Battle of King's Mountain. 
 
 divisions; Campbell taking the command of the right 
 centre division; Shelby the left centre; Sevier, with 
 McDowell's and some of Winston's men under him, led 
 the right wing; while Cleaveland with Williams, Lacey, 
 and the others took charge of the left wing. 
 
 A party of horse under Major Winston who knew the
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 87 
 
 field of battle, were ordered to make a long detour and 
 approach the mountain from the northern end. Camp- 
 bell and Shelby were to attack the right and left sides 
 of the mountain at the narrow lower end, Sevier and 
 Cleaveland were to defile past them and range along the 
 east and west sides respectively, while Winston closed 
 the remaining gap. The attack was delivered about 
 three o'clock. The rallying word was " Buford," the 
 name of the commander whom Tarleton had treacher- 
 ously killed in the massacre at Waxhaws. 
 
 It was not until fifteen minutes before the battle be- 
 gan that Ferguson became aware of the threatened dan- 
 ger. Instantly his men were called to arms. Shelby 
 and Campbell, having the shortest distance to go, were 
 the first to engage the enemy. The honor of beginning 
 the battle must be given to Campbell. The stout old 
 Presbyterian, stripped to his shirt sleeves, led the Vir- 
 ginians up the hill, waving an old claymore, a weapon 
 of his Scottish ancestors, shouting, 
 
 " Here they are, my brave boys ! Shout like Hell and 
 fight like devils ! " 
 
 Yelling and firing rapidly they swarmed up the hill. 
 When de Peyster heard these deafening yells, which he 
 remembered from the disastrous fight at Musgrove's 
 Mills, he turned to Ferguson saying, 
 
 "These things are ominous; these are the d d 
 
 yelling boys ! " 
 
 The Englishman was not daunted by the yelling, how- 
 ever. Throwing his regulars upon them in a fierce bay- 
 onet charge, Ferguson drove them down the slope. 
 Meanwhile Shelby had sustained a severe fire while get- 
 ting into position and had hard work restraining the fire 
 of his men; at last yelling,
 
 88 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 " Give them Indian play, boys ! " he rode up the other 
 slope at their head. 
 
 A similar bayonet charge by de Peyster and the Tories 
 repulsed their attack. The men gave back so reluc- 
 tantly, however, that several of them were bayoneted as 
 they retreated. Flushed with victory for the moment, 
 Ferguson's enthusiasm was rudely dispelled by the 
 crackling of muskets on the eastern side of the moun- 
 tain. 
 
 Yelling like fiends, Sevier's men breasted the slope 
 of the hill. Indeed, it is said that the so-called " rebel 
 yell," which was heard on so many battle-fields in the 
 next century, had its origin in this body of mountaineers 
 led by Sevier. Galloping to the threatened point, Fer- 
 guson threw some of his men upon the Watauga boys. 
 The ground here was more broken, and the same rocks 
 which served for the British ramparts played a like pur- 
 pose for the Americans. Sevier could not be driven 
 away. He established himself on the crest of the hill 
 behind the rocks, pouring in a deadly fire. 
 
 At the same instant Colonel Cleaveland came into 
 action. He was a great speech-maker, this Cleaveland, 
 and as his soldiers raced along the base of the hill to 
 get to the position from which they were to make the 
 ascent, he is said to have made the following speech in 
 broken sentences: 
 
 " My brave fellows, we have beaten the Tories, and 
 we can beat them again. . . . They are all cowards. 
 If they had the spirit of men, they would join us in 
 supporting the independence of the country. . . . 
 When you are engaged, do not wait for the word of 
 command. I will show you by my example how to 
 fight. I can undertake no more. . . . Every man
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 89 
 
 must act on his own judgment. Fire as fast as you can, 
 and stand your ground as long as you can. . . . 
 When you can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat ; 
 but I beg you not to run off." Then pointing to the 
 crest of the hill from which a deadly fire was plunging, 
 he cried, " Yonder is your enemy, and the enemy of 
 mankind! " 
 
 At the same instant Colonel Hambright with his brave 
 Germans, and Majors Winston and Chronicle of the Car- 
 olinians, closed the gap. Williams, who had sulked be- 
 cause he had not been recognized or consulted by the 
 other officers, could stand it no longer. 
 
 " Come up, boys ! " he shouted, " the old wagoner 
 never yet backed out ! " and he rushed into action to the 
 right of Cleaveland. 
 
 The mountain was now completely encircled. Sevier 
 had gained the summit and was clinging to it with grim 
 tenacity. As Ferguson withdrew his troops from the 
 southern end, Campbell and Shelby immediately turned 
 and followed them up the hill. Both sides fought well. 
 Three times did the British and Tories throw themselves 
 upon the approaching Americans. Three times did the 
 deadly bayonet do its work, but they could not drive 
 the men from the fight further than they could continue 
 the charge. They always came back. Campbell had 
 two horses shot under him. Shelby's face had been 
 burned by powder, so close had been the action. 
 
 The mountain was ringed with fire and covered with 
 smoke. The roar of the rifles and muskets could be 
 heard for miles. Ferguson showed himself a very pala- 
 din of courage. Mounted on a white horse he rode fran- 
 tically up and down the plateau, rallying his men, launch- 
 ing charge after charge upon whatever part of the line
 
 90 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ventured to expose itself on the crest. The bulk of 
 these charges fell upon the regiments of Shelby and 
 Campbell, but the beleaguered force struck out desper- 
 ately on every hand. Finally a last charge furiously 
 hurled upon the Virginians, coupled with shouts that 
 Tarleton was at hand, put the regiment to flight. Im- 
 ploring, protesting, swearing, the brave commander es- 
 sayed to stop the retreat of his men, but it was not 
 until they had been driven some distance from the foot 
 of the hill that he could get them in order again to lead 
 them back. 
 
 Meanwhile Sevier led his men from the crest of the hill 
 and dashed at the British in the open. At the same in- 
 stant a simultaneous advance all along the lines drove 
 the British back in every direction. The Virginians 
 rallied and came fiercely up again. The British fell in 
 scores. 
 
 Some one raised a white flag. Ferguson instantly 
 ordered it down, swearing that he would " never surren- 
 der to such a d d set of banditti ! " Blowing the 
 
 silver whistle which had rung over the field and by which 
 he had given his commands, he rallied his forces for an- 
 other final charge. De Peyster led it with the remnant 
 of the regulars, but before they came in contact with the 
 mountaineers, their deadly discharge reduced his line to 
 twelve people. Another flag was raised and this time 
 Ferguson cut it down. 
 
 But the day was lost. De Peyster realized it and 
 advised surrender. Ferguson, however, would not see 
 the inevitable and disdained to yield. He put himself 
 at the head of his men for another charge and was shot 
 by a dozen bullets and instantly killed. The British were 
 now crowded in a huddled mass near the northeast end,
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 91 
 
 surrounded on all sides by the mountaineers. To resist 
 longer was to be slaughtered like sheep in a pen. 
 
 De Peyster raised the flag a third time. Some of the 
 mountaineers, so ignorant of the customs of war that 
 they did not realize the meaning of the signal, and mad- 
 dened by the righting, continued their fire, which was 
 returned by some of the desperate British soldiers and 
 Colonel Williams was instantly killed. The Americans 
 yelling " Give them Buford's play," then poured a volley 
 in on the unresisting Tories, most of whom had practi- 
 cally surrendered. 
 
 There was a scene of wild and terrible confusion on 
 the mountain top. De Peyster wildly protested against 
 the butchery of surrendered men. Sevier, Shelby, and 
 Campbell did their best to restrain their reckless, undis- 
 ciplined soldiers, who continued to fire upon the huddled 
 mass of British crying " Quarter ! Quarter ! " and the 
 battle bade fair to degenerate into a massacre. Finally 
 the mountaineers were stopped, and at Shelby's words, 
 
 " D n you, if you want quarter, throw down your 
 
 arms ! " the British threw down their guns and were 
 marched away from them. 
 
 VII. After the Battle 
 
 The battle was over at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 It had lasted scarcely an hour. In the confusion some 
 of the Tories, who wore no uniform, escaped, but the 
 results of the battle were some three hundred killed, or 
 so severely wounded that they had to be left on the field, 
 and six hundred captured. On the American side the 
 casualties were twenty-eight killed, and sixty-two wound- 
 ed, the disparity being due in part to the fact that the
 
 9?- Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 British firing down the hill overshot their opponents, in 
 accordance with a natural tendency under the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 They bivouacked that night upon the hill. It was a 
 night of horror. There was but one surgeon in both 
 armies, Ferguson's. He did what he could to alleviate 
 the sufferings of the wounded but with little success. 
 The Americans had gained a stupendous victory but 
 their position was still most precarious. With a number 
 of prisoners almost equal to their total force, they were 
 in imminent danger of attack, for they believed Tarleton 
 was near. Anxious hours were passed until daybreak 
 and they took up their march in retreat. 
 
 After the first day's march information was brought 
 them that Cruger at Ninety Six had ruthlessly hanged 
 a number of Whigs whom he had captured. At the in- 
 stance of the Carolina men, with the spirit of revenge 
 hot in their breasts, thirty of the principal men among 
 the Tories were tried by summary court-martial and 
 sentenced to death. Nine of them in bunches of three 
 were at once hanged from a huge tree near the head- 
 quarters. Among those sentenced were the two moun- 
 taineers who had deserted on the march and betrayed 
 the advance to Ferguson. One of them was a mere boy. 
 He was at once reprieved. The other was one of Sevier's 
 men. The gallant soldier claimed him and begged the 
 other officers that he might be permitted to have him. 
 The request was granted, and the grateful man became 
 one of the most zealous partisans of the Revolution 
 thereafter. 
 
 One of the condemned men had a young brother 
 among the prisoners a mere boy. After the first group 
 had been executed the lad begged permission to speak
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 93 
 
 to his brother. Seizing his opportunity he cut the man's 
 bonds, and he made a dash for freedom, the mountain 
 men, cheering the daring of the boy and the desperate 
 courage of the man, refrained from firing on him. 
 Sevier, seconded by Shelby, thereupon interfered and 
 the bloody reprisal ceased. 
 
 In twenty-eight days the whole army was back over 
 the mountains, and at home again all but those who 
 slept on the field of their glory or who died from their 
 wounds on the return journey and had been buried on 
 the way. One of these was the brother of Sevier. 
 
 The heroic courage of the Scotch Presbyterian, 
 Campbell; the resolute determination of the Welshman, 
 Shelby; the dashing gallantry of the Frenchman, Sevier; 
 the enthusiastic devotion of the Irishman, Lacey; the 
 stern valor of the German, Hambright; the stubborn, 
 dogged courage of Cleaveland, the Englishman, had won 
 this most marvellous battle on the hills. 
 
 Success came in the very nick of time. Cornwallis in 
 great alarm recalled his scattered forces and hastily fell 
 back into South Carolina, thus giving the Americans 
 time to re-create an army under General Greene, that 
 organizer of victory. The annihilation of Ferguson 
 greatly encouraged the South Carolina Whigs, or rebels, 
 and coupled with the victory of the Cowpens shortly 
 after, where Morgan with some of the King's Mountain 
 men to assist him, crushed Cornwallis' only other suc- 
 cessful partisan, Tarleton, paved the way to Yorktown 
 and the end of the Revolution.
 
 AN original account , never before published, of the BATTLE or KING'S MOUN- 
 TAIN, by the REV. STEPHEN FOSTER, A PARTICIPANT. The original document 
 has been preter-ved by the descendants of Col. William Campbell, toko com- 
 manded the American forces in the battle. Its use is allo-wed by Mr. T. W. Preston t 
 HOIV of Vicksburg, Miss., one of his descendants, and a native of south West Virginia. 
 
 THIS battle followed the battle of Enaree. From the latter 
 it appears, that Col. Isaac Shelby carried off 200 prisoners 
 beyond the pursuit of the british troops. Major Ferguson 
 with a small party of regulars had been detached by Lord Corn- 
 wallis, to the upper section of the Carolinas, to gather troops to 
 the royal standard and support the interest of his Majesty there. 
 In this service he proved himself a man of energy and skill ; mus- 
 tered a force of a thousand men, resented the affront of Shelby, 
 and addrefsed to the latter a threatening mefsage, that if he would 
 not cease from such depredations, he would march over the moun- 
 tains and burn those villages which supplied him with men. Shelby, 
 residing at his father's dwelling, in Sullivan county East Tenn. 
 on receiving this message, repaired to the settlements on Watauga 
 river, 40 miles distant. He there had ample opportunity of com- 
 municating its import to Col. John Sevier, who joined him in a 
 sentiment of congenial heroism, for meeting so deserving and re- 
 spectable an army. The mefsage before them told them of the foe. 
 It presented to them an enterprise of a new and daring kind. The 
 object of this enterprize was single and distinct. This was Fer- 
 guson the whole of Ferguson and nothing but Ferguson. 
 
 The force which these gentlemen were able to muster in the two 
 settlements, was little over 400 men, The army they were to 
 attack was double in number ; and headed by the ablest partisan 
 leader in the land. Shelby therefore addrefsed a letter to Col. 
 William Campbell of Washington Cnty. Va. to come over and 
 join in the enterprize. Campbell at first refused, from a desire 
 
 95
 
 96 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 to march in a different direction, and unite his troops with those, 
 which were then struggling in the lower sections of his own state. 
 A second mefsage from Shelby was successful. Campbells divi- 
 sion amounted to 400 men. The place of meeting was the Syca- 
 more Flats on Watauga river, at the foot of the Yellow Mountain. 
 
 They ascended this mountain on horseback about the first of 
 Oct. 1780. They encamped the same night in a gap of the Moun- 
 tain on the opposite side. The ascent of the Mountain was not 
 very difficult. 
 
 It was a road travelled before ; but was impafsable for wag- 
 gons. 
 
 No provisions were taken but such as each man could carry 
 in his wallet, or saddlebags. The sides and top of the Mountain 
 were covered with snow " shoe mouth deep " On the top of the 
 Mountain and troops paraded, here were one hundred acres of 
 beautiful table land. A Spring issuing throgh it ran over into 
 the Watauga. On reaching the plain beyond the Mountain, they 
 found themselves in a country covered with verdure and breathed 
 an atmosphere of summer mildnefs. The 2nd night they rested 
 at Cathy's plantation. The third day they fell in with Gen. 
 McDowel, and that night held a general consultation of the Officers. 
 Gen. McDowel was without troops. Yet his rank and former 
 services could not easily be overlooked ; and at the same time 
 these young and daring officers, impatient to inflict a decisive blow 
 on Ferguson, were unwilling to brook the delay, that might ensue 
 from entrusting the command to him. It was accordingly stated 
 in council, that they needed an experienced officer to command 
 them ; they knew Gen. Morgan was the man they wanted ; they 
 were unacquainted with Gen. Greene, and feared that their re- 
 quest to him for Morgans services would be little attended to, 
 coming as it necefsarily must, from strangers. To obviate this 
 difficulty so apparently perplexing, McDowel very generously 
 offered to be their mefsenger, being personally acquainted with 
 Greene & Morgan and his offer was gladly and promptly accepted. 
 
 It was now a matter of immediate consultation who should lead 
 them to the intended attack. Col. Campbell having been nomi- 
 nated by Col. Shelby, both from a principle of courtesy and the 
 superior number of men in his regiment, was elected accordingly. 
 
 The fourth night they rested at a rich Tory's, where they ob- 
 tained abundance of every nesefsary refreshment. On pafsing near 
 the Cowpens, they heard of a large body of tories about eight
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 97 
 
 miles distant And, although the main enterprize was not to be 
 delayed a single moment, a party of 80 volunteers under ensign 
 Robert Campbell was permitted to go in chase of them during 
 the night. These had removed before our party came to the place, 
 who accordingly after riding all night came up with the main 
 body the next day. 
 
 On the next night a similar expedition was conducted by an- 
 other Officer without succefs, but without adding any delay to 
 the march of the army. At Gilbertown, about two or three days 
 march from the enemy, our troops fell in with Col. Williams, 
 (who was able to select the best Pilots) together with Col Cleave- 
 land, Tracy, and Brandon, each commanding a body of men, 
 and the whole amounting to 300. These were retreating before 
 Ferguson, and were glad to join their forces to ours. 
 
 On the night before the day of action, a misunderstanding arose 
 in the attempt to crofs a river. Two fords were taken, and the 
 army had separated and was crofsing at both. When this was 
 perceived by the officers, a halt was ordered, and the men rested 
 on this side until morning. Two roads were here. And to pre- 
 vent Spies from pafsing and repafsing, they were both guarded 
 by appointed watchman. The least public of these was guarded 
 by Lieu. John Sawyers, (since Col. Sawyers,) and 25 men were 
 here taken in this single night. Our officers and men were so 
 bent upon their object, So anxious to take Ferguson by surprise, 
 and so apprehensible of his pofsible escape, that they could not 
 brook the delay of footmen. 400 of them were on foot The 
 other 700 were mounted riflemen. It was proposed now for the 
 sake of despatch, that these should move in the speediest man- 
 ner. And although the whole force was already too small, it was 
 determined to risk the fate of the enterprize, in the bravery and 
 addrefs of 700 men. While preparations were made by the officers 
 for this divifsion, many of the troops in the mean time thought 
 it a fit opportunity for refreshment. Beef was spitted at the fire, 
 and mixed dough was in the very procefs of baking; when the 
 order was given for the troops to march. The hot meat without 
 roasting, and the hot dough without baking, was rudely thrust 
 by every man into his saddlebags or wallet, and the men galloped 
 off without a murmur. This was in the dead of night. They 
 were 45 miles from the enemy, and nothing but the very best rid- 
 ing, over such roads as the country afforded, would bring them 
 the next day to his quarters, in season to terminate the action
 
 98 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 by daylight. They were accordingly there by two O'clock, in the 
 afternoon. Here a few intervening circumstances may be men- 
 tioned. Capt. Craig's and some other companies, on crofsing a 
 river, (probably Broad river) were made to beleive by their com- 
 manding officers, for the sake of trying the courage of their men, 
 that the enemy was upon the opposite bank. The enemy, accord- 
 ingly, which was nothing else than the advanced guards of our 
 own troops, made his appearance for their reception, retiring a 
 little as they approached the river. They crofsed the river, dis- 
 mounted from their horses, and advanced to the proposed attack 
 on the enemy. But finding no enemy there to meet them, they 
 returned to their horses, and proceeded without further delay. 
 
 Not far onward, they were to pafs a house on the right. This 
 house formed a corner in the road. They turned it and bent their 
 course to the right hand. Here stood a man in the decrepitude 
 of age, leaning on a staff, and watching our men with great earnest- 
 ness of visage. He called out : " God Blefs you," till his voice 
 died in the distance of the way, and in the noise and hurry of 
 the forward march. They now began to meet with scattered 
 notices of the enemy's encampment in the burnt fences and trod- 
 den ground. 
 
 As the afternoon advanced, some began to talk of an encamp- 
 ment for our troops, and to give up the hope of meeting the 
 enemy to day. 
 
 They had now travelled about 45 miles, and during much of 
 this time had been wet with rain. It was about 2 Oclock when 
 coming to a place within two or three miles of the enemy, they 
 intercepted two of his picquets, and captured the same without 
 firing a gun. 
 
 Ferguson may have had some notice of our troops, though not 
 immediately before their arrival. A deserter from Col. Cleave- 
 land's division, who will be mentioned again in the sequel of the 
 narrative, had arrived at the British quarters a day or two Be- 
 fore and told Ferguson of the approaching attack. His appear- 
 ance was said to be so shabby and unpromising as to detract much 
 from any high regard to his statement. Yet so wary and vigilant 
 an officer, as Ferguson was not to be taken altogether by surprise. 
 He had chosen his position, and afsumed an attitude of rigorous 
 defence. 
 
 He was confident in his own measures, yet to secure every pre- 
 caution he sent a mefsage to Cornwallis desiring aid, at the same
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 99 
 
 time stating, he had named the place of his encampment, King's 
 Mountain, in honour of the King, and was so strongly fortified 
 here, that if all the rebels in hell were rained downed upon him, 
 they could not drive him from it. The mefsage was intercepted 
 by our men and Cornwallis knew nothing of the danger, till Fergu- 
 son was no more. 
 
 King's Mountain is a ridge running east and west, in york dis- 
 trict, S. C. about 10 miles north of the Cherokee ford of Broad 
 river. A ledge of rock skirts the summit of this Mountain on 
 the south side. 
 
 This formed a natural breastwork for the enemy, behind which 
 they could lie with only their heads exposed, and take leisurely 
 aim at our troops on that side. And it is a remarkable fact, which 
 does credit to the rifles of our men, that an unusual number of 
 the enemy, who fell, were shot through the head. Before the 
 action, Col. Shelby remarked to the army, that he had been twice 
 likely to be killed for an enemy by his own men. He therefore 
 recommended, as an expedient of safety, that every man first strip 
 off his coat and hat, and go to battle without them. This was 
 done by himself, and his regiment, but not by others. 
 
 Col. Campbell also was induced to lay off his coat which being 
 very peculiar in its color and form, would have rendered him sig- 
 nally conspicuous from others. King's Mountain now emerged to 
 the view of our men, and the British and Tory troops were seen 
 through the forest rising from dinner. 
 
 The battle line was quickly formed. The main attack was to 
 be made by Campbell's and Shelby's division up the east and steep- 
 est side of the mountain. Sevier was to ascend the left side of 
 the mountain from these and Cleaveland on his right. Of the main 
 body Campbell's division was on the right and Shelby's on the 
 left. Capt. Elliot, in Shelby's division, occupied the extreme left, 
 Lieut. Sawyers next to him, Capt. Maxwell's company next, and 
 Capt. Webb the extreme right. 
 
 The order of march, in the companies composing Col. Camp- 
 bell's division was, as nearly as the hurry of the transaction would 
 admit, the order of the battle line from right to left, the follow- 
 ing : Capt. Dysart ; Capt. Colvil : Capt. Edmonston ; Capt. Beatie ; 
 Lieut. Bowen ; Captain Craig ; 
 
 But the movement forward was with so much agility, and the 
 retreat so hurried and abrupt, that these companies not only be- 
 come intermixed with one another, but also with those of Col.
 
 ioo Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Shelby's. The troops were ordered to shout the Indian war- 
 whoop, ascend the mountain and attack the enemy. This was 
 done with great vigour, when the enemy advanced in firm platoons, 
 fired their muskets, charged with fixed bayonets, and obliged them 
 to give way. In the mean time Cols. Williams, Tracy, Brandon, 
 Cleaveland and Sevier, who were to march from the left of the 
 main body and compafs the South and West side of the Moun- 
 tain, in the space of 15 minutes arrived there, and af sailed the 
 enemy from that direction. This gave our troops an opportunity 
 to rally and return to the charge. 
 
 In the early part of this action, Col. Shelby was employed at 
 some distance from his regiment to reconnoitre the enemy by a 
 movement around the north side of the mountain, to the right of 
 our troops. Here he discovered a spacious opening between the 
 right of Campbell's and the left of Seviers. He viewed it to be 
 an advantageous position for directing a constant and effectual fire 
 upon the backs of a body of Ferguson's troops, which lay guarded 
 in front by the ledge of rocks. 
 
 He detached Ensign Robert Campbell with about 40 men for 
 this service, and returned to the support of his own division. 
 
 He found Col. Campbell's men in great disorder from the first 
 shock of the British Platoons ; and called Lieuts. Sawyers and 
 some others, who afsisted to rally and bring them back. In a 
 short time after the rallying began Col. Campbells horse became 
 exhausted ; The Col. dismounted and fought through the rest of 
 the action on foot. 
 
 This was a bay horse of thin appearance and had been nearly 
 overcome by the fatigue of the march. The horse which Col. 
 Campbell ordinarily rode, was a bald face black horse. After the 
 first retreat, Col. Shelby, it is said, saw this horse and some rider 
 on him, whom he mistook for Col. Campbell at the distance of 
 some 200 yds from the scene. 
 
 Ensign Campbell as above directed by Col. Shelby occupied a 
 spur of the Mountain within 40 yds of the enemy. When leading 
 his men to this place, one of them from a view of its exposed 
 location, exclaimed to his commander ; " what ! Are you taking 
 us there to be marks for the enemy? " " No," said the other, " to 
 make marks of the enemy." And this proved actually to be the 
 case. For after this detachment had plied their rifles in the 
 succefsive discharge of several rounds to a man, Ferguson per- 
 ceived their fire to be so fatal, that he gave orders to his ad-
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 101 
 
 jutant, MCGinnis, to dislodge them. McGinnis marched his party 
 to the charge. Campbell heard him order them to " make ready," 
 and he commanded his own men to " stand fast," that is to stand 
 behind the trees. 
 
 McGinnis then ordered them to fire on Campbell, who, from the 
 narrownefs of the tree that shielded him, expected to be shot 
 through by several bullets at once. And he escaped this fate, 
 not by the protection of the tree, but by the horizontal aim of 
 the british muskets, which converged their bullets to a place above 
 him, cracking the bark and splinters from the tree and shattering 
 them down upon his head. 
 
 Campbell had now a load in his gun, which he discharged with 
 aim at the shoulders of McGinnis, and the latter instantly fell. 
 
 The party now emerged from behind their trees, discharged their 
 pieces with similar exactnefs, and the survivors of the British party 
 retired to the main body. Campbell inspected the body of McGin- 
 nis, and saw a shot through the part of the shoulder he had 
 aimed at. 
 
 And his party resumed their galling fire upon the backs of 
 Fergusons men. On all sides now the fire was brisk. Our men 
 had become cool from the first panic of the British charge ; and 
 were plying their rifles with steady effect. The matter was come 
 to a desperate crisis. 
 
 Ferguson was still in the heat of battle with characteristic cool- 
 nefs and daring. He ordered Capt. Dupoister with a body of regu- 
 lars to reinforce a position about 100 yds distant. But before they 
 arrived at this short distance, they were thined too much by the 
 American rifles to render any effectual support. He then ordered 
 his cavalry to mount, with a view of making a desperate onset at 
 their hedd. But these only presented a better mark for the Ameri- 
 can rifles, and fell as fast, as they would mount their horses. He, 
 then perceiving the thinnest line, which surrounded him, to be that 
 of Ensign Campbell's Riflemen, proceeded on horseback with two 
 militia Cols, with the apparent design to force his pafsage through 
 them and attempt an escape. But before reaching the line of bat- 
 tle he was shot and expired. He had held out with inflexible reso- 
 lution beyond even the hope of resistance. His men once raised 
 the white flag for surrender, and he pulled it down. He had a 
 shrill sounding silver whistle, whose signal was universally known 
 through the ranks, was of immense service on many occasions, and 
 gave a kind of ubiquity to his movements.
 
 102 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Who shot Ferguson remains in uncertainty. Several have 
 claimed it. But the honor seams distinctly accorded to none. Nor 
 does it appear to universal satisfaction whether he was shot on 
 horseback or sitting upon a stone. 
 
 The Americans were now in regular columns approaching the 
 British. 
 
 A large section of Col. Campbell's troops advanced with too much 
 rapidity, when a reserved fire from the British breastwork did more 
 fatal execution there than in the whole action beside. 
 
 Because this forward movement brought them to a level with 
 the British muskets, which in most instances overshot their heads. 
 
 Lieut. Sawyers to this moment kept his men at their station, from 
 which they had been firing through most of the battle, at the dis- 
 tance of about twenty five steps from the enemy. Seeing the re- 
 served fire discharged, he ordered his men to advance in order to 
 increase the enemy's confusion. The same was done by the other 
 companies on this side of the mountain. 
 
 And Col. Sevier, who had gallantly borne his share in the conflict, 
 was resolutely crowding up on the other side. The British regulars 
 and American tories, were not only surrounded, but crowded close 
 together, cooped up in a surprisingly narrow spaces, by the sur- 
 rounding prefsure of the American troops, and fatally galled by 
 an incefsant fire. 
 
 Dupoister, who succeeded in the place of Ferguson, perceived but 
 too plainly, that any further struggle was in vain. He raised the 
 white flag and exclaimed for quarters. Quarters were given by a 
 general cefsation of the American fire. But this cefsation was not 
 by any means complete. Some did not understand the meaning of a 
 white flag. Others, who knew its meaning very well, knew that 
 this flag had been raised before, but quickly pulled down again by 
 the British Commander. 
 
 Andrew Evans was one of these. He was standing near to Col. 
 Campbell, and in the very act of shooting, when Campbell jerked 
 his gun upwards to prevent its effect, exclaiming ; " Evans, for 
 God's sake, don't shoot, it is murder to kill them when they raise 
 the white flag." 
 
 Col. Campbell seems not to have been distinguished as the Ameri- 
 can commander. For, having fought as a foot soldier during most 
 of the action, having climbed over the rocks of the enemy's breast- 
 work with his men, who drove them away from it, he was standing 
 in the front rank of his soldiery, his coat off and his shirt collar 
 open like a sturdy farmer,
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 103 
 
 Dupoister came riding on a gray horse not far from the place 
 where the Col was standing and inquired, " where is your gen- 
 eral ? " Mr. Beatie and another pointed to the place and Mr. Crow, 
 who was not a guns lenth from Campbell, heard Dupoister ex- 
 claim twice, "Col. Campbell, it was damned unfair;" alluding to 
 the above mentioned continued fire, to which Campbell made no 
 answer but the order to dismount. He dismounted accordingly 
 and held his sword for deliverance to his Captors, which was in 
 the first place received by Evan Shelby and handed to Col. Camp- 
 bell. The arms were now lying in front of the prisoners, without 
 any orders how to dispose of them. Col. Shelby, from the part 
 of the line which he commanded, rode out of the ranks with the 
 apparent design of finding Col. Campbell. Returning without suc- 
 cefs, he exclaims, " good God, what can we do in this confusion? " 
 " We can order the Prisoners from their arms," said Sawyers. 
 " Yes," said Shelby, " that can be done." The Prisoners were 
 accordingly marched to another place, and there surrounded by a 
 double guard. This action was on the 7th of Oct. 1780. The lofs 
 of the enemy was, 225 killed, 130 wounded, 700 prisoners, and 1500 
 stand of arms. The American lofs was 30 killed and 60 wounded. 
 About 700 men achieved this victory. 
 
 Sevier led about 240, Shelby 200, Campbell 400, the Carolina Cols. 
 300, making in all about 1140, of which, it has been stated, that 
 about 400 were left behind for want of horses. These were met 
 the next day and reunited with the victors in their march from 
 the scene. So signal an exploit could not long remain a secret to 
 Lord Cornwallis, and numerous rumors soon reached our men 
 that he was in pursuit to recover his prisoners. Our troops, there- 
 fore, moved from the battle ground with as little delay as possible, 
 to make sure of a victory so happily won. 
 
 And here let us pause for a moment, to answer the following 
 question : Why were so many killed in the American ranks, when 
 the British platoons so generally overshot them? 
 
 1st. Because the great body of Fergusons troops were tories, 
 as good marksman as our own, who always sought an object for 
 their rifles. Lieut. Edmonston was standing a moment seeking a 
 view of an enemy to fire at among Fergusons men behind the 
 breastworks, and was shot by a rifleman from the very place he 
 was inspecting. This incident was an example of many. For the 
 rocks which formed a part of this breastwork, shielded the enemy, 
 and enabled them to fire leisurely at our men.
 
 104 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 2ndly. The eagernefs of our men for action. This was so great 
 that it led them to exposures both dangerous and uselefs. Their 
 surest and most effectual mode of fighting was to stand at the dis- 
 tance of a proper gun shot, and fire with deliberate aim at their 
 enemy. But. many of them were too impatient for this delay. 
 
 Moses Shelby, Fagan and some others, leaped upon the waggons 
 of the enemy's breastwork in the uselefs attempt to storm his camp. 
 But they were soon carried off wounded from the scene. Some 
 were wounded by the charge of the British bayonets, before they 
 would retire from the first afsaulL The death of Col. Williams 
 gave a signal instance of this intemperate eagernefs for action. He 
 espied Ferguson towards the close of the action on horseback, and 
 made for him with the full determination of a personal encounter. 
 William Moore was close to him, and heard him exclaim " I will 
 kill Ferguson or die in the attempt." 
 
 He spurred his horse to a speedy movement, when a rifle bullet 
 stopped his career. He survived till the white flagg told the enemy's 
 surrender, and said, " I die contented." 
 
 3dly. From the enemy's reserved fire at the close of the action. 
 Lieutenant Sawyers saw the companies around him, after a general 
 discharge from the British, go too hastily forward, and checked 
 his own men from doing so. This movement forward near the 
 place of the waggons brought many of our men on a level with 
 the British. And their reserved fire, which was then discharged 
 in its usual horizontal direction, did fatal execution in our ranks 
 at that place. The number killed in Col. Campbell's division dur- 
 ing the action was 13. The action was on Saturday. On the next 
 Saturday a Court martial was held by our Officers to try from 
 the ranks of the tory prisoners some offenders of a notorious kind. 
 Thirty two persons of this description were condemned to die, of 
 which 23 were pardoned by the commanding officer. The remain- 
 ing nine were executed the same night. This summary procedure 
 was thought necefsary; first from the unsettled condition of affairs, 
 which precluded all hope of trial by jury; 2ndly. from the flagi- 
 tious nature of the offences, one of which was the following. A 
 man went to his neighbor's house and inquired of a little boy, 
 " Where is your father? " to which the lad answered, " he is not at 
 home." And the man shot him without further ceremony; though 
 fortunately the youth recovered of his wound. 3dly. to deter others 
 from similar offences, and prevent these men from doing them 
 again.
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 105 
 
 The prisoners and their captors proceeded on their march. The 
 prisoners were every night obliged to sit upon the ground on pain 
 of being shot by the guard, which surrounded them. 
 
 One night about two weeks after the battle, a boy was acting for 
 one of the sentries. One of the prisoners taking notice of this con- 
 trived to move himself gradually and without rising near to the 
 place where the boy kept guard. As soon as he was near enough 
 to take the requisite advantage, he started with a quick jump, and 
 was making off with speed, when the boy wheeled upon his heel, 
 levelled his rifle and shot the fugitive through the kidneys. The 
 man was now disabled from flight, and was drawn back again into 
 the ranks of the prisoners. 
 
 In the morning it was ascertained by the testimony of Col. Cleave- 
 land, that he was a deserter from the troops of the latter, and was 
 the very man who had gone to tell Ferguson of our approach. 
 This man, therefore, though in imminent hazard of his life through 
 his wound, must be tried by the laws and usages of war. The court 
 martial was equally divided, and Col. Shelby, who had been absent 
 on a visit for the night, was called on his arrival to decide the life 
 or death of the culprit by a single vote. The march was now de- 
 layed nearly two hours; and Shelby, though apparently of a rough 
 and careless exterior, was so deeply concerned with his own respon- 
 sibility, that while some were teasing him for an immediate decision, 
 he would not give it in lefs than half an hour. He finally gave it 
 for the man's execution ; and preparations were made for it ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 Two stakes were put in the ground converging towards each 
 other at the top for him to stand upon, while his neck was 
 fast by a rope from above, ready to hang him when the 
 under support should be drawn away. He was permitted to stand 
 in this attitude an hour, during which time he was constantly 
 entreating Col. Cleaveland; "Oh, Col. Cleaveland, I pray pardon 
 me, and I will be a good and faithful soldier ever after." In the 
 mean time, Col. Campbell comes up and asks ; " was you the de- 
 serter, who left our troops to inform the enemy? " " No," said the 
 other. " Now," added Col. Campbell, " you are quickly to stand be- 
 fore your Maker in judgment. Tell me in truth, if you was that 
 deserter." " Yes," said the other, " I was." And his execution 
 took place accordingly. So many of our troops, as were judged 
 needful for safty, accompanied the prisoners a journey of three 
 weeks from King's Mountain to the Mulberry fields, Wilkesbor-
 
 io6 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ough in the state of North Carolina. Here they were met by a 
 detachment of some hundreds of Carolina Militia and with these 
 the prisoners were left in custody. Cols. Campbell ; Shelby and 
 Sevier attended the prisoners to this place ; then left them and re- 
 turned home. 
 
 In this expedition the exposures and privations were extreme. 
 Four hundred or more were on foot. But these had kept up with 
 the horse some distance beyond the Yellow Mountain. The speed 
 of their march required bodies inured to the hardest service. The 
 last day they rode forty five miles, and then encountered a disci- 
 plined enemy posted on a high and advantageous position. Having 
 no baggage waggons nor public stores, every man was, from ne- 
 cessity, his own provider. 
 
 His fare was the plainest, the coarsest and the scarcest. His 
 resources of provision, like the Sedonian widow's, were " a hand- 
 full of meal." This placed in his saddle-bags, furnished the amount 
 of his luxury. And when it was exhausted he was left at the 
 mercy of fortune for the rest. 
 
 Their sick and wounded were hurried from the battle scene with 
 all imaginable speed to avoid the afsault of a pursuing enemy. 
 
 The softest accommodation that could be made ready for con- 
 veyance, was the fresh hides of the slaughtered cattle, fastened to 
 two poles ; these attached to two horses, one before and one behind, 
 and thus the sufferer carried off in safety. To specify particulars 
 would spin this narrative to a tedious prolixity Two instances 
 only will be here inserted. 
 
 Alexander McMillan rode all night preceding the action ; of 
 course was without sleep. The second night, that is, the night after 
 the action, he was attending with Henry Dickenson, to the wants 
 of James Laird and Charles Kilgore, the latter was shot with two 
 balls through the side, and the former with one, near the middle 
 These were constantly in want of water. Water was of very diffi- 
 cult procurement. And the effort to keep them in a constant sup- 
 ply, employed these men' with very little intermission, and without 
 allowing them a moment of rest. The next night Mr. McMillan 
 was on guard. Here were three nights without a wink of sleep. 
 The fourth night he was on guard every two hours, with intervals 
 of rest of the same length of time. 
 
 The guard stood so thick around the prisoners, as to be able to 
 touch each other hands by reaching. Here stood McMillan, firmly 
 braced, with his gun in his right hand resting upon the ground;
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 107 
 
 Some time in the night, Major Evan Shelby, going the rounds of 
 the watch to observe its order, comes to him and asks ; " where is 
 your gun ? " The latter supposing it to have fallen at his feet, 
 busily moved them without stooping down, in order to find it lying 
 beneath him. But not finding it there, he felt constrained to reply 
 to the unwelcome interrogatory, " really I cannot tell." 
 
 Shelby stepped aside, took it from a tree, against which it was 
 leaning, and handed it back to the owner, with these words ; " re- 
 member it is death to sleep on guard." McMillan acknowledged 
 that this was law, but added in apology, that he had been four 
 days deprived of sleep, from the above mentioned unavoidable 
 causes, Shelby rejoined: "you must sleep no more upon guard;" 
 but never divulged the secret. And for this generous forbearance 
 on the part of the inspecting officer, McMillan has ever since, cher- 
 ished for him a sense of high personal regard. Though he thinks 
 that if measures had been taken against him, and death adjudged 
 for neglect of duty, the circumstances of the case would have been 
 seen to urge so strong a plea in his own justification, as to secure 
 a reprieve from the designated punishment. 
 
 The day after Wm. Campbell was chosen to the command he pro- 
 posed to Robt. Campbell to lead off a detachment of men by night, 
 and fall upon a party of tories, eight miles distant. The offer was 
 gladly accepted, and a body of about eighty volunteers set off for 
 the attack. The tories had retreated, our party had no fighting; 
 they returned and rejoined the main body by daylight. The next 
 night Robert Campbell was on a similar expedition, under the com- 
 mand of another officer. 
 
 On the next night they began the above mentioned march of 45 
 miles, previous to the action. Here were three successive nights 
 and days of the hardest service, without a moment of sleep. The 
 next, he was requested to take charge of some part of the guard. 
 But he stated to the officer that this was impossible, from the above 
 mentioned incefsent vigils. He then sunk down by a tree and knew 
 nothing more till at daylight ; he woke shivering in the frost. Col. 
 Shelby that night being officer of the guard, was now seen with 
 others, sitting at the guard fire, Campbell arose, approached the fire, 
 and was presented by Shelby, with a bottle of rum for immediate 
 relief. He drank of this, sat down by the fire, and undoubtedly 
 felt the justice of the old Testament prescription; "Give strong 
 drink to him that is ready to perish and wine to those that be of 
 heavy hearts,"
 
 io8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 These two instances may perhaps suffice. For how can it be 
 requisite to give publicity here, even if the writers information 
 were adequate, to the individual suffering of the 60 wounded? 
 to tell of broken limbs and mangled bodies, of bullet holes through 
 the body, probed by a sympathizing fellow-soldier, with a smoothed 
 twig of sassafras, of mortification spreading from one limb to an- 
 other, of the want of all kinds of relief from a surgeon, when none 
 was present but a wrathful swearing British Doctor? to prove that 
 the privations and sufferings of these men were extreme? Nor 
 does it seem any more necefsary to specify cases of individual 
 valour. Two instances only of faltering courage have been men- 
 tioned to the writer, from Col. Shelby's division. One was of a 
 Captain lying flat upon his back in the beginning of the action. 
 Another was of a captain who exclaimed for bullets to a comrade, 
 who was passing him to go up the mountain. 
 
 " Bullets, bullets, my dear sir, I have not a bullet in my pouch." 
 "Here is enough of them," said, his friend reaching out a handful 
 to give him, " O, they will not fit my gun," said the other, who was 
 accordingly left to this bloodlefs dilemma. The rest of these men 
 were eager for action, and determined on victory, and seemed to 
 have answered well to the sentiment of their Commander, who told 
 them before leaving the waters of the Watauga, that he wanted no 
 man to join the enterprize, who did not wish to fight the enemy. 
 The troops of the other Cols, appear to have been actuated by a 
 similar spirit. 
 
 And the whole history of the enterprize demonstrates, that our 
 men were led to espouse it, not from a fear, that the enemy would 
 execute his vain threats upon their villages, For to these Moun- 
 taineers, nothing than such a scheme would have made prettier 
 game for their rifles ; nothing more desirable than to entice such an 
 enemy from his pleasant roads, rich plantations, and gentle climate, 
 with his ponderous baggage and valuable armory, into the very cen- 
 ter of their own fastnesses, to hang upon his flank, to pick up his 
 stragglers, to cut off his foragers, to make short and desperate sal- 
 lies upon his camp, and finally to make him a certain prey without a 
 struggle and without lofs. Nor was it the authority or influence of 
 a state, which led them to engage in this hazardous service. They 
 knew not whether to any or to what state they belonged. From the 
 rude circumstances of their early settlement, the difficulty of pass- 
 ing the wide ridges of Mountains, and their constant seclusion from 
 their eastern friends, they were living in a state of primitive inde- 
 pendence.
 
 The Pioneers of East Tennessee 109 
 
 And it was not till several years after this, that from the apparent 
 and urgent necessity of the case, they created a temporyry Gov- 
 ernment of their own.* Nor can it be expected, that that gratui- 
 tous patriotism, from which this enterprise evidently sprung, so 
 different from that of a paper victory, a scramble for office, & for 
 gain, can be fully comprehended by modern politicians. In those 
 days of different principles, to know that American liberty was in- 
 vaded, and that the only apperent alternative in the case, was Amer- 
 ican independence of subjugation, was enough to nerve their hearts 
 to the boldest pulsation of freedom, and ripen their purposes to 
 the fullest determination of putting down the aggressor. The suc- 
 cess at King's Mountain was fraught with signal adyantage to 
 America. It broke up the royal interest in the upper section of 
 Carolina. It enabled our Generals to concentrate their forces upon 
 great objects; and was one in that series of happy incidents, which 
 conspired in the progress of the next year, to consummate the 
 splendid achievement at Yorktown.- 
 
 NOTE BY THE REV. MR. FOSTER 
 
 The* original letter is written on foolscap ; the paper is 
 yellowed with age and very much worn, but the writing is 
 easily decipherable. It appears to have been corrected some 
 time after it was written. There is a peculiarity in the pen 
 work and the ink of the editor, however, which betrays him. 
 The above follows the original in spelling, punctuation, and 
 form in every way, as closely as I could determine it. I have 
 not thought it necessary to correct certain obvious errors in 
 this letter, evidently written some time after the event, into 
 which the writer has been betrayed by his uncertain mem- 
 ory. But it may be well to state that the place of the battle 
 was known as King's Mountain long before Ferguson's ar- 
 rival, and its name did not refer to the English monarch, 
 but to a settler named King who formerly lived at its foot. 
 
 C. T. B. 
 
 * The Frankland Government.
 
 PART III 
 KENTUCKY 
 
 I 
 Daniel Boone, the Greatest of the Pioneers
 
 DANIEL BOONE, THE GREATEST OF 
 THE PIONEERS 
 
 " A dirge for the brave old Pioneer! 
 
 Columbus of the land! 
 Who guided freedom's proud career 
 
 Beyond the conquered strand, 
 And gave her pilgrim sons a home 
 
 No monarch's step profanes, 
 Free as the chainless winds that roam 
 
 Upon its boundless plains." 
 
 I. The Land Beyond the Mountains 
 
 BEYOND the Alleghenies, so long the western 
 boundary of the new nation, lies a vast expanse 
 of country between the Ohio and the Cumberland 
 Rivers, cut by the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth paral- 
 lels of latitude, now known as Kentucky. No more 
 beautiful region is to be found in the United States. Its 
 soil is fertile and productive, its climate agreeable and 
 invigorating. It is to-day one of the most delightful 
 states in the Union, noted for the beauty of its women, 
 the virility of its men, and the speed of its horses to 
 say nothing of the blueness of its green grass and the 
 quality of its whiskey. One has to be genial and mellow 
 even in speaking of the state and its people. 
 
 Certainly no other spot on the globe seems to be 
 better designed for humanity, yet from the days of the 
 
 8 113
 
 H4 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 mound builders to the time of the Revolution it was an 
 uninhabited wilderness, given over to the buffalo, the 
 elk, the deer, the bear and the wolf, who prowled through 
 its dense forests or played in its grassy glades. From 
 prehistoric times no race or tribe made its domicile there. 
 Hunting parties of the Shawnees and even the distant 
 Iroquois from the north, ranged its wildernesses and met 
 in deadly conflict similar bodies of men from the Chero- 
 kee lands to the south, or from the Chickamauga terri- 
 tories on the west, so that its forests resounded often with 
 war-cries of savage foemen. 
 
 Why it was not adopted as the settling place of one 
 or the other of the tribes has never been ascertained. 
 It may be that no tribe felt itself strong enough to hold 
 the ground to the exclusion of the others. It was so 
 desirable that its very beauty and fertility operated to 
 make it no man's land. No tribe was strong enough to 
 hold it alone, yet all combined to keep it free. It was 
 not until the advent of that world-claimer, the white man, 
 that it became a home for humanity. Danger, opposi- 
 tion, prior claim, never deterred the pioneers. The first 
 settlers were usually willing to purchase the right of emi- 
 nent domain if they could do so from any recognized 
 authority or power, but if they could not well, the earth 
 itself belonged to the pioneer and he took any portion 
 of it without compunctions of conscience or questions 
 of law. 
 
 Who was the first white man to see Kentucky? Some 
 have said that it was Moscosco, the successor of De Soto, 
 in 1542-3, but without doubt the honor of the discovery 
 accrues to another member of the Latin race, the great 
 explorer La Salle, who was the first white man to put 
 foot upon its smiling, pleasant soil in 1669-70.
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 115 
 
 Colonel Wood of Virginia and Captain Thomas Batts 
 of the same mother state, the latter sent by Governor 
 Berkeley, had crossed the mountain barriers in a search 
 for a water route to China in 1664 and in 1671 respec- 
 tively, but it was hardly likely that they went far into 
 Kentucky, if they saw it at all. The first real explorer 
 was Dr. Thomas Walker, also of Virginia, who reached 
 the banks of the Cumberland River in 1750. It was he 
 who first marched through that romantic pass in the 
 mountains, which, with the mountains themselves, and 
 the river upon which he made his camp, he called after 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, the 
 bloody butcher; and that was the first white man's name 
 bestowed in Kentucky. It was indeed a name of ancient 
 lineage traced down through the Cumbrians of the Brit- 
 ish Isles, the Cymry of the continent, the Cimmerians 
 of the Black Sea, directly from Corner, son of Japhet ! 
 
 The Walker expedition amounted to little and the in- 
 terior of Kentucky remained a terra incognita until 1767, 
 or thereabouts, when a certain John Finley, or Findlay, 
 explored a small section of it and returned home to 
 North Carolina to fill the minds of the adventurous 
 young men with whom he came in contact, with tales 
 of its romantic possibilities. Among those to whom he 
 told the story of his adventures was a certain Daniel 
 Boone, a settler, farmer, hunter and pioneer, who had 
 already some knowledge of the country.* 
 
 * This inscription on an ancient beech tree still standing on Boone' s 
 Creek, a small tributary to the Watauga in Washington County, Tennessee, 
 " D. Boon cilled a bar on tree in the year 1760," seems to indicate that 
 Boone had hunted across the mountains long before he met Finley. But 
 there is no evidence that the inscription is the work of Boone, and, in spite 
 of local traditions, a probability against it.
 
 n6 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 II. The Greatest of the Pioneers 
 
 Few men have been so written about as Daniel 
 Boone* and most writers have succumbed to the temp- 
 tation to romance about him, too; he is quite the hardest 
 man to tell the truth about that I have ever attempted 
 to discuss. Let the reader who differs from what is here 
 set down give me credit for good intention. 
 
 The investigator experiences a feeling of relief to find 
 that Boone was born in the state of Pennsylvania. 
 Nearly every other pioneer, explorer, discoverer or ad- 
 venturer of note, in the trans-Allegheny regions, was born 
 in the South. It is only fair to say that the West between 
 the Alleghenies and the Mississippi was discovered, ex- 
 plored, settled, protected and won for the United States 
 by the people of the Southern States a fact not gener- 
 ally known, I think. Young Boone, one of a numerous 
 family, first saw the light on the 22nd of October, 1733, at 
 his father's farm-house in Exeter township, Berks County, 
 Pennsylvania, near the village of Oley, which is a few 
 miles northeast of the present city of Reading. His fath- 
 er, George Boone, came from Devonshire, where he had 
 filled the humble station of a weaver. The family origi- 
 nally belonged to the Church of England but had be- 
 come Quakers. They removed to Pennsylvania in 1717, 
 whither three of the older children preceded them, like 
 Caleb and Joshua, to spy out the land. 
 
 They were plain substantial people, of limited educa- 
 
 * Miner's excellent Boone Bibliography contains nearly one hundred 
 and seventy-five references to lives and other sources of information con- 
 cerning his career, and I have found several additional references which he 
 does not mention. *
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 117 
 
 tion; sturdy, honest, independent, and capable, living 
 simple healthy lives and usually attaining to a great age. 
 Daniel Boone's education in arts and letters was of the 
 most primitive character. His spelling was quite the 
 worst I have ever come across, though, singular to state, 
 his handwriting was rather graceful and flowing, perhaps 
 because it partook of the physical characteristics of the 
 man. His brother George was sufficiently well educated 
 to teach school, and some of the family subsequently be- 
 came rather noted mathematicians. 
 
 But if young Daniel Boone knew but little about 
 books and their contents, he was one of those who found 
 " tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons 
 in stones " yes, we may add " and good in every- 
 thing." It was a wild primitive country in those days. 
 The rifle of the hunter with the plough of the husbandman 
 afforded the only means of support, and more often the 
 hostile Indians caused the plough to be laid aside and the 
 sole dependence put upon the weapon. 
 
 So Daniel Boone grew up to strong vigorous man- 
 hood in the forest far from urban influence, which in- 
 deed he could never tolerate. His father moved to 
 North Carolina in May, 1750, and established himself on 
 a frontier farm on the Yadkin, then the very outpost 
 of civilization. Daniel, by this time, one of a very nu- 
 merous family, did his share of the work necessitated by 
 the building of a wilderness home in that day, but he was 
 ever fonder of the chase than of the plough, and as he was 
 the most skilful member of the family with the rifle, he 
 speedily became the hunter for them all. This indeed 
 was no sinecure. 
 
 In the course of time other families followed the ex- 
 ample of the elder Boone and the country began to be
 
 n8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 thickly populated. At a very early age Daniel had mar- 
 ried Rebecca Bryan, daughter of a neighboring settler. 
 One of the most heroic of that splendid breed of pioneer 
 women, she proved herself for over half a century a 
 worthy mate indeed for the great adventurer. Boone 
 had prospered, he had a growing family and a good farm, 
 yet he was not happy. Something, an instinct which he 
 could never explain or understand, drove him forward. 
 
 He was one of those characters who are bound to be 
 in the advance of civilization, who are made to lead it 
 on, to " blaze " the pathway of progress. He grew rest- 
 less and discontented. The advent of the settlers nat- 
 urally destroyed the primeval character of the wilderness. 
 Game became scarce and the ordinary demands of life 
 more complex and harder to meet. Nomad that he was 
 he felt that he must remove from his present settlement 
 and find a new land to which to lead his family and in 
 which to build his cabin. 
 
 Often and often he gazed at the mountains soaring 
 into the heavens to the westward of him and wondered 
 what lay on the farther side. When Finley came home 
 with his marvellous tales of the beauty and loneliness of 
 the hunter's paradise beyond the everlasting hills, he 
 found in Boone a ready auditor to his representations. 
 
 III. The Exploration of Kentucky 
 
 A party of six men was made up in the spring of 1769 
 to cross the mountains under Finley's guidance and ex- 
 plore the country. Be it remembered that this was Jo 
 be no thoughtless excursion, no adventurous foray, no 
 mere hunter's trip to a land teeming with game; it was 
 a movement to found a home. They went to examine
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 119 
 
 a land, to discover if it were suitable for settlement or 
 not. Boone was unanimously chosen to lead this expe- 
 dition in spite of the fact that Finley had been over the 
 mountains before. On the 7th of June, 1769, late in the 
 afternoon, they ascended the crowning range of the Alle- 
 ghenies, crossed the ridge of the divide, stood upon the 
 western slope and gazed down upon as enchanting a 
 panorama as was ever spread before mortal vision, their 
 first sight of Kentucky. 
 
 In popular acceptance that name is supposed to mean 
 " dark and bloody ground." So far as it can be deter- 
 mined the original meaning of the word Kentucky is " a 
 pleasant meadow, a smiling land, whence the river flows." 
 How it got its name of " dark and bloody ground " is 
 perhaps not difficult to understand. Some years after- 
 ward when Colonel Henderson was negotiating with the 
 Cherokees for the purchase of the Transylvania territory, 
 they strove to prevent him from acquiring any land south 
 of the Ohio. In the words of old Dragging Canoe, the 
 war chief of the Chickamaugas, it was a bloody land, 
 there was a gloomy shadow over it, the dark spirits dwelt 
 there, and the white man would do well to let it alone. 
 There was no doubt whatever that the words by which 
 it became known, " dark and bloody ground," were ap- 
 posite to its early history. 
 
 The party immediately descended the mountains and 
 began hunting and exploring until December. There- 
 after the better to cover the country they divided and 
 Boone and a companion named Stewart plunged steadily 
 westward through the forests and openings. Near the 
 Kentucky River they were captured by a band of wan- 
 dering Indians and spent Christmas as prisoners. Boone, 
 already showing that marvellous sagacity he manifested
 
 120 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 in dealing with Indians, seeing that resistance would be 
 hopeless, directed his companion to make no opposition 
 but to affect to acquiesce cheerfully in their captivity. 
 Their demeanor so disarmed the suspicions of their cap- 
 tors that after they had been in company with them for 
 a week they found opportunity to escape in the night. 
 
 They shook off pursuit by their adroit woodmanship 
 and finally reached the main camp. They found it plun- 
 dered and destroyed and Finley and his companions 
 gone. The four men have vanished from the pages of 
 history. There is no record of their ever having returned 
 to their friends across the mountains. It is believed that 
 they were killed by the Indians and that their bones moul- 
 dered away in the country that they had helped to dis- 
 cover the pioneer martyrs of a long line. 
 
 Boone and Stewart were sorely depressed by this un- 
 toward happening, but they continued their hunting and 
 exploring, carefully avoiding hunting parties of Indians 
 by their watchfulness. They had almost reached the end 
 of their resources, however, and were considering a re- 
 turn across the mountains, when, ranging through the 
 forest one day in the early winter, they perceived two 
 men coming through the wood, being themselves dis- 
 covered at the same moment. 
 
 The two parties took to the trees and approached 
 each other cautiously, rifles primed and ready, each striv- 
 ing to " draw a bead " on the other. What was their 
 surprise and relief, however, to find that the two men 
 were countrymen ! And their joy was the greater when 
 Daniel Boone recognized in one of them his brother 
 Squire Squire being his name, not title. 
 
 The coincidence was really marvellous, that in sixty 
 thousand square miles of territory, these two parties
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 
 
 should find each other. Squire had come to seek for 
 Daniel and had brought him needed supplies of powder 
 and salt. He brought news of the family on the Yadkin, 
 who were prosperous and well under Mrs. Boone's fos- 
 tering care. The four men determined to pass the win- 
 ter in Kentucky. 
 
 While hunting one day Daniel and Stewart were sur- 
 prised by Indians. Stewart was shot and instantly killed, 
 but Boone after a desperate fight managed to escape. 
 Squire's companion also went off on a hunting expedi- 
 tion and never came back. It is supposed that he lost 
 his way and died of starvation or exposure. 
 
 The brothers amassed a great store of peltries of much 
 value. In the spring it was decided that Squire should 
 return to North Carolina for supplies, while Daniel re- 
 mained behind to protect the furs that had accumulated 
 and to increase the stock. The redoubtable hunter was 
 thus left entirely and absolutely alone in the midst of that 
 vast territory; as he said, " without salt, bread, or sugar; 
 without the society of a fellow creature; without the 
 companionship of a horse or even a dog, often the affec- 
 tionate companion of a lone hunter." 
 
 He was desperately lonely and homesick for the sight 
 of his wife and children. Impelled by this loneliness to 
 action he made a long detour of exploration in the south- 
 west along the Salt and Green Rivers. He saw frequent 
 signs of Indians and was often forced to hide himself in 
 the cane brakes without fire to escape their observation. 
 
 On the 2/th of July, 1770, his brother returned and 
 they met at the old camp on the Red River. His brother 
 brought with him ammunition and necessaries and two 
 horses, perhaps the first horses ever ridden by a white 
 man in Kentucky. The two men explored the country
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 between the Cumberland and Green Rivers thoroughly 
 during the year until March, 1771, when they turned 
 northwest to the Kentucky River, where they decided to 
 form their permanent settlement. Packing as much of 
 their skins as their horses could carry they returned to 
 the settlement on the Yadkin. 
 
 There is a story that the two men fell in with another 
 body of hunters called, from the duration of their stay in 
 Kentucky, the Long Hunters, and that the party be- 
 guiled the long hours of the evenings in the camp by 
 reading aloud " Gulliver's Travels," which, with the pos- 
 sible exception of the Bible, was the first English book 
 read in the territory. Some of the names in the book 
 still obtain in the state, as for instance, " Lulbegrud " 
 Creek ! 
 
 Daniel Boone had been absent over two years, during 
 which time he had tasted neither bread nor salt nor seen 
 any white men other than his travelling companions, who 
 had all perished, except his brother, and the Indians. 
 Meanwhile other parties of hunters had been exploring 
 different portions of the country, mostly in the valley of 
 the Cumberland, and at the same time Robertson and his 
 North Carolinians were making the first settlement on 
 the Watauga in the mountains of Tennessee. 
 
 IV. The Settlement of Kentucky 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1773, Boone, having dis- 
 posed of all his earthly goods save what could be loaded 
 upon pack-horses, accompanied by his family and that 
 of his brother Squire and several other families amount- 
 ing in all to some fifty persons, set forth for Kentucky. 
 It was a small humble cavalcade, a petty insignificant
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 123 
 
 migration, yet it marks a momentous date in history, for 
 it was the inauguration of " a movement for the annihi- 
 lation of savagery, the extinction of the Latin and the 
 supremacy of the Teutonic civilization in North America, 
 parallel to that rolling westward from New England, New 
 York, and Pennsylvania, at the same time." 
 
 It, with the settlement of Robertson on the Watauga, 
 was the beginning of that great drama of our history 
 which has been described in poetic language as " the 
 winning of the west." Many people played a prominent 
 part in it, but certainly Daniel Boone must stand more 
 nearly as the Columbus of the movement than any other 
 man. But it was to be some years before he established 
 himself and family in that promised land. As they ap- 
 proached the mountains a party of Indians fell upon their 
 rear guard and killed six young men, among whom was 
 Boone's eldest son. Alas, it was only the beginning of 
 tragedies that dogged his family, for the Indians at one 
 time or another made sad havoc among his kith and 
 kin.* 
 
 The unfortunate incident so discouraged the pioneers 
 that, in spite of Boone's urging, they gave over the at- 
 tempt and settled on the Clinch River in Virginia. 
 Boone's heart was in Kentucky, however, and he made 
 several visits there, one to bring back a party of surveyors 
 who had gone there by the order of Lord Dunmore, the 
 royal governor of Virginia. 
 
 Boone was commissioned a captain in the royal service 
 in Dunmore's War and had command of three frontier 
 forts, where he did good service. He always carefully 
 preserved his British commission thereafter, and it is 
 
 *Two sons, a brother, two brothers-in-law, and other relatives were 
 killed by Indians at different times.
 
 J24 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 alleged frequently saved his life when he was captured 
 by the Indians, who were the allies of the British, by 
 exhibiting it as proof of his loyalty, a perfectly justifiable 
 stratagem, of course. 
 
 In 1775 he was sent by Colonel Richard Henderson 
 of North Carolina, who had formed a proprietary com- 
 pany and purchased a vast tract of land between the Ken- 
 tucky and Cumberland Rivers, which he called Transyl- 
 vania, to survey a road to the Kentucky River and estab- 
 lish a fort there which should be the head-quarters of the 
 company. At the head of a small party of some twenty 
 men, Boone again entered the promised land. 
 
 It speaks well for the natural skill of the man as a road 
 builder when we learn that the path he marked out over 
 the mountains and up through the valleys remains a great 
 highway to-day, and that subsequent generations spent 
 thousands of dollars under the direction of skilled engi- 
 neers on that very " Wilderness Road, " which for loca- 
 tion they found could hardly be improved upon. Here 
 is a letter written twenty one years after to General 
 Shelby about that same road : 
 
 Feburey the nth, 1796. 
 Sir: 
 
 After my Best Respts to your Excelancy and famyly 
 I wish to inform you that I have sum intention of under- 
 taking this New Rode that is to be Cut through the wil- 
 derness and I think My Self intitled to the ofer of the 
 Bisness as I first Marked out that Rode in March 1775 
 and Never Re'd anything for my trubel and Sepose I 
 am no Statesman I am a Woodsman and think My Self 
 as Capable of Marking and Cutting that Rode as any 
 other man. Sir if you think with Me I would thank you 
 to write mee a Line by the post the first oportuneaty 
 and he Will Lodge it at Mr. John Milerson hinkston
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 125 
 
 fork as I wish to know Where and When it is to be Laet 
 (let) So that I may atend at the time 
 
 I am Deer Sir your very umble sarvent 
 
 DANIEL BOONE 
 To his Excelancy governor Shelby 
 
 This interesting document proves conclusively that 
 Boone was more familiar with the rifle than the pen. 
 
 The party fought its way up through the Indians, los- 
 ing several killed on the journey. They arrived at the 
 chosen point on the ist of April and on the 2Qth of the 
 month, having been joined by Henderson and other pro- 
 prietors, they began the erection of a rude fort which 
 they called in honor of their leader Boonesborough. The 
 fort was begun after the Battle of Lexington and com- 
 pleted just before the Battle of Bunker Hill, two mo- 
 mentous events of which the colonists were in ignorance 
 for a long time. When they did hear the news, however, 
 their rejoicings showed their American patriotism was 
 above proof. 
 
 The fort, plans of which remain to us, was a very curi- 
 ous one, although all frontier forts, except in dimensions, 
 exactly resembled it. It was situated on the side of a 
 hill with one corner quite near the river. At each of 
 the four corners there was a two story blockhouse, and 
 along the sides of the fort a series of little cabins placed 
 close together, their roofs slanting inward. The loop- 
 holed cabin walls, with the palisades which filled up the 
 spaces where there were no cabins near each of the block- 
 houses, enclosed a space two hundred and sixty feet long 
 by one hundred and fifty wide. There were heavy timber 
 gates in the front and back. The walls were about 
 twelve feet high and there was hardly a nail or a piece of 
 iron used in the whole enclosure.
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Here, in the same year, Boone brought his wife and 
 family; and, on the 8th of September, Rebecca Boone 
 and her daughters were the first white women to stand 
 on the banks of the Kentucky. They were followed 
 
 i. STOCKADCS. 
 3. CABIHS. 
 * CATS. 
 5. COOK House. 
 
 Plan and Perspective View of Boonesborough. 
 
 shortly after, however, by other families who settled at 
 Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and elsewhere, in similar 
 forts throughout the territory. 
 
 Thus the settlement of Kentucky was begun, but it was 
 not maintained for many years without hardship and loss
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 127 
 
 of life incredible. In thirteen years hundreds of men 
 and women were killed by Indians. To their natural 
 ferocity and their overwhelming desire to clear the prized 
 hunting ground of settlers, there was added the encour- 
 agement of the British government, which was entirely 
 willing to let loose upon its rebellious subjects the horde 
 of savages and as a definite evidence of its desires paid 
 liberally for the white man's or white woman's for that 
 matter scalp. Hamilton, the British Governor of De- 
 troit. " the hair-buyer general, " was the prime mover in 
 this situation. 
 
 It goes without saying that the colonists were rebels 
 to a man, and it is interesting to know that on Tuesday, 
 May 23rd, 1775, at the instance of Colonel Henderson, 
 President of the Transylvania Company, a representative 
 government was established at Boonesborough, Daniel 
 Boone being one of the legislators. 
 
 It is characteristic of Boone that in the record of in- 
 troduced bills he seems to have originated but two bills, 
 one to preserve the game, the other to improve the breed 
 of horses. There speaks .the Kentucky hunter and 
 sportsman! Both bills were passed, as was another to 
 prevent " profane swearing," introduced by the Rev. 
 John Lythe, a clergyman of the Church of England, 
 who, on Sunday the 28th of May, under the spreading 
 branches of a grand old elm, in the words of that most 
 ancient liturgy, held the first religious services within the 
 state. 
 
 V. Adventures with the Indians 
 
 Boonesborough was twice attacked by bodies of Ind- 
 ians, but the war parties were driven off with considerable
 
 J28 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 loss to themselves and but little loss to the garrison. 
 The prevalence of war parties often prevented the settlers 
 from making a crop and they were forced to live mainly 
 by the chase. Boone was easily the best shot and the 
 keenest hunter in the settlement. This and other quali- 
 ties gave him the practical leadership of all expeditions, 
 although the proprietors were sometimes present. 
 
 On Sunday, July I4th, 1776, three young girls, the 
 eldest Elizabeth Callaway, aged seventeen, her sister 
 Frances, and Jemima Boone, just turned fourteen, rowed 
 across the river in a canoe during the absence of Boone 
 and Colonel Callaway, another of the fine spirits of the 
 period. When they reached the other side the canoe 
 grounded on a bar and one of a party of six Indians, who 
 had come close to the fort unobserved, seized the bow 
 of the boat, dragged it to land, and the girls were capt- 
 ured. With the spirit of the pioneer women, Elizabeth 
 Callaway attacked the Indians with her canoe paddle and 
 severely wounded one of them in the head. The other 
 two girls also offered a stout resistance, which of course 
 availed nothing. 
 
 The Indians, elated by the capture, which they rightly 
 judged to be of importance, hurried their captives away 
 from the fort. They strove to get the girls to put on 
 moccasins in order that the betraying tracks of their 
 shoes should not indicate their route in the pursuit which 
 was certain to be made, but Elizabeth Callaway resisted 
 so that they were forced to let her have her own way, 
 and to trust to the rapidity of their movements to effect 
 their escape. 
 
 The girls, by the intrepid Elizabeth's direction, blazed 
 their trail by breaking twigs from the trees as they passed, 
 and when they were discovered and prohibited, tore their
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 119 
 
 dresses into bits and dropped pieces at intervals. Boone 
 and Callaway came back to the fort that evening, when 
 the girls were missed. 
 
 Many of the men were still away hunting and it would 
 not have been safe to deprive the fort of all means of 
 resistance. Two parties were organized at once, com- 
 prising some twenty men. Seven of them went with 
 Boone, who easily caught the trail of the Indians. 
 Among them was young Henderson, son of the proprie- 
 tor, who was in love with Elizabeth Callaway, who shortly 
 afterward married him, while strangely enough, two of 
 the other men in the party afterward married the two 
 other girls when they had reached what was then con- 
 sidered a suitable age. Women were scarce in Ken- 
 tucky and the available ones never lacked for lovers and 
 attention. 
 
 Guided by the traces left by the girls, the party pur- 
 sued the Indians with furious speed, and came upon them 
 encamped in fancied security the second day. How to 
 effect the recapture of the girls without giving the Ind- 
 ians time to kill them was something of a problem. 
 Boone and Henderson finally crawled as near the camp 
 as they dared, and when four of the others fired on the 
 unsuspicious Indians, they dashed upon them, placed 
 themselves between the girls and the camp and immedi- 
 ately opened fire, each shooting his man as he ran. The 
 Indians fled precipitately and the girls were saved. In 
 the excitement of the little battle, so an ancient account 
 says, one of the rescuers, mistaking Elizabeth Callaway, 
 who was very dark and sat at the foot of the tree with a 
 handkerchief bound around her head, for an Indian, lifted 
 his gun butt to beat out her brains before he recognized 
 her.
 
 130 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 A few weeks after there was a wedding in the stockade 
 between the dusky Elizabeth and young Henderson, 
 Squire Boone, who is reputed to have been an elder in 
 the church, performing the ceremony. This was the first 
 marriage solemnized in Kentucky. 
 
 Boone was many times in danger from Indians. In 
 1777 his life was saved by the famous pioneer Simon 
 Kenton. Several men in the fields near Boonesborough, 
 attacked by a party of Indians, ran toward the fort, one 
 of them being killed and scalped by the way, and their 
 cries led Boone to sally out to their relief with thirteen 
 men. He charged impetuously upon the Indians and 
 was met by a fire from a concealed party. With six of 
 his men he was wounded by a bullet, and as he lay on 
 the ground one of the Indians attempted to scalp him. 
 Kenton shot the Indian dead, lifted Boone in his arms 
 and with the rest of his party succeeded in gaining the 
 fort. Boone was very taciturn, silent and quiet, as one 
 who had spent much time in self-communion in the wil- 
 derness. In a few brief, unemotional words, which yet 
 meant more than a volume from another man, he thanked 
 Kenton for his assistance. 
 
 " Well, Simon, you have behaved yourself like a man 
 to-day," he said, " indeed you are a fine fellow." 
 
 On one occasion while out hunting he was captured 
 by a party, who bound him with withes and left him on 
 the ground in the care of some squaws, who proceeded 
 to get very drunk on the contents of Boone's whiskey 
 bottle. It must have been a very large bottle or con- 
 tained an unusual quality of whiskey. During the night 
 Boone rolled over to the fire, held his hands in the flames 
 until the bonds were burned and made his escape, first 
 blazing a tree with three deep gashes to mark the place.
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 
 
 Years after he found the gashed tree and settled a boun- 
 dary dispute by his identification of the landmark. 
 
 While hunting with his brother Edward near the Blue 
 Licks, his brother was shot dead and again Boone fled 
 for his life. The Indians followed his trail with a dog. 
 The hound and the leading savage were close upon him, 
 one of them only was at his mercy. He wisely shot the 
 dog and escaped. 
 
 The record of his many adventures would fill a volume. 
 His longest captivity, however, occurred in January, 
 1773. A great need of the colonists was salt. It was 
 impracticable to bring it from the seaboard over the 
 mountains, and the only way they could get it was by 
 boiling the water from the salt springs, or " licks " as 
 they were called, from the practice of the wild animals 
 in licking the rocks of the ground for the salt with which 
 they were impregnated. 
 
 With a party of thirty men Boone was engaged in this 
 tedious but very necessary occupation. As usual he left 
 the work to his subordinates while he hunted to provide 
 game for the party. While hunting he was taken by a 
 large party of Indians en route for Boonesborough, 
 which they were by this time determined to capture. 
 The garrison at Boonesborough, small at best, was great- 
 ly weakened by the absence of this party, and as they 
 could capture Boone and his companions and then fall 
 upon the stockade there would be no doubt but that they 
 would take it with the women and children. 
 
 Boone affected to be delighted with his capture. He 
 said that he and his companions had left Boonesborough 
 for good, that they sympathized with the Indians and 
 were quite willing to go along with them perhaps here 
 he exhibited his British commission. He adroitly warned
 
 132 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 them at the same time that Boonesborough was heavily 
 re-enforced with Americans, who had in fact driven these 
 British sympathizers away. 
 
 The Indians, who easily captured the rest of the party, 
 were delighted with their prisoners, who had surrendered 
 by Boone's advice; and, moved by his representations, 
 abandoned their efforts and returned across the Ohio to 
 their own country with their prisoners. Boone's readi- 
 ness undoubtedly saved the women and children from the 
 horrible fate of the Indian captive. His men were scat- 
 tered among the tribes but were in the main well treated, 
 and most of them finally escaped after varying periods 
 of captivity. 
 
 There seems to have been a singular difference be- 
 tween the Indians of that day and place and our modern 
 savages. Black Fish, the head chief of the Shawnees, 
 and a warrior of no mean prowess, claimed Boone as his 
 personal prisoner, and finally adopted him into his family, 
 renaming him Big Turtle. Boone was separated from 
 his men and taken to Detroit, where Hamilton, to his 
 great credit be it said, treated him kindly and even offered 
 to buy his freedom from the Indians for one hundred 
 pounds. Black Fish was so charmed with his prisoner 
 that he refused to part with him for any sum, and indeed 
 Boone refused to be bought so far as he had anything 
 to say about it, because he did not wish to be under any 
 obligations of that sort to the British, especially as it 
 might prevent his escape. 
 
 The Indians left Detroit in the spring and returned 
 south to their own country, again taking Boone with 
 them. He became a great favorite with all the tribe, and 
 as usual was the hunter upon whom they depended. 
 They used to count the charges of powder and the num-
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 133 
 
 her of balls which he took with him on his hunting 
 expeditions and when he returned he had to account for 
 every charge and ball. In other words, he had to bring 
 back game or bullets. They made no provision for a 
 miss, which spoke eloquently of their opinion of his 
 marksmanship. But Boone adroitly used only half 
 charges of powder and split the bullets, trusting to his 
 skill in stalking the game to bring him near enough to 
 make a small charge do the work. By degrees he man- 
 aged to accumulate a little ammunition this way. 
 
 The Shawnees were very busy at the time and he 
 learned, in spite of their efforts at secrecy, that they were 
 mustering in great force for an attack on Boonesbor- 
 ough, which they hoped to capture in his absence. Fear- 
 fully anxious for his family and others he sought desper- 
 ately for means of escape, and finally succeeded in getting 
 away on the i6th of June, and in four days he traversed 
 the distance between the Indian village and Boonesbor- 
 ough, over one hundred and fifty miles, during which 
 time he only had a single meal. Part of the time he 
 was on horseback, it is alleged. He was not a good 
 swimmer. When he came to the Ohio he found a de- 
 serted canoe on the banks which enabled him to cross 
 the wide swift river. When the starved exhausted 
 woodsman reached Boonesborough he was received with 
 rejoicings as one risen from the dead. His wife, deem- 
 ing that he had been killed, had gone back to North Car- 
 olina with her children.
 
 134 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 VI. The Defence of Boonesborough 
 
 The fort, which had fallen out of repair, was at once 
 put in shape for defence when the news that he had 
 brought became known. Boone naturally took charge 
 of everything. Hoping that he might deter the Indians 
 from coming, or stop their advance, while the rest were 
 busily engaged in working on the stockade he led a party 
 of twenty men to the Scioto River, where he encountered 
 a larger force of Indians, defeated them and drove them 
 back. But learning that the main body was already en 
 route for the fort Boone and his companions retraced 
 their steps, succeeded in passing the Indians and reached 
 Boonesborough in safety, after a terrific march, just be- 
 fore the savages appeared. 
 
 The party entered the fort shortly before sunset, Sun- 
 day, September 6th, and that night the Indians appeared 
 on the other side of the river and the next morning they 
 crossed without opposition and invested the fort. The 
 Indians were not alone, however, for they were accom- 
 panied by eleven French Canadians under a young cap- 
 tain, whose name was Dagniaux de Quindre, although 
 he is usually referred to in the histories as Du Quesne, 
 and one extravagant romancer actually identifies him 
 with the family of the great marquis for whom the cele- 
 brated fort was named ! The party advanced under the 
 French and English flags, strange to say. The real com- 
 mander of the expedition, which numbered four hundred 
 and forty-four Indians beside the Canadians, was Boone's 
 adopted father Black Fish, very much cut up at his 
 quondam son's desertion and defection. 
 
 Contrary to their usual practice, instead of at once be-
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 135 
 
 ginning an attack, the Indians through de Quindre pro- 
 posed a parley, in which the surrender of the fort was 
 demanded under promises of kind treatment and so forth. 
 Boone's conduct in his late captivity inspired them with 
 the hope that they could effect their end without resist- 
 ance. The wily hunter asked for two days to consider, 
 which was at once granted by the unsuspecting allies, 
 who carried their complaisance so far that when the cattle 
 of the settlers, returning in the evening as was their wont, 
 presented themselves before the gate the Indians made 
 no objection to their entrance. 
 
 Meanwhile the people in the fort, amounting to thirty 
 men, twenty boys, and the women and children, worked 
 like beavers, strengthening the palisades and getting a 
 supply of water from a spring outside. It is a strange 
 thing that almost every fort that was erected in Kentucky 
 was forced to get its water from some external source. 
 At the end of two days, their preparations having been 
 completed, Boone calmly informed the Frenchman that 
 under no circumstances would he surrender and at the 
 same time thanked the besiegers for allowing him time 
 to complete his preparations for defence. 
 
 Discomfited by this unlooked-for check to their hopes, 
 they did not yet abandon their endeavors for a further 
 treaty. Boone was very anxious to gain time. Ex- 
 presses had been sent to Virginia and North Carolina 
 asking that troops be despatched to aid them and raise 
 the siege. The longer he waited the more was the like- 
 lihood of their arrival. He therefore consented to a fur- 
 ther discussion of the question of surrender. 
 
 The next day was appointed for a council. Nine 
 Americans were to meet a party of Indians and Cana- 
 dians, all unarmed, outside the walls of the fort. Boone
 
 136 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 stationed a number of his best riflemen in the block-house 
 nearest the meeting-place with instructions to fire upon 
 the Indians should any treachery be manifested. 
 
 The nine Americans, among whom were Boone and 
 his brother, secure in this protection, held a grand pow- 
 wow with the Canadian and Indian delegates, who were 
 present in considerably greater numbers at the treaty 
 place between the fort and the Indian encampment. A 
 singular treaty of peace, hard to understand from the 
 meagre accounts which have come down to us, was pro- 
 posed, to which the Americans agreed. After the matter 
 had been apparently amicably settled de Quindre and 
 his allies thought that nothing remained to them but to 
 take possession of the post; but before they parted they 
 proposed that the treaty should be ratified by a general 
 handshaking. This request was acceded to by Boone, 
 who, to tell the truth, does not seem to have shone as 
 a diplomatist. Instead of shaking hands singly two 
 Indians at once endeavored to grasp the hands of each 
 American, and as soon as the savages seized the pioneers 
 they started to drag them toward the Indian camp. 
 
 But they reckoned without their hosts. If Boone was 
 little of a negotiator he was much of a fighter. Shout- 
 ing to his men he jerked himself free from the two who 
 held him and struck out right and left with his fists, in 
 the good old Anglo-Saxon style, a way the Indians knew 
 nothing of. His example was followed by his compan- 
 ions and the whole party ran for the fort pursued by the 
 Indians. At the same time the rest of the savages who 
 had not attended the council ran from their camp by the 
 river bank and opened fire; but a steady and well-di- 
 rected fire from the block-house killed a number of the 
 pursuers and enabled Boone and his men to reach the
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 137 
 
 gate in safety with no one killed, though Squire Boone 
 was severely wounded. 
 
 Concealment and pretence were now at an end. The 
 Indians poured a furious fire upon the fort, which was 
 returned with deadly effect by the Kentuckians. A ren- 
 egade negro slave who had stolen an extra long-range 
 rifle amused himself by ascending a tall tree and from 
 there picking off the exposed garrison. Boone by an 
 extraordinary shot brought him down. 
 
 The Indians besieged the fort for nine days, using 
 every stratagem and artifice of which they were capable 
 to effect the capture, and finally resorted to the unheard- 
 of expedient of attempting to undermine the stockade. 
 Their endeavor was detected by the great quantities of 
 mud which they threw in the river and Boone at once 
 began a countermine. 
 
 Tradition has it that much rude banter was exchanged 
 between the combatants. " ' What are you red rascals 
 doing there? ' an old hunter would yell in Shawnese 
 from the battery to the unseen Indians on the river bank 
 below. ' Digging,' would be the return yell. ' Blow 
 you all to deveil soon; what you do? ' ' Oh ! ' would be 
 the cheerful reply, ' we're digging to meet you and in- 
 tend to bury five hundred of you.' ' 
 
 The little garrison was constantly on the walls, its 
 efforts being seconded by those of the women, who 
 moulded bullets, loaded rifles, and in many instances even 
 joined in the actual fighting, when one face or the other 
 was assaulted. On one occasion the Indians set fire to 
 the roofs of the cabins with blazing arrows and torches, 
 but a fortunate rain which had saturated the logs pre- 
 vented the spread of the fires and saved the fort. 
 
 The rain flooded the badly constructed mine the be-
 
 138 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 siegers had made, the bank caved in, and their whole 
 work was ruined just as they had carried it within striking 
 distance of the gate. In utter discouragement they 
 raised the siege on the i6th of September and retired, 
 having sustained a very heavy loss. Exactly what, how- 
 ever, is not known, although the Kentuckians counted 
 at least thirty-seven killed outright beside many wound- 
 ed. Two of the defenders had been killed and four were 
 wounded. 
 
 So furious had been the fire that after the battle they 
 picked up one hundred and twenty-seven pounds of lead 
 bullets from the ground around the fort, and this takes 
 no account of the vast number which had buried them- 
 selves harmlessly in the trunks of the trees. The gal- 
 lant defence undoubtedly saved the fort from being over- 
 whelmed and the settlement wiped out at this juncture. 
 Indeed it may be said to have saved Kentucky, and the 
 sturdy little band of backwoodsmen desperately defend- 
 ing the fort in the wilderness deserve as well of their 
 country as the men of Bunker Hill and Valley Forge. 
 
 VII. The Last Battle of the Revolution 
 
 After the repulse of the Indians from Boonesborough 
 Boone, who was a major in the county militia, was 
 promptly brought to trial before a court-martial, first for 
 surrendering at the Salt Licks, and second for the par- 
 leying and treaty ing at the fort. He was immediately 
 acquitted, being able to show that the motive for his 
 actions had been the protection of the settlement and 
 had resulted for the best in both cases, and he was at 
 once promoted in rank to a lieutenant-colonel. Here- 
 after he is invariably styled Colonel Boone.
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 139 
 
 The disastrous repulse of the Indians and the spring- 
 ing up of other stations nearer the Ohio combined to 
 render Boonesborough secure from any further attacks. 
 The fort was still maintained, but the constantly increas- 
 ing number of settlers flowed out of its constricted area 
 and built their cabins in its vicinity. Soon a thriving 
 town grew up around the battle-scarred enclosure and 
 then Boone, who had gone to North Carolina and 
 brought his family back to Kentucky, felt it necessary 
 to move on. 
 
 Abandoning his land claim, to which, indeed, he found 
 through some carelessness he had no complete title, and 
 having lost nearly all his movable property by robbery, 
 he moved across the Kentucky River and settled in the 
 wilderness again at a place which he called Boone's Sta- 
 tion, another small frontier fort where he resumed his 
 occupation of hunting and trading. 
 
 On the 1 6th of August, 1782, a mounted messenger 
 came dashing up to the station, his horse in a lather of 
 foam, carrying the news that Bryan's Station, a very im- 
 portant point further westward and five miles from the 
 present city of Lexington, had been attacked by an over- 
 whelming force of Indians and white men, and that the 
 place was in desperate straits. Boone himself happened 
 to be at Boonesborough at the time, but the men at the 
 station immediately mounted their horses and galloped 
 to the succor of their brethren. 
 
 Meanwhile the messenger was despatched to Boone 
 and the next day found the old pioneer on the march 
 with all the men of the vicinity to the relief of Bryan's 
 Station. The siege there had been raised by as desperate 
 a defence as was ever exhibited in a frontier fort, when 
 the rescuing parties arrived. Messengers had been sent
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 in all directions and on the evening of Saturday, August 
 1 7th, pioneers to the number of one hundred and eighty- 
 two had assembled at Bryan's Station, and several hun- 
 dred men under the command of Colonel Benjamin 
 Logan were hourly expected. 
 
 There was a great preponderance of officers among 
 the men already at the station, and long and anxious 
 were the councils which were held to determine their 
 course. It was a principle of border warfare that no 
 savage foray should be allowed to go unpunished, al- 
 though it was known that the allies, who were com- 
 manded by Campbell and McKee, renegades from the 
 American cause with the infamous Simon Girty and a 
 large party of Wyandottes, among the fiercest warriors 
 on the continent, greatly outnumbered the Kentuckians, 
 and it was finally determined to pursue them at once, 
 without waiting for the advent of Logan. 
 
 Early on the next morning the party, consisting of 
 horse and foot under the command of Colonels John 
 Todd, Stephen Trigg, and Daniel Boone, set forth. The 
 Indians and Canadians had marched very deliberately 
 and had taken particular care that their trail should be 
 easily followed, even to the extent of blazing it, by gash- 
 ing the trees as they passed. This itself was a very seri- 
 ous indication, but the backwoodsmen were indifferent 
 to odds and the Kentuckians dashed on rapidly, so rapid- 
 ly that they marched thirty-three miles the first day. In 
 the two days that had elapsed the allies had marched 
 thirty-eight miles, so that the two forces encamped for 
 the night but five miles from one another. 
 
 The next morning they took up the march again and 
 in a short time came to the Licking River, a stream 
 easily fordable, at a place called Blue Licks, one of the
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 
 
 salt springs which from time immemorial had been the 
 haunt of the buffalo and deer. The river here makes a 
 loop enclosing a piece of land shaped like a sugar-bowl. 
 The trail, a buffalo "trace," led straight across the river 
 and up an open ridge, the sides of which were heavily 
 timbered, and cut by ravines running at right angles to 
 the ridge. It was the place where Boone had been capt- 
 ured when with the salt party years before. With that 
 wonderful topographical instinct which had enabled him 
 to find his way in the densest wilderness, every detail 
 of the position was fresh in his memory. 
 
 A few Indians were seen on the other side of the river 
 upon the ridge. As the Kentuckians approached them 
 they leisurely disappeared. A party of scouts was sent 
 forward but found nothing. Their inspection must have 
 been perfunctory, for the woods and ravines were filled 
 with Canadians and Indians in ambush, waiting just such 
 an opportunity as this. There was something very sus- 
 picious about the whole situation, however, and the place 
 was so dangerous that the assemblage was halted while 
 a council of war was held. 
 
 Boone, as the most experienced Indian fighter and as 
 the man of the highest importance among them, was 
 asked for his opinion. He pointed out that the situation 
 was grave indeed. He felt certain that the Indians were 
 ambushed on the other side of the river, and that the 
 Kentuckians should at once select a defensive position 
 on their own side and hold it until the arrival of Colonel 
 Logan and his men. Only a man of Boone's courage 
 could have offered such counsel and their only salvation, 
 as it happened, would have been in its acceptance. But 
 with all his reputation and powers Boone does not seem 
 to have been a leader of men. His prowess was individ-
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ual and his reputation likewise, so his counsel was disre- 
 garded by the majority and it was determined to attack. 
 
 Boone then proposed that a party should be detached 
 to march secretly up the river and fall upon the rear of the 
 Indians and Canadians, at a prearranged signal, while the 
 main attack was delivered in front. While this dangerous 
 proposition was being discussed, for there was enough 
 military talent among the allies to have enabled them to 
 overwhelm one detachment before the other arrived, if 
 the manoeuvre were detected, which would almost cer- 
 tainly happen, a Major McGary, a man of headlong and 
 impetuous valor, but without discretion, disgusted with 
 the apparent hesitation of the Kentuckians, and, as he 
 states, chafing under the taunt of cowardice which had 
 been flung at him the day before when he had suggested 
 waiting for Logan, suddenly broke up the council, after 
 much bickering, by turning his horse to the ford of the 
 river and dashing across it shouting, " Let all who are 
 not cowards follow me ! " 
 
 It was one of those foolish appeals which always pro- 
 duce disaster and the consequences of which are usually 
 terrible. Large parties of the men immediately broke 
 after McGary and the wiser and older officers found 
 themselves committed to a course of action entirely at 
 variance with their knowledge and experience. McGary 
 ought to have been shot by someone before he entered 
 the river, but the authority of the officers was of a very in- 
 definite character. The men were all equals and they 
 obeyed just about as it pleased them, or nearly so. 
 There was nothing for Boone, the Todd brothers, Trigg, 
 Harlan, and the rest, to do but follow and endeavor to 
 restore such order as they could in the mob into which 
 their men had degenerated.
 
 tJD 
 
 <u
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 143 
 
 The force passed the river unmolested, and advanced 
 up the broad buffalo trail toward the top of the ridge. 
 Some semblance of order was restored as they pro- 
 gressed. McGary led the advance party of twenty-five 
 men, Trigg took command of the right, Boone of the 
 left, and Todd of the centre. Preferring to fight on foot 
 a majority of the troops dismounted and left their horses 
 on the bank. The bare ridge was about three hundred 
 and fifty feet long and the thin attenuated line barely 
 covered it. As they approached the top a rifle shot rang 
 out, followed by a stunning volley. Of the twenty-five 
 men in the advance twenty-three were instantly shot 
 down, McGary being one of the two who escaped. Fate 
 must have been asleep at that moment, for if ever a man 
 deserved death it was he. 
 
 Following the first volley the Canadians appeared in 
 force on the ridge, while on either flank the Indians 
 opened a deadly fire from the ravines. The Kentuckians 
 stood to their ground manfully and returned the fire, in- 
 flicting quite a heavy loss, but in an instant the open was 
 black with men. Boone and his men, however, advanced 
 gallantly and drove the Indians back on the left, but only 
 temporarily. The Indians, especially the Wyandottes, 
 were as fearless and as reckless as the Iroquois, and after 
 the first volleys they came bursting through the smoke 
 tomahawk in hand. 
 
 The Kentuckians with unloaded rifles and knives were 
 no match for the Indians with tomahawks, especially 
 when outnumbered three to one. Nearly every officer 
 of rank was instantly killed. The Indians overwhelmed 
 the right wing and extended their lines around that flank, 
 the centre then gave back before the tremendous press- 
 ure and the advancing left became isolated. In another
 
 144 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 moment the Kentuckians would have been entirely sur- 
 rounded and a massacre would have ensued. Sauve que 
 peut became the order of the day at once. 
 
 The Kentuckians fled pell-mell in wild confusion to 
 the river, those mounted galloping madly down the 
 buffalo trail, others seeking to gain their frightened 
 horses and escape. Boone, fighting desperately with 
 knife and clubbed rifle in defence of his life, his horse 
 having been killed, found himself far in advance of his 
 line, cut off by the Indians who had gathered between 
 him and the river. His son Isaac, a private in his com- 
 pany, lay dying at his feet. 
 
 Seizing the boy in his arms with superhuman strength 
 he burst through the encircling foemen and by his 
 knowledge of the place gained shelter in a ravine through 
 which, still carrying the wounded lad, he made for the 
 river. Although he had escaped observation for the 
 moment his discovery was certain. The Indians and 
 Canadians were ranging the woods and butchering 
 everybody they came across. The helpless wounded 
 upon the field were immediately killed. As it chanced, 
 the poor boy died in his father's arms and Boone put 
 his body in a sheltered recess in the rocks and finally 
 succeeded in escaping across the river. 
 
 Major Netherland, who was better mounted than the 
 others, gained the opposite bank of the river. With cool 
 hardihood he stopped every man who came across until 
 he had gathered quite a party about him. Charging 
 their rifles they waited until the main battle came roll- 
 ing toward the stream. The Kentuckians in advance 
 plunged into the water, the Indians close after them. 
 Netherland's force by steady firing checked the pursuit 
 at the bank of the river until their exhausted comrades
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 145 
 
 got over, when they immediately scattered in the woods. 
 The Indians attempted little or no pursuit on the other 
 side of the river. 
 
 Sixty-seven Kentuckians were killed outright or were 
 murdered on the field after the battle. Seven were capt- 
 ured, of whom four died by torture, and many of those 
 who escaped were wounded in some way or other. 
 
 Half way to Bryan's Station the fugitives met Colonel 
 Logan with four hundred men coming to their support. 
 In the face of this disastrous defeat, in which over forty 
 per cent, had been lost, and ignorant of the number of 
 the allies, which rumor had magnified to an extraordi- 
 nary degree, Logan deemed it prudent to retire to 
 Bryan's Station. 
 
 The return of the defeated brought desolation and 
 sorrow to the whole territory. A few days after the 
 battle the army, greatly re-enforced, marched out to the 
 battle-field, which was, it may be imagined, a scene of 
 horror. The Indians had carried away their dead, the 
 Canadians had buried theirs, and their loss was never 
 certain. Compared to that of the Kentuckians, how- 
 ever, it was inconsiderable. Logan and Boone buried 
 the dead on the field, covering their remains with a huge 
 mound of stones. 
 
 What must have been the thoughts of the old pioneer 
 whose advice, if they had taken it, might have prevented 
 this fearful slaughter! He had lost his brother, two of 
 his brothers-in-law, and two of his sons in battles with 
 the Indians. Certainly he had paid a heavy price for his 
 part in the settlement of Kentucky! 
 
 He accompanied George Rogers Clark in the expedi- 
 tion which was organized after the battle of the Blue 
 Licks, which devastated the Indian country, and did 
 
 10
 
 146 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 good service there. But the Indians came no more to 
 Kentucky. The treaty of peace which closed the Revo- 
 lution deprived them of their British backing, and left 
 the United States free to deal with them, and it is a nota- 
 ble fact that this sanguinary and disastrous engagement 
 was the last battle of the Revolution. The contest which 
 began at Lexington, Massachusetts, ended at the Blue 
 Licks, Kentucky, a place that had never been dreamed 
 of when Pitcairn shot down the minute men, so rapid 
 even under adverse circumstances had been the growth 
 and expansion of our country. 
 
 VIII. The End of the Old Pioneer 
 
 After the war Boone's carelessness in complying with 
 the legal requirements caused him to be dispossessed 
 of his second attempt at land claim, and in 1795 he re- 
 moved to Missouri, then a part of the Spanish territory 
 of Louisiana. Here, with his children and grandchildren 
 around him, he passed the remainder of his days, his pas- 
 sion for hunting existing to the very last. Long past 
 the age of threescore and ten the old hunter and pioneer 
 made excursion after excursion through that yet unex- 
 plored west which still rose before him with all the allure- 
 ments that it held in the days of his youth. There, in 
 1813, his faithful wife died. She had been a helpmeet 
 to him indeed. 
 
 " A dirge for the brave old pioneer! 
 
 A dirge for his old spouse! 
 For her who blest his forest cheer 
 
 And kept his birchen house. 
 Now soundly by her chieftain may 
 
 The brave old dame sleep on. 
 The red man's step is far away, 
 
 The wolf's dread howl is gone."
 
 The Greatest of the Pioneers 147 
 
 When Louisiana passed to the United States Boone 
 again found that he had neglected to secure his land title 
 from the Spanish government and was again dispossessed 
 of his claim, so that he who had spent his lifetime in dis- 
 covering, acquiring, protecting, the vast territory of the 
 United States west of the Alleghenies, found himself at 
 last without a rood of ground to call his own. In his 
 extremity he appealed to the legislature of Kentucky, 
 and at their urgency the government of the United States 
 through Congress granted him a tract of land in Mis- 
 souri, where he died on the 23rd of September, 1820, in 
 the eighty-sixth year of his age. 
 
 As was fitting and proper, his remains with those of 
 his wife were brought back in 1845 to rest in the soil 
 of Kentucky, which justly cherishes his memory as one 
 of the fathers of the commonwealth. Not often has 
 there been in our history so admired and beloved a 
 pioneer. He stands for a class which has vanished, and 
 which circumstances will never permit to reappear, but 
 a class which performed great services in the develop- 
 ment of this country, and which will always be held in 
 grateful remembrance. The hunting shirt and the axe, 
 the long rifle and the powder horn, the handful of parched 
 corn, and the coon-skin cap, these should be incorporated 
 in our escutcheon, for these were the means by which 
 was won to us that great country between the Alleghe- 
 nies and the Mississippi.
 
 PART III 
 KENTUCKY 
 
 II 
 
 The Women and Children of Bryan's Station
 
 THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF 
 BRYAN'S STATION 
 
 I. The Wives of the Pioneers 
 
 IN discussing Border Fights and Fighters, the battles, 
 sieges, and adventures whereby was brought about 
 that great winning of the west justly so celebrated 
 in song and story, the attention of the historian is usually 
 given particularly to the men, and well it may be. But 
 in many instances the women played as brave a part as 
 their husbands or fathers, and the chronicles and tradi- 
 tions of the rude times teem with thrilling instances of 
 sturdy courage and heroic daring on the part of the femi- 
 nine pioneers. Generally speaking, the wives of the 
 frontiersmen indeed showed themselves worthy help- 
 mates to their cool and adventurous husbands. If some 
 of the things that these women did were set down for 
 modern delectation they would be regarded as utterly 
 incredible, and the most exuberant imagination of the 
 most daring dime novelist of other days could scarcely 
 match the truth. 
 
 For instance, in 1787, there was Mrs. John Merrill of 
 Nelson County, Kentucky, who, when her husband des- 
 perately wounded staggered into his cabin and fell on the 
 floor at her feet, succeeded in shutting and barring the 
 door upon the assaulting Indians, and when they broke 
 into the house through a shivered plank of the door, 
 killed four of them in succession with an axe the axe,
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 strange to say, being the favorite weapon of the women, 
 as the rifle was that of the men ! And when the savages 
 gave over that attempt and tried to enter by the chimney, 
 with ready wit she emptied her feather bed on the flames 
 and smoked them away, keeping them at bay till help 
 came and her loved ones were saved. 
 
 Then there was Elizabeth Zane, a young miss just 
 come from boarding school in Philadelphia to her father's 
 house on the frontier in 1777. The people of the settle- 
 ment being besieged by Indians and rangers under Girty, 
 in Fort Henry, where Wheeling now stands in West 
 Virginia, suddenly found themselves without powder and 
 facing certain capture. Not a man could be spared from 
 the weakened garrison which had already lost over half 
 its members, but the brave girl volunteered to run to 
 an outlying cabin, her father's, and bring back thence a 
 keg of powder which had been left there. She succeed- 
 ed in her desperate undertaking in spite of a heavy fire 
 poured upon her by the Indians, delivered the powder 
 to the garrison, and saved the fort ! * 
 
 I recall the story of two other women who held their 
 cabin against an overwhelming force, the husbands of 
 the two weltering in gore upon the floor one dead, the 
 other dying, in fact. The Indians repeatedly tried to set 
 the cabin on fire and the women put out the flames again 
 and again, first with their scanty supply of water, and 
 when that was exhausted, by the use of raw eggs, and 
 when the store of these in turn was gone, with the blood- 
 stained garments of their husbands, saving their children 
 and themselves from a fate too horrible to dwell upon. 
 And there are hundreds of similar instances that might 
 be mentioned. 
 
 * See my book Woven with the Ship : Saved by Her Slipper.
 
 The Women of Bryan's Station J 53 
 
 But the women of Bryan's Station exhibited a greater 
 degree of heroism than perhaps any other body of women 
 in the new settlement of Kentucky. Bryan's Station was 
 situated about five miles north of the present city of Lex- 
 ington. It was originally founded by the Bryan brothers, 
 their families and friends. One of these brothers had 
 married a sister of the famous Daniel Boone, as had an- 
 other of the settlers, and both men lost their lives in 
 Indian conflicts. Boone's wife, by the way, was a sister 
 of these Bryans. 
 
 II. An Old-Time Frontier Fort 
 
 The station was a rude log fort enclosing about forty 
 cabins. It was about six hundred feet long, two hun- 
 dred feet wide and twelve feet high. The cabins were 
 placed at intervals around this parallelogram, and the 
 spaces between filled with a heavy palisade, the outer 
 walls of the cabins, with the palisades, composing the 
 walls of the fort. There were two entrances closed with 
 two heavy wooden gates. In each corner a two-story 
 block-house was built which projected four feet beyond 
 the walls, giving the defenders an enfilading fire. The 
 roofs of the cabins sloped inward from the edge of the 
 palisades, or outer walls, so that a small person crouching 
 upon the inner edge of the roof would not be visible 
 from outside of the stockade. 
 
 Like almost every other frontier fort in Kentucky 
 there was no water in the enclosure, a terrible mistake, 
 but accounted for by the fact that the springs were gen- 
 erally on low ground not suitable for defensive works 
 still they might have dug wells in the forts, but the fact 
 remains they rarely did. A short distance from the
 
 154 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 northeast corner of the fort there was a bountiful spring 
 from which the garrison could get water when there was 
 nobody there to prevent. 
 
 There had been terrible doings on the frontier during 
 the spring and summer of 1782. The British and Indians 
 had made raid after raid through the land. Two years 
 before a certain Colonel William Byrd of Westover, Vir- 
 ginia, a Tory, who seems to have been a gentleman and 
 a soldier, led some eight hundred Indians with a detach- 
 ment of soldiers and some artillery into Kentucky. None 
 of the forts was proof against artillery, nor was there any 
 in the territory except that in the possession of George 
 Rogers Clark, which was not available. Two stations, 
 Martin's and Ruddle's, were attacked in succession and 
 easily captured. Their garrisons and inhabitants were 
 murdered and tortured with shocking barbarity. It is 
 to the eternal credit of Colonel Byrd, that, rinding him- 
 self unable to control the Indians, he abandoned his ex- 
 pedition and withdrew, otherwise the whole land would 
 have been desolated. The bulk of the invading Indians 
 were Wyandottes, who were easily first among the sav- 
 ages of the northwest for ferocious valor and military 
 skill. The opposing forces being exactly equal, a de- 
 tachment of them defeated a certain Captain Estill by a 
 series of brilliant military manoeuvres which would have 
 done credit to a great captain, being indeed upon a small 
 scale Napoleonic in their conception and execution. 
 
 Two years after Byrd had withdrawn, William Camp- 
 bell and Alexander McKee, notorious renegades, with 
 the infamous Simon Girty, whose name has been a hiss- 
 ing and byword ever since he lived, led a formidable war 
 party consisting of a few Canadians and four hundred 
 Indians into Kentucky. The first place they attacked
 
 The Women of Bryan's Station 155 
 
 was Bryan's Station. Another place called Hoy's Sta- 
 tion was menaced by a different party of Indians and 
 express messengers had ridden to Bryan's Station to 
 seek aid, which the settlers were ready to grant. 
 
 The American party was being made up to go to 
 Hoy's Station early in the morning of the i6th of Au- 
 gust, 1782, when as they approached the gate to ride 
 out of it, a party of Indians was discovered on the edge 
 of the woods in full view. The party was small in num- 
 ber, comparatively speaking, yet its members exposed 
 themselves, out of rifle range, of course, with such care- 
 less indifference to consequences, or to a possible attack, 
 as inevitably to suggest to the mind of Captain John 
 Craig, who commanded the fort at the time, that they 
 were desirous of attracting the attention of the garrison 
 in the hope that their small numbers might induce the 
 men of the station to leave the fort and pursue them. 
 
 Craig was an old Indian fighter who had been trained 
 in Daniel Boone's own school. He was suspicious of 
 any manoeuvre of that kind. Checking the departure of 
 the relief party, he called his brother and the principal 
 men of the station into a council and they concluded at 
 once that the demonstration in the front of the fort was 
 a mere feint, that the Indians were anxious to be pur- 
 sued and that the main attack would come from the 
 other direction. 
 
 III. Ruse Against Ruse 
 
 The surmise was correct. With cunning adroitness 
 Campbell had massed the main body of his forces in the 
 woods back of the fort with strict instructions for them 
 to remain concealed and not show themselves on any
 
 156 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 account until they heard the fire coming from the front 
 of the station, which would convince them that their ruse 
 had succeeded. Then they were to break from cover 
 and rush for the back wall of the fort, which they sup- 
 posed would be undefended, scale it, and have the little 
 garrison at their mercy. It so happened that the spring, 
 referred to above, from which the fort got its water sup- 
 ply, lay within a short distance of the main body con- 
 cealed in the thick woods which surrounded the clearing 
 with the fort in the centre. The situation was perfectly 
 plain to Craig and his men. They determined to meet 
 ruse with ruse and if possible defeat the Indians at their 
 own game. 
 
 Before they could do anything, however, they must 
 have a supply of water. On that hot August day life in 
 that stockade, especially when engaged in furious bat- 
 tle would become unsupportable without water. Only 
 the ordinary amount sufficient for the night had been 
 brought in the day before. The receptacles were now 
 empty. After swift deliberations the commandant turned 
 to the women and children crowded around the officers, 
 and explained the situation plainly to them. He pro- 
 posed that the women, and children who were large 
 enough to carry water, should go down to the spring 
 with every vessel they could carry and bring back the 
 water upon which their lives depended. He also ex- 
 plained to them that the spring was probably covered 
 by concealed masses of the enemy who were waiting for 
 the success of the demonstration in front of the fort to 
 begin the attack. 
 
 He said further, that it was the opinion of those in 
 command, that if the women would go to the spring 
 as they did under ordinary circumstances, as was their
 
 The Women of Bryan's Station 157 
 
 custom every morning that is, the Indians would not 
 molest them, not being desirous of breaking up the plan 
 by which they hoped to take the fort and have every- 
 thing at their mercy. The men in the fort would cover 
 the women with their rifles so far as they could. It 
 would be impossible for them to go and get water; 
 as it was not the habit of the men to do that, the unusual 
 proceeding would awaken the suspicions of the Indians 
 and the men would be shot down and the fort and all its 
 inmates would be at the mercy of the savages. 
 
 Every woman there was able to see the situation. 
 The theory upon which they were proceeding might be 
 all wrong. The Indians might be satisfied with the cer- 
 tainty of capturing the women thus presented, and the 
 women and children might be taken away under the very 
 eyes of the helpless men. On the other hand, it was 
 probable, though by no means certain, that Craig's 
 reasoning was correct and that the Indians would not 
 discover themselves and the women and children would 
 be allowed to return unmolested. Still nobody could 
 tell what the Indians would do and the situation was a 
 terrible one. Capture at the very best meant death by 
 torture. The women in the fort had not lived on the 
 frontier in vain. They realized the dilemma instantly. 
 A shudder of terror and apprehension went through the 
 crowd. What would they do? They must have the 
 water; the men could not get it, the women did! 
 
 Mrs. Jemima Suggett Johnson, the wife of an intrepid 
 pioneer and the daughter and sister of others, instantly 
 volunteered for the task. She was the mother of five 
 little children and her husband happened to be away in 
 Virginia at the time. Leaving her two little boys and 
 her daughter Sally to look after the baby in his dug-out
 
 158 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 cradle, she offered to go for the water. This baby was 
 that Richard Mentor Johnson, who afterward became 
 so celebrated at the battle of the Thames where Tecum- 
 seh was killed, and who was subsequently Vice-President 
 of the United States. 
 
 Taking her little daughter Betsy, aged ten, her eldest 
 child, by the hand, the fearless woman headed a little 
 band of twelve women and sixteen children, who had 
 agreed to follow where she led; among them were the 
 wives and children of the Craig brothers. The little 
 ones carried wooden piggins, and the women noggins 
 and buckets. The piggin was a small bucket with one 
 upright stave for a handle a large wooden dipper as it 
 were while the larger noggin had two upright staves 
 for handles. 
 
 Carefully avoiding any suspicious demonstration of 
 force on the part of his men, Captain Craig opened the 
 gate and the women marched out. Chatting and laugh- 
 ing in spite of the fact that they were nearly perishing 
 from apprehension and terror, they tramped down the 
 hill to the spring near the creek some sixty yards away, 
 with as much coolness and indifference as they could 
 muster. It was indeed a fearful moment for the women, 
 and no wonder that some of the younger ones and the 
 older children found it difficult to control their agitation; 
 but the composed manner of those valiant and heroic 
 matrons like Mrs. Johnson somewhat reassured the oth- 
 ers and completely deluded the Indians. Probably the 
 younger children did not realize their frightful danger 
 and their unconsciousness helped to deceive the foes in 
 ambush. 
 
 It took some time to fill the various receptacles from 
 the small spring, but, by the direction of Mrs. Johnson,

 
 The Women of Bryan's Station 159 
 
 no one left the vicinity until all were ready to return. 
 This little party then marched deliberately back to the 
 fort as they had come. Not a shot was fired. The Ind- 
 ians concealed within a stone's throw in the underbrush 
 had looked at them with covetous eyes, but such was 
 the unwonted discipline in which they were held that 
 they refrained from betraying themselves, in the hope 
 of afterward carrying out their stratagem. As they 
 neared the gate some of the younger ones broke into a 
 run crowding into the door of the stockade which never 
 looked so hospitable as on that sunny summer morning, 
 and some of the precious water was spilled, but most of 
 of it was carried safe into the enclosure. 
 
 With what feelings of relief the fifty-odd men in the 
 station saw their wives and children come back again 
 can scarcely be imagined. Despatching two daring men 
 on horseback to break through the besiegers and rouse 
 the country, Craig immediately laid a trap for the Ind- 
 ians. Selecting a small body he sent them out to the 
 front of the fort to engage the Indians there, instructing 
 them to make as much noise and confusion as possible. 
 Then he posted the main body of his men at the loop- 
 holes back of the fort, instructing them not to make a 
 move, nor fire a gun, until he gave the order. 
 
 The ruse was completely successful. Deceived by the 
 hullabaloo in front the Indians in the rear, imagining 
 that their plan had succeeded, broke from cover and, in- 
 stantly dashed up to the stockade, shouting their war 
 cries, and expecting an easy victory. What was their 
 surprise to find it suddenly bristling with rifles as Craig 
 and his men poured a steady withering fire into the mass 
 crowded before them, fairly decimating them. They ran 
 back instantly, and concealment being at an end, re-
 
 160 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 turned the fire ineffectually. Immediately thereafter 
 from every side a furious fire from four hundred rifles 
 burst upon the defenders. All day long the siege was 
 maintained. Once in awhile a bullet ploughing through 
 a crevice in the stockade struck down one of the brave 
 garrison, but the casualties in the station were very few. 
 
 On the other hand, when an Indian exposed himself 
 he was sure to be killed by a shot from some unerring 
 rifle. One or two Indians climbed a tree seeking to 
 command the fort therefrom, but they were quickly de- 
 tected and shot before they had time to descend. At 
 last they attempted to burn the fort by shooting flaming 
 arrows up in the air to fall perpendicularly upon the 
 buildings. The children, the little boys, that is, and 
 some of the older girls, were lifted up on the inclined 
 roofs, where they were safe from direct rifle fire, though 
 in imminent danger of being pierced by the dropping 
 arrows, with instructions to put out the fires as fast as 
 the arrows kindled them, which they succeeded in doing. 
 Meanwhile, the women were busy moulding bullets and 
 loading rifles for the men, and many of them took their 
 places on the walls and aided in the defence. 
 
 " The mothers of our forest land, 
 
 Their bosoms pillowed men; 
 And proud were they by such to stand 
 
 In hammock, fort, or glen; 
 To load the sure old rifle, 
 
 To run the leaden ball, 
 To watch a battling husband's place, 
 
 And All it should he fall." 
 
 Finding their efforts unavailing the Indians ravaged 
 the surrounding country. They killed all the cattle be- 
 longing to the pioneers, burned and destroyed the fields
 
 The Women of Bryan's Station 161 
 
 of grain, and turned the environment into a bloody 
 desert. In the afternoon a succoring party from Boone's 
 Station appeared, but without Boone, for he was absent 
 at the time, and succeeded in entering the fort. The 
 new-comers included some sixteen horsemen with thirty 
 footmen from the Lexington Station. 
 
 The horsemen approached unobserved and deliberate- 
 ly dashed through the Indian lines. The suddenness of 
 their onset and the great cloud of dust raised by their 
 horses disconcerted the Indians and they succeeded in 
 breaking through without the loss of a single man, al- 
 though they were shot at by numbers of savages. 
 
 The footmen, however, who were some distance away, 
 hearing the noise of the horsemen's battle, disobeyed 
 orders through friendly gallantry, and instead of endeav- 
 oring to gain the fort turned aside with the intention of 
 succoring the horsemen who had already rushed through. 
 They found themselves in a corn-field, confronted by an 
 overwhelming body of Indians, and incontinently ran. 
 
 Fortunately for the hunters these Indians had just dis- 
 charged their pieces at the horsemen and there had not 
 been time to reload. The rifles of the Kentuckians were 
 still charged, and even the most implacable savage hesi- 
 tated to attack a loaded rifle with a tomahawk. 
 
 Keeping the Indians back by threatening them, the 
 footmen gave over the attempt to reach the fort and suc- 
 ceeded, with the exception of six killed, in escaping, 
 These Kentuckians did not fire until they had to, and 
 every time they did they brought down a man. The 
 Indians pursued them for some distance, but as Bryan's 
 Station was their object the pursuit was soon abandoned. 
 The fugitives scattered in every direction rousing the 
 country, 
 ii
 
 1 62 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Meanwhile the battle around the station still kept up. 
 Toward evening, however, the Indians having sustained 
 severe loss, and seeing no prospect of capturing the 
 place, which was as stoutly defended as ever, reluctantly 
 determined to raise the siege and withdraw. Before 
 they did so Simon Girty resolved to try what he could 
 effect with persuasion. Cautiously advancing toward 
 the fort and taking cover behind a huge sycamore tree, 
 he held a parley. Declaiming his name and position, 
 he advised the garrison to surrender at once, promising 
 immunity and kind treatment on the part of Hamilton, 
 the British commander at Detroit. His faith was better 
 than Girty's, but that of both of them amounted to 
 nothing. 
 
 Girty told the garrison that the beleaguering force 
 would be supplemented on the following day by artillery, 
 and if the station did not immediately surrender it would 
 receive the fate which had been meted out to Martin's 
 and Ruddle's Stations. The address was listened to in 
 gloomy silence. Everybody knew what had happened 
 at those two stations, and small wonder that many a heart 
 sank at the prospect. 
 
 There happened to be in the fort, however, a young 
 man named Reynolds, a reckless dare-devil sort of a fel- 
 low, who took upon himself without authority the an- 
 swering of Girty. He told him that he knew perfectly 
 well who he was, that he knew his character, also; that he 
 had a little dog that was so utterly worthless that he had 
 named him Simon Girty, because he could think of no 
 other name so beautifully appropriate; that he didn't be- 
 lieve they had any cannon, and that if they would just wait 
 outside the fort until the next day they would have the 
 whole of Kentucky upon them, and if they knew what 
 they were about they would get away in short order !
 
 The Women of Bryan's Station 163 
 
 Girty retired in great discomfiture, followed by the 
 laughter of the Kentuckians, and greeted by the sneers 
 of the Indians. It was a long and anxious night they 
 spent in the fort thereafter, the defenders keeping on the 
 alert for any demonstration, but in the morning the Ind- 
 ians were gone. They had decamped as silently as they 
 had approached, the siege was raised, the battle was over. 
 They had taken Reynolds' advice. 
 
 All day eager settlers from every direction poured 
 into the settlement, and in their hot desire to punish 
 these Indians they sallied out soon after with an inade- 
 quate force and, as we have seen, were badly defeated 
 by Campbell and his allies at the disastrous battle of 
 Blue Licks. 
 
 IV. The Story of the Morgans 
 
 One further romantic incident of the siege is worthy 
 of mention. A man named Morgan had settled with his 
 wife and child in a cabin outside the fort. When the 
 Indians appeared, he concealed his wife in a recess be- 
 neath the slab floor of his cabin, I surmise perhaps be- 
 cause she was ill and it was impossible for her to escape. 
 At any rate, thinking he had left her in a place of safety 
 he took his baby in one hand, grasped his rifle in the 
 other, and broke through the Indians and gained the 
 forest. 
 
 Unfortunately the Indians burned the house, while he 
 looked helplessly on from his place of concealment with 
 his anguish intensified by his utter inability to do any- 
 thing at all. The Indians discovered him after a time, 
 and he had a desperate struggle to get away. He 
 reached Lexington at last, left the baby there, and at 
 once joined the relief party which fought the Indians in 
 the corn-field.
 
 1 64 Border Fights and Fighters * 
 
 When the siege was raised the frantic man searching 
 among the 'embers found the charred remains of a human 
 body. Crazed by his loss he was among the first to 
 cross the river and engage the Indians at the battle of 
 Blue Licks. Recognizing a portion of his wife's cloth- 
 ing worn by an Indian, he killed him in a hand-to-hand 
 struggle, but he was shot and frightfully wounded. Re- 
 taining strength enough to crawl away from the battle- 
 field he concealed himself in the wood, lying down to die. 
 There he was found by his wife, who had been taken 
 prisoner and had escaped in the confusion of the battle. 
 She dragged him into a further place of concealment, 
 cared for him as best she could, and when the Indians 
 departed after the battle she contrived to get him back 
 to the fort in safety. 
 
 The bones he had found in the ashes of the cabin were 
 those of a wounded Indian, who had crawled in there 
 and died. The Indians had set fire to the house and the 
 woman had been forced to discover herself. The sav- 
 ages had not had time to torture her, and so the family 
 was united once more. 
 
 The men, of course, conducted themselves heroically in 
 the siege, but the honor of the defence which they were 
 enabled to make certainly rests with those pioneer 
 mothers and daughters of Kentucky. A monument 
 around the spring, the tribute of the Daughters of the 
 American Revolution, one of the few that have been 
 erected to women, serves to commemorate their heroic 
 self-sacrifice and valor, for it takes more courage to go 
 to a spring and get water in the face of four hundred 
 Indian rifles pointing at you from out of a dark wood, 
 than it does to stand behind a wall and fight all day 
 long.
 
 PART IV 
 THE FAR SOUTH 
 
 I 
 The Massacre at Fort Mims
 
 THE MASSACRE AT FORT MIMS 
 
 I. The Beginning of the Creek War 
 
 ON the evening of Tuesday, the 3ist of August, 
 1813, a little canoe floated ashore near Fort 
 Stoddardt, Alabama, a rude frontier stockade on 
 the west bank of the Mobile River, some twenty-five 
 miles above the city of that name. In the bottom of the 
 canoe lay an exhausted, half-delirious negro woman, a 
 slave, whose only name was Hester. She was suffering 
 from a huge, ghastly bullet wound in her breast. Lifted 
 by tender hands from the bloody canoe, in which she was 
 prostrated, she was carried into the fort and questioned 
 by the commander. 
 
 She told a tale of massacre and destruction which 
 froze the blood of the listeners. She believed herself to 
 be the sole survivor of the garrison, and the people who 
 had collected at Fort Mims, on Lake Tensaw, some 
 twenty miles further up the river, just below the " cut- 
 off," or the confluence of the Alabama and the Tombig- 
 bee, which thereafter make the Mobile River. The story 
 they heard from the lips of the wretched woman, who had 
 managed, she knew not how, to conceal herself till night- 
 fall in the cane brake and then escape in the boat in which 
 they found her, was one of the most appalling recitals of 
 savage fury that has ever been told in any of our Indian 
 wars. 
 
 The great Tecumseh, in the previous year, had suc- 
 
 167
 
 1 68 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ceeded in engaging the major portion of the powerful 
 Creek nation in behalf of his Confederacy. The Creeks 
 were the most notable of the southern Indians. For 
 enterprise and valor, for progress in a rude sort of civili- 
 zation, for the development of an organization which pos- 
 sessed some of the properties of government, they were 
 only to be compared with the Iroquois, or Six Nations, 
 in the north. 
 
 Those who know the red man only through touch 
 with the modern Indian of the plains are accustomed to 
 sneer at the conception of him which is exploited, let us 
 say, in Cooper's novels; but the Creeks and the Iroquois 
 were very different from the modern Indian, and Coop- 
 er's pictures, so far as these two peoples are concerned, 
 do no violence to the facts. The Creeks were, however, 
 as ruthlessly cruel and bloodthirsty in warfare as, for in- 
 stance, Geronimo and his Mescalero Apaches. The men 
 were tall, magnificent specimens, and some of the women 
 are said to have been beautiful; I think, however, that 
 could only be by comparison with other Indian squaws. 
 The Creek Nation numbered some thirty thousand, of 
 whom at least seven thousand were approved warriors. 
 Among them were many half-breeds, who inclined either 
 to civilization or savagery, as the case might be, and 
 exhibited the traits of the white man or those of the 
 Indian, according to their rearing and environment. 
 
 There was a division in the tribe as to joining the 
 conspiracy of Tecumseh, and the smouldering embers of 
 a civil war were beginning to glow among them, when 
 the War of 1812 broke out. Such an auxiliary for the 
 British to work with, in conjunction with the Spanish 
 authorities in Florida, was not to be despised. Supplied 
 with English guns and incited by British rewards offered
 
 The Massacre at Fort Mims 169 
 
 for scalps, even of women and children, the great body 
 of Creeks declared for war, although some remained 
 friendly to the Americans. The half-breeds, or men of 
 mixed blood, were divided between the two sides. The 
 principal war chief of the Indians was a half-breed 
 named Weatherford, who was called in the Creek lan- 
 guage, " The Red Warrior." 
 
 After a skirmish at a place called Burnt Corn, which 
 resulted in the defeat of the settlers, the alarm spread all 
 over Alabama and the frightened inhabitants, including 
 those half-breeds who were, to all intents and purposes, 
 Americans, gathered for protection in the little forts and 
 stockades which dotted the country on every hand. 
 
 There had lived for many years in Alabama, near 
 Lake Tensaw, a wealthy half-breed named Samuel Mims. 
 His house was a large and substantial wooden structure 
 of one story, with several outbuildings. It was situated 
 some little distance from the water, on low, sandy ground 
 surrounded by woods, marshes and swamps, which on 
 the east were traversed by several ravines overgrown 
 with cane brakes. The house was surrounded by a low 
 stockade, made by driving parallel rows of open stakes at 
 suitable intervals, the spaces between being filled with 
 loosely piled fence-rails. At three and a half feet from 
 the ground five hundred loop-holes were pierced. The 
 stockade was seventy yards square and enclosed an acre 
 of ground. On the southwest corner on a slight rise a 
 block-house was begun but never completed. There 
 were two large gates in the centre of the east and west 
 faces. From the north and south faces projected small 
 square enclosures called bastions, made of the same 
 pickets. 
 
 Thither at once resorted all the inhabitants of the
 
 1 7 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 vicinage, and many small houses were built in the enclos- 
 ure to shelter them. To them in the latter part of July, 
 General Claiborne, the United States military com- 
 mander of the territory, sent one hundred and seventy- 
 five volunteers, commanded by Major Daniel Beasley, 
 
 I Blockhouse. 
 
 2. Pickets cut wy by Indians. 
 
 3 Guard's Station. 
 t Guard House. 
 
 5 Western Gate. 
 
 6 Cite cut tho ugh by I n d ians . 
 
 7 Capt. Bailee's House. 
 ,85 trad hams House. 
 
 9. Dyers House. 
 
 10. Kitchen. 
 
 II Mint's House. 
 li Pandorv's House. 
 '3 Old Gateway Open. 
 II E n sign C/IA mbl i ss Tetvl . 
 if Randon's 
 
 / Cape. Middle ton's 
 17 Capt. Jack's 
 
 n-zo - 
 
 2.1 CaptJacKt Company. 
 ilMaj.Beane^'5 Cabin. 
 3Capt.Miaaieton' Company. 
 ^VEastern Gate Left Open, and tohlrt 
 BeAsieu fell. 
 
 Plan of Fort Mims. 
 
 with Captains Jack, Middleton, and Batcheldor. Major 
 Beasley found a lieutenant and sixteen soldiers in the fort 
 and some seventy other men who were organized into a 
 battalion, and one Dixon Bailey was elected their captain. 
 Most of the soldiers were full-blooded whites, al-
 
 The Massacre at Fort Mims 
 
 though some of the settlers were of mixed blood. Bailey 
 himself was a half-breed. There were nearly six hun- 
 dred people in the enclosure now, which was too small 
 to contain so great a number with comfort or safety, and 
 Beasley erected a second stockade some sixty feet beyond 
 the east wall with which it was connected on either side, 
 forming an outer enclosure, in which he stationed the 
 bulk of his troops. 
 
 II. Careless Defenders 
 
 General Claiborne visited the place soon after and 
 charged the defenders straitly to complete the block- 
 house and strengthen the palisades. At first they worked 
 heartily enough, and kept a fairly vigilant watch, but so 
 many false alarms were brought to them that they grew 
 careless and indifferent at last. Beasley was a poor com- 
 mander, though a brave man. He presently allowed the 
 work to languish. The block-house was never com- 
 pleted, and latterly, except at night, they kept no watch. 
 He also imprudently weakened his command by sending 
 away small detachments to garrison other points. 
 
 The summer was very hot. Many of the people 
 crowded together in that low, marshy ground became ill. 
 On the 29th of August two negroes who had been herd- 
 ing cattle came rushing back to the fort in terror, exclaim- 
 ing that they had seen a large body of Indians. The fool- 
 ish Beasley, declined to credit their tale, and, angry at 
 the commotion and alarm their news had created, actually 
 ordered them to be flogged! 
 
 The owner of one of the negroes, a certain Fletcher, 
 refused to allow his man to be whipped, but the owner of 
 the other, making no objection, the unfortunate negro
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 was tied to a stake and soundly lashed. Beasley 
 shortly informed Fletcher that he must either allow his 
 slave to be flogged, or leave the fort with his large family 
 the next morning. The alternative was not to be thought 
 of. After considering it all night Fletcher reluctantly 
 gave his consent just before noon on Monday, August 
 3Oth, 1813, and the negro was accordingly triced up to a 
 post preparatory to receiving a lashing. 
 
 Meanwhile the first negro had been sent out again 
 that morning to herd the stock as usual, and had again 
 discovered unmistakable signs of Indians. Mindful of 
 his bitter experience of the day before, however, he fled 
 to Fort Pierce, a stockade some miles above Fort Mims, 
 to which he naturally feared to return. Beasley had sent 
 out Captain Middleton to scout before he had flogged the 
 negro on the preceding afternoon, and that officer had 
 promptly returned and reported that he had found noth- 
 ing. 
 
 The morning was hot, close and sultry, and the long 
 hours slowly dragged along. The soldiers lounged in 
 their tents, some of them playing cards, or amusing 
 themselves according to their fancy; the company cooks 
 and the housewives were preparing the midday meal 
 throughout the enclosure, while over one hundred little 
 children disported themselves in the open places. Five 
 hundred and fifty-three persons were in the fort at the 
 time, of whom probably two hundred and twenty-five 
 were soldiers, two hundred women and children and old 
 men and the balance negro slaves.
 
 The Massacre at Fort Mims 173 
 
 III. Paying the Awful Penalty 
 
 Beasley had just despatched a letter (still extant) to 
 General Claiborne, in response to that officer's repeated 
 cautions, stating that the fort was absolutely safe, and he 
 was to give himself no concern whatever about it, as the 
 garrison could hold it against all the Creeks in the nation. 
 By some miracle the messenger reached the general and 
 delivered the letter after all was over. At the time he 
 was writing a great body of a thousand Indians, a small 
 portion of whom the two negroes had seen and reported, 
 had actually surrounded the fort unperceived. They lay 
 hid in the forests^ or concealed in the canebrakes, al- 
 though the most of them were crouching beneath the 
 brush in the nearest ravine in front of the east gate, to 
 reach which they would be compelled to pass over an 
 open field. 
 
 Beasley was standing in the door of his own house in 
 the outer enclosure when the drums beat the noonday 
 mess call. That was the prearranged signal for attack. 
 Instantly the open field was covered with a mass of " Red 
 Sticks," the name given to the Creek warriors from the 
 red clubs they always carried in battle. These, however, 
 were armed with the best modern muskets as well. Silent 
 as death, they dashed rapidly toward the open gate. They 
 had actually come within thirty yards of it before anyone 
 saw them, which tells a tale of the negligence of the 
 guards. 
 
 Beasley saw them first. Shouting " Indians ! Ind- 
 ians ! " he ran through the little enclosure toward the 
 great, ponderous east gate, frantically striving to close it 
 in the face of the charging enemy, now yelling madly
 
 174 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 and coming on gallantly. The soil was sandy and the 
 wind had drifted it against the gate. With the strength 
 of despair, Beasley threw himself against the timbers. The 
 sand held for a fatal moment. But the major bent his 
 back and pushed like mad and the gate began slowly to 
 swing toward the post. Before he could close it the 
 foremost Indians threw themselves upon it, thrust it back, 
 fell upon Beasley with tomahawks, cut him down, and 
 rushed over his body toward the troops in the outer 
 enclosure. 
 
 The men had scarcely time to seize their arms before 
 the Indians burst upon them in a perfect torrent through 
 the open gate. Beasley had crawled aside and they heard 
 his voice from the midst of trampling feet, shouting to 
 the men just before he died, " For God's sake, fight on ! " 
 The major portion of the soldiers fled through the second 
 gate into the vacant part of the fort and manned the wall. 
 This inner gate was left open for a time, but was finally 
 closed. Those who could not get away were slaugh- 
 tered to a man in the outer enclosure, which was now full 
 of Indians. At the same time the palisades were attacked 
 on all other sides. The soldiers and settlers fought des- 
 perately. Many of the women took part in the defence. 
 One, Mrs. Daniel Bailey, actually thrust a bayonet into 
 one man who played the craven and forced him to get up 
 and fight ! 
 
 Dixon Bailey, the brave half-breed, upon whom the 
 command, after Beasley's death, had devolved, showed 
 himself a hero. The Indians under Weatherford were no 
 less courageous. The fighting was so close that some- 
 times a soldier and an Indian would discharge their guns 
 through the same port-hole at the same moment and 
 both would be killed. The carnage on both sides was
 
 " The major bent his back and pushed like mad."
 
 The Massacre at Fort Mims 175 
 
 fearful, and after some three long hours of the hottest 
 kind of fighting, the defenders being encouraged thereto 
 by the heroic efforts of Bailey, who was everywhere ani- 
 mating his men, the savages began to draw off with the 
 plunder of the houses outside the stockade. 
 
 Weatherford, riding a magnificent black horse that 
 day, the very incarnation of a savage war chieftain, bit- 
 terly protested at the retreat, and finally led his men for- 
 ward for a final attack on the post. This time there was 
 no withstanding them. 
 
 Some of the houses in the enclosure were set on fire 
 by burning arrows. The east gate was entered by an 
 irresistible charge. The west gate was cut through with 
 axes, after all the defenders had been slain, and another 
 storm of Indians poured into the enclosure that way. The 
 south wall was next gained. The defenders fought des- 
 perately from house to house, while the roofs were burn- 
 ing over their heads. Mims' house, from which, through 
 apertures in the roof, a deadly fire had been kept up, was 
 set on fire. In it were many of the women and children, 
 who perished miserably, either by flame if they stayed, or 
 by tomahawk or scalping-knife if they came out. The 
 Indians did not waste blows or weapons on the small 
 children, either. They killed them with their naked 
 hands ! 
 
 Soon the whole enclosure, save the north bastion, 
 which was Bailey's particular command, was filled with 
 frantic savages. Into the last refuge of the frail little 
 enclosure of the bastion poured a perfect stream of fren- 
 zied humanity, trampling each other to death in their mad 
 terror. The place was packed so full that there was 
 scarcely room to move in it, much less to defend it. Bai- 
 ley appealed for someone to attempt to get away and
 
 176 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 bring succor. He was already severely wounded. When 
 no one else volunteered he tried to go himself but was 
 prevented by his friends. The place was entirely sur- 
 rounded now at any rate. 
 
 Those in the bastion were forced to see those outside 
 killed in the most shocking manner. It is not possible to 
 write of the barbarous deaths that these people died. 
 Weatherford commanded, protested, implored, but he 
 could not restrain his followers, now roused to a pitch of 
 savage madness. They even threatened his own life, 
 and he was at last forced to let them alone. He had 
 loosed the storm; he could not control it. He regretted 
 the slaughter to the last day of his life. 
 
 Presently the Indians broke into the bastion. All was 
 soon over. Some dozen soldiers tore openings in the 
 palisade and managed to escape from the place of death. 
 The rest were slaughtered where they were; most of 
 them, even the women and children left, fighting heroi- 
 cally to the last. Bailey was among those who got away, 
 but only for a short distance in his case. He reached the 
 swamp, but was so badly wounded, and in five places, 
 that he lay down and died, bidding the men to leave him 
 and to try to make their escape without him. 
 
 The number of the slain was never accurately known, 
 but not a white, or half-breed, man, woman, or child, 
 survived, except those twelve soldiers; the killed certainly 
 numbered over four hundred and fifty. The poor negro 
 who had been left tied to the post to be whipped was 
 killed in the first onset. The only persons whose lives 
 were spared were some of the negroes who were reserved 
 as slaves by the warriors. It may be, or may not be, an evi- 
 dence of their civilization, but it is a fact that many of the 
 Creeks owned numbers of negro slaves.
 
 The Massacre at Fort Mims 177 
 
 The fort was burned to the ground. The Creeks had 
 lost terribly in the assault, for over four hundred warriors 
 out of the thousand who had made up the party had 
 been killed and many wounded, such had been the des- 
 perate character of the defence. They made some effort 
 to bury their own dead, but soon gave over the attempt, 
 and taking what plunder they had gained, they moved 
 away to attack other posts. 
 
 The bodies of the men, women and children, negroes, 
 half-breeds, whites and Indians, were left lying on the 
 field. They were found there some days afterward by 
 Major Kennedy with a relief expedition, and they buried 
 what had been left of them after the ravages of bird and 
 beast in one common awful grave. For desperation in 
 defence, persistency in attack, and absolute courage on 
 the part of both parties, the affair was, and remains, al- 
 most without a parallel. 
 
 A wave of indignation and horror swept over the 
 southwest, penetrating even to the sick chamber of 
 Andrew Jackson, lying almost helpless from a ghastly 
 wound in his shoulder, the result of a duel. Rising from 
 his bed, suffering agonies, but sustained only by his in- 
 domitable will, he called to his aid the militiamen of 
 Tennessee, and began that campaign which after many 
 hard-fought battles of varying fortune, ended in the an- 
 nihilation of the Creek warriors on the bloody field of 
 Tohopeka at the Horse-Shoe Bend of the Alabama 
 River. 
 
 No Indians on the continent, except the Iroquois, ever 
 fought in hand-to-hand conflict with the whites with such 
 courage and success as these Mobilians. They mani- 
 fested not a little of the spirit of those Indians, their ances- 
 tors, who, two hundred and seventy-three years before,
 
 iy8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 had brought De Soto's expedition to the verge of anni- 
 hilation, under that redoubtable warrior Tuscaloosa. * 
 While we abhor their cruelties we may at least admire 
 their courage. 
 
 * See my book, Colonial Fights and Fighters : De Soto.
 
 PART IV 
 THE FAR SOUTH 
 
 II 
 
 Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka
 
 JACKSON'S VICTORY AT TOHOPEKA 
 
 I. The Last Stand of the Creeks 
 
 ON the morning of the 27th of March, 1814, that 
 most redoubtable and successful of Indian fight- 
 ers, General Andrew Jackson, at the head of an 
 army of two thousand regulars and volunteers, arrived 
 before the most formidable fortification which had ever 
 been erected by savage warriors on the American conti- 
 nent. One hundred and sixty miles from even the ragged 
 edges of civilization, in the heart of the Alabama wilder- 
 ness, the Creek Indians, one of the most powerful and 
 intelligent of the southern savage tribes upon the conti- 
 nent, had chosen to make a final stand in that war which 
 they had entered upon at the instigation of that most 
 capable and ferocious savage Tecumseh, and under the 
 influence of the fanatical ravings of his brother, the 
 prophet, a man less known as well as less able, but possi- 
 bly more dangerous than the famous warrior. 
 
 After their overwhelming success at the bloody massa- 
 cre at Fort Mims on August 3Oth, 1813, they had been 
 defeated by Coffee at Talluschatches on the 3rd of No- 
 vember, and most disastrously by Jackson at Talladega 
 on the gth of November. Their spirit, however, had 
 remained unbroken by these reverses and after the with- 
 drawal and dispersion of the American levies, in a series 
 of predatory forays they had continued ravaging the bor- 
 
 181
 
 1 82 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 der. A determined effort was needed to crush them and 
 bring them finally into subjugation. 
 
 To Jackson was entrusted this duty. The Creeks were 
 immediately aware of the projected movement and with 
 spirit undaunted they concentrated their forces and re- 
 solved to stake their cause on one last desperate effort. 
 
 Map of the Horse-Shoe Bend and plan of the battle. 
 
 The spot in which they had elected to make their stand 
 was singularly well adapted for defensive purposes by the 
 arrangement of nature. 
 
 The Tallapoosa River, an affluent of the Alabama, is 
 one of those tortuous southern streams which, in their 
 many windings, drain a vast extent of territory. About
 
 Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 183 
 
 the middle of the eastern side of the present state the river 
 bends sharply upon its course enclosing a piece of ground 
 about one hundred acres in extent in the shape of a horse- 
 shoe called from that fact, To-ho-pe-ka, by the Indians. 
 At the neck of the peninsula, three hundred and fifty yards 
 across, the Indians had erected a breastwork of logs about 
 six feet high and piled in zigzag fashion somewhat like 
 an old-fashioned snake fence, the interspaces being filled 
 with smaller timber and brushwood. 
 
 By the construction of this breastwork, which indicated 
 a higher degree of skill than usually possessed by sav- 
 ages, who are supposed to know nothing about fortifica- 
 tion, an enfilading fire was secured which would sweep 
 the lines. It has been surmised by many writers that the 
 character of the breastwork implies the work of a white 
 man's brain, but this is not a necessary conclusion. The 
 breastwork had been pierced with two rows of loop-holes. 
 
 In that season the Tallapoosa was unfordable. The 
 Indians had taken care to secure all the canoes on their 
 side of the river under the bluffs around the bend, and 
 the height of the shores presented a further obstacle to 
 any attack from the rear. 
 
 Within the enclosure were gathered some nine hun- 
 dred warriors, the flower of the nation, indeed practically 
 the last of it, with three hundred women and children. 
 Three prophets we would call them medicine men 
 now were a not unimportant factor in the defence. 
 These, like other charlatans in other wars all over the 
 world, had promised immunity from the white man's 
 bullet to the savage braves. The promise may have 
 added a certain degree of intensity to their determination, 
 but as events showed, it was not necessary to enable them 
 to put up one of the best defences that the Indians ever
 
 1 84 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 exhibited. The savages were well provided with rifles 
 and muskets, in the use of which they were expert, and 
 with ample food and unlimited water supply, they confi- 
 dently awaited the American attack. 
 
 The whole outlook, when Jackson arrived at the fort, 
 was sufficiently forbidding, yet he was quick to see that 
 once he could effect a lodgement in the bend, or get across 
 the breastworks, the Indians would be at his mercy! 
 They would be trapped ! The Creeks reasoned, it is 
 supposed, that if Jackson succeeded in rushing the en- 
 trenchment they could retreat by the river. Jackson 
 took care of that. He despatched the redoubtable Gen- 
 eral Coffee with seven hundred horsemen by a circuitous 
 route to a ford of the river which had been discovered by 
 one of the friendly Cherokees, the implacable enemies 
 of the haughty, overbearing Creeks. The cavalry suc- 
 ceeded in gaining the rear of the Indian position unob- 
 served, although, of course, separated from it by the river. 
 Coffee dismounted and disposed his troops so they could 
 cover every egress from the bend. Having done this 
 some of the Cherokees, bolder than the others, swam the 
 river, cut the fastenings of the canoes and towed them to 
 the other bank. 
 
 Meanwhile Jackson had opened fire upon the breast- 
 works from an eminence about eighty yards distant, with 
 the two cannon of his army, a three and a six pounder. 
 The Indians laughed in derision as the little cannon-balls 
 buried themselves harmlessly in the huge logs of the bar- 
 ricade. It was half after ten in the morning when the 
 engagement began, and for several hours, while Coffee 
 was making his detour and dispositions, it continued with 
 but little effect on either side. 
 
 Jackson could not make up his mind, from considera-
 
 Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 185 
 
 tion for his troops, to storm those formidable breast- 
 works. Death would meet a great many of them in the 
 attempt. His men, less thoughtful than he, clamored to 
 be allowed to go forward, but the general with his usual 
 hard-headed common-sense, refused to be influenced by 
 the popular opinion of his army. 
 
 This hesitation arose from no excess of caution or lack 
 of courage on the part of Jackson. He was without 
 doubt one of the bravest and most intrepid men, and one 
 of the hardest fighters, that ever lived, and he proved his 
 courage, moral and physical, in hundreds of ways. * He 
 was even then suffering from a terrible wound, which he 
 had received in a duel and which would have incapaci- 
 tated any ordinary man from duty for years to come. His 
 shoulder had been dreadfully shattered, so much so, that 
 during this campaign he could scarcely bear even the 
 weight of a coat-sleeve on it, and in all his military expe- 
 riences he was never able to wear the heavy bullion epau- 
 lets of his high rank. 
 
 It must have been a source of grief and humiliation to 
 him that in a private quarrel he had expended his blood 
 and strength, now so sorely needed in the service of his 
 country. He kept up in this instance by the exercise of 
 that indomitable will which he possessed in such large 
 measure. It was with no thought of himself, therefore, 
 that he restrained his men through the long hours of that 
 battle. 
 
 About noon, however, the main army heard from Cof- 
 fee. After his success in obtaining possession of the 
 canoes he determined to send over a party to beat up 
 the quarters of the Indians behind the breastworks. 
 
 *See my book, American Fights and Fighters.- The Battle of New 
 Orleans.
 
 1 86 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Colonel Morgan was detailed for this duty. Accompa- 
 nied by a small body of men he passed the river, set fire to 
 the Indian huts and made a brilliant diversion in the rear. 
 His band was too small for a sustained engagement and 
 the attempt was only partially successful, for while the 
 Indians detached parties from their front line to meet the 
 new danger, and succeeded in driving off Morgan, they 
 still held to their breastwork in force. However, the 
 whole force had been disorganized by the occurrence and 
 now, if ever, was the time for an advance. Jackson gave 
 the signal which had been waited for. 
 
 II. The Heroism of Young Sam Houston 
 
 It was about half after twelve when the drummers beat 
 the long roll. The eager men took up the advance and 
 scrambled through the broken and heavily timbered 
 ground on the run. The Thirty-ninth United States 
 under Colonel Williams took one side, and the East 
 Tennessee brigade of volunteers under General Bunch, 
 the other. Jackson on horseback led them. They suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the rampart which towered above 
 their heads, though not without severe loss on the way. 
 When they reached the breastwork there was some hesi- 
 tation. The men poked their guns through the port- 
 holes and fired point blank at the Indians, who returned 
 the fire. 
 
 This interchange of shots was productive of some loss, 
 but nothing whatever could be determined by it. Some- 
 thing had to be done and done quickly. Two officers, 
 realizing the necessity, leaped for the top of the breast- 
 works, calling upon the others to follow them. The 
 first one was Major L. P. Montgomery of the Thirty-
 
 Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 187 
 
 ninth Infantry. He had scarcely reached the top when 
 he pitched forward, dead, a bullet in his forehead the 
 first man over ! The second man was Ensign Sam Hous- 
 ton of Tennessee. 
 
 As Houston gained the top he stood for a moment in 
 full view. Rifles cracked, bullets sang about him, but 
 left him untouched. An arrow, however, made a deep 
 wound in his thigh. Sword in hand Houston, then but 
 twenty years old, leaped down amid the Indians. He 
 was at once followed by a portion of his men. On the 
 other flank the volunteers emulated the example of the 
 regulars and the breastwork was finally gained. The 
 Indians were swept from the line of defence to which they 
 had clung so stubbornly. 
 
 But the savages were by no means defeated. The bend 
 was heavily wooded and filled with brush-heaps and log- 
 huts, and every house, every brush-heap, every tree 
 clump, every copse, became a rallying point for defence. 
 The woods were filled with flame and smoke into which 
 the American soldiers plunged to get at their red foemen. 
 
 Conscious of his wound at last Houston leaned against 
 the breastwork and begged the lieutenant of his company 
 to pull out the arrow, which was, of course, barbed and 
 firmly imbedded in the flesh. The lieutenant made two 
 ineffectual efforts to pull out the arrow, but failed on 
 account of the barbs. Maddened by the pain Houston 
 raised his sword at the officer and vowed he would cut 
 him down if he failed a third time. Under this stimulus 
 the lieutenant jerked the arrow from the wound. It was, 
 of course, followed by a gush of blood which nearly left 
 the boy helpless. 
 
 He scrambled over the breastworks again and went 
 back to the surgeons in the rear. Jackson saw him while
 
 1 88 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 his wound was being dressed and ordered him to retire 
 from the action. The boy begged and implored permis- 
 sion of the general to return when the flow of blood was 
 stanched, but Jackson curtly refused his plea. The bat- 
 tle was still raging all over the bend. It was too much 
 for Houston to stand. As soon as he was released by the 
 surgeon he deliberately disobeyed his orders, scrambled 
 over the breastworks, found his company, and continued 
 the fight. 
 
 It was nearly all over but the killing. Surrounded by 
 overwhelming numbers of soldiers there was nothing left 
 for the Creeks to do but to die, and they died game. No 
 one asked for quarter, no one appears to have thought 
 of surrender. As they were forced from line to line, 
 from place to place, those alive at last reached the river 
 bank. They were appalled to find their canoes gone, but 
 plunged dauntlessly into the ford, only to be met by the 
 cool, steady, withering fire from Coffee's riflemen, lining 
 the banks on the farther side. 
 
 Jackson was not a merciless man, as he was popularly 
 supposed to have been, and he did his utmost to stop the 
 carnage, but on that smoke-covered, blood-saturated pen- 
 insula, in that almost impenetrable tangle of primeval 
 forest, it was impossible to get hold of his men; and the 
 Indians themselves, in their proud disdain to ask for quar- 
 ter, in their determination to continue the fight, rendered 
 his efforts abortive. The battle stopped about three 
 o'clock in the afternoon. It stopped because one side 
 had been wiped out. There were no more Indians to be 
 conquered, but in its ending was seen its most dramatic 
 feature. 
 
 A party of desperate Indians took position in a deep 
 ravine near the river bank which had been covered by
 
 They plunged dauntlessly into the ford, only to be 
 met by the fire from Coffee's riflemen on the farther 
 side."
 
 Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 189 
 
 heavy logs. There appeared to be only one way to get 
 at them and that was by a rush at the entrance, which was 
 fully covered by the savage rifles. Jackson called for 
 volunteers to storm the place. No one responded to his 
 appeal until, with his usual impetuous headlong valor, 
 young Sam Houston, in spite of his wound, sprang to the 
 front. 
 
 Seizing a musket and calling upon the men to follow 
 him he made a rush at the entrenchment. The men made 
 a forward movement but stopped after going a few feet, 
 and Houston, not noticing that he was unsupported, ran 
 forward alone, raising his piece to fire as he approached. 
 He received the entire discharge of that last desperate 
 band of Indians. As he neared the entrance to the ravine 
 two bullets struck him, one in the arm, the other in the 
 shoulder. His musket fell from his hand and he stood 
 helpless in this dangerous position. 
 
 Seeing at last that he was unsupported he deliberately 
 turned around, still under fire, walked back out of range 
 to his soldiers, and fell helpless. No one else tried to 
 rush that position. The Americans found means to set 
 fire to the covering logs, thus forcing the Indians out into 
 the open, where they were killed as fast as they appeared. 
 
 The battle was over. Of the nine hundred warriors 
 who had manned the place five hundred and fifty-seven 
 were killed outright and their bodies were found where 
 they had fallen. There do not seem to have been any 
 wounded to speak of, at least the writers make no men- 
 tion of them. It is estimated that over two hundred were 
 shot or drowned in attempting to cross the river and 
 probably nearly all of the few who succeeded in getting 
 over perished in the surrounding woods, through which 
 the American soldiers ranged for some time, taking pot
 
 190 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 shots at every Indian they saw. The fighting force of 
 the tribe was blotted out then and forever. There was 
 no more Creek war, for there were no more Creeks. 
 
 The Americans had paid a high price for their victory, 
 however, for the killed and wounded numbered over two 
 hundred. Among the most seriously wounded was 
 young Sam Houston, who had so distinguished himself 
 on that day. When he was brought back to camp the 
 surgeons, deeming his wounds mortal, paid little atten- 
 tion to him, devoting themselves to those whom they 
 thought they had a chance of saving. He lay all night 
 on the ground with little or no care. They did extract 
 one bullet, but made no attempt to probe for the other. 
 
 In the morning, finding him still alive to their great 
 surprise, they put him on a rude litter, improvised out of 
 trees and branches, and carried him seventy miles to Fort 
 Williams. He survived this journey, and the fact that 
 he had done so gave the surgeons an idea that probably 
 he might be worth looking after. He was attended at 
 Fort Williams with such rude surgery as the frontier 
 afforded and after some time removed to another post. 
 
 Two months after the battle he reached his home in 
 west Tennessee, after a journey of several hundred miles 
 in a horse litter ! He was so emaciated by his terrible 
 hardships, his face was so changed from the effects of his 
 unhealed wounds and they remained unhealed to the 
 end of his life, by the way that his own mother did not 
 recognize him. But, as we shall see, he lived to take part 
 in another more important and more famous battle, two 
 decades later, in which he was the commander instead 
 of a subaltern.
 
 PART IV 
 THE FAR SOUTH 
 
 III 
 
 When the Seminoles Fought for Freedom
 
 WHEN THE SEMINOLES FOUGHT 
 FOR FREEDOM 
 
 I. The Injustice of the United States 
 
 TO put all the Indian wars in which the United 
 States has engaged under one censure, or to 
 include them in one category, is unscientific, 
 because it takes no account of the facts. Some of the 
 wars were as justifiable as any which have ever been 
 waged by our people. Some of them were brought 
 upon the Indians by their own deliberate actions. For 
 the war of the Apaches under Geronimo upon the United 
 States no defence of the Indians whatever can be urged. 
 Nor is there much to be said, to use an older instance, in 
 behalf of the Creeks, who commenced their famous war 
 by the Battle of Burnt Corn and the Massacre at Fort 
 Mims. 
 
 On the other hand, there is no justification for the 
 United States for to cite a modern illustration the Nez 
 Perces war, and there is but little for that in which the 
 following incidents occurred. 
 
 The Seminoles of Florida and southern Georgia were 
 among the ablest and bravest Indians on the continent. 
 The name means " runaway," and they were mainly of 
 the famous Creek stock which had furnished many 
 instances of capacity and courage. They were leavened 
 by the remnant of the ancient aborigines of Florida who 
 13 193
 
 194 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 had escaped the inevitable extermination attendant upon 
 Spanish occupation. They were a small tribe, probably 
 never able to put more than two or three thousand war- 
 riors in the field. 
 
 Their country was to the southern states after the war 
 of 1812 just what Oklahoma and the Indian Territory 
 were to the western states a few years since. Nominally 
 under the government of Spain, which pretended to do 
 little and could do less in keeping order, their country 
 was the refuge of every outlaw and vagabond who 
 wanted to escape from the law and justice ; and especially 
 was it a convenient asylum for the fugitive slave. 
 
 The negroes by no means gained their freedom among 
 the Seminoles, but they enjoyed a quasi-liberty which 
 made their condition much more tolerable than that of 
 complete servitude. And when to this state of affairs 
 were added facilities for wild and savage life, to which 
 their natural inclination directed them, it is not strange 
 that many of them embraced the opportunity for change, 
 and crossed the line as they had or could make a 
 chance. 
 
 There was constant friction back and forth between 
 parties of slave-catchers, officers of the law, and the 
 Indians. When the territory was ceded to the United 
 States in 1821, after Jackson's vigorous foray, conditions 
 became even more intolerable. Whatever may be said 
 of the rights and wrongs of the situation, never in the his- 
 tory of the world has it been, and I presume never will it 
 be, that a vast body of fertile and arable land suitable 
 for settlement could be withheld from a people who were 
 willing to go in and cultivate it, in the interests of those 
 who simply wished to retain it as a game preserve, and 
 who were unable or unwilling to use it themselves. A
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 195 
 
 rude tribal government will not be permitted to exist in 
 contravention to a civilized administration. The weak 
 have always had to go to the wall; whether they always 
 will is a question. But there are ways and ways, and 
 the United States chose a bad way and paid for it. 
 
 It was proposed to remove the Seminoles beyond the 
 Mississippi, the government paying them a small sum for 
 the lands thus opened for white settlement, promising 
 them an annuity for a short time, and further agreeing to 
 assume the expenses of transportation. After much per- 
 suasion the Seminoles, who had already been crowded 
 down into what is now Florida, at last agreed to go, at 
 least a portion of them did; but to make a long story 
 short, when the time came for signing the treaty and 
 starting the exodus, only a few of them were willing to 
 leave. 
 
 Now the land by ancient usage and long occupation, 
 belonged to the Seminoles. The United States had no 
 vested right to take it from them or to force them to 
 leave against their will, yet that is what the United States 
 proceeded to do. Matters came to a crisis in November, 
 1836, when Charlie Amathla, a chief who had sold his 
 lands and received his stipend, agreeing to go, was shot by 
 a party under the leadership of Micanopy and Osceola. 
 
 Micanopy was the head chief of the Seminoles. Osceola 
 was a half-breed, the son of an Englishman named Powell. 
 He had been reared with the tribe, however, and was to 
 all intents and purposes an Indian. He was the most 
 implacable and persistent, as well as the ablest, antago- 
 nist of the United States among the Seminoles, and his 
 talents for war, his administrative and executive ability, 
 speedily raised him to a position of the first importance. 
 He had many noble qualities and for an Indian he stands
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 upon a very high plane, although he was not altogether 
 the magnanimous hero which popular imagination de- 
 picts him. 
 
 For instance, when they found the American gold 
 which Amathla had received for his lands upon his person 
 after they had murdered him, Osceola would not permit 
 his band to appropriate any portion of it, but threw it 
 away, saying that it was blood-money and that its pos- 
 session would invite disaster! 
 
 One dramatic incident in his career has often been 
 repeated. When he was asked with other chiefs to sign 
 a treaty agreeing to the translation of the tribe beyond 
 the Mississippi, he walked to the table, drew a knife and 
 drove it through the parchment by a blow of his powerful 
 arm, remarking grimly that thus and thus only would he 
 sign the treaty. 
 
 The United States, being fully determined to remove 
 the Seminoles willy-nilly, Osceola promptly began hostil- 
 ities. Before they got through with him and his the 
 country paid a price for Florida which staggered human- 
 ity humanity being more easily staggered in those days 
 than now. The war was protracted by these two or 
 three thousand Seminole warriors through seven years. 
 It cost the United States twenty million dollars and the 
 lives of fifteen hundred regular soldiers and certainly 
 more than as many of the settlers and volunteers. 
 
 Reputations were made and lost the latter, mainly 
 by successive commanders, and Osceola was finally capt- 
 ured by an act of the blackest treachery. This was 
 nothing less than a flagrant violation of a safe conduct 
 and a flag of truce, by General Jessup, of the U. S. Army, 
 who had invited a conference with the chiefs, promising 
 them absolute liberty to go as they had come, and who
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 19? 
 
 seized Osceola forcibly, when he trusted his person to 
 American honor. The dauntless chief was thrown into 
 prison and died at Fort Moultrie of grief and despair, 
 after a short captivity. 
 
 In the end, of course, the Seminoles were defeated. 
 The bulk of those who were left were sent beyond the 
 Mississippi and a few who were harmless were allowed to 
 remain in Florida. The country was at last open to set- 
 tlement. 
 
 The Indians were able to protract the contest for seven 
 years, first, on account of their splendid qualities as irreg- 
 ular fighters, and second, by the almost inaccessible char- 
 acter of the Everglades to which they repaired. They 
 were not beaten until the warriors were practically exter- 
 minated. In many respects their superb fighting reminds 
 us of that of the Boers in South Africa. Their magnifi- 
 cent valor and their desperate determination, the capac- 
 ity of their chiefs, and the consecration of their warriors, 
 sustained them to the end. Right was made only by 
 might, in this instance. 
 
 II. The Massacre of Dade and his Men 
 
 The most terrible happening during the war was 
 the occurrence which practically began it, and which 
 is known as " The Dade Massacre." The word 
 " massacre " is a very easy one to bruit about, but 
 how a body of troops who are surprised by an enemy 
 in war time and who fight without asking quarter, until 
 they are all killed, can be said to be massacred, in an 
 invidious sense, is an open question. However, to the 
 story. 
 
 In the fall of 1836, there were some five hundred
 
 i9 8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 United States regular troops in Florida, ten companies 
 in all; one company at St. Augustine, six at Fort King 
 in the centre of the state, nearest the scene of hostilities, 
 and three at Fort Brooke on Hillsboro Bay, near what is 
 now known as Tampa. Two companies were ordered 
 from Fort Brooke on the i6th of December, to meet 
 a force from Fort King near the forks of the Withlacoo- 
 chee River, or Ouithlacoochee, as it used to be spelled, 
 in order to undertake a punitive expedition. 
 
 To have taken one hundred men away from Fort 
 Brooke would have left it practically defenceless. The 
 commander, therefore, did not obey the order of General 
 Clinch, the commander-in-chief in Florida, until a re-en- 
 forcement of forty men under the command of Major 
 Francis L. Dade reached him from Key West. Dade was 
 a captain and brevet major in the Fourth Infantry, the 
 same regiment which had, under Boyd, fought so gal- 
 lantly at Tippecanoe twenty-five years before. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival the expeditionary force was 
 made up. Drafts from Dade's Fourth Infantry men were 
 made to complete two full companies of fifty men each 
 of the Second Artillery and the Third Infantry, com- 
 manded by Captains Gardiner and Frazer respectively, 
 with Lieutenants Bassinger, Henderson, Mudge and 
 Keais, and Assistant Surgeon Gatlin, as their subordi- 
 nates. Captain Gardiner was to command the expedi- 
 tion, but on the morning of the start Major Dade dis- 
 covered that Captain Gardiner's wife was seriously ill 
 and he therefore volunteered to lead the party so that 
 Captain Gardiner could remain at the post to care for 
 his wife. 
 
 The offer was accepted by the grateful captain and the 
 party, comprising one hundred and nine effectives and a
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 199 
 
 Spanish negro guide, set out, carrying ten days' provi- 
 sions and accompanied by one six-pounder drawn by four 
 oxen and one light horse wagon. The departure was 
 taken at 6 A.M. on the 24th inst. 
 
 A short time after they left the post Captain Gardiner 
 learned that a comfortable transport was to sail imme- 
 diately for Key West, and as members of his wife's fam- 
 ily and other friends were stationed there at the time, it 
 was decided that it would be advisable to send Mrs. Gar- 
 diner thither on the transport. Accordingly they placed 
 her aboard the ship, and her husband bade her farewell, 
 galloped after the detachment, which had been delayed 
 by the breaking down of the ox train, and succeeded in 
 reaching it that evening, raising the muster to one hun- 
 dred and ten officers and men. It was a pity Gardiner 
 had not gone with his poor wife. 
 
 Dade had halted his advance, sent back for horses to 
 draw the cannon, and when they were provided marched 
 on. The troops progressed slowly toward the designated 
 rendezvous. It took them four days to make sixty-five 
 miles. They were under Indian surveillance from the 
 start. It was afterward learned that their guide was a 
 traitor who had betrayed the route, and the Seminoles 
 had resolved to intercept them. The usual precautions 
 were observed, however, on the march and the camps 
 were made carefully and thoroughly protected by sen- 
 tries. 
 
 They were not molested, though conscious of observa- 
 tion, until the 28th of December. They had crossed the 
 fork of the Withlacoochee and were marching along the 
 trail which served as a road. The ground was an open 
 barren. On one side, however, there was a small pond 
 surrounded by a stretch of swamp overgrown with grass
 
 200 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 five feet high and interspersed with scrubby palmettos. 
 On the left side of the road the ground, save for the pine 
 trees, was open and unencumbered. 
 
 Here the Indians had chosen to attack. They wished 
 and expected to annihilate the detachment, and they 
 selected a place which offered the Americans no conceal- 
 ment, so that none of them could get away. At eight 
 o'clock in the morning the advance came slowly trailing 
 up the road. 
 
 Osceola had intended to direct the attack in person, but 
 he was busy the day before, killing General Thompson, 
 the Indian agent, his aides and the other settlers, and did 
 not reach the scene of the battle until long after it was 
 over. The Indians, however, were ably led by Micanopy. 
 Some two hundred of them lay hidden in the tall grass 
 overlooking the road which passed close to them. They 
 had received strict orders from their chief not to fire on 
 any account until he gave the signal, which would be the 
 discharge of his own piece. 
 
 There do not seem to have been any flankers thrown 
 out on this occasion. The place was the most unlikely 
 one for an ambuscade that could have been conceived. 
 There were numberless spots on the march where they 
 might have been assaulted, narrow defiles, thick woods 
 enclosed by impassable morasses, but here the country on 
 one side was open and on the other the grass would have 
 afforded cover to no force but an Indian one. 
 
 In high spirits the troops marched along. Captain 
 Frazer and Lieutenant Mudge led the advance, which 
 seems to have been strung out in a long line. After them 
 came Major Dade with the main body with the six- 
 pounder and the wagons in the midst. With cool and 
 terrible patience Micanopy waited until the whole line
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 201 
 
 was under the guns of his troops. Taking careful and 
 deliberate aim at Dade he shot him dead. 
 
 Instantly the grass was alive with smoke and fire. Over 
 half of the American force was shot down at the first vol- 
 ley. Captain Frazer was instantly killed and Lieutenant 
 Mudge was mortally wounded. Lieutenant Henderson 
 had his left arm broken, and Lieutenant Keais both arms 
 broken. Captain Gardiner, Lieutenant Bassinger and 
 Dr. Gatlin were the only officers unhurt. 
 
 The suddenness of this appalling attack with the terri- 
 ble losses consequent upon it, to the credit of the soldiers, 
 be it said, in no wise disorganized them. There was 
 no panic, the men abandoned the road instantly and 
 took to the trees which abounded, in true Indian fashion, 
 and poured a heavy fire upon the Seminoles. For some 
 forty minutes the battle raged furiously, the Americans 
 husbanding their fire and not delivering it until they 
 caught sight of an enemy, when the Indians actually 
 withdrew. 
 
 Hastily collecting the wounded who could be moved 
 Captain Gardiner, who seems to have acted with great 
 courage, moved back a short distance, bringing with him 
 the six-pounder, which had been rapidly served by Lieu- 
 tenant Bassinger. He had between forty or fifty men 
 able to continue the battle. Instantly they set to work 
 to fell trees to make a breastwork which he drew out in 
 the form of a triangle. 
 
 They all worked with fervent desperation but did not 
 succeed in raising the breastwork more than three small 
 tree trunks high when the Indians appeared once more. 
 They had been re-enforced and returned to the attack. 
 The battle recommenced with fury. The other side of 
 the road where the grass was thickest was a little higher
 
 202 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 than the place where the troops had attempted to make 
 the breastwork in their haste, which, unfortunately, was 
 in a slight depression. The Indians who surrounded the 
 little fort on all sides easily commanded it with their fire. 
 
 Lieutenant Henderson, in spite of his broken arm, con- 
 tinued to load and fire his musket until he was shot down. 
 Lieutenant Keais lay in the breastwork, leaning his head 
 against a log, helpless with his broken arms slung by a 
 handkerchief, until he was shot again and killed. Dr. 
 Gatlin, who had two double-barrelled shotguns which 
 he used effectively, was finally killed by a bullet in the 
 head. Captain Gardiner was mortally wounded and fell, 
 crying, " I can give you no more orders, lads. Do your 
 best!" 
 
 Lieutenant Bassinger, who had fought his piece of 
 artillery which was exposed on the outside of the fort 
 until every man detailed to it had been killed, and him- 
 self seriously wounded, crawled into the fort thereafter 
 and continued the battle until every man had been killed 
 or wounded. When the Indians perceived that the fort 
 was silent, about two o'clock in the afternoon they ceased 
 firing and swarmed into it. 
 
 They took many scalps but did not mutilate the bodies 
 nor even rob them, except to take the officers' coats. 
 Almost immediately they left the scene of action. The 
 reason for their sudden departure was that they expected 
 General Clinch's men, the troops from Fort King, which 
 they must prepare to meet at once. 
 
 III. After the Battle ; 
 
 After they left the battle-field, however, a party of some 
 fifty negroes appeared who began to kill and plunder
 
 OJ 
 
 13 
 
 <u 
 > 
 
 'So
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 203 
 
 the bodies. Lieutenant Bassinger, the only officer left 
 alive, had, with some of the others, lain perfectly 
 quiet while the Indians were in the fort, feigning death. 
 When he perceived the intent of the negroes he strug- 
 gled to his knees and begged for his life and the lives of 
 his men. With brutal wickedness they cut him down 
 with hatchets and mutilated his body in a fearful manner. 
 They, too, were in a hurry, and three living private sol- 
 diers escaped their attention. Two others had managed 
 to get away during the confusion of the fight, both 
 severely wounded. 
 
 Ransom Clark, one of the living, had been wounded 
 five times. His head had been struck by a bullet and 
 he was covered with blood. One of the negroes had 
 seized him to kill him, but another crying that the man 
 was already dead as his head was blown open, the negro 
 dropped him to the ground. He and the others had 
 to lie perfectly still, not daring to give vent even to 
 their anguish. Finally at evening one of the men left 
 alive struggled to his feet and darted across the little 
 breastwork. He was instantly shot dead by a lurking 
 Indian. 
 
 Ransom Clark and a man named Cony, the remaining 
 two, waited until dark and then started to return to Fort 
 Brooke; Fort King was much nearer, but they did not 
 know the way, and the Indians were between them and 
 the troops. The progress of the two wounded men was 
 attended by the most excruciating agony and was fright- 
 fully slow. They were so badly injured that they were 
 compelled to crawl the greater portion of the way on 
 their hands and knees. 
 
 The next morning a mounted Indian observed the two 
 fugitives. As the only chance for life they divided. The
 
 204 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Indian pursued Cony and shot him, but Ransom Clark, 
 urged to impossible exertions by the desperation of his 
 case escaped from him. After three days he had dragged 
 himself, or crawled, over the sixty-five miles that in- 
 tervened between the place of the fight and Fort Brooke. 
 He and the other two men referred to were the only 
 persons who escaped, and the other two died of their 
 wounds shortly after reaching the fort, leaving Clark as 
 the sole survivor. 
 
 Clark was in a pitiable condition when he reached Fort 
 Brooke, but he survived his awful sufferings for several 
 years, dying as the result of them in 1840. He had led 
 an adventurous life indeed, and had more than once es- 
 caped from sudden death, the last occasion being a few 
 years before when he was the only man saved from a 
 boating party which had gone out from Fort Morgan for 
 a sail and had been overtaken by a storm. 
 
 The story of that battle sent a thrill of horror through- 
 out the country, and sealed the fate of the Seminoles. 
 Those who had been inclined to show them pity, or to 
 temporize, were now equally resolved with the others to 
 wage war relentlessly until the end. 
 
 It was not until the following February in the inter- 
 val several battles having taken place that an expedition 
 reached the place where Dade and his command had been 
 exterminated. The Inspector General thus reports 
 what he found : 
 
 "Western Department, 
 " Fort King, Florida, Feb. 22, 1836. 
 
 " General Agreeably to your directions, I observed 
 the battle ground six or seven miles north of the Withla- 
 coochee River, where Major Dade and his command 
 were destroyed by the Seminole Indians on the 28th of
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 205 
 
 December, last, and have the honor to submit the follow- 
 ing Report : 
 
 " The force under your command, which arrived at this 
 post to-day from Tampa Bay, encamped on the igth 
 instant, on the ground occupied by Major Dade on the 
 night of the 2yth of December. He and his party were 
 destroyed on the morning of the 28th, about four miles 
 in advance of that position. He was advancing towards 
 this post, and was attacked from the north, so that on 
 the 2Oth instant we came upon the rear of his battle 
 ground, about nine o'clock in the morning. Our advance 
 guard had passed the ground without halting, when the 
 General and his Staff came upon one of the most appall- 
 ing scenes that can be imagined. We first saw some 
 broken and scattered bones; then a cart, the two oxen of 
 which were lying dead, as if they had fallen asleep, their 
 yokes still upon them; a little to the right, one or two 
 horses were seen. We then came to a small enclosure, 
 made by felling trees in such a manner as to form a tri- 
 angular breastwork for defence. Within the triangle, 
 along the north and west faces of it, were about 
 thirty bodies, mostly mere skeletons, although much 
 of the clothing was left upon them. These were ly- 
 ing, every one of them, in precisely the same posi- 
 tion they must have occupied during the fight; their 
 heads next to the logs over which they had delivered 
 their fire, and their bodies stretched with striking regu- 
 larity parallel to each other. They had evidently been 
 shot dead at their posts, and the Indians had not dis- 
 turbed them, except by taking the scalps of most of them. 
 Passing this little breastwork, we found other bodies 
 along the road, and by the side of the road, generally be- 
 hind trees, which had been resorted to for covers from
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 the enemies' fire. Advancing about two hundred yards 
 farther, we found a cluster of bodies in the middle of the 
 road. They were evidently the advanced guard, in the 
 rear of which was the body of Major Bade, and to the 
 right that of Captain Fraser. 
 
 " These were doubtless all shot down by the first fire of 
 the Indians, except, perhaps, Captain Fraser, who must 
 however have fallen very early in the fight. Those in 
 the road, and by the trees, fell during the first attack. 
 It was during a cessation of the fire, that the little 
 band still remaining, about thirty in number, threw up 
 the triangular breast-work, which, from the haste with 
 which it was constructed, was necessarily defective, and 
 could not protect the men in the second attack. 
 
 " We had with us many of the personal friends of the 
 officers of Major Dade's command, and it is gratifying to 
 be able to state, that every officer was identified by un- 
 doubted evidence. They were buried, and the cannon, 
 a six-pounder, that the Indians had thrown into a swamp, 
 was recovered and placed vertically at the head of the 
 grave, where it is to be hoped it will long remain. 
 The bodies of the non-commissioned officers and pri- 
 vates were buried in two graves and it was found that 
 every man was accounted for. The command was com- 
 posed of eight officers and one hundred and two non- 
 commissioned officers and privates. The bodies of eight 
 officers and ninety-eight men were interred, four men 
 having escaped; three of whom reached Tampa Bay; the 
 fourth was killed the day after the battle. 
 
 " It may be proper to remark, that the attack was not 
 made from a hammock, but in a thinly wooded country; 
 the Indians being concealed by palmetto and grass, which 
 has since been burned.
 
 Seminoles Fought for Freedom 207 
 
 " The two companies were Captain Eraser's of the 
 3rd Artillery, and Captain Gardiner's of the 2nd Ar- 
 tillery. The officers were Major Dade of the 4th 
 Infantry, Captains Fraser and Gardiner, Second Lieut. 
 Bassinger, Brevet Second Lieutenants R. Henderson, 
 Mudge and Keais, of the Artillery, and Dr. J. S. Gatlin. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 " E. A. HITCHCOCK, 
 " Captain 1st Infantry, Act. In. General. 
 
 " Major General E. P. GAINES, 
 
 " Commanding Western Department, Fort King, Flor- 
 ida." 
 
 The bones of the officers and soldiers were afterward 
 exhumed and reinterred at St. Augustine with appropriate 
 ceremonies and a monument erected over them. There 
 is also another monument to Dade at West Point, of 
 which, by the way, he was not a graduate. It bears this 
 significant inscription : 
 
 "TO COMMEMORATE THE BATTLE OF THE 28TH OF 
 DECEMBER, BETWEEN A DETACHMENT OF 108 U. 
 S. TROOPS AND THE SEMINOLE INDIANS, OF 
 FLORIDA, IN WHICH ALL THE DETACH- 
 MENT SAVE THREE FELL WITHOUT AN 
 ATTEMPT TO RETREAT." 
 
 In this connection, one phrase of Captain Hitchcock's 
 report is worthy of note. The men had been shot at their 
 posts ! The bodies were found drawn up in the lines as
 
 208 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 they had fought. In the face of that appalling disaster, 
 bereft of their officers, confronted by a sure and awful 
 death, they had gallantly maintained the heroic traditions 
 of the American Army, dying on the battle ground in 
 their appointed stations. Honor to them !
 
 PART V 
 THE NORTH WEST TERRITORY
 
 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE 
 GREAT NORTH WEST 
 
 I. The Origin of a Great Idea 
 
 THE first white man who penetrated the 
 heart of the territory bounded by the Ohio, the 
 great Lakes and the Mississippi, was that re- 
 doubtable explorer and heroic soul, Robert Cavelier, 
 Sieur de la Salle. In 1669-70 he traversed what is now 
 Indiana and explored the country along the beautiful 
 Ohio as far as the Mississippi, claiming the whole vast re- 
 gion for France. For nearly one hundred years there- 
 after the white flag of that sunny land fluttered from the 
 staffs of small forts, which were erected from time to 
 time at strategic points commanding the river highways, 
 in accordance with the military genius of the French sol- 
 diery. These strategic points became centres of trade, 
 agriculture, and commerce in the succeeding centuries. 
 
 In 1727 the Sieur de Vincennes established a military 
 post on the Ouabache (Wabash), where the town of the 
 same name now stands in southern Indiana. In 1735 a 
 few families settled there, and their number was slowly 
 augmented during the century. The fort, although 
 nearer the province of Quebec, was in the territory of the 
 district of Illinois, of the province of Louisiana. The 
 headquarters of the district were at Kaskaskia, situated 
 where the river of the same name empties into the Mis' 
 
 211
 
 212 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 sissippi, and the capital of the province was New Or- 
 leans. 
 
 In 1736 the gallant commander and founder of Vin- 
 cennes was killed, bravely righting, by the English and 
 Indians in a war against the Natchez, and the Chickasaws, 
 when d'Artaguiette met with overwhelming defeat. 
 Says Charlevoix, " Vincennes ceased not until his last 
 breath to exhort the men to behave worthy of their relig- 
 ion and their country." D'Artaguiette and fifteen of his 
 companions were captured and burned at the stake. 
 Louis St. Ange de Bellerive was appointed to the govern- 
 orship of the little Indiana town in 1736, and remained in 
 charge until 1764; in this long tour of duty proving in- 
 deed a father to his people. 
 
 Perhaps nowhere on the continent has humanity dwelt 
 in such peaceful simplicity as in the little settlement at 
 Vincennes. Even the Indians lived in amicable relations 
 with the colonists in the main. Cut off from intercourse 
 with the rest of the world, it passed them by unheeding 
 and unheeded, the fleeting years leaving the people un- 
 changed. In hunting and fishing, in agriculture of the 
 most primitive kind, with implements which might have 
 been used two thousand years before; in trading down 
 the river to New Orleans; in feasting, in frolic, with all 
 the gayety of their French nationality, the uneventful 
 days glided by. 
 
 Except at Kaskaskia there was not a school in the 
 whole vast territory, although incredible as it may seem, 
 there was a billiard table in the settlement on the Wabash ! 
 The little education the inhabitants received was imparted 
 by the faithful and devoted missionaries who dwelt 
 among them. 
 
 In 1763, on the completion of the Seven Years' War,
 
 George Rogers Clark 213 
 
 the whole country from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of 
 Mexico on the hither side of the Mississippi fell into the 
 hands of England by treaty, although, owing to the fearful 
 outbreak of savage passion, engendered and stimulated 
 by Pontiac, except Tecumseh the ablest Indian who ever 
 lived, the English were not able to take immediate pos- 
 session of it. Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, the principal 
 military post, were turned over to them in 1765, and the 
 post at Vincennes sometime later. On the western side 
 of the river France ceded her claims to the territory to 
 Spain. 
 
 The conquest made little difference to the inhabitants. 
 They had not been greatly concerned in the war which 
 had resulted in the transfer of their allegiance and they 
 were not greatly concerned with another more important 
 event which happened later on. They lived on just as 
 they had done before perhaps a little less cheerfully, a 
 little less happily, under the Union Jack than under the 
 Fleur-de-lis, but there was not much difference. 
 
 Meanwhile all of the vast territory west of the Alle- 
 gheny Mountains which had hitherto proved a barrier to 
 the settlements having their origin on the seaboard, was 
 attracting the attention of such bold, adventurous spirits 
 as Boone, Robertson, and Sevier. Among other empire 
 builders who surveyed it with eager, if not prophetic 
 vision, was George Rogers Clark. 
 
 Like many of the pioneers he was a native of the great 
 state of Virginia, where he was born on the igth of No- 
 vember, 1752. The west was settled by men from the 
 south of Mason and Dixon's line, except in the case of 
 Pennsylvania. Without belonging to the landed gentry, 
 the Clark family was respectable, and he himself received 
 such education as the western part of the Old Dominion
 
 214 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 afforded. Like George Washington and many young 
 men of the day, he became a surveyor, in which vocation 
 he displayed great proficiency. But at best his acquire- 
 ments were limited. His spelling was simply awful, al- 
 though his diction and his chirography were somewhat 
 better. However, spelling was thought somewhat lightly 
 of by many gentlemen who had enjoyed more advantages 
 than this young Virginian. 
 
 He was a strongly built, heavy set man, with broad brow 
 and keen blue eyes, with a dash of red in his hair from 
 a Scottish ancestress, which corresponded with the fight- 
 ing qualities of the man. He was a young man of suffi- 
 cient consideration in the community to receive a commis- 
 sion as captain in Lord Dunmore's war, a school which 
 graduated many officers into the more serious conflict 
 which followed hard upon it. Clark was one of Dun- 
 more's staff, apparently, and therefore did not participate 
 in the famous battle of Point Pleasant on the Kanawha. 
 After the war he went to Kentucky, which he had before 
 visited on a surveying expedition. Subsequently he be- 
 came one of the most prominent of the pioneers in that 
 famous territory. 
 
 The Revolution found the Clark family intense and 
 zealous patriots. The two oldest brothers immediately 
 enlisted in the Continental line and served with credit 
 the elder one with distinction during the whole of the 
 war. George Rogers, the third, was not less ardent in 
 his patriotism than the other two, and he displayed his 
 qualities on a more splendid field. The remaining broth- 
 er, too young for the Revolution, showed his qualities in 
 the famous Lewis and Clark expedition across the conti- 
 nent in 1804-6. 
 
 When the war began, the Indians, stimulated thereto
 
 George Rogers Clark 215 
 
 by the British, inaugurated a series of ruthless forays, not 
 only into the " dark and bloody ground " of Kentucky, 
 but everywhere on the borders. The few frontier settle- 
 ments in Kentucky, with which we are at present con- 
 cerned, were at once put on the defensive and forced to 
 fight for their lives. With the forethought of state build- 
 ers, desirous of organizing a civil government of some 
 sort in the trans-Allegheny region, and of representing 
 their defenceless condition to Virginia, which they rightly 
 considered their mother territory, they called a conven- 
 tion at Clark's instance, at Harrodsburg in 1775. He 
 was delayed in reaching the convention when it opened, 
 and found, when he did arrive, that he and one other had 
 been elected to the Virginia legislature from Kentucky, 
 which at that time had no legal existence and therefore 
 no right to send delegates to the assembly. However, 
 he made the long arduous journey across the mountains 
 to .Williamsburg only to learn that the legislature had ad- 
 journed before his arrival. 
 
 He and his companion at once made representations to 
 the Governor, the redoubtable Patrick Henry, concern- 
 ing the situation beyond the Mississippi, asking for five 
 hundred pounds of powder to defend themselves against 
 the savages, and suggesting also that some steps be taken 
 for the establishment of civil government in this wild and 
 lawless expanse of territory. There was in existence 
 at the time a Transylvania Company, so called, of which 
 Colonels Henderson and Campbell were chief promoters, 
 which claimed the right of eminent domain over Ken- 
 tucky, and the Virginia government felt some hesitation 
 about assuming any rights over this country. 
 
 The authorities were perfectly willing to lend five hun- 
 dred pounds of powder to their neighbors in Kentucky
 
 216 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 on the guarantee of Clark himself, but Clark was shrewd 
 enough not to fall into a trap of this kind. He rejected 
 their proffer and wrote them a brilliant letter in which he 
 said that a country that was not worth defending was not 
 worth claiming. This sharp intimation that he would 
 endeavor to get help elsewhere brought the commission- 
 ers to terms. Clark got the powder. It was his first suc- 
 cess. Not only did he get it after the order had been 
 given and the two things were not synonymous, then; 
 it was hard to get powder in those revolutionary days, 
 since it was in so great demand but he actually succeed- 
 ed in getting it safely into the hands of the people. This 
 in spite of savage attacks and perils of a journey wellnigh 
 unsurmountable. He also succeeded, through his repre- 
 sentations, in having Kentucky formed into a county 
 of Virginia, and brought under the operation of the civil 
 law of that state, a service of inestimable value. 
 
 Meanwhile the British, in pursuance of their well-de- 
 vised plan, continued to launch the savages on the backs 
 of the Americans in the fond hope that they would thus 
 be enabled to work their will with the harassed revolution- 
 ists on the seaboard. Major Stuart and chiefs McGilli- 
 vray and Oconostota raised the Creeks and Cherokees on 
 one hand, while Lieutenant-Governor William Hamilton, 
 of Detroit, who seems to have been one of the chief vil- 
 lains in the plot, incited the Indians in the northwest to 
 the war-path with great success. Campbell, Shelby, Se- 
 vier and Robertson held them in check to the southwest ; 
 God raised up another leader to cover the frontier to the 
 northward. 
 
 It was hard living in Kentucky in those days, and the 
 one man there who saw something else to do than fight 
 recklessly and desperately when the savages came, the
 
 George Rogers Clark 217 
 
 one man who divined how these forays might be stopped 
 and who realized that in the stopping of them great bene- 
 fits would accrue not merely to Kentucky, but to the 
 United Colonies as well, was George Rogers Clark. 
 
 He realized that the old French posts of Detroit, Kas- 
 kaskia, and Vincennes were the points from which the 
 Indians secured the necessary supplies to carry on the 
 war, as well as the stimulation which enabled them to 
 sweep the borders. Securing information concerning 
 their strength and weakness from two spies whom he 
 sent out, he conceived the magnificent design of capturing 
 these points, holding them, and thus establishing for the 
 United States a claim to the great territory of the north- 
 west. 
 
 Neither he nor anyone else dreamed for a moment of 
 the great, populous and wealthy states which were en- 
 shrined potentially within that wilderness. No one 
 could imagine that upon the barren shore of one of the 
 lonely lakes tossing its fresh waters in the sunlight 
 should presently rise the second city of the Union and 
 one of the great cities of the world. How could he, or 
 any one, anticipate the future growth of the struggling 
 colonies? The boldest imagination could not compre- 
 hend the possibility, much less the realization, of that 
 great deluge of men, which, starting from the shores 
 lapped by the ocean-tide, should break over the moun- 
 tain-crest hitherto considered a natural boundary, and 
 flood the wilderness until it reached the banks of the far- 
 away Mississippi. And as for the empire beyond it over 
 which the same tide rolls and still sweeps on, that was be- 
 yond the most extravagant dream, even. Yet with in- 
 stinctive prophetic vision something of this Titanic con- 
 ception of national destiny seems to have come to this 
 young man.
 
 2i 8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 II. The First Success 
 
 In 1777 he went back to Virginia and laid his daring 
 project before Patrick Henry. The stupendousness of 
 the idea impressed the sagacious old governor; he caused 
 a council to be called to consider the suggestion of the 
 borderer, a council composed of himself, Thomas Jeffer- 
 son, George Mason, and George Wythe. To these men, 
 Clark, not much more than a boy, just twenty-five years 
 old in fact, expounded his plan. They realized at once 
 what there was in it. Not merely the protection of the 
 settlements south of the Ohio in Kentucky, not merely a 
 check to Indian aggression, but the extension of the bor- 
 ders of the United States to the Mississippi, the control 
 of that vast territory between the mountains and the river. 
 Room to grow, room to grow for thousands of years, 
 they may have thought, instead of barely for a century. 
 At any rate they approved the plan. 
 
 Few more momentous councils have ever been held, 
 although even now it is scarcely noticed in history. Clark 
 was naturally selected to lead the expedition. He was 
 given twelve hundred pounds in depreciated Virginia cur- 
 rency, a commission as a colonel, an order for ammuni- 
 tion at Fort Pitt, and authority to raise seven hundred 
 and fifty men for three months' service where he could. 
 Then they sent him out with their blessing and their good- 
 will. Such were the inadequate means provided for this 
 gigantic achievement. 
 
 The plan was kept strictly secret by Clark and the four 
 men who had determined upon it. His public instruc- 
 tions from Patrick Henry ordered him to proceed to 
 Kentucky and take measures for the defence of the col-
 
 George Rogers Clark 219 
 
 onists with such troops as he could enlist. A private 
 letter, however, authorized him to take and hold Kaskas- 
 kia, Vincennes, and the whole northwest territory. 
 
 Many difficulties beset the enlistment of his soldiers, 
 but he finally succeeded in assembling several hundred 
 men on Corn Island, at the Falls of the Ohio, opposite 
 where is now the great city of Louisville. The thickly 
 wooded island has since been stripped of its trees, and 
 washed away by the rapid current. Many of his troops 
 deserted from time to time, especially when they learned 
 the real purpose for which they had been embodied, and 
 he found himself left at last with about one hundred and 
 fifty men; and the time was approaching for them to start 
 upon their projected expedition. 
 
 He had chosen to camp upon this island because, on 
 account of its isolation by the rapid falls, he could pre- 
 vent further desertion. It was a good place, too, in 
 which to drill and train the men in accordance with his 
 limited experience. What he lacked in military training 
 and technical knowledge he made up in zeal and innate 
 capacity to command, and he soon got his little army 
 under excellent control. 
 
 A number of families which had followed him down 
 the river settled on the island around a block-house which 
 he built for their protection. Then he set forth to ac- 
 complish his comprehensive purpose. He left his camp 
 on the island on the 24th of June, 1778, and embarked 
 his men, divided into four companies, in bateaux, rowing 
 back up the river until he could gain the channel through 
 the rapids, much more dangerous then than now, through 
 which they made an exciting passage. 
 
 The departure of the expedition was dramatic in the 
 extreme. As the boats were whirled down the mighty
 
 220 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 river by the swift current, though it was early in the 
 morning, the land was enshrouded in almost total dark- 
 ness from an eclipse of the sun; a bad omen thought 
 some of the party, but Clark was no believer in omens. 
 For four days they swung down the river, reaching at last 
 an abandoned French post called Fort Massac. It had 
 been built by the garrison of Fort DuQuesne fleeing 
 from the advance of Forbes in 1759.* 
 
 There they were met by a party of hunters who had 
 recently come from Kaskaskia, the capital and principal 
 town of the province. They reported it to be lightly 
 garrisoned and negligently guarded. Learning of the 
 destination of the expedition, they asked Clark's permis- 
 sion to join his party, for which one of them offered to act 
 as guide. The offer was gladly accepted, and although 
 the guide temporarily lost his way and was in imminent 
 danger of death at the hands of the indignant and suspi- 
 cious Americans, he proved his loyalty and gave them 
 good service in the end. For six days the party marched 
 westward over the prairie. They had no wagons or 
 pack-horses, and no baggage except what each man car- 
 ried himself, consequently their progress was unusually 
 rapid. 
 
 On the evening of the 4th of July they reached the 
 east bank of the Kaskaskia River, opposite the town, 
 undiscovered. Marching up the bank in the night they 
 found a farm-house. They put the inmates under guard, 
 seized the boats belonging to them, crossed the river, and 
 marched down toward the town. The commander of the 
 place was M. de Rocheblave, a Frenchman. The garri- 
 son was made up of Creole militia. De Rocheblave had 
 implored to have British regular troops sent him, but none 
 
 * See my book Colonial Fights and Fighters. The Struggle for the 
 Valley of the Ohio.
 
 George Rogers Clark 
 
 had appeared. It was not thought possible that the post 
 would be attacked by the Americans, and the King had 
 use for his soldiers elsewhere. On that evening no one 
 dreamed that the Kentucky pioneers were at hand. 
 
 One dramatic account of the capture of the place says 
 that Clark surrounded the town, disposing the greater 
 portion of his troops so that none could escape from it, 
 and with the rest marched silently toward the fort. The 
 story goes that the officers were enjoying a dance at the 
 time in one of the large rooms, and that Clark, admitted 
 to the fort through the postern by one of his prisoners, 
 left his men outside the barracks and then walked boldly 
 into the room. No one happening to notice his entrance 
 he stood quietly by the door, with an inborn love of the 
 dramatic, folding his arms and looking grimly upon the 
 scene of gayety. 
 
 Presently an Indian caught sight of him and recognized 
 an enemy, perhaps because of the buff and blue he wore, 
 and rent the air with a terrific war-whoop. The women 
 shrieked, the music stopped, and Clark, with tragic in- 
 tensity, bade them go on with the dance, but to remem- 
 ber that now they were to dance in honor of Virginia and 
 of the United States, instead of Great Britain ! I take it 
 that they were in no humor for further merriment. 
 Whether the story be true or no, and some good authori- 
 ties give it credence, the fact remains that the fort was 
 surprised and captured without the loss of a man on either 
 side. 
 
 Clark was most anxious to get hold of the papers of the 
 commander. One na'ive historian says that Madame de 
 Rocheblave succeeded in concealing them in her bed- 
 chamber, and that rather than violate the sanctity of her 
 apartment and thus affront her modesty, the American 
 officers suffered her to do what she would with them.
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 " Better," writes the gallant old chronicler, " better, 
 yes, a thousand times better, were it so than that the 
 ancient fame of the sons of Virginia should have been 
 tarnished by insult to a female." 
 
 It is a pity to spoil a pretty story, but the papers, at 
 least an important portion of them, were forthcoming, 
 however they were secured. The British relations with 
 the savages were revealed in them; the English guilt was 
 clear. 
 
 By this time the inhabitants of the town were in a great 
 state of terror, and Clark purposely fostered it. He or- 
 dered them to repair to their houses and stay there under 
 pain of death, and they passed a night of anguished fore- 
 boding. In the morning, permission being given, they 
 came to him begging him to spare the lives of their 
 wives and children, offering themselves as slaves in that 
 contingency, to the American chief of the " Big Knives," 
 as they called the Kentuckians. What was their joy and 
 relief when Clark proclaimed that their lives would be 
 spared, their property respected, and that all should en- 
 joy freedom. While they were enthusiastic with this 
 news, he invited their allegiance to the American cause, 
 which it was not difficult to secure, in view of the great 
 tidings which he brought them of the capture of Bur- 
 goyne and the American alliance with France. 
 
 Thereafter the French and Americans were indeed 
 brethren. Their mourning was turned into joy and they 
 made haste to hoist the stars and stripes which, for the 
 first time, July 5th, 1778, floated near the waters of the 
 Mississippi. Cahokia received the Americans in the same 
 ardent way, and the conquest of the northwest, so far as 
 they were concerned, was complete. In October, 1778, 
 Virginia inaugurated the first civil government in the
 
 George Rogers Clark 223 
 
 northwest by establishing the County of Illinois, compre- 
 hending all the new territory beyond the Ohio, with 
 Colonel John Todd as Governor, and Clark as supreme 
 and independent military commander. 
 
 There yet remained of the British posts to be dealt 
 with, Vincennes and Detroit, before the conquest of the 
 country could be called complete, the former being of 
 more present importance because nearer. Among the 
 inhabitants of Kaskaskia was a certain Roman priest 
 named Father Gibault, whom Clark, with finer regard for 
 euphony than spelling, referred to in his letters as " Mr. 
 Jeboth." This devoted French missionary agreed to go 
 to Vincennes, which was at that time without a garrison, 
 to secure the allegiance of the populace to the new gov- 
 ernment and new flag. He faithfully fulfilled his com- 
 mission, and the French residents willingly assented to 
 the change of government, and hoisted the American flag 
 over the fort, which they subsequently delivered to Cap- 
 tain Leonard Helm, who was appointed commandant and 
 Indian agent at the post by Clark. 
 
 Meanwhile Clark administered the military affairs of 
 the province of Illinois with great vigor, by his resolution 
 and tact compelling the Indians to bury the hatchet and 
 make peace, which obtained for a considerable period. 
 For the first time in years Kentucky and the borders of 
 Virginia were comparatively free from war-parties. The 
 settlers could lay aside the rifle and ply the axe and speed 
 the plough in safety. 
 
 Clark's methods of dealing with the Indians were al- 
 ways fine. He knew that kindness and gentleness would 
 be taken by them as indications of weakness. Therefore 
 he was boldness itself toward them. Years afterward, 
 while making a treaty with several hostile tribes, he over-
 
 224 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 awed them and compelled them to make peace in the 
 following way: 
 
 Some three hundred hostile Indians in full war-paint 
 met him in council at Fort Washington. Clark had sev- 
 enty men in the stockade. The Shawnees were arrogant, 
 boastful and full of fight. They came into the council- 
 house with a war-belt and a peace-belt. Throwing them 
 both on the table they told Clark to take his choice. He 
 swept them both to the floor with his cane, rose to his 
 feet, stamped contemptuously upon them, and sternly 
 telling the Indians to make peace instantly or he would 
 wipe them off the face of the earth, ordered them to leave 
 the hall. They fled his presence, debated all night, swal- 
 lowed the insult, and buried the hatchet. 
 
 III. "The Hair-Buyer General" 
 
 There lived at Detroit at this time a certain British 
 officer named William Hamilton, who occupied the im- 
 portant position of Lieutenant-Governor of the province. 
 History has written severe indictments against this man. 
 There are still in existence letters in which his employ- 
 ment of Indians to carry on " civilized " warfare is proved 
 beyond doubt. He is accused of having offered rewards 
 for American scalps and of having paid them, and the 
 facts are indisputable. Early in 1778, he wrote to Carle- 
 ton, governor of Quebec, that a party of Indians had just 
 come into Detroit with seventy-three prisoners and one 
 hundred and twenty-nine scalps! On the i6th of Sep- 
 tember in the same year, he wrote to Haldimand, who 
 had superseded Carleton, that another party had arrived 
 bringing twenty-nine prisoners and eighty-nine scalps. 
 Among these scalps were many that had been wrenched 
 from the heads of women and children !
 
 George Rogers Clark 225 
 
 This subornation of savagery is the most dastardly ac- 
 tion by which a brave soldier can ruin his reputation. To 
 employ ruthless Indians to prey upon women and chil- 
 dren and defenceless non-combatants is the act of a vil- 
 lain and a coward. There is this to be said in explana- 
 tion, though not in justification, of Hamilton's action, 
 that he acted under orders of his government, upon 
 which the odium primarily rests; but orders or not, no 
 man should ever commit such a crime. Rather should he 
 surrender his commission. No, Hamilton's course is in- 
 defensible. The blood of innocent women and children 
 is upon him. 
 
 When Hamilton heard, as he did presently, of Clark at 
 Kaskaskia, and that he had raised the American flag at 
 Vincennes, he determined to march down the Wabash 
 from Detroit, retake Vincennes and then proceed west- 
 ward and capture Clark. With a motley force of Indians 
 together with thirty British regulars, and fifty Canadian 
 volunteers from Detroit, he appeared before Fort Sack- 
 ville, Vincennes, on December I7th, 1778. The French 
 militia of the garrison at once fled to their homes and 
 left the defence of the fort to the redoubtable Helm and 
 one valiant soldier named Moses Henry. 
 
 Helm, of course, could make no defence of the dilapi- 
 dated stockade, but he had partaken in large measure of 
 the spirit of Clark. He resolved to bluff. Clark was the 
 greatest bluffer in the history of the northwest. He was 
 always willing to make good so far as he could, but gen- 
 erally he had so little force that he accomplished his ends 
 by his assurance. Helm was like him. He charged the 
 one serviceable cannon he possessed to the muzzle, ran it 
 out at the gate of the post, placed his solitary soldier by 
 it with a blazing match, and swore to Hamilton, who had
 
 226 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 demanded his surrender, that no man should enter the fort 
 until he knew what terms would be granted him. 
 
 Inspired by his dauntless bearing, and ignorant of the 
 force with which he might have to contend, and with the 
 added argument of a loaded cannon trained upon his 
 troops, Hamilton agreed that the garrison should march 
 out with the honors of war, if they would surrender. 
 Withdrawing the match, Helm and Moses marched out 
 solemnly between the disgusted British and Indians, and 
 Hamilton got the fort. He retained Helm as prisoner, 
 but the genial qualities of the jovial American won the 
 affections of his captors, and his imprisonment was a light 
 one. 
 
 A more vigorous commander than Hamilton would 
 have immediately pushed on to Kaskaskia and completed 
 the conquest of the country by capturing Clark, but 
 Hamilton, satisfied with his expedition so far, and de- 
 terred by the wretched weather, the lateness of the season, 
 the difficulties of the way, concluded to wait until the 
 spring-time. 
 
 He did detach a party of Indians and rangers to attempt 
 to abduct the American commander, if they could find 
 him, but beyond alarming the inhabitants of Kaskaskia 
 they effected nothing. Clark was soon apprised by his 
 scouts of the capture of Vincennes. This was a serious 
 blow to the project he had formed. How to meet it was 
 a question. He was not yet informed of Hamilton's fur- 
 ther intentions, nor was he in possession of accurate in- 
 formation as to the force of the garrison which the British 
 held at the post. 
 
 To him, in his uncertainty, in the latter part of Jan- 
 uary, 1779, came one Francis Vigo. Vigo was a Sardin- 
 ian, born at Mondovi, before the middle of the seven-
 
 teenth century. He had been an officer in the Spanish 
 army, and in that capacity had come to America. He had 
 resigned his command and entered upon the business of 
 a trader, hunter, etc., with head-quarters at St. Louis, 
 where he had amassed a large fortune. He was a man of 
 liberal and enlightened views, and had extended a hearty 
 hospitality to Clark when he arrived in that country. He 
 had done more than that. He had accepted the depre- 
 ciated Virginia currency at par, and by giving it his coun- 
 tenance, had made it pass current among the natives. He 
 had cashed Clark's drafts for large sums, and in fact it is 
 difficult to see how the expedition could have succeeded 
 without him. 
 
 He had gone on a trading expedition to Vincennes, 
 where he had been captured and brought before Hamil- 
 ton. Hamilton had no authority to hold a Spanish sub- 
 ject, and he had released him on parole, requiring him to 
 report daily at the fort. The inhabitants of Vincennes, 
 with whom Vigo was a great favorite, protested so vig- 
 orously against his detention, going to the length of re- 
 fusing to supply the fort with provisions unless he were 
 immediately released, that at last their efforts prevailed 
 to secure his freedom. He had refused to be enlarged 
 on condition of his doing nothing to prejudice British in- 
 terests during the war, and Hamilton was forced to let 
 him go on his promising to do nothing to hinder the 
 cause of 'British arms on his way to St. Louis. 
 
 Vigo strictly kept his agreement. He passed the 
 mouth of the Kaskaskia without stopping, and repaired 
 to his home in St. Louis. Having now kept his prom- 
 ise to the letter, he took horse and made his way with all 
 speed to Kaskaskia, where he arrived on the 2gth of Jan- 
 uary, 1779. There he acquainted Clark with the state of
 
 228 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 affairs in Vincennes. Hamilton had dismissed all his 
 Indian allies for the winter, and held the fort with eighty 
 white troops. It was his purpose, however, so Vigo in- 
 formed Clark, to assemble them all in the spring-time, 
 and with heavy re-enforcements from Detroit, march to 
 the Illinois country. In that case there would be little 
 hope of a successful resistance. 
 
 What was to be done? It was mid-winter. Could 
 the Americans march to capture Vincennes then? To 
 wait for spring and the British to come was to give up 
 all. Clark at once determined upon an immediate attack. 
 He " flung his gauntlet in the face of Fate and assumed 
 the offensive." He would not wait for pleasant weather 
 to bring Hamilton and his horde upon him, he would 
 carry the war into Indiana at once. I do not suppose he 
 had ever heard of Scipio Africanus, but his methods were 
 those advocated by the famous Roman. 
 
 Fort Sackville had been thoroughly repaired and put 
 into a complete state of defence by Hamilton. It was 
 provided with artillery and manned by a garrison suf- 
 ficient to hold it against any force which Clark could pos- 
 sibly assemble. Nevertheless the American determined 
 upon its capture. The day that he received the news 
 from Vigo was the real crucial moment of the expedi- 
 tion, and it is not too much to say that the history of the 
 northwest territory turned upon his decision. 
 
 To anticipate the course of events a little, France and 
 Spain in the negotiations for peace at the close of the war 
 were only too anxious to limit the western boundary of 
 the United States to the Alleghenies, a desire which Eng- 
 land naturally shared. Spain bent all the resources of a 
 diplomacy by no means insignificant to bring about this 
 result. The one argument by which Franklin and his
 
 George Rogers Clark 229 
 
 fellow-counsellors were able to insist that the western 
 boundary should be the Mississippi and not the Alleghe- 
 nies, was the fact that the country had been conquered by 
 Clark, retained by him, and was now actually in the 
 power of the United States. That conquest would not 
 have been complete, however, and the retention impos- 
 sible, if Hamilton had been left in possession of Vin- 
 cennes. Therefore it was not only for his own safety, 
 not only to hold Kaskaskia, but in order that he might 
 establish a valid claim to the whole great territory that 
 Clark determined upon action. 
 
 IV. The Terrible March 
 
 He made his preparations with the same promptitude 
 as he made his decision. A large bateaux which he called 
 the Willing was hastily improvised, loaded with provisions 
 and supplies, and provided with two pieces of artillery 
 and four swivels. Captain Rogers, a kinsman of the gen- 
 eral, was placed in command with forty men and ordered 
 to make all haste via the Mississippi, the Ohio and the 
 Wabash, to an appointed rendezvous near Vincennes. 
 
 Clark, with the balance of his officers and men and two 
 companies of French Creoles, who volunteered to accom- 
 pany him, commanded respectively by Captains McCarty 
 and Charleville, made ready to march overland. Clark's 
 original force had been reduced to one hundred men. 
 By pleadings and promises he had induced that number 
 to remain with him after their three months' term of en- 
 listment had expired. These he took with him. The Cre- 
 ole additions raised the total force to one hundred and 
 seventy, with a few pack-horses to carry the scanty sup- 
 plies they could procure. 
 
 They set forth on the 4th of February, 1779, so rapid
 
 230 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 had been their preparations, upon one of the most mem- 
 orable marches ever undertaken under the American flag. 
 One hundred and forty miles as the crow flies, and some 
 two hundred over the usual trail lay between him and his 
 destination. The only undertaking in our history that 
 can be compared to it is Arnold's march up the Kennebec 
 to attack Quebec. The weather was cold, damp and 
 rainy. The season had been a very wet one, and the 
 prairies were turned into lakes and quagmires. They 
 marched as rapidly as possible over the desolate, damp, 
 wind-swept plains. Every river and creek they passed 
 was in full flood and presented serious obstacles, until, on 
 the 1 5th of February, they came to the two forks of the 
 little Wabash. Ordinarily there is a distance of three 
 miles between the two channels. Now the whole coun- 
 try lay under water, icy cold at that, for five miles to the 
 opposite hills. There were no roads, no boats. The 
 provisions they had carried were nearly exhausted. The 
 game had been driven away by the floods, and they were 
 without food or fire. 
 
 Plunging into the icy water Clark led his men, carry- 
 ing their rifles and powder-horns above their heads, over 
 the bottoms until they reached the channel of the river. 
 They had built a rude canoe and a small raft on the bank, 
 and now standing up to their waists in water in some 
 places it was up to their necks they removed the bag- 
 gage from the pack-horses, ferried it across one channel, 
 built a rude scaffold of drift-wood and logs upon which 
 they stowed it; swam the horses over the second channel, 
 loaded them again, drove them through the flood until 
 they reached the other fork of the river, where they re- 
 peated the process, and at last got on emergent though 
 water-soaked ground. The passage took two days, dur-
 
 George Rogers Clark 231 
 
 ing which they had no opportunity to rest. No one had 
 a dry thread upon him. Orders were given to fire no 
 guns except in case of dire necessity, for fear of giving 
 alarm to the enemy they hoped to surprise. Provisions 
 were lower than ever. 
 
 The next day they marched along through the water, 
 resting for the night upon a damp hill, and on the i/th 
 they reached a river, well called the Embarrass, which 
 flows into the Wabash a short distance below Vincennes. 
 Here they found a more serious condition prevailing. 
 Both rivers had overflowed, and as far as they could see 
 was a waste of water. They sent out parties to look for 
 the Willing, to find fords, to secure boats, anything. No 
 success attended their efforts. 
 
 Meanwhile they set to work to make canoes. They 
 were literally starving, having had no provisions of any 
 sort for two days ! That day they captured a canoe with 
 some Frenchmen in it, who had been sent out of the 
 fort to scout. These they detained as prisoners. The 
 Frenchmen added to their discouragement by informing 
 them that the whole country around Vincennes was over- 
 flowed, and it would be impossible for the Americans to 
 reach the fort. Clark, however, pushed on down the 
 bank of the Embarrass until he reached the Wabash. 
 
 At this juncture one of the men shot a deer, which was 
 divided among the one hundred and seventy and fur- 
 nished them with the first food they had had for over two 
 days! It was a scanty allotment for so many starved, 
 half-drowned men, but it put new heart into them, and 
 they determined to press on. Indeed, that determination 
 was never out of Clark's mind. 
 
 In the canoes they had made as best they could they 
 crossed the Wabash on the 2ist.
 
 232 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 At this juncture the spirit of some of the Creoles gave 
 out, and they wanted to return. The desire to retreat 
 was communicated even to the Kentuckians, and the 
 whole enterprise trembled in the balance. Clark, how- 
 ever, was equal to the occasion. The story goes that in 
 one of the companies there was a big six-foot two-inch 
 sergeant, from Virginia. A little drummer-boy, whose 
 antics and frolics had greatly amused the men, was 
 mounted on the shoulders of the tall sergeant. By 
 Clark's command, the drummer beat the charge, while 
 the sergeant marched into the water. 
 
 " Forward ! " thundered the commander, plunging into 
 the icy flood. The men laughed, hesitated, and followed 
 to the last man. That night they rested on a hill, lying 
 in their soaked clothes without provisions or fire. 
 
 For two more days they struggled on through the 
 waters until on the 23rd they were fortunate enough to 
 capture a canoe with some Indian squaws in it, in which 
 they found a quarter of buffalo and some other pro- 
 visions. Broth was soon made and given to the most 
 exhausted of the little band. Some of the hardier men 
 refused their portions and generously gave them to 
 their weaker brethren. 
 
 At this time they had drawn near enough to Vin- 
 cennes to hear Fort Sackville's morning and evening 
 guns. They were so near, in fact, that they expected to 
 attack that night. 
 
 When they began the final march in water varying in 
 depth from breast to neck, Clark took another method 
 for putting heart into any recalcitrants. He detached 
 Captain Bowman, his best officer, with twenty men, and 
 told them to bring up the rear and to shoot the first man 
 who faltered. No one did so. They struggled on
 
 George Rogers Clark 233 
 
 throughout the morning in the most desperate of straits. 
 The water was covered with a thin coating of ice, which 
 they broke as they plunged in. They had managed to 
 get together a number of canoes by this time, and into 
 these they put the weaker men. They suffered horribly. 
 Clark himself, in spite of his resolute will and magnificent 
 strength, almost gave way. Finally about one o'clock 
 they reached an elevation about two miles from the town. 
 It was covered with trees, and from their shelter, them- 
 selves unseen, they could examine at their leisure the 
 goal of their endeavors. 
 
 The terrific march of these iron men was over. For the 
 last ten days they had been struggling through water and 
 ice. They had enjoyed neither fire nor rest. Three or 
 four scanty meals had served them during that awful pe- 
 riod. They dried themselves as best they could in the 
 cold sunshine, revelling in anticipations of the meal which 
 they hoped they could get if they ever succeeded in 
 capturing the place. Clark now hesitated; should he 
 fall on the town at once, or should he first attempt to se- 
 cure the neutrality of the people, which he believed he 
 could do without difficulty? He wisely decided for the 
 latter plan. By one of his French prisoners he despatched 
 the following crafty letter : 
 
 " To the Inhabitants of Post St. Vincents : 
 
 " Gentlemen : Being now within two miles of your 
 village with my army, determined to take your fort this 
 night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this 
 method to request such of you as are true citizens, and 
 willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in 
 your houses. And those, if any there be, that are friends 
 to the King, will instantly repair to the fort and join the 
 Hair-Buyer General* and fight like men. And if any 
 
 * Alluding to the fact that Gov. Hamilton had offered rewards for the 
 scalps of Americans.
 
 234 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 such, as do not go to the fort shall be discovered after- 
 wards, they may depend on severe punishment. On 
 the contrary, those that are true friends to liberty, may 
 depend on being well treated. And I once more request 
 them to keep out of the streets; for every one I find in 
 arms on my arrival, I shall treat as an enemy. 
 
 " G. R. CLARK." 
 
 Hamilton and his officers had carried things with a 
 high hand, and the inhabitants were rejoiced at the ap- 
 proach of the Americans. Nobody appears to have be- 
 trayed them to the British commander, who was yet in 
 total ignorance of their proximity. He had sent out Cap- 
 tain La Mothe to scout, and the party, surrounded by the 
 floods, had not come back. Clark waited until nightfall, 
 divided his army into three companies, in order to sur- 
 round the post, and then marched forward to the attack. 
 
 V. The Capture of Vincennes 
 
 Fort Sackville was an irregular enclosure, the sides 
 varying in length from sixty to two hundred feet, and en- 
 closing some three acres of ground. The stockade was 
 stoutly built of logs about eleven feet high. The garri- 
 son was ample, and there were several pieces of artillery 
 and swivels mounted on the walls. It was strong enough 
 to have bidden defiance to one hundred and seventy 
 starved and half-drowned troops without artillery of any 
 kind, but it did not. 
 
 It is to Clark's credit that he refused to allow the 
 Piankeshaw Indians, who were there in large numbers, 
 and who volunteered their services, to take part in the at- 
 tack. Marching silently through the town Clark sur- 
 rounded the fort, which stood on the bank of the river, 
 the men taking cover behind houses and trees. He
 
 George Rogers Clark 235 
 
 quickly threw up a slight breastwork in front of the 
 gate of the stockade, and announced his presence by 
 opening a smart rifle fire. 
 
 It is related that Captain Helm and Colonel Hamilton 
 sat in the latter's head-quarters playing cards while a bowl 
 of apple toddy was brewing before the fire. Having 
 learned from the French inhabitants which were Hamil- 
 ton's head-quarters, some of the Kentuckians, in sport, 
 opened fire upon the chimney, surmising that that bowl 
 of apple toddy would be brewing beneath it. As the rifles 
 cracked, some of the plaster fell into the apple toddy as 
 they had intended. 
 
 " That's Clark," said Helm, " but d n him, he needn't 
 have spoiled my toddy ! " 
 
 The garrison were even yet so unsuspecting that they 
 imagined that the firing was caused by some drunken Ind- 
 ians, and it was not until a sergeant was struck in the 
 breast by a bullet and seriously wounded that they awa- 
 kened to the situation. There was a beating of drums and 
 a hurrying to arms, and through the night a smart fire 
 was kept up between the contending parties, the British 
 blazing away fruitlessly in every direction, the Americans, 
 who were scantily provided with powder, husbanding 
 their fire and endeavoring to make every shot tell. Noth- 
 ing had yet been seen of the Willing, and the supply of 
 powder on the American side was perilously low. Fortu- 
 nately they procured enough from one of the friendly in- 
 habitants to keep up the engagement. From the same 
 friendly source they also got a good breakfast, which was 
 as useful almost as the powder. 
 
 Learning from the inhabitants that Captain La Mothe's 
 party was still at large, and being desirous of capturing the 
 British force intact, Clark withdrew some of his men dur-
 
 236 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 ing the night, and left the way open for La Mothe to enter 
 the fort, which he did, the Americans by their command- 
 er's orders withholding their fire. Clark was sure that he 
 had them all then. When the morning came the sur- 
 prised Hamilton found himself completely surrounded by 
 the besiegers, of whose numbers he was entirely ignorant, 
 although the fact that they were there at all was evidence 
 of their quality. The firing was kept up with such effect 
 by the rifles of the Kentuckians that it became impossible 
 for the British to serve the guns. As soon as a port-hole 
 was opened a stream of bullets was poured into it. The 
 condition of the British was serious, so they thought at 
 any rate. 
 
 Early in the morning Clark sent the following peremp- 
 tory letter to Hamilton : 
 
 " Sir. In order to save yourself from the impending 
 storm that now threatens you, I order you immediately 
 to surrender yourself, with all your garrison, stores, etc., 
 etc., etc. For if I am obliged to storm, you may depend 
 on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer. Beware 
 of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers, or letters, 
 that are in your possession; for, by Heavens, if you do, 
 there shall be no mercy shown you. 
 
 " G. R. CLARK." 
 
 To this he received the following reply : 
 
 " Governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Colonel 
 Clark that he and his garrison are not disposed to be 
 awed into an action unworthy of British subjects." 
 
 Nevertheless by this time the British were badly scared, 
 and after another interchange of shots Hamilton asked 
 first for a truce of three days and then for a parley. 
 Finally a meeting was appointed. Hamilton, attended 
 by Major Hay, his second, and Captain Helm, his pris-
 
 George Rogers Clark 237 
 
 oner, met Clark. The American general was furious. 
 He refused to listen to any proposed arrangements. It 
 was surrender at discretion, or nothing at all. It was 
 many long years after that day that a certain little man 
 from Illinois made the world ring with the phrase " Un- 
 conditional Surrender," yet that was the purport and 
 nearly the wording of Clark's terms. 
 
 He vowed he would put to death any Indian partisans 
 in Hamilton's command, and when asked whom he meant, 
 replied that Major Hay. had been one of those who had 
 led war-parties against the settlements. When Helm at- 
 tempted to interfere and say a word in favor of the Brit- 
 ish, Clark sternly silenced him, telling him as a prisoner 
 he had no right to discuss the matter. Hamilton prompt- 
 ly offered to release Helm, and Clark with equal prompt- 
 ness refused to accept him then. Hamilton begged hard 
 for other conditions, but the inflexible American, regard- 
 ing him also as a murderer as well as a coward, would 
 grant no terms. Therefore Hamilton returned to the 
 fort, having been given an hour to make up his mind. 
 
 A party of Indians friendly to the English, who had 
 been on a scalp hunt, came back during the morning with 
 the ghastly trophies of their prowess hanging at their 
 belts; one scalp was that of a woman. Ignorant of the 
 presence of the Americans, they ran right into their arms, 
 and two were killed, two were wounded, and six captured. 
 While the conference between Clark and Hamilton was 
 going on, the six captured Indians were taken out before 
 the fort, where the garrison could see them, summarily 
 tomahawked, and their bodies cast into the river. Clark 
 was not actually present when the savage and bloody rep- 
 aration was taken, but it was by his orders, and he was re- 
 sponsible. Hamilton was unable to resist the clamor of
 
 238 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 the garrison after this sight and, upon Clark's final agree- 
 ment to treat them as prisoners of war, he surrendered the 
 fort at discretion. 
 
 The next morning the British marched out and deliv- 
 ered their arms to the Americans, who marched in and 
 hoisted the stars and stripes for the second time in In- 
 diana. The Americans fired a salute of thirteen guns 
 from the British cannon. During the progress of the sa- 
 lute twenty cartridges for the six-pound guns blew up and 
 wounded some of the Kentuckjans. Among them was 
 the brave Captain Bowman, who died several months 
 after, it is believed, from injuries received in this disaster. 
 
 Save one wounded soldier these were the only casual- 
 ties on the American side in the expedition. The loss in 
 killed and wounded on the part of the British was also 
 small. The Willing came up soon after, and Captain 
 Bowman was sent forward with a party of soldiers to 
 intercept a convoy of provisions and supplies from De- 
 troit, which he did in a handsome manner, capturing 
 everybody in the escort. 
 
 The campaign was ended. The English plans to re- 
 possess Indiana and Illinois failed in every direction ; in- 
 deed, save for one abortive attempt, nothing further was 
 done to dislodge the Americans. On the other hand, 
 Clark could never assemble sufficient force to enable him 
 to take Detroit, which was the sole position held by the 
 British at the end of the war; with that exception the 
 country remained in his possession. 
 
 VI. Forgotten ! 
 
 Clark performed other services during the war; finding 
 himself on one occasion in Virginia when Arnold invaded 
 it, he joined Von Steuben as a volunteer, and fought gal- 
 lantly under him. Virginia promoted him to be a briga-
 
 George Rogers Clark 239 
 
 dier-general, and presented him with a sword, which, by 
 the way, owing to the straitened finances caused by the 
 war, was a second-hand one, although the best that could 
 be procured at the time. Clark continued in the service 
 of the state, headed several expeditions against the Ind- 
 ians, got himself mixed up with the Spanish authorities 
 and had his actions disavowed by the United States, and 
 was finally dismissed the Virginia service, on the plea of 
 poverty, which was true enough. 
 
 He had never enjoyed a commission in the Continental 
 service, and the dismissal left him without employment. 
 The remainder of his long life is a sad story of disappoint- 
 ment and neglect. He was still a young man, and his years 
 might have been filled with valuable service to his coun- 
 try. His marvellous campaign had evidenced his quali- 
 ties, but he became so embittered by the ungrateful treat- 
 ment he had received that he fell into bad habits. He 
 drank to excess. He had no wife or children, and lived 
 alone for many years, hunting, fishing, and indulging his 
 appetite with such of his old friends or comrades as 
 chanced to visit his cabin, which was erected on a six- 
 thousand-acre grant of land Virginia made to him when 
 she ceded the northwest territory to the United States. 
 He was land-poor and lonely. 
 
 Four years before he died he was stricken with paraly- 
 sis. He was alone in his cabin at the time and fell into 
 the fire, which so severely burned one leg that it had to be 
 amputated. It is related that he desired a fife and a drum 
 to be played outside the house while the operation was 
 being performed. It was before the days of anaesthetics, 
 and the grim old soldier sat in his chair and had his leg 
 taken off without an expression of emotion, while mar- 
 tial music was being dinned in his ears. He found a home 
 in his last helpless years in the house of his sister, Mrs.
 
 240 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Croghan, opposite Louisville, and there quietly slept 
 away his life on February 13, 1818. He did much and 
 suffered much we may forgive him the rest. 
 
 There is a story that when his means were at last ex- 
 hausted, and he could not obtain any settlement of his 
 just claim against the state, he thrust the sword which 
 Virginia had presented to him in the ground, broke it off 
 at the hilt, and threw the pieces away with the bitter re- 
 mark, " When Virginia wanted a sword, I gave her mine. 
 Now she sends me a toy. I want bread ! " In his pa- 
 ralysis, the state, leaving his claims still unsettled, seems to 
 have sent him another sword ! 
 
 Years after his death the tardy government of the 
 United States settled his claim against it for the expenses 
 incurred in his heroic campaigning, in which he had ex- 
 hausted all his private fortune. It was not until 1877 
 that the claim of the heirs of Francis Vigo for a portion 
 of the money which he had given to assist the northwest 
 territory was allowed ! As Vigo left no wife or children 
 the money was paid to collateral heirs. Even poor old 
 Father Gibault, who had done such good service in secur- 
 ing Vincennes and had given his own little property to 
 Clark, in the endeavor to circulate the depreciated paper 
 of the government, died in abject poverty, unrequited. 
 
 I do not know a more heroic achievement in our his- 
 tory than Clark's capture of Vincennes. I do not know 
 in our history of greater results from slenderer means than 
 Clark's subjugation of the northwest. I do not know in 
 our history a sadder picture than the broken, paralyzed 
 old man, alone in his cabin ; and lastly, I do not recall in 
 any history a more moving example of national ingrat- 
 itude than that experienced by the priest, the Spaniard, 
 and the soldier. 

 
 PART V 
 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 
 
 II 
 
 Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison
 
 TECUMSEH AND WILLIAM HENRY 
 HARRISON 
 
 I. The Greatest of the Indians 
 
 TO decide who is the greatest man of a race, a na- 
 tion, or a period, is by no means easy; and any 
 determination that may be arrived at, is likely to 
 find as many opponents as advocates. Yet I am of the 
 opinion that mature reflection will concede the fullest 
 measure of greatness among the red men to Tecumseh. 
 In four centuries of American history, at least three, 
 and possibly four, Indians may be called great, even 
 when measured by civilized standards. Joseph Brandt, 
 or Thayendenegea, the Iroquois, who is the possible 
 fourth, but who would popularly be considered first, may 
 not be taken as a fair representative of his race, for he was 
 educated and his character formed by civilized influence, 
 though the results of this influence from the stand-point 
 of civilization were not always apparent. To be sure he 
 was no worse than, in fact not half so bad as, many of 
 his British contemporaries. But the three pure-blooded 
 Indians who became what they were in the natural savage 
 environment of their race and time, stand far above this 
 veneered Iroquois in character, purpose, or achievement. 
 The third in degree was the first in point of time. Met- 
 acomet, the Wampanoag, known as King Philip, was the 
 engineer of that formidable conspiracy which had as its 
 object the sweeping of the English into the sea, and as its 
 
 243
 
 244 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 hope the clearing of the new land of those European in- 
 vaders with whom the savage chief found himself en- 
 gaged in a struggle of life or death to his race. 
 
 King Philip belonged to the Algonquin family. Near- 
 ly a hundred years after his death in 1676, Pontiac, the 
 great war-chief of the Ottawas, born a Catawba, and 
 therefore of the Mobilian family, launched his formidable 
 conspiracy upon the English posts from Fort Pitt to 
 Michilimackinac in 1763. Although he captured eight 
 forts out of the twelve attacked, and inaugurated a cam- 
 paign of devastation and horror upon the borders of the 
 northwest, he failed at Detroit, and in the end was assassi- 
 nated by a hired traitor belonging to a petty Illinois tribe. 
 
 Tecumseh, the greatest of the trio and the man who 
 stands higher than any Indian who ever lived, had a deep- 
 er view of the situation. While perhaps not so romantic 
 as King Philip, nor so bold and fierce as Pontiac, he was 
 the one solitary Indian who had, in addition to the tra- 
 ditional characteristics of a warrior, the qualities of a 
 statesman. Philip fought to drive the English into the 
 sea. Pontiac to restore the supremacy of the French in 
 the land. With these two, war was the end and aim of 
 their conspiracies. In the case of Tecumseh, it was the 
 inevitable result of his endeavor, but it was not its pri- 
 mary object. 
 
 With a discernment and prescience which would not 
 have been out of place in a modern philosopher, Tecum- 
 seh realized that the object of the struggle, as well as the 
 advantage of the situation, lay in the possession of the 
 land. 
 
 He declared that the land occupied by the different 
 tribes of Indians belonged to them all in common; that 
 they could only hold it in severally as tenants; that each
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 245 
 
 tribe had title to the land it actually occupied, only while 
 it occupied it ; and that no cession of territory of whatso- 
 ever degree could be made to the white man by any tribe 
 for any purpose, without the general consent of all the 
 tribes! To enforce this profound and catholic princi- 
 ple, and to make it operative, he formed a league of the 
 Trans-Allegheny tribes, extending from the Great Lakes 
 to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 He, and he alone, seems to have discerned the folly, 
 from the Indian point of view, of the alienation by partic- 
 ular tribes of vast bodies of land to the Americans. He 
 saw that in a very short time there would be no foot of 
 land owned by the Indian on the hither side of the Mis- 
 sissippi, hence the league. This evidences his capacity, 
 his genius, and his title to pre-eminence. Alone of all the 
 Indians he entertained this idea and he came perilously 
 near putting it into operation. Had he been a Greek, a 
 Roman, a Frenchman, a German, or an Englishman he 
 would have been called a patriot and a hero. James Par- 
 ton says of him : 
 
 " Every race produces superior individuals, whose lives 
 constitute its heroic ages. Investigation establishes that 
 Tecumseh, though not the faultless ideal of a patriot 
 prince that romantic story represents him, was all of a pa- 
 triot, a hero, a MAN, that an Indian can be. If to con- 
 ceive a grand, difficult, and unselfish project; to labor for 
 many years with enthusiasm and prudence in attempting 
 its execution; to enlist in it by the magnetism of personal 
 influence great multitudes of various tribes; to contend 
 for it with unfaltering valor longer than there was hope 
 of success; and to die fighting for it to the last, falling for- 
 ward toward the enemy covered with wounds, is to give 
 proof of an heroic cast of character, then is the Shawnee
 
 246 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 chief, Tecumseh, in whose veins flowed no blood that was 
 not Indian, entitled to rank among Heroes." 
 
 General William Henry Harrison adds this testimony 
 to his character and abilities : 
 
 " He was one of those uncommon geniuses which 
 spring up occasionally to produce revolutions, and over- 
 turn the established order of things. If it were not for 
 the vicinity of the United States, he would, perhaps, be 
 the founder of an empire that would rival in glory Mexico 
 or Peru. No difficulties deter him. For four years he 
 has been in constant motion. You see him to-day on the 
 Wabash, and in a short time hear of him on the shores of 
 Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of the Missis- 
 sippi; and wherever he goes he makes an impression 
 favorable to his purposes." 
 
 Three boys were born at a single birth in the latter part 
 of the eighteenth century, date uncertain, near where is 
 now Springfield, Ohio. Their father was a Shawnee (Al- 
 gonquin) and their mother a captive Creek (Mobilian). 
 Thus they represented in their own persons the great eth- 
 nic divisions of the Indian race, a fact of no little import- 
 ance in their subsequent career. 
 
 One of the trio may be dismissed from consideration, 
 since nothing is known of him but his name. The eldest 
 of the triplets was called Tecumthe, at least this appears 
 to be the approved orthography, but he has gone into 
 history under the name of Tecumseh, and it is not now 
 worth while to change it. His name means " the wild 
 cat that leaps upon his prey." He is described as a tall, 
 athletic, handsome man, of noble and commanding pres- 
 ence. To his well-earned reputation as a warrior was 
 added a fluent and persuasive oratory. Although he was 
 not born a chief he easily raised himself to a position of
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 24? 
 
 general leadership by his talents. He was a formidable 
 foeman indeed. 
 
 The second child was known as " the Prophet;" his 
 Indian name being Elkswatawa, the word signifying " the 
 man with the loud voice." It is probable that neither of 
 these names was bestowed upon the boys until advancing 
 years had given their elders some inkling of their charac- 
 ters. Indeed, it is asserted that Elkswatawa was a drunk- 
 en, dissolute vagabond in his early years, and for his ca- 
 pacity for imbibing liquors was formerly known as " The 
 Open Door." He had lost an eye in some drunken brawl 
 which did not improve his sly and sinister cast of counte- 
 nance. His brother, it is supposed, finally reformed him. 
 That is, he outwardly reformed him. Elkswatawa quit 
 drinking and abandoned his wicked courses, but the fund 
 of lies with which he had been charged was got rid of so 
 slowly that he never exhausted his stock. He had noth- 
 ing whatever of the nobility of soul, the breadth of 
 thought, or the depth of intellect of Tecumseh, yet he was 
 shrewd, cunning, and in his way, capable. 
 
 He lent to the league the element of the supernatural. 
 He gave to the plan of Tecumseh the sanction of religion. 
 He posed as the prophet of the new undertaking of which 
 Tecumseh was the leader. And because he was small in 
 character and did not measure up to the greatness of his 
 brother, by his folly he gave the opportunity by which the 
 blow was dealt that broke up what was undoubtedly the 
 most formidable savage confederacy with which the 
 American border was ever menaced. It is, probable, in- 
 deed, that he finally imposed upon himself, and believing 
 in his own prophecies, was thereby " hoist by his own 
 petard ! " 
 
 Exhibiting a remarkable degree of patience and self-
 
 248 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 restraint, for several years Tecumseh worked at his plans 
 with indefatigable energy, travelling from one end of the 
 country to the other and gradually organizing the tribes 
 into his confederacy, and impressing upon them his great 
 idea. The Indian character is not favorable to such con- 
 federacies or combinations, but had it not been for the 
 precipitate action of the prophet it is possible that Te- 
 cumseh might have met with so large a measure of success 
 in his attempts as to have changed the history of the bor- 
 der to a great degree. 
 
 II. The Protagonist of the League 
 
 It is a singular fact that the whole scheme tumbled to 
 pieces like a house of cards, at a single bloody touch in 
 the northwest, although in the south there was a long 
 and hard-fought war, especially with the Creeks, which 
 was entirely due to the efforts of the great Shawnee. The 
 man who shrewdly took advantage of Tecumseh's absence 
 and the folly of Elkswatawa, to break up the league, and 
 finally to cause the death of the great chieftain, was Will- 
 iam Henry Harrison. The history of three years was a 
 sort of duel between the two, with the northwest territory 
 as the reward of success; and, as is always the case, the 
 white man won. 
 
 It is only of late that the reason for the importance in 
 which the battles of Tippecanoe and the Thames have 
 been held instinctively by the people of the central west 
 has come to light. They were small affairs, as battles go, 
 though gallantly fought on both sides, but their conse- 
 quences were far-reaching; the one broke up the scheme, 
 the other removed the schemer! 
 
 If Tecumseh could have matured his plans without mo-
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 249 
 
 lestation, if he had had time to have brought all the Ind- 
 ians on this side of the Mississippi into subserviency to 
 his will, and had thrown them upon the American border, 
 in let us say, the war of 1812, as he did those whom he 
 could influence, the situation would have been grave in- 
 deed. The border would have been devastated, the fron- 
 tier settlements wiped out, the war of 1812 would have 
 been indefinitely prolonged with horrors indescribable. 
 As it was, had it not been for him and his Indians, a large 
 part of western Canada would have belonged to the 
 United States by conquest. 
 
 Harrison was a Virginian. The west was explored, con- 
 quered, and protected, generally speaking, by men from 
 the south of Mason's and Dixon's line a fact usually lost 
 sight of in our histories. His ancestry, which included a 
 signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia, 
 could be traced back to one of Cromwell's indomitable 
 Ironsides, and far beyond. After graduating from 
 Hampden-Sydney College he secured a commission in 
 the regular army, against the advice of Robert Morris, 
 his guardian. His first military experience was enjoyed 
 under the personal instruction of that splendid revolu- 
 tionary and border campaigner, Anthony Wayne. 
 
 He was one of Wayne's aides in the war in the north- 
 west which culminated in the victory of Fallen Timbers; 
 where, by the way, Tecumseh is alleged to have distin- 
 guished himself on the Indian side. He was a close stu- 
 dent of military matters, and his native talents as a 
 soldier enabled him, a boy of nineteen, to prepare an 
 order of march for the army as it advanced through 
 the country of the hostile Indians, which was adopted 
 unanimously by Wayne and the veteran officers to whom 
 it was submitted.
 
 250 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Harrison was the incarnation of personal daring and 
 romantic gallantry. He married his wife in opposition to 
 the wishes of her father, a certain Judge Symmes, uncle 
 of the man who originated the absurd " Symmes Hole " 
 theory of the North Pole. 
 
 " Well, sir," sternly said the old judge to the young 
 captain when he learned of the wedding, " I understand 
 that you have married Anna." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " How do you expect to support her? " 
 
 " By my sword and by my right arm," was the doughty 
 reply. And it may be said that no woman ever depended 
 upon two more reliable things than those. 
 
 At the age of twenty-four he resigned the army, was 
 made secretary of, then delegate to Congress from, the 
 northwest territory; and was subsequently (1801) ap- 
 pointed the governor of the newly erected Indiana Terri- 
 tory, which owes much to his fostering care and judicious 
 administration. 
 
 By the summer of 181 1 Tecumseh's league had become 
 so formidable that he ventured formally to protest against 
 a treaty which had been signed at Fort Wayne in 1809, by 
 some of the tribes, ceding some three million acres of 
 Indiana land to the United States for some eight thou- 
 sand dollars and annuities aggregating less than twenty- 
 four hundred dollars ! 
 
 This tribal action was in opposition to his communal 
 principle, and a council was appointed to discuss the 
 matter. In violation of agreement Tecumseh came to 
 Vincennes with four hundred armed Indians. The pro- 
 ceedings of the council were interrupted by the threaten- 
 ing attitude of the Indians. Harrison at one time drew 
 his sword and rallied his small company of guards about
 
 " Messengers brought letters . . . appealing 
 for vengeance or protection."
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 251 
 
 him, fearing he would have to fight the angry Indians at 
 once. Only his courage and coolness prevented a serious 
 and bloody rupture then and there.* 
 
 Matters were patched up, however; time was not ripe 
 for Tecumseh's revolt yet, and it was finally agreed that 
 the matter should be referred to the President of the 
 United States. As it would take some time to hear from 
 this referee, whose decision might easily be imagined, Te- 
 cumseh, who had been merely playing for time, left the 
 northwest and hastened south for a final appeal to the 
 Indians of that section, leaving the charge of affairs of the 
 northwest to the Prophet, with strict instructions to per- 
 mit no rupture during his absence. His departure was 
 fatal to his hopes, a mistake which caused the downfall of 
 the confederacy. The Prophet's control of the Indians 
 was not nearly so complete as that of his brother, and a 
 series of petty forays, farm-burnings, murderings, and so 
 forth, exasperated and irritated the settlers almost beyond 
 endurance. Messengers brought letters to the Governor 
 from all parts of the territory appealing for vengeance or 
 protection. They had been hot for a punitive expedition 
 from the first, indeed it is likely that one would have been 
 undertaken if the Indians had remained quiet, so splendid 
 a chance being afforded the Americans by Tecumseh's 
 absence in the south. It was therefore soon determined 
 that Harrison should march into the disputed territory 
 
 * Tecumseh refused to go under a roof to hold this council. 
 
 "Houses," he said haughtily, "were built for you to hold councils in ; 
 Indians hold theirs in the open air." After he had finished his speech one 
 of Harrison's aides pointed to a chair, saying, "Your father requests you 
 to take a seat by his side." "My father!" replied the chief scornfully, 
 as he stood erect before them; "the sun is my father, and the earth is my 
 mother. On her bosom I will recline," he added, as he sat down upon the 
 ground.
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 and make a demonstration in force which should at least 
 compel the Prophet and his followers to observe the 
 status quo until the President had been heard from, and 
 which, if opportunity served, might do more serious work. 
 As usual in our Indian difficulties, there was black treach- 
 ery on both sides. 
 
 Troops had already been assembled at Vincennes, the 
 territorial capital. They were few in number but high in 
 quality, the nucleus of the force being the Fourth U. S. 
 Infantry, ordered from Pittsburg, under the command of 
 Colonel John P. Boyd. Boyd was a Yankee soldier of 
 fortune. After three years' service in the regular army 
 he resigned his commission and went to India, where he 
 took service under the Nizam of Hyderabad. He came 
 back, after a sojourn of nine years, with substantial evi- 
 dences of the favor of the Indian potentate, and was at 
 once appointed colonel of the Fourth Infantry. Around 
 this force had assembled a considerable body of the Indi- 
 ana militia with two companies of Kentucky riflemen. 
 These troops Harrison had trained and disciplined with 
 the most painstaking care and they proved themselves 
 fully the equals of any American soldiers who ever fought. 
 They were in no sense the disorderly militiamen, or 
 trained bands, which had brought the name of militia into 
 such disrepute in the first half of the century. They were 
 soldiers. 
 
 Among those who repaired to his standard in answer 
 to his call were a number of men of the highest consider- 
 ation. Abraham Owen and Jo: Daviess of Kentucky, 
 Randolph of Indiana, young George Croghan from Louis- 
 ville, and many others. Daviess was the most noted 
 character. Tales of his extraordinary courage, his won- 
 derful oratorical power, his striking eccentricities, still
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 253 
 
 remain. He was the attorney, by the way, who prose- 
 cuted Aaron Burr. When he went to Washington on 
 one occasion, he had a suit made of red broadcloth! 
 " How else," he remarked when he was questioned as to 
 the reason for this marvellous costume, " would anybody 
 know that Jo: Daviess was in town? " Daviess was in- 
 tensely ambitious of distinction and had evidently deter- 
 mined to let no opportunity of advancing himself escape 
 him in the coming campaign. 
 
 The most noted body of militia was Captain Spier Spen- 
 cer's company of mounted riflemen who were attached to 
 the Fourth regiment of Indiana infantry. The men were 
 uniformed in short coatees of yellow and were known as 
 Spencer's " Yellow Jackets." 
 
 As fast as the different bodies assembled at Vincennes 
 they were sent up the Wabash. Boats carried the major 
 portion of supplies up the river until the site of what is 
 now Terre Haute, at the head of navigation, was reached. 
 The force comprised nine companies of regulars, thirteen 
 of Indians and two of Kentucky militia; of which seven 
 companies, aggregating some two hundred and fifty 
 men, were mounted. Here they built a fort to protect 
 the boats which it was necessary to leave behind. The 
 stockade was called Fort Harrison, and was garrisoned 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel Miller, the famous " I'll try, sir," 
 officer of Lundy's Lane. On October 28th, 1811, the 
 army numbering about a thousand men set forth for the 
 Prophet's town, which was situated at the confluence of 
 Tippecanoe Creek and the Wabash. The word Tippe- 
 canoe is a corruption of the Indian word " Keh-tip-a-quo- 
 vvonk," meaning the " Great Clearing." 
 
 The shortest way to the town would have been by the 
 east bank, but as it was thickly wooded and convenient
 
 254 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 for Indian ambuscades, Harrison chose to take the longer 
 way around the bend of the river upon the west bank. A 
 few miles brought the troops for the first time to the vast 
 prairies which stretched far westward through Illinois, 
 and the chroniclers report the surprise and admiration 
 with which they regarded the unwonted landscape. They 
 marched rapidly forward until on the 6th of November, 
 1811, they came to a thick patch of woodland abound- 
 ing in ravines and extending some miles to the west- 
 ward of the river. They proceeded through this with 
 the greatest caution, Harrison again adopting the ar- 
 rangement and order of march which he had suggested 
 in Wayne's campaign, to guard against ambush and 
 surprise. 
 
 In the late afternoon they were met by messengers 
 from the Prophet, who professed to be very much sur- 
 prised at the proximity of this formidable force. The 
 Prophet's messengers asked for a council. They said 
 that other messengers had been sent down the east bank 
 to intercept the army, which they had expected would 
 come that way. After some discussion Harrison ap- 
 pointed a council for the next morning. 
 
 Meanwhile the American soldiers had been marching 
 up the river. Toward five o'clock they had approached 
 within two hundred yards of the Prophet's town. The 
 Indians massed themselves in front of the town, and a bat- 
 tle appeared imminent. Harrison, however, did not think 
 it advisable to attack the fortified town in daylight, so he 
 halted his men. The representations of the Prophet's 
 envoys that Elkswatawa was peaceably inclined and that 
 all differences would be adjusted at the council, induced 
 Harrison to encamp for the night. He did not expect 
 the council to bring about any results, but he intended to
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 255 
 
 hold it, and then attack the town on the following night. 
 The Prophet merely anticipated him by a night. Elks- 
 watawa should have abandoned the town and led his peo- 
 ple in flight until the Americans were no longer able to 
 pursue. The Indian plans were not yet ripe for battle, 
 and should war begin in the absence of Tecumseh the 
 chance of savage success would be slight. 
 
 The Americans, being ignorant of the country, the Ind- 
 ians were requested to indicate a proper place for an en- 
 campment. They pointed out a knoll about a mile and a 
 half to the right. After it had been examined by officers 
 and found suitable, Harrison moved his army there to 
 pass the night. 
 
 The bench of land, or plateau, was in the form of a nar- 
 row triangle, the apex being to the southeast and very 
 acute. It rested upon a deep rivulet called Bennett's 
 Creek, which protected the rear. The base of the trian- 
 gle on a level with the surrounding country was open to 
 attack. At the back of the hill the land rose steeply some 
 twenty feet above the creek. It sloped gently toward the 
 Prophet's town in front, and faced, after an abrupt descent 
 of ten feet, a stretch of marshy prairie which extended for 
 a long distance. The place was thickly wooded, the 
 ground cumbered with underbrush and fallen timber. 
 There was plenty of wood and water, two prime requi- 
 sites, and the situation was fairly defensible, especially 
 against regular troops. 
 
 The smallness of Harrison's force rendered it impossi- 
 ble for him to occupy the whole of the plateau. He 
 pitched his camp with the rear resting on the creek and 
 the lines were roughly drawn in the form of a trapezoid, 
 following the shape of the hill, but at some little distance 
 from the edge, the front face occupying about seventy-
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 five yards and the perimeter of the entire encampment 
 being about two hundred and fifty. 
 
 Commencing with the northwest corner, the troops 
 were posted in the following general order: The Ken- 
 tuckians and one Indiana company occupied the left flank ; 
 
 
 
 REGULARS 
 
 IND1ANIANS 
 
 KENTUCKIANS 
 CAVALRY 
 
 Plan of the Battle of Tippecanoe. 
 
 one battalion of regulars and one of Indiana militia 
 were posted in the centre of the front line; on the right 
 flank were more Indiana militia, and Spencer's company 
 occupying the point or narrow part of the line. The rear 
 was allotted to the remainder of the militia and the second
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 257 
 
 battalion of regulars which joined the Kentuckians on 
 the northwest corner. The cavalry under Daviess and 
 Park were posted in the rear of the northeast angle. The 
 officers' tents, those of the regular troops, and the bag- 
 gage train, were placed in the centre of the enclosure. 
 On account of the length to be covered the men were 
 posted in single rank fairly close together, and a thin line 
 of humanity encircled the field. 
 
 The night was very cold. Rain fell at intervals, al- 
 though toward morning the moon shone fitfully from 
 time to time through the drifting clouds. Huge fires 
 were kindled, without which it would not have been pos- 
 sible for the troops to take any rest. A camp guard of 
 over one hundred men under experienced officers, a large 
 quota for so small a body, was carefully posted, and in- 
 structions as to what should be done in case of a night at- 
 tack were promulgated. The men were ordered to lie 
 with their guns loaded and bayonets fixed. Only the 
 regulars had tents, and in order to keep their pieces dry 
 many of the militia wrapped their gun-locks in their 
 coats or blankets and lay uncovered near the fires. 
 
 III. The Battle of Tippecanoe 
 
 Harrison's experience in Indian warfare had taught 
 him that it was a wise precaution to awaken his men 
 early in the morning, so as to be prepared for attacks 
 which the Indians usually delivered shortly before sun- 
 rise. He had just risen, therefore, at four o'clock on the 
 morning of the 7th, from a few hours of troubled sleep, 
 and was pulling on his boots preparatory to leaving his 
 tent and giving the order calling the men to attention, 
 when the stillness of the night was broken by the sound
 
 258 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 of a rifle shot which came out of the woodland to the 
 northwest. It was instantly followed by a fusillade. 
 
 Corporal Stephen Mars of Kentucky, the sentry whose 
 beat extended farthest in the woods to the northwest, had 
 detected dark bodies creeping noiselessly through the 
 underbrush toward his post. He fired upon them in- 
 stantly and then turned and dashed for the camp, shouting 
 in alarm as he ran. The Indians who had approached 
 thus near the lines with wonderful skill, saw that conceal- 
 ment was at an end. They shot Mars dead before he had 
 gone a dozen paces, and then, shouting their war-cries, 
 rushed upon the regulars and Kentuckians who were 
 posted on either side of that angle. Almost before the 
 startled men, so suddenly awakened, were aware of their 
 situation, the red warriors burst upon them. 
 
 Seizing their weapons, after a single discharge of rifle 
 or musket, there being no time for reloading, a desperate 
 hand-to-hand conflict ensued, with rifle butt and bayonet 
 against tomahawk and scalping knife. Such was the dash 
 of the Indian attack that the two companies gave ground, 
 as the savages in apparently countless numbers came 
 leaping upon them out of the darkness. 
 
 Meanwhile the whole camp had sprung to arms. The 
 men stood in line, peering out into the black dark woods 
 surrounding them, awaiting the next development, which 
 was not long in coming, for presently along the whole 
 front and extending around the right flank the crackle of 
 rifles and muskets was heard, so that the entire camp, save 
 for the space protected by the creek, was simultaneously 
 assailed. 
 
 Up in the northwest corner the condition of affairs was 
 indeed critical. In spite of the heroic efforts of the troops, 
 the Indians effected an entrance in the camp, and if they
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 259 
 
 could maintain their position the lines would be taken in 
 the rear while they were attacked in the front, and the re- 
 sult would be annihilation. Major Baen of the regulars 
 was mortally hurt, Captain Geiger of the Kentuckians 
 wounded, and many other officers and men were killed or 
 wounded, and the line was giving away in great confusion. 
 Some of the Indians who had broken through stopped to 
 plunder the tents. It had all happened in a few moments. 
 
 Harrison was equal to the emergency, however. He 
 acted with true military promptness. Not stopping for 
 anything he had run from his tent at the first shot. The 
 horses were plunging wildly at their halters in the excite- 
 ment and confusion. Just as the general reached them, 
 his own horse, a white stallion, broke his halter and es- 
 caped in the darkness. Harrison sprang to the back of 
 the next one, which happened to be a dark bay, and to 
 this fortunate circumstance he probably owed his life. 
 His principal aide, Major Owen, was mounted upon a 
 white horse, his own. The Indians had marked Harri- 
 son's white horse at the meeting of the evening before, 
 and as the general and his aide galloped to the northwest 
 corner, the savage marksmen singled out the man on the 
 white horse conspicuous in the firelight. He was shot 
 and instantly killed. 
 
 Harrison arrived at the angle just as the regulars and 
 Kentuckians broke. He ordered Peters' regular and 
 Cooke's Indiana militia companies up from the rear, the 
 only face unassailed, formed them across the gap, and 
 charged forward with them with great spirit and success, 
 the shaken troops rallying upon them and reoccupying 
 their old places. Not an Indian who had entered the 
 lines was left alive when the lines were re-established. 
 The first dash had failed, but the Indian fire was kept up
 
 260 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 with unabated vigor and the camp was furiously assailed 
 everywhere. 
 
 Meanwhile Jo : Daviess with the cavalry in the opposite 
 angle was greatly desirous of distinguishing himself. As 
 the fighting continued and the enemy drew closer he sent 
 a messenger to Harrison requesting permission to charge. 
 The general, in the thick of the fray at the time, directed 
 Daviess to be patient, that he would give him opportunity 
 enough to distinguish himself before the battle was over. 
 Patience, however, was not one of Daviess' qualities. He 
 sent a second time, and received the same answer, and 
 finally a third time, whereupon Harrison replied, " Tell 
 Major Daviess he has had my opinion twice. He may 
 now use his own discretion." 
 
 Daviess instantly gave the order to charge. Instead 
 of going out in line abreast he led his force through his 
 own lines in single file, and made a rush for the woods. 
 According to some accounts he was on horseback, at any 
 rate he was conspicuous from a white blanket coat which 
 he wore. He was shot through the body before he had 
 gone ten paces, and his men retreated carrying him with 
 them. The Indians attempted a countercharge, but the 
 dragoons rallied and the attack was easily beaten off. 
 
 The plateau was now encircled with fire. The troops 
 standing near the edge were plainly visible to the Indians 
 by the light cast by the remains of the huge fires back of 
 them, while the savages could not be seen by the Ameri- 
 cans, who could only fire at the flashes in the darkness. 
 Every assailable point was hotly attacked again and again. 
 
 Harrison rode up and down the lines freely exposing 
 himself, his clothing torn by bullets, heartening and 
 cheering the men, throwing a little reserve now here, now 
 there, to re-enforce a weak spot, doing everything that a
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 261 
 
 brave and efficient officer could do to insure success. The 
 steadiness of the militia was marvellous. They stood in 
 the darkness after a time and fought like heroes, for the 
 fires were extinguished by Harrison's orders as soon as 
 the exigency permitted. Men fell on every side, yet there 
 was no thought of retreat or giving back. 
 
 After the failure to break the line on the left flank, the 
 attack was concentrated on the narrow side of the right 
 flank. Colonel Bartholomew was wounded, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Decker was next struck down, Captain Warrick, 
 acting major, was then shot through the body. He was 
 taken to the fire, his wound dressed, and as he was able to 
 move, though his injuries were mortal, he went back to 
 the line and fought with his men until he died. 
 
 Spencer's " Yellow Jackets " bore the brunt of the fight 
 at the point. The Indians were in front and on both 
 sides of these brave men. Captain Spencer was shot in 
 the head and severely wounded, but refused to leave his 
 post, and continued to encourage his men. A few mo- 
 ments after he received his first wound he was shot 
 through the thighs and fell to the ground. Still he would 
 not permit himself to be carried to the rear, but was being 
 lifted up to cheer his soldiers, when he was shot in the 
 heart and fell dead where he had fought. 
 
 All the field officers of the Indiana militia at this point 
 were killed or wounded, and most of the company officers 
 also. There is a story told that Harrison, ridmg furiously 
 up to the imperilled point, found the troops under the 
 command of a mere boy, whose face was begrimed with 
 powder and stained with blood from a wound in his fore- 
 head. 
 
 " Young man," said the general in great anxiety, not 
 recognizing him in such a case, " where is your colonel ? "
 
 262 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 " Dead, sir," was the answer. 
 
 " Your major? " 
 
 " Dead, sir." 
 
 " Your captain?" 
 
 " Dead, sir." 
 
 " Who commands the regiment? " 
 
 " I do, sir. Ensign Tipton, Fourth Indiana, sir." 
 
 The story may well be true; it is certain that the boy 
 went into the campaign a private, and that night of bat- 
 tle made him the captain of his company. 
 
 Harrison had one company still in reserve, Robb's Ken- 
 tucky riflemen. He at^once led them to the support of 
 the right flank. They numbered thirty-five men, and sev- 
 enteen of them were killed or wounded before the day 
 broke. The men behaved with the greatest gallantry. 
 Many of them had never been in action before, yet they 
 coolly stood to their guns, and when it came to hand-to- 
 hand fighting they displayed high courage. 
 
 Captain Geiger of the Kentuckians narrowly escaped 
 death at the knife of an Indian who had broken into the 
 camp, whom he killed with his own hands. The flint of 
 a soldier's piece slipped out of place. The man deliber- 
 ately walked over to the remains of the fire in spite of ex- 
 postulation, sat down by it and remained until he had 
 fixed his musket, although the bullets fell around him like 
 hail. Other men sprang upon the Indians crawling tow- 
 ard the line and killed them with knife or hatchet, or 
 were killed themselves in the struggle. 
 
 Two hours the battle raged, but as day broke the regu- 
 lars and Kentuckians on the left flank led by Major Wells 
 moved out and by a spirited bayonet charge drove the 
 savages in headlong rout, which extended all along the 
 line. At six o'clock the fierce little battle was over.
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 263 
 
 Harrison's loss in killed and wounded is usually given 
 as one hundred and eighty-eight men, but the returns 
 upon which this statement is made apparently do not in- 
 clude some of the casualties among the officers, so that I 
 am of the opinion that there were nearly two hundred 
 casualties out of the one thousand engaged, or about 
 twenty per cent., a fearful proportion indeed. Daviess 
 died of his wounds during the day and with the other dead 
 was interred upon the field. 
 
 Harrison sent a detachment to burn the Prophet's 
 town, which was found deserted, and to lay waste the sur- 
 rounding country. Then destroying his private baggage 
 and putting the wounded in the baggage-wagons, he re- 
 traced his steps to Fort Harrison. The sufferings of the 
 wounded upon this rough wagon journey were indescrib- 
 able. 
 
 The casualties among the Indians have never been 
 learned with accuracy, but it is likely that they were at 
 least as great as those sustained by the Americans. . The 
 Indians, who were from a number of tribes, were led by 
 three chiefs named White Loon, Stone Eater, and Win- 
 nemac. The Prophet, who had, after the manner of his 
 kind, promised immunity from the American bullets to 
 his followers, had witnessed the battle from a situation 
 back of the creek; also, after the manner of his kind, tak- 
 ing care to be well out of range. When he was re- 
 proached by the surviving Indians for having misled 
 them with pretended immunities, he stated that his wife 
 had touched the pot in which he had brewed his incanta- 
 tions that night, and the charm had been broken by her 
 profane hand! A child of Adam he, indeed. He was 
 not believed, of course, but there was nothing to be done 
 then.
 
 264 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Alas for the Indians, more than the charm was broken 
 on this occasion, for the whole confederacy, at least so far 
 as the northwest was concerned, went to pieces in the face 
 of the crushing defeat. The many warriors from so many 
 different tribes carried the news everywhere, the Prophet 
 was discredited, and Tecumseh in his absence was desert- 
 ed by all but his own tribe. The Creek war with its awful 
 massacres and bloody battles ensued in the south, but the 
 spirit of the northern Indians was broken. 
 
 When Tecumseh returned and found his careful plans, 
 his far-seeing statesmanship frustrated by the signal abil- 
 ity with which Harrison had taken advantage of his ab- 
 sence and the folly of the Prophet, he was heartbroken, 
 too. The war of 1812 opening soon after, he naturally 
 cast his lot with the British, bringing many of the north- 
 west Indians with him. Appreciating his influence and 
 ability they made him a major-general, and he rendered 
 brilliant and effective service against the Americans in all 
 the campaigns of the war. 
 
 Proctor, the English commander, was greatly inferior 
 to the Indian both in military talents and in personal char- 
 acter, and anything that was accomplished by the allies 
 was due to the genius of the savage rather than to the ef- 
 forts of the Briton. He and Harrison faced each other 
 many times in many hard-fought battles until the end 
 came on the 5th of October, 1813, near the Moravian 
 Town on the River Thames in the Province of Ontario, 
 Canada. 
 
 IV. The Battle of the Thames 
 
 After the stupendous victory of Perry on Lake Erie 
 the British, utterly disheartened, abandoned their posi- 
 tions and fled precipitately to the northwest, closely pur-
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 265 
 
 sued by Harrison and Governor Shelby of Kentucky, one 
 of the heroes of King's Mountain, thirty-three years be- 
 fore, in command of a fine force of three thousand regu- 
 lars and Indiana and Kentucky troops, of whom the aged 
 Shelby was not the least ardent " Old King's Moun- 
 tain " they called him from his share in the famous victory. 
 They greatly outnumbered the allies, who comprised some 
 seven hundred regulars and about one thousand two hun- 
 dred Indians under the command of Tecumseh. 
 
 Bitterly protesting against flight and earnestly pleading 
 with the British commander to give battle, Tecumseh at 
 last induced him to await the American attack at a place 
 peculiarly well adapted for defence. With the left flank 
 protected by the river Thames, here high banked and un- 
 fordable, and his right flank resting upon an almost im- 
 passable swamp, Proctor finally resolved to make a stand. 
 Between the river and the large swamp a smaller swamp, 
 or marsh, divided the allies into two parts. The ground 
 was thickly wooded with huge trees with but little under- 
 growth. Proctor with the British regulars took the left 
 of the line, Tecumseh with his Indians the right. 
 
 Harrison, coming upon them late in the afternoon, de- 
 termined to assault them in regular fashion by advancing 
 his infantry under cover of skirmishers, and after the battle 
 had been joined throwing in his cavalry, of which he had 
 a very fine regiment of Kentuckians, commanded by Col- 
 onel Richard Mentor Johnson. But upon learning that 
 the British troops, through some unaccountable blunder, 
 were drawn up in open order, Harrison changed his plan 
 and began the battle by launching a furious cavalry charge 
 upon both sides of the small swamp. At the same time he 
 deployed a portion of his army to the left to attack the Ind- 
 ians, who had extended on his flank in the large swamp.
 
 266 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Old General Shelby had charge of this portion of the ad- 
 vance. The cavalry, upon the word, charged with the ut- 
 most gallantry on both sides of the small swamp. Colo- 
 nel Johnson led the attack on the Indians, and his brother 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel on the British. The Johnsons 
 were a family of fighters, for two sons of the lieutenant- 
 colonel, one only a boy, accompanied him in the charge. 
 
 After two volleys and some irregular firing, the British, 
 overridden by the impetuous horsemen, who were closely 
 followed by the infantry, threw down their arms and sur- 
 rendered, Proctor fleeing like the coward he was from the 
 field which he had failed to defend. He was afterward 
 court-martialed and severely censured for his lack of con- 
 duct. On the Indian side of the swamp, however, the 
 battle was more fiercely contested. All the loss the Amer- 
 ican army sustained practically occurred here. The en- 
 gagement was general for perhaps ten minutes, when Te- 
 cumseh was shot and the Indians at last gave way in all 
 directions before the steady advance of the American sol- 
 diers. The American loss was about fifteen killed and 
 thirty wounded; the British loss, about eighteen killed, 
 twenty-six wounded, and six hundred prisoners. Thirty- 
 three dead Indians were left on the field, many were 
 wounded but escaped, and their total loss was probably 
 heavy. 
 
 Who shot Tecumseh is one of the unsolved and un- 
 solvable mysteries of history. Colonel Johnson, who 
 was wounded no less than five times in the fight, did 
 shoot with a pistol a prominent Indian who had already 
 wounded him and was making toward him to finish him. 
 It was alleged that this Indian was Tecumseh. Johnson, 
 who was afterward Vice-President of the United States, 
 never made the claim himself that it was, although his
 
 Tecumseh and Harrison 267 
 
 political partisans did so for him. Volumes have been 
 written to discover the fact, but it remains as far from 
 solution as ever. Of one thing is there assurance, and 
 that is, that the great chief fell in this battle, which was 
 after all scarcely more than a skirmish. There are grew- 
 some stories about his skin being flayed from his body 
 for razor-strops, but they are not well authenticated. 
 Indeed, the identification of his body after the battle is 
 by no means complete. That he died there, however, 
 appears to be certain. 
 
 A petty ending to all his great ideas, his brilliant plan- 
 ning, his splendid courage, his noble dream of a Red 
 Men's Republic ! He was beyond his time, and beyond 
 his people. So his life was wasted. Let it be said of him 
 that he was a merciful Indian in accordance with his 
 lights, that he permitted no burning of prisoners nor 
 other torturing, that the massacre of the Raisin River 
 was not due to him, and that he observed in large meas- 
 ure what are called the rules of civilized warfare. 
 
 It is significant, too, that before this last battle of which 
 the baffled, disappointed man saw the inevitable end, he 
 had communicated to his friends his resolve never to leave 
 the field alive, and he had stripped off his British uniform 
 and gone into the action attired in the savage simplicity 
 of his ancient forefathers. 
 
 Harrison, with Perry, who had been present at the bat- 
 tle, and General Shelby and Colonel Johnson were the 
 heroes of the hour. The national significance in our early 
 development of the battle of Tippecanoe, to which the 
 victory of the Thames called renewed attention, has been 
 pointed out. It had an interesting personal significance 
 to the American commander as well, for it undoubtedly 
 v called the public attention to Harrison in such a way that,
 
 268 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 when it was coupled with his brilliant campaigning in the 
 subsequent war, it finally made him the foremost man of 
 the Republic and at last the President of the United 
 States. Men yet live who remember the stirring slogan 
 of his political campaign, which joined his name with that 
 of his running mate in these words : " Old Tippecanoe 
 and Tyler too." 
 
 As the industrious and indefatigable Lossing says of 
 the battle : 
 
 " History, art, and song made that event the theme of 
 pen, pencil, and voice; and when, thirty years afterward, 
 the leader of the fray was a candidate for the Presidency 
 of the United States, he was everywhere known by the 
 familiar title of ' Old Tippecanoe.' His partisans erected 
 log cabins in towns and cities, and in them sang in 
 chorus : 
 
 'Hurrah for the father of all the great west, 
 
 For the Buckeye who followed the plow; 
 The foeman in terror his valor confessed, 
 
 And we'll honor the conqueror now. 
 His country assailed in the darkest of days, 
 
 To her rescue impatient he flew, 
 The war whoop's fell blast, and the rifle's red blaze, 
 
 But awakened Old Tippecanoe.' " 
 
 And Tecumseh's name reappears in history in the mon- 
 itor which was sunk in Mobile Bay by the Confederate 
 torpedoes off Fort Morgan, and in the cognomen of that 
 great modern warrior, William Tecumseh Sherman.
 
 PART V 
 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 
 
 III 
 
 The Massacre on the River Raisin
 
 THE MASSACRE ON THE RIVER 
 RAISIN 
 
 " Woe, and woe, and lamentation! 
 What a piteous cry was there! 
 Widows, maidens, mothers, children, 
 Shrieking, sobbing in despair. 
 
 " Woe to us, ah, woe Kentucky! 
 
 O, our sons, our sons and men! 
 Surely some have 'scaped the Indian, 
 Surely some will come again! 
 
 " Till the oak that fell last winter 
 
 Shall uprear its shattered stem 
 Wives and mothers of Kentucky 
 Ye may look in vain for them!" 
 
 Adapted from Aytoun. 
 
 I. The Army of the West 
 
 IN the early part of 1813 tidings of an appalling dis- 
 aster to our arms came blowing down the winter 
 wind from the far northwest. Although there were 
 no telegraph lines, nor railroads, nor other means of 
 quickly diffusing intelligence, rumors of a bloody battle 
 fought and lost, and succeeded by a ruthless massacre, 
 spread with incredible swiftness in ever-widening circles 
 of apprehension and alarm. The news carried dismay and 
 desolation and anguish to the people of Kentucky. Win- 
 chester's detachment had been cut off, it was reported, 
 and every man of them slain. Later and authentic in- 
 formation mitigated the first impression of the calamity, 
 
 271
 
 $7 2 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 but the tidings were bad enough at best and they needed 
 no exaggeration to send a wave of grief and rage 
 throughout Kentucky primarily and the United States 
 generally. 
 
 It is difficult to overestimate the important part played 
 by Kentucky in the War of 1812. Because she was 
 a trans-Allegheny state and most of the campaigns in 
 which her soldiers took part occurred in the northwest- 
 ern territories, their achievements, except in the case of 
 William Henry Harrison, have been somewhat lost sight 
 of. Yet the best blood of the new state responded with 
 spontaneous enthusiasm to the demands of the govern- 
 ment; and not only in the regular army of the United 
 States but in the regiments of volunteers with which our 
 greater wars have usually been fought, her citizens dis- 
 played an alacrity and self-sacrifice which set the pace 
 and established the mark for older communities. 
 
 The best men in the state did not disdain to fill the sta- 
 tions of subalterns, and numbers of them were even found 
 in the ranks. Many of these volunteers were killed or 
 wounded, and the regiments of which they made up the 
 principal quota participated in some of the hardest of the 
 little fights with which the war abounded. 
 
 After the pusillanimous surrender of Hull at Detroit, a 
 vigorous effort was inaugurated to recover the lost city 
 and drive the British from the peninsula of Michigan. 
 After various hesitations the supreme command of the 
 force designed for the recapture and invasion of Canada 
 was conferred upon Harrison, who was appointed a ma- 
 jor-general in the regular army. His force was assem- 
 bled in three small divisions, the left being under the com- 
 mand of Brigadier-General James Winchester. 
 
 Winchester was a veteran of the Revolution. He had
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 273 
 
 been a lieutenant in the Virginia Continental line at 
 the age of twenty-four. It was his misfortune to be 
 captured early in the Revolutionary War and to spend 
 over four years as a prisoner. Most of the fighting 
 was over when he was released, and as he had enjoyed no 
 opportunity for distinguishing himself, consequently he 
 had not risen above a subordinate rank. He was at this 
 time over sixty years old; a brave, upright, estimable gen- 
 tleman, with no other qualifications whatever for military 
 command. 
 
 Under him was a force of some twelve hundred men, in- 
 cluding the Seventeenth U. S. Regular Infantry, under 
 Colonel Wells, who had fought brilliantly at Tippecanoe, 
 the First, Second, and Fifth Kentucky Volunteers, the 
 First Kentucky Riflemen, and some other troops. The 
 soldiers, who had been enlisted in August, were provided 
 only with clothing for summer campaigning, and as the 
 winter approached, they suffered terrible hardships. The 
 winter was one of unusual severity. 
 
 Harrison appealed personally to the women of Ken- 
 tucky, and with patriotic zeal they labored to provide 
 blankets, overcoats and other clothing for their men in 
 the field, but these supplies had not yet reached Winches- 
 ter's detachment. Harrison intended to concentrate his 
 men at the Rapids of the Maumee, preparatory to 
 marching on the British head-quarters at Maiden, now 
 Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada; and thither he directed 
 Winchester to repair early in January, to fortify the place 
 and to establish a depot to which would be sent the 
 sorely needed supplies. 
 
 The Kentucky troops were not well affected toward 
 Winchester at first. He had been sent out by the Na- 
 tional Government to supersede Harrison in the chief
 
 274 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 command, and a bitter feeling had been engendered there- 
 by. Harrison had found it necessary to appeal to the pa- 
 triotism of the troops; but Winchester himself, by kindli- 
 ness of heart, shown in the lax discipline he maintained, 
 had changed the state of affairs, so that he had become 
 personally popular with the men, although their efficiency 
 had not been promoted by his actions. 
 
 They were, however, in good spirits at last in spite of 
 hardships and exposures, and were become so zealous 
 that when they were ordered to march to the Maumee 
 Rapids, finding their horses and mules, as ill provided as 
 their masters, unequal to the labor, the men dragged the 
 cannon and supplies over the frozen country, gladly tak- 
 ing hold of the traces and pulling the wagons and guns 
 with their own hands. 
 
 Everything connected with the army was in a chaotic 
 state. There were few, if any, trained soldiers among 
 the officials. The war had not yet developed those whose 
 talents enabled them to supplement their lack of expe- 
 rience, and things went on very slowly indeed; as they al- 
 ways do, even in the best of times as they did in the 
 Spanish-American War, for instance. 
 
 II. A Hazardous Expedition 
 
 While they were waiting in the cold for the bringing 
 up of the supplies, the arrival of re-enforcements, and the 
 approach of the other detachments of the army, which 
 Harrison was vainly endeavoring to hasten, an appeal for 
 help was brought to Winchester from a little village called 
 Frenchtown, situated on the River Raisin, a few miles 
 above the place where it empties into Lake Erie and 
 where is now the city of Monroe, Michigan.
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 275 
 
 The settlement was a small one, of some thirty families 
 and as many houses. It was French in its origin and 
 dated back in the previous century. The first settlers had 
 named the stream upon which they had established them- 
 selves the Riviere aux Raisins, on account of the preva- 
 lence of wild grapes which they found there. 
 
 The settlement was menaced by a body of Canadians 
 and Indians under the command of Major Reynolds, who 
 had been despatched to seize it as a convenient outpost for 
 watching the Americans, by Colonel Proctor, the British 
 commander in the northwest. Messengers were sent to 
 Winchester's camp asking him to send a detachment to 
 drive away the enemy and protect the citizens from the 
 Indians. 
 
 Moved by feelings of humanity, he committed a most 
 serious military blunder. Feelings of humanity seem to 
 find little place in military manoeuvres, unfortunately. 
 Frenchtown was within eighteen miles of Maiden, in 
 which lay a force of five thousand British and Indians. It 
 was about thirty miles from the camp on the Maumee. 
 Winchester divided his small force into two parties, and 
 on the 1 7th of January, 1814, he sent the first moiety, 
 some six hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Lewis, 
 to dispossess the British and Indians from Frenchtown. 
 He immediately re-enforced him with a small detach- 
 ment under Colonel Allen, which overtook the advance 
 before the battle the next day. 
 
 Winchester's soldiers, whose terms of service were 
 shortly to expire, were clamorous for movement. They 
 did not wish to go home without having struck one 
 blow at least, and through their officers they had strenu- 
 ously urged upon the feeble general the despatch of the 
 expedition. It does not appear that Winchester made
 
 276 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 any great resistance to their demand, or that he ever 
 realized his blunder. 
 
 The weather was bitter cold, but the ill-clad troops, re- 
 joicing in the prospect of righting, set forth sturdily upon 
 their hazardous undertaking. They marched rapidly, and 
 after a day and a night approached Frenchtown. They 
 crossed the River Raisin upon the ice, formed up in the 
 woods, seized the town, and drove out the advance guard 
 of the allies, whom they found drawn up in a convenient 
 situation ready to receive them. 
 
 There was a spirited little engagement in the afternoon 
 of the i8th, in which the British supported by a howitzer 
 held their own for a time and inflicted a loss of some 
 twelve killed, including one officer, and fifty-five wound- 
 ed, including three officers, but they were finally driven 
 from successive positions by the Americans. They re- 
 treated in good order, and maintained an unbroken front 
 until evening put an end to the battle, which was cer- 
 tainly a victory for the Americans, since they remained in 
 possession of the town and battle-field. 
 
 Colonel Lewis, whose conduct had been characterized 
 by courage and skill, withdrew to the town and went into 
 camp. His wounded were gladly cared for in the houses 
 of the French people and his men established themselves 
 in a good defensive position, enjoying through the hospi- 
 tality of the villagers the first good warm meal they had 
 eaten for a long time. A messenger was at once sent 
 back to Winchester telling of their success, and then they 
 remained quietly in camp within striking distance of the 
 whole British army to wait their general's pleasure. 
 
 The houses of the village were mostly surrounded by 
 gardens, the greater part enclosed by " puncheon " fences, 
 which were in effect small stockades of heavy timber, or
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 277 
 
 split logs, between four and five feet high and admirably 
 adapted for defensive warfare. Lewis seems to have 
 knocked out some of the intercepting fences so as to 
 make a clear stockade around the southern part of the 
 town, in which he posted his troops. 
 
 The messenger with the news of the success of the de- 
 tachment raised the greatest enthusiasm in Winchester's 
 camp. His men clamored to be led forward to the new 
 position. Although there was no strategic importance 
 to be attached to the possession of Frenchtown, and to 
 hold it removed the division from its base of supplies and 
 disorganized the plan of the commander-in-chief, it 
 seemed on the face of it a bold, threatening, forward 
 movement, and as such appealed to the unthinking. 
 
 It was, in fact, so rash a movement that it amounted 
 to foolhardiness. If one can forget that Proctor was a 
 coward and an ass, it might be likened to thrusting one's 
 head into a lion's mouth. At any rate, Winchester de- 
 termined to establish his camp on the Raisin. Leaving 
 some three hundred men at Maumee with instructions to 
 guard the stores until they could be sent for, and also to 
 receive other stores, and despatching a messenger to Har- 
 rison with the first news of the little victory and the pro- 
 jected movement, Winchester, accompanied by Colonel 
 Wells and the Seventeenth regulars, marched to French- 
 town. When they got there on the 2Oth a petty little 
 question of precedence which arose necessitated an ar- 
 rangement which brought about the ultimate disaster of 
 all of them. 
 
 Wells, as a colonel in the regular service, was senior in 
 rank to Lewis and was thus entitled to what is known as 
 the right of the line. On the left of the stockade occu- 
 pied by Lewis there was another garden enclosure which
 
 278 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 would have afforded' excellent cover for Wells, but in a 
 spirit of military punctilio he chose to maintain his right 
 
 
 
 ITI 
 
 ^^'v?V.vS.^:;-.'/V v ^; : -^-'-^ 
 R'ECULARS:-''-;-.-.' '.v--'- -. / ,*'/V ; C-.' 
 :.'-: '.i--.---- -.-.: v.- :.: :/*<<.. . . * 
 
 :c^ 
 
 "V r 
 
 : 
 
 '.t <*!*. pi/A r c us 
 
 Map of Frenchtown and the Massacre on the Raisin. 
 
 to the right of the line, and accordingly encamped his 
 men in the open on the right of Lewis, with no pro-
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 279 
 
 tection whatever. His detached force was therefore a 
 weakness rather than a strength to the army. 
 
 Winchester seems to have made no objection to the 
 foolish arrangement. Indeed, it was only intended to be 
 temporary, for the next day, the 2ist, the officers pitched 
 upon a suitable location for a fort large enough for the 
 whole army, which they arranged to commence on the 
 22nd. Winchester established his head-quarters at the 
 house of a man named Navarre, some three-quarters of a 
 mile from the camp and south of the Raisin, a stream 
 seventy yards wide and now frozen solid between its low 
 banks. 
 
 There they lay, therefore, some nine hundred and fifty 
 officers and men, without artillery, without provisions, 
 with only a scanty supply of ammunition, ill-clothed, with 
 no adequate commissariat, utterly unsupported and with- 
 in easy striking distance of six times their number of the 
 enemy. To add to their misfortunes the foolish question 
 of precedence had so disposed them that over one-third 
 of the force was in an untenable position. Wars have 
 been waged and great peoples ruined over questions of 
 precedence more than once. 
 
 Proctor, who in this one solitary instance seems to have 
 exhibited some little capacity, at once moved down to at- 
 tack them with six pieces of artillery and a force estimated 
 at twelve hundred British and Indians, of whom three 
 hundred were regulars of the Forty-first and the Royal 
 Newfoundland Regiments, two hundred of the remainder 
 being Canadian volunteers embodied in regiments, and 
 the balance Wyandotte Indians led by a celebrated chief 
 known as Round Head. Proctor supposed that he was 
 to meet Lewis' detachment only, or he would have taken 
 a larger force. He was ignorant of Winchester's arrival
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 with a re-enforcement. However, as the event showed, 
 he had more than enough for the purpose. 
 
 In the American camp there seems to have been a neg- 
 lect of the most rudimentary duties of a soldier. No 
 scouts were ordered, no pickets placed, and even the sen- 
 tries were not extended as they should have been. A 
 large supply of ammunition was left undistributed at Win- 
 chester's head-quarters, although some of the troops had 
 only ten rounds with them. 
 
 Colonel Wells and Colonel Lewis finally began to fear 
 that their position would invite attack and made represen- 
 tations to General Winchester snugly ensconced in the 
 Navarre house across the river. He pooh-poohed their 
 fears and made light of their suggestions, until finally the 
 news was brought by one of the French inhabitants that 
 a large force of British and Indians had left Maiden and 
 were approaching Frenchtown. This was contradicted 
 vehemently by another Frenchman, who bore the historic 
 name of La Salle, who it was afterwards learned was in 
 the pay of the British. Winchester was reassured by La 
 Salle's protestations and accordingly did nothing. 
 
 III. The Battle of Frenchtown 
 
 The night of January 2ist was intensely cold, the 
 ground was covered with snow, the wind blew fiercely. 
 The poorly clad sentries almost perished during their 
 long vigils, and they naturally kept an indifferent watch. 
 Some of the approaches to the town were left entirely 
 unpicketed. No scouting parties were sent out. The 
 American army lay huddled around its fires, or crowded 
 the huts and houses of the village seeking shelter from 
 the freezing cold of the bitter winter. The whole army
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 281 
 
 passed the night in confident security, and Proctor with 
 his well-clad troops and Indians was enabled to approach 
 near the camp without discovery. 
 
 Between four and five o'clock, probably nearer five, 
 while it was yet dark, the drummer-boys began beating 
 the reveille. The echoes of the drums had scarce died 
 away under the black sky when three rifle shots from the 
 nearest sentries, instantly followed by the report of a can- 
 non and the bursting of a bombshell, crashed through the 
 morning air. The discharge was succeeded by the rat- 
 tling of musketry mingled with the cheers of the British 
 and the yells of the Indians. 
 
 The startled Americans sprang to their arms in the gray 
 misty morning, and in their bewilderment opened a fire 
 upon the flashes of light which told of the presence of the 
 enemy. If Proctor had realized the situation he could 
 have rushed the camp and surprised the Americans al- 
 most in their sleep. He chose, however, to bombard the 
 pickets with his artillery, and the first gun, with a few ran- 
 dom shots from the American pickets upon him as he 
 marched forward in the snowstorm and darkness, fol- 
 lowed by the general discharge, apprised the Americans 
 of the advent of the enemy. 
 
 Fortunately the darkness prevented much damage 
 from being done on either side by the firing, and it was 
 not until daybreak that the battle became serious. Mean- 
 while Proctor extended his line, placed two of his guns to 
 the eastward of Lewis' division, and massed a large force 
 of Indians on the exposed flank of Wells' command. 
 
 Winchester had arisen when he had heard the sound of 
 firing in the winter morning, hastily dressed and galloped 
 to the front with his staff. There was no want of courage 
 in the old man. He at once took position on the right
 
 282 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 flank of Wells' troops. As it grew lighter he discovered 
 the mass of Indians menacing this right, the discovery 
 being emphasized by the severe fire which the Indians 
 poured upon the regulars from the cover of the trees with 
 which the country abounded. Then for the first time he 
 seems to have realized the untenable position of the men, 
 and he ordered them to withdraw into the stockade, or, 
 as it is sometimes alleged, to retire and reform behind the 
 houses back of Wells' position. 
 
 The greater portion of these troops had never been in 
 action before. As a rule it is only seasoned veterans who 
 can safely be withdrawn from a position in the heat of a 
 fierce action. The little prairie upon which the town 
 stands was now ringing with musketry. The Americans 
 were fighting coolly, although they were suffering great 
 loss. It was evident, however, that the position of Wells' 
 regiment was hopeless. Winchester had to order the 
 retrograde movement or see the flank cut to pieces where 
 it stood. 
 
 The regiment started back in good order, but the Ind- 
 ians, mistaking the manoeuvre for a retreat, contrary to 
 their practice broke from cover and rushed upon the 
 Americans. They were two to one at the point of con- 
 tact, the march became a run, the run engendered a panic, 
 and in a wild, disorganized mass the soldiers streamed 
 past the stockade, through the town and made for the 
 frozen river. 
 
 Colonel Lewis in the stockade, seeing the disaster, de- 
 spatched Colonel Allen's regiment to charge the advanc- 
 ing Indians and give the regulars time to recover. He 
 himself gallantly left the stockade and joined Winchester, 
 Wells, Major McLanahan, and other officers in an heroic 
 effort to stay the wild rout, but all in vain. Allen's men,
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 283 
 
 who charged the Indians bravely, were shattered by a 
 heavy fire, the Indians made a countercharge in the 
 smoke, the Americans were swept away and at once fol- 
 lowed the others in retreat, the savages close on their 
 heels. 
 
 Round Head had handled his savages with great skill 
 and he was now reaping the reward of his generalship. 
 The fleeing men were shot down, tomahawked, and 
 scalped in scores. Of the whole lot, only thirty-three es- 
 caped. The remainder were overtaken and surrounded 
 south of the Raisin and butchered without mercy. One 
 young officer surrendered himself, and twenty men and 
 the whole number, saving himself, were immediately shot, 
 or tomahawked, and scalped. Colonel Wells and Major 
 McLanahan were killed and most of the other officers as 
 well. 
 
 Colonel Allen, desperately wounded, backed up against 
 a tree for support. His offer to surrender was at first ac- 
 cepted, but two Indians made for him with hostile intent. 
 Allen, perceiving their design, determined to sell his life 
 dearly. He cut the first man down and killed him with 
 one terrific blow of the sword. The second man shot him 
 dead. He was one of the finest gentlemen of Kentucky. 
 
 General Winchester and Colonel Wells were taken 
 alive. The Indians stripped the poor old general and his 
 surviving officers of their uniforms, so that they nearly 
 perished with cold, and then marched them to Proctor's 
 head-quarters. The right wing of the American army 
 had not only been routed but annihilated. The battle, so 
 far as they were concerned, had ceased when they began 
 to retreat. The field was turned into a shambles. The 
 Indians in this part of the affair suffered but little loss. 
 
 Meanwhile Proctor had been furiously assailing the
 
 284 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 stockade. Three times he had launched his regulars and 
 Canadians in force upon it. Although dismayed and ap- 
 palled by the repulse of the right wing, the Americans un- 
 der Major Madison, a veteran of the Revolution, in 
 which he had fought under George Rogers Clark, at the 
 age of twelve, and of the Indian Wars under St. Clair and 
 Wayne, put up a fierce defence, Major Graves, the senior 
 officer, having been severely wounded early in the action. 
 Three times they repulsed the British, killing and wound- 
 ing over half the regulars present. So accurate was their 
 rifle fire that sixteen men were killed or wounded, in 
 quick succession, around the nearest six-pounder of the 
 English, and the service of the gun was abandoned. 
 
 The Indians, flushed with their victory, now joined the 
 beleaguering force and poured in a tremendous fire upon 
 the stockade, which was spiritedly returned, and a heavy 
 loss was here inflicted upon the savages. 
 
 Proctor finally withdrew his cannon and had about 
 made up his mind to abandon the siege when he resolved 
 to try a stratagem. The frozen, exhausted, old American 
 general was brought to him. Winchester had just wit- 
 nessed the annihilation of nearly half his force. Proctor 
 assumed a threatening manner and declared that the 
 stockade was practically in the power of the British, and 
 unless it were immediately given up he would abandon it 
 to the Indians, with the result that all the Americans 
 would be massacred. The British commander said that 
 if the matter came to a storm he would be unable to con- 
 trol the Indians. If, however,, Winchester would order 
 his men to surrender, Proctor pledged his sacred honor 
 that he would give the prisoners protection from the Ind- 
 ians, treat them as prisoners of war, and allow the officers 
 to retain their side arms and private property.
 
 Proctor . . . had a fiery interview with 
 the American commander."
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 285 
 
 Winchester, a kind-hearted old man, whose nerves had 
 been greatly shaken by the awful slaughter he had wit- 
 nessed, for the supposed sake of his men wrote an order 
 directing Major Madison to surrender. Winchester, be- 
 ing a captive, had no right to give an order of any kind, 
 and no obedience would have been required from any man 
 to such an order. 
 
 So successful had been the defence of the stockade that 
 when Madison's men saw the flag of truce coming they 
 imagined that it might be a request for a parley to permit 
 the British to secure their dead and wounded and march 
 away, or perhaps even surrender. Though how they 
 could have thought that troops in the open, capable of re- 
 treating, would surrender to troops in a stockade is diffi- 
 cult to understand. Madison's men knew that the right 
 wing had been repulsed, but were ignorant that it had 
 been annihilated, and when they received the order, and 
 the news as well, they were appalled. 
 
 Through some error Winchester's order for surrender 
 did not specify anything about protection or other condi- 
 tions. Proctor, who had come himself with the flag of 
 truce, had a fiery interview with the American commander, 
 who refused absolutely to surrender until promised safety 
 for his men from Indian attacks. This Proctor assured 
 him in the most solemn manner; thereupon Madison 
 yielded his position. 
 
 He probably would not have done so, but his ammuni- 
 tion was all but exhausted. Had Proctor made another 
 attack this fact would have been developed and the Amer- 
 icans would have been at the mercy of the enemy. As 
 soon as the surrender was announced the Indians, frenzied 
 by the excitement of battle and the number of slain, im- 
 mediately rushed upon the Americans tomahawk and
 
 286 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 scalping knife in hand. Fortunately the troops still re- 
 tained their arms and they turned upon the savages with 
 muskets, bayonets, and bowie knives, and taught them a 
 salutary lesson. Proctor had manifested little desire, and 
 had made no attempt to restrain the Indians, but they 
 were so savagely handled that they fled, leaving these 
 Americans severely alone. 
 
 There had been about six hours of fighting, during 
 which the Americans had lost about three hundred and 
 fifty killed. There were some seventy-five severely 
 wounded in addition and about five hundred were made 
 prisoners. Proctor, in deadly anxiety lest Harrison 
 should approach him with his army, immediately put his 
 force in array to march back to the main body at Maiden. 
 The American wounded were left at Frenchtown under 
 the care of two of their surgeons who had survived the 
 slaughter of the battle, in charge of a British major and 
 three interpreters with no force to protect them. Proc- 
 tor promised to send sledges to fetch them the next day. 
 
 IV. The Murder of the Wounded 
 
 The Indians marched away with Proctor, but it was 
 learned by the inhabitants of the village that they halted 
 six miles from Frenchtown by Proctor's permission for 
 " a jollification " a war or scalp dance, or some such 
 hellish revel. The night of the 22nd was passed in terri- 
 fied apprehension by the poor wounded men for whom 
 the surgeons were doing the best they could. On the 
 morning of the 23rd some two hundred of the savages re- 
 turned to Frenchtown. They were already excited by 
 the liquor they had imbibed and they procured an addi- 
 tional supply by breaking into some of the houses. The 
 wounded prisoners were dragged forth. Those who
 
 Massacre on the River Raisin 287 
 
 were unable to walk were stripped, shot, tomahawked, 
 and scalped. Some of them were left in houses which 
 were set on fire and then burned to death. 
 
 The lives of about thirty who could manage to drag 
 themselves along were spared, and they were driven in 
 the frightful cold toward the head-quarters at Maiden. 
 All who could manage to stagger tried to make the jour- 
 ney; they hobbled along till their strength gave out and 
 were butchered where they fell. Many of the prisoners 
 were not given up to the British, but were retained in 
 bondage by the Indians. 
 
 This was the way Proctor kept his promise. These two 
 hundred Indians comprised the escort he had ordered to 
 bring up to Maiden the wounded prisoners who had 
 trusted to his honor. An old report from a Canadian pa- 
 per, in my possession, has the following comment : " All 
 day throughout the Indians behaved nobly, and the instant 
 the enemy surrendered, their forbearance, as in former 
 actions, was strikingly conspicuous." Wasn't it? 
 
 The fate of Captain Hart, the brother-in-law of Hen- 
 ry Clay, was particularly harrowing. Although badly 
 wounded he had begged of Captain Elliott that he might 
 be taken with the other prisoners on the 22nd, and the 
 men of his company offered to carry him. But Elliott 
 pledged his honor that Hart would be safe and that his 
 own private sleigh should be sent for him the next morn- 
 ing. This Elliott had been a whilom personal friend of 
 Hart's and a man who was indebted to Hart's family for 
 many kindnesses before the war. He had charge of the 
 Indian allies and is reputed to have said significantly to 
 some of the wounded who asked for attendants and assist- 
 ance, "that he would leave them to the Indians, who were 
 all good doctors ! "
 
 288 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Elliott, of course, broke his promise; his honor was no 
 stronger than Proctor's, and Hart was ruthlessly killed 
 with the rest the next morning. His last words were a 
 prayer to God for strength to meet his fate. 
 
 The British loss was twenty-four killed and one hun- 
 dred and fifty-eight wounded, most of the casualties be- 
 ing from the regular regiments. The Indian loss was 
 probably under fifty. The American loss was between 
 three hundred and ninety and four hundred killed, be- 
 sides the few wounded whose lives were spared'. Thirty- 
 three got away and about five hundred and forty were 
 captured. 
 
 Yes, there was sorrow and grief in the tidings to the 
 people of Kentucky. But they were inflamed to furious 
 wrath by the story of the killing by the Indians of the men 
 who had surrendered and of the ruthless butchery of the 
 helpless wounded permitted by Proctor. This affair was 
 known colloquially as " The Massacre of the Raisin," and 
 the war-cry of the Americans, which was heard on many 
 fields and most fiercely at the Battle of the Thames, where 
 Proctor fled like a coward and Tecumseh died like a hero, 
 was, " Remember the Raisin." It is reported that some 
 of the Kentucky borderers flayed the bodies of the Ind- 
 ians, cutting their skins into long razor strops after the 
 Battle of the Thames to " Remember the Raisin." 
 
 One of the most damning indictments that has ever 
 been drawn against any civilized nation is that against 
 Great Britain for employing the Indians as allies in this 
 war against the Americans, although in justice to one 
 Indian it may be said, that if Tecumseh had been with 
 Proctor on this occasion it is probable that the massacre 
 might not have occurred.
 
 IV 
 
 George Croghan and the Defence of Fort 
 Stephenson
 
 GEORGE CROGHAN AND THE DE- 
 FENCE OF FORT STEPHENSON 
 
 I. A Boy in Command of Other Boys 
 
 THIS is a story of a mere boy and a lot of other 
 boys, on the frontier; an account of their heroic 
 but forgotten exploit. It is barely mentioned in 
 the larger histories, and its value is scarcely undepstood. 
 Important or not, it introduces us to specimens of young 
 American manhood of which we may well be proud. 
 
 Strange to say, few people at present have any but the 
 vaguest idea as to who George Croghan was, and fewer 
 still have ever heard of the fight at Fort Stephenson ; yet 
 the names of both soldier and battle were once on every- 
 body's lips, and they deserve a high and honorable place 
 in the long and brilliant galaxy of American fights and 
 fighters. 
 
 Prior to the War of the Rebellion, by specific acts of 
 Congress, from time to time, some forty-two of our sol- 
 diers and sailors were awarded medals for heroic exploits 
 or successful battles. Eleven went to Revolutionary he- 
 roes, the French and Tripolitan Wars were credited with 
 one each, the War of 1812 with twenty-seven, and two 
 .commanders were so distinguished in the Mexican War. 
 The total number of medals for all causes distributed by 
 act of Congress prior to 1861 was eighty- four. 
 
 The War of 1812 brought forth so large a number be- 
 
 291
 
 292 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 cause every captain who took a ship in the marvellous sea 
 fights of the period, received a medal. Also, in several 
 of these ship and squadron engagements medals were 
 awarded to subordinate officers for distinguished con- 
 duct. Therefore, it would be fair to say that possibly not 
 more than twenty-five separate actions in eighty-five 
 years of thrilling history in which six wars were fought 
 have been commemorated by the United States in this 
 signal way. To digress; but two medals were awarded 
 in the Rebellion (to Grant and Commodore Vanderbilt) 
 and but one since (to Dewey). Now the general medal 
 of honor has taken the place of the old-fashioned Con- 
 gressional award. 
 
 One of the 1812 medals was awarded to George Cro- 
 ghan for his heroic defence of Fort Stephenson, and this 
 little prelude shows the importance of it in our history. I 
 believe Croghan was the youngest man to be so signally 
 honored. 
 
 Croghan was a Kentuckian. The family was one of 
 prominence in early American history. His mother was 
 a sister of the famous George Rogers Clark, and it was in 
 her house near Louisville, where Croghan was born No- 
 vember 15, 1791, that the old Revolutionary hero died. 
 Croghan's father had been a Revolutionary soldier, a ma- 
 jor, who had fought with credit during that struggle. 
 His parents were fairly well-to-do, and he received the 
 best education then obtainable, at William and Mary 
 College, Virginia, where he graduated in 1810, at the 
 age of eighteen a bright youth indeed! 
 
 When General William Henry Harrison started on his 
 Indiana campaign to break up the conspiracy of Tecum- 
 seh, in 1811, young Croghan, whose predilections were 
 entirely military, accompanied the expedition as a volun-
 
 The Defence of Fort Stephenson 293 
 
 teer aid to Colonel Boyd, who commanded the United 
 States troops on this occasion. He distinguished himself 
 at the famous night battle of Tippecanoe, received a 
 coveted appointment in the army, and the War of 1812 
 found him a captain in the Seventeenth Regiment of 
 United States Infantry. He participated in all of Har- 
 rison's early campaigns and he again distinguished him- 
 self in a sortie at the famous siege of Fort Meigs, where 
 he did valiant service as Harrison's aide-de-camp. He 
 was mentioned in the despatches and rewarded by being 
 promoted major of the Seventeenth Infantry. 
 
 After the abandonment of the siege by the British he 
 was sent with a battalion of his regiment, comprising with 
 the officers one hundred and sixty men, to garrison 
 Fort Stephenson. These officers, all youths, most of 
 them junior in years to their boyish commander, have 
 earned a place in history, and their names are here set 
 down: Captain James Hunter, Lieutenants Benjamin 
 Johnston and Cyrus A. Baylor, Ensigns John Meek, Jo- 
 seph Duncan, and Edmund Shipp; all of the Seventeenth 
 Regulars except Meek, who belonged to the Ninth. 
 With them went Lieutenant Anderson, who, having no 
 command, served valiantly as a volunteer in the ranks. 
 
 Fort Stephenson was a ramshackle old stockade, built 
 around a former Indian trader's house at the head of nav- 
 igation on the Sandusky River, about twenty miles from 
 the Lake Erie shore, in what is now Sandusky County, 
 Ohio. The place was sometimes called Lower Sandusky, 
 and the battle is frequently referred to as the defence of 
 Lower Sandusky. The stockade, which was not in par- 
 ticularly good repair, was made of piles sixteen feet high, 
 and surrounding them was a dry ditch about eight or nine 
 feet wide, and five or six feet deep. The fort, enclosing
 
 294 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 about an acre of ground, was laid out in the form of a par- 
 allelogram, with a blockhouse at the northeast corner and 
 a guardhouse at the southeast. To supplement these 
 Croghan had erected another blockhouse midway on the 
 
 Map of Fort Stephenson. 
 
 north wall, from which he could enfilade the ditch. He 
 also strengthened the palisade, and put it in as good a 
 state of repair as possible. 
 
 The place had not been designed as a fort. Originally 
 it had only been intended as a defence against Indians.
 
 The Defence of Fort Stephenson 295 
 
 It was situated on low ground near the river, commanded 
 by surrounding hills, and was untenable in the face of ar- 
 tillery. It was a depot of supplies of some importance, 
 although the great depot for Ohio was at Upper San- 
 dusky, some twenty miles up the river. There was also a 
 third depot and much valuable government material at 
 Erie, where Perry had been busily engaged in building 
 and outfitting his famous squadron. Fort Stephenson, 
 therefore, was an outpost which stood between the two 
 great depots in which were stored the provisions and mu- 
 nitions of war for all the American armies in the north- 
 west. It was at the apex of a triangle, the base line of 
 which connected Erie and Upper Sandusky. Its fall 
 would leave a way open to attack one or the other of 
 these vitally important places without much difficulty. 
 Harrison with a very inconsiderable force was posted at 
 Seneca Falls, about ten miles away from Fort Stephen- 
 son. 
 
 In the latter part of July, 1813, General Proctor, with 
 a large force numbering at least three thousand Indians 
 under Tecumseh, and six hundred British regulars, 
 crossed the Lake from Maiden and appeared before Fort 
 Meigs on the Maumee. Finding that he could not 
 tempt the small garrison to a sortie by a clever ruse in- 
 vented by Tecumseh, he determined to leave the fort for 
 the present, and re-embarking his regular soldiers in gun- 
 boats and directing the Indians to follow them along the 
 shore, he made a swift dash at Fort Stephenson. He ex- 
 pected to capture it without difficulty, fall on General 
 Harrison's little force at Seneca Falls, and after defeating 
 it have the government storehouse and in fact the whole 
 of Ohio at his mercy. Harrison, of course, divined his 
 plan, and the people of the northwest who could rernem-
 
 296 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 her the bloody massacre at the Raisin River, well knew 
 what to expect from the mercy of Proctor and his braves. 
 It was Croghan who frustrated this brilliant scheme. 
 
 II. The Impudence of the Young Captain 
 
 A few days before the arrival of the British, Harrison 
 had examined the place and pronounced it untenable 
 against the artillery and regulars, as indeed by right it 
 was. He thereupon directed Croghan, if the British ap- 
 proached, to abandon it and retreat. If the Indians came 
 alone, as they had no artillery, the place might be de- 
 fended. Harrison's scouts apprised the American gen- 
 eral of the withdrawal of the allies from Fort Meigs, and 
 their advance upon Fort Stephenson. Although the 
 abandonment would leave either great depot open to at- 
 tack, he determined upon it, hoping that he could assem- 
 ble a force to relieve Erie, or to defend Upper Sandusky, 
 as Proctor chose one or the other plan. On the night 
 of the 2pth of July, therefore, Harrison sent word to 
 Croghan to destroy the place at once and retreat to 
 Seneca Falls. The messengers lost their way, had to 
 flee for their lives from the Indians, and did not reach 
 Croghan until late in the morning of the 3Oth of July. 
 The doughty American called his boy officers together 
 in a council of war and rinding them in high spirits and 
 willing to stand by him, immediately despatched the fol- 
 lowing remarkable note to Harrison: 
 
 " Sir : I have just received yours of yesterday, ten 
 o'clock P. M., ordering me to destroy this place and make 
 good my retreat, which was received too late to be car- 
 ried into execution. We have determined to maintain this 
 place, and by heavens, we can"
 
 It was a plucky but very impudent document from a 
 youthful major to a veteran major-general! Harrison 
 was a trained soldier and he could not brook for a moment 
 having his orders disobeyed in this manner. He sent a 
 squadron of cavalry with an officer to supersede Croghan 
 and ordered him to report at head-quarters at once. The 
 cavalry fought its way down the river through hostile Ind- 
 ians, of whom they managed to kill nearly a score, by the 
 way, and delivered the message. Croghan turned the fort 
 over to Colonel Wells, and repaired at once to head-quar- 
 ters. He explained that the general's orders had been 
 delayed in reaching him and the woods were now filled 
 with Indians. He did not think it prudent under the cir- 
 cumstances to retreat with so large a body of infantry, and 
 he had worded his reply in the bluff way in which he did 
 in the hope and expectation 'that it would fall into the 
 hands of the enemy. He expressed himself as confident 
 of his ability to hold the post, or at least make the British 
 pay a staggering price for it, and begged to be reinstated 
 in his command and to be given permission to try it. 
 Harrison, who was very fond of the young fellow, gen- 
 erously accepted his explanation, and allowed him to 
 resume his command. 
 
 Croghan immediately returned to the fort, relieved 
 Wells, and made vigorous preparation for its defence 
 against the expected attack, which was not long delayed. 
 On the first of August, about noon, the Indians were per- 
 ceived in large numbers surrounding the fort. Tradition 
 has it that one of them climbed a tall tree overlooking the 
 enclosure, but before he could make any report of what 
 he saw he was shot dead by the unerring rifles of the 
 Kentuckians. Others who made the attempt fared in 
 the same way, and the Indians at last concluded that it
 
 298 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 would not be safe to reconnoitre in that manner. They 
 gathered in some force on the edge of the clearing finally, 
 but a discharge from a six-pound gun,* Croghan's soli- 
 tary piece of artillery, easily dispersed them. 
 
 About four o'clock in the afternoon the British boats 
 appeared at a bend in the river and opened fire upon the 
 fort from the boat guns. The British troops were disem- 
 barked about a mile below the fort, and a five and a half 
 inch howitzer was landed and began a cannonade, a fire 
 the garrison received for the most part in silence, although 
 the six-pounder which was mounted in the northeast 
 blockhouse was dragged from port-hole to port-hole to 
 give the impression of force, and fired occasionally. The 
 number of the besiegers was about twelve hundred, of 
 whom seven hundred were Indians. Tecumseh, with 
 two thousand savages, was placed some miles back to 
 menace the troops in Fort Meigs and the camp at Seneca 
 Falls, if either moved to relieve Fort Stephenson, and he 
 took no part in the battle. The odds were heavy enough 
 as it was; twelve hundred with ample artillery, against one 
 hundred and sixty and one gun, led by youths ! 
 
 As soon as the British landed, Colonel Elliott and Ma- 
 jor Chambers, accompanied by Captain Dixen of the 
 Royal Engineers, commanding the Indian auxiliaries, 
 were sent forward with a white flag by General Proctor to 
 demand the surrender of the fort. 
 
 Ensign Edmund Shipp, the youngest officer in the post, 
 and he must have been a mere boy indeed, was sent out to 
 discover the purport of the flag; whereupon, after the 
 
 * The soldiers called this cannon " Good Bess," for what reason it is hard 
 to say. Why is it that so many guns, rifles, cannon, etc. , famous in his- 
 tory have been called "Bess "or " Betsy " ? What's in that name to make 
 it appropriate, I wonder ?
 
 The Defence of Fort Stephenson 299 
 
 usual salutations, an interesting conversation took place. 
 Colonel Elliott demanded the " instant surrender of the 
 fort, to spare the effusion of blood, which we cannot do, 
 should we be under the necessity of reducing it by our 
 powerful force of regulars, Indians, and artillery." 
 
 "My commandant and the garrison," replied the gallant 
 young Shipp, " are determined to defend the post to the 
 last extremity and bury themselves in its ruins, rather 
 than surrender it to any force whatever." 
 
 " Look at the immense body of Indians," urged Dixen, 
 " they cannot be restrained from massacring the whole 
 garrison in the event of our undoubted success." 
 
 " Our success is certain," added Chambers promptly. 
 
 " Sir," said Elliott, " you appear to be a fine young 
 man. I pity your situation. For God's sake urge the 
 surrender of the fort and prevent the slaughter which 
 must follow resistance should you fall into the hands of 
 the savages." 
 
 " It is a pity," continued Dixen beseechingly, " that so 
 fine a young man as your commander is represented to be, 
 should fall into the hands of the savages. Sir, for God's 
 sake surrender and prevent the dreadful massacre that 
 will be caused by your resistance." 
 
 " When the fort shall be taken," replied Shipp daunt- 
 lessly, entirely unaffected by these terrifying appeals, 
 which only disclosed the incapacity of the British to con- 
 trol their red allies, " there will be none to massacre. It 
 will not be given up while a man is able to resist." 
 
 Pretending to be fearful for Shipp's safety, Colonel El- 
 liott thereupon urged him to go back to the fort at once. 
 As the boy officer turned away, an Indian sprang from the 
 bushes and endeavored to wrest his sword from him and 
 cut him down. It was with great difficulty, which is be-
 
 300 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 lieved to have been a pretence, that Dixen dragged away 
 the savage and besought Shipp to return with all speed 
 to save his life, as he could not control the Indians ! The 
 bluff did not work at all. The young subaltern did not 
 scare a little bit. Croghan was standing on the rampart, 
 watching the scene, and when he perceived the insult to 
 his envoy he shouted: 
 
 " Come in, Shipp, and we'll blow 'em all to hell! " 
 Language which it is presumed he did not learn at 
 William and Mary College, but which was singularly ap- 
 propriate at the time! It was a bold defiance indeed 
 from the one hundred and sixty to the twelve hundred. 
 There was a massacre sure enough, too, as it turned out, 
 but the Americans were not the victims. 
 
 III. Desperate Fighting 
 
 The bombardment began at once, and continued with 
 more or less vigor all the night, during which the British 
 landed five six-pounders, parking three of them in a bat- 
 tery on a hill covered by trees, about two hundred and 
 fifty yards from the stockade, and disposing of the others 
 to advantage. In the morning they opened a furious fire 
 to which the Americans made little or no reply. During 
 the night, with immense labor, Captain Hunter, the sec- 
 ond in command, had succeeded in transporting the six- 
 pound gun to the blockhouse on the north wall. Antici- 
 pating an assault upon the northwest corner of the fort 
 upon which the fire of the British had been concentrated 
 during most of the day, the gun had been so placed as to 
 rake the ditch. It was loaded with a half charge of pow- 
 der, on account of the short range, and a double charge
 
 " The young subaltern did not scare a little bit."
 
 The Defence of Fort Stephenson 301 
 
 of slugs and bullets. The port-hole was masked and the 
 gun remained hidden. 
 
 During the day whenever an Indian or a soldier showed 
 himself outside of cover the Kentuckians took quick and 
 generally successful shots at him, but otherwise the gar- 
 rison made little response to the continuous cannonading, 
 husbanding their powder, of which their supply was small. 
 They were very busy, however, carrying sacks of flour 
 and bags of sand from the storehouse to support the 
 northwest corner of the stockade, which was being 
 breached and demolished under the heavy battering it was 
 receiving from the British guns. Croghan, of course, 
 had taken his position on the northwest corner. 
 
 Everyone was on the alert, however, when about five 
 o'clock in the afternoon a storming party of some three 
 hundred soldiers of the Forty-first Regiment rushed for 
 the northwest corner, while at the same time two hundred 
 grenadiers made a detour through the woods and ad- 
 vanced to attack the south wall. Under cover of a fierce 
 fire from the batteries and from every tree or hill on the 
 high ground, which surrounded the fort, which would 
 serve to conceal an Indian, the attack was delivered. The 
 sky was black with storm clouds at the time, and peals of 
 thunder in heavy detonations mingled with the roaring 
 of the cannon and the rattle of the musketry. 
 
 The place was covered with smoke which concealed 
 the main advance until the English were within twenty 
 feet of the fort. The first warning the startled Ameri- 
 cans had was the sight of the grim faces of the red-coats 
 shoving through the smoke. A deadly rifle fire which 
 flashed from every port-hole checked them and threw 
 them into confusion. 
 
 The hesitation of the British, however, was but mo-
 
 302 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 mentary. Lieutenant-Colonel Short, their leader, sprang 
 to the head of the column. Waving his sword in the air, 
 he so inspirited them that they once more advanced. 
 They came on with fixed bayonets without firing, in spite 
 of a rapid and continuous discharge from the fort. Al- 
 though many fell, they did not hesitate even when they 
 reached the edge of the ditch, crying, " Come on, men ! 
 We'll give the damned Yankees no quarter ! " Short, 
 followed by Major Muir, and Lieutenant Gordon of the 
 Forty-first, and the redoubtable Dixen, leaped into the 
 ditch, and tried to scramble up the other side of it. 
 
 The Americans could not depress their rifles sufficient- 
 ly to reach the men in the ditch, unless they exposed 
 themselves above the stockade, which would be to invite 
 destruction from the fire of the Indians. Short and his 
 men, who had followed him most gallantly, concluded 
 that when they gained the ditch they were safe for the 
 time. Alas, they knew nothing of the masked six-pound- 
 er, for at this instant, the port was thrown open and the 
 cannon, effectively served by some Pittsburg volunteers, 
 hurled its deadly charge of bullets and slugs at short range 
 into the British huddled together in the ditch. No less 
 than fifty men were killed, or so seriously wounded by 
 that awful discharge that they could not escape from the 
 death trap, and numbers of others were slightly injured. 
 Colonel Short received a mortal wound and with his last 
 effort raised his handkerchief upon the point of his sword, 
 pleading for mercy, although but a moment since he had 
 threatened to give no quarter. Gordon was instantly 
 killed; Muir, Dixen, and other officers were wounded, but 
 managed to escape. 
 
 Appalled by such an awful slaughter and met by a con- 
 tinuous withering fire from the American rifles and mus-
 
 The Defence of Fort Stephenson 33 
 
 kets, the Englishmen who had not yet entered the ditch 
 hesitated for a moment and, being without a leader, turned 
 and fled, pursued by effective discharges from the six- 
 pounder and dropping on their retreat in scores. On the 
 south wall, where Hunter commanded, the attacking 
 party under Colonel Warburton had fared scarcely any 
 better. On both sides of the fort a long swath of dead 
 or wounded grenadiers, writhing upon the ground in 
 agony, showed the ebb and flow of the disastrous attack. 
 
 The retreating British soon gained the safe shelter of 
 the woods, where they were finally re-formed, and the 
 cannonade which had been intermitted at the moment 
 of storm was feebly resumed. Croghan, however, knew 
 that he had nothing more to fear. The assault had been 
 repulsed with fearful loss, the actual fighting occupying 
 scarcely half an hour. He had made good his defiance 
 and had held the fort. 
 
 The situation of the wounded men in the ditch was pit- 
 iful. The British could make no move to extricate them 
 or succor them. To come out in the open and face those 
 rifles was death to them; and the Americans did not dare 
 to open the gate and go into the ditch for the same rea- 
 son. The poor soldiers had to lie there and endure their 
 sufferings as best they could through the long night. 
 Croghan was a merciful man and he did what he could for 
 them. Buckets of water the first thing a wounded man 
 in battle craves were lowered down to them over the 
 stockade, and a small trench was dug beneath it into the 
 ditch through which those who were able to crawl could 
 come into the American works for help. Some of the 
 more slightly wounded managed to reach their own lines 
 under cover of the darkness. 
 
 The loss of the British had been so severe during the
 
 304 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 action of the two days between twenty-five and thirty 
 per cent, of the five hundred engaged, not including the 
 casualties among the Indians, which were considerable 
 that Proctor retreated during the night with such precip- 
 itancy that he left behind one boatload of stores and 
 munitions of war; and the next morning the triumphant 
 defenders gathered some seventy stand of arms, in addi- 
 tion to those taken from the men who had been swept 
 into eternity in the ditch, which had been abandoned by 
 the British in their hasty flight. The American loss was 
 one poor fellow killed and seven wounded, none severely ! 
 
 The American supply depots were saved, and the whole 
 state of. Ohio was again delivered from the fear of a Brit- 
 ish conquest, with its attendant savage horrors, by the 
 pluck and devotion of this young man and his gallant lit- 
 tle band. As General Harrison said, in his report of the 
 occurrence : 
 
 " It will not be the least of General Proctor's mortifi- 
 cation to find that he has been baffled by a youth who has 
 just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero, 
 worthy of his gallant uncle, General George Rogers 
 Clark." 
 
 Congress brevetted Croghan a lieutenant-colonel, and, 
 years afterward, presented him with a medal of honor for 
 his splendid and magnificent defence with its far-reaching 
 consequences. Like his great uncle, he had again saved 
 the northwest to the American flag. And the final de- 
 feat of Proctor at the Thames may be traced back to this 
 bloody repulse at Lower Sandusky.
 
 PART VI 
 TEXAS 
 
 I 
 
 David Crockett and the Most Desperate Defence 
 in American History
 
 DAVID CROCKETT 
 
 AND THE MOST DESPERATE DEFENCE IN 
 AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 I. A Typical American 
 
 MY DOG 
 
 T 
 
 HAT is what, 
 in emphatic Ian- 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 consonant with his ac- 
 tions, David Crockett 
 said he would never wear on his collar. And the 
 doughty declaration of individual right following may 
 be taken as indicating what David Crockett really was. 
 It reads well in these days of the Boss and His Slaves 
 which things are we! 
 
 " I am at liberty to vote as my conscience and judgment 
 dictate to be right, without the yoke of any party on me, 
 or the driver at my heels with the whip in his hands, com- 
 manding me to ' Gee-whoa-haw ' just at his pleasure." 
 
 The spelling of the paragraph is not that of its author. 
 In his autobiography, one of the most naive and delight- 
 ful of books, he takes occasion to defend his orthography 
 by remarking that he despised " the way of spelling con- 
 trary to nature ! " It may be said, in passing, that many 
 of his most eminent fellow-citizens and contemporaries 
 shared his contempt for the rules of orthography. In 
 
 307
 
 308 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 that book he speaks of himself with the utmost frankness; 
 as for instance : 
 
 " Obscure as I am my name is making a considerable 
 deal of fuss in the world. I can't tell why it is, nor in 
 what it is to end. Go where I will everybody seems anx- 
 ious to get a peep at me; and it would be hard to tell 
 which would have the advantage if I, and the ' Govern- 
 ment,'* and ' Black Hawk,' and a great eternal big cara- 
 van of wild varments, were all to be showed at the same 
 time in four different parts of any of the big cities of the 
 nation, I am not so sure that I shouldn't get the most 
 custom of any of the crew ! " 
 
 A modest man was David, it would appear, and a confi- 
 dent author, too; witness this assertion: 
 
 " I don't know of anything in my book to be criticised 
 by honorable men. Is it my spelling? that's not my 
 trade. Is it my grammar? I hadn't time to learn it and 
 make no pretension to it. Is it in the order and arrange- 
 ment of my book? I never wrote one before and never 
 read very many; and of course know mighty little about 
 that. Will it be on authorship? this I claim and I'll 
 hang on to it like a wax plaster ! " 
 
 Evidently he considered grammar of no more account 
 than spelling, and equally evidently the porous plaster had 
 not been invented when he searched for a clinging simile ! 
 
 There never was the slightest room for misunderstand- 
 ing where Crockett was concerned. His character was 
 plainness and simplicity itself. He usually hit the mark 
 at which he aimed, whether with a rifle or not, in life, so 
 clearly and plainly that dispute was impossible. Even 
 
 *By the "Government" he means and appropriately enough, too- 
 Andrew Jackson, the book being written while Crockett was in Congress.
 
 David Crockett 309 
 
 the " 'coon " up the tree upon which he " drew a bead " 
 with his famous weapon, the death-dealing " Betsy," at 
 once recognized the futility of resistance, and, being for 
 the nonce endowed with speech, with the famous remark, 
 " Don't shoot, Colonel, I'll come down," gave up the 
 game. True, Crockett would not be Andrew Jackson's 
 dog, and because he countered some of the President's 
 plans he had to give way as did nearly everyone else in 
 like circumstances. But nothing less than " Old Hick- 
 ory " better " Old Steel " ever mastered or moved 
 this redoubtable pioneer unless it was a woman. His 
 was a susceptible heart! 
 
 Nowhere but in America would such a career as Crock- 
 ett's have been possible. With Jackson and Houston he 
 represents a phase of American life, opportunity, and suc- 
 cess, peculiar to the time and not to be repeated again. 
 Though he was the least and humblest of the famous trio 
 in both achievement and reputation, he was not unworthy 
 of association with them. And upon the score of manly, 
 lovable qualities he stood first of the three. His famous 
 motto, which he earnestly strove to live up to, was of the 
 very best: 
 
 " Be sure you're right, then go ahead ! " 
 
 Crockett was born at Limestone, Greene County, Ten- 
 nessee, on the seventeenth of August, 1786. His father 
 was an Irish immigrant who had fought in the Revolu- 
 tion at King's Mountain a patent of nobility on the 
 frontier, that and his mother was an American girl (the 
 combination is delightful and promising). His parents 
 were poor but happy and therefore honest it may be in- 
 ferred. Young David grew up in the wilds of Tennessee, 
 a tall, sturdy, swarthy lad, with hair black and straight as
 
 310 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 an Indian's and keen yet merry eyes to match. He took 
 to the forest instinctively, loving it, mastering its hidden 
 lore, knowing its secrets, and little else apparently. 
 
 At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a Dutch 
 teamster, very much against his desire. After an enforced 
 journey of four hundred miles to Virginia he ran away, 
 and not daring to follow the road for fear of pursuit, he 
 plunged into the wilderness and made his way back home 
 after a hazardous and wonderful journey alone through 
 the trackless woods. He was thereafter sent to school, 
 where he spent just four days. Having whipped a larger 
 and older boy who attempted to tyrannize over him, he 
 played truant to avoid punishment, and when detected 
 ran away again. 
 
 He spent some three years in teaming and nearly two 
 years with a hatter singularly inappropriate calling 
 and then returned home. He found his people in strait- 
 ened financial circumstances and generously worked a 
 year to cancel two notes amounting to $86 which a 
 neighbor held against the elder Crockett. Thereafter he 
 resolved to go to school. Love sent him there. The 
 young girls of the vicinity scorned him for his ignorance, 
 which of books at any rate was dense, not to say, total. 
 As he said long after : 
 
 " But it will be a source of astonishment to many who 
 reflect that I am now a member of the American Congress 
 the most enlightened body of men in the world that 
 at so advanced an age as the age of fifteen I did not know 
 the first letter in the book ! " 
 
 He continued at school for six months, working two 
 days a week for his board and attending the sessions on 
 the other four. And that completed his education. At
 
 David Crockett 311 
 
 the age of fifteen he " struck out " for himself and became 
 a farm laborer, teamster, trapper, hunter, and general 
 frontiersman. After various love affairs more or less 
 serious, in 1809 he married a young Irish girl, with whom 
 he moved westward to Franklin County and began house- 
 keeping with " fifteen dollars' worth of things fixed up 
 pretty grand ! " For six years the young couple were 
 very happy. They had plenty to eat, largely the result 
 of Crockett's skill with old " Betsy," enough to wear, the 
 fruit of the young wife's loom, and they exemplified in 
 their lives his saying, " For I reckon we love as hard in 
 the backwoods as any people in the whole creation ! " 
 The death of his first wife in 1815 was a sad blow to him 
 and his young children. 
 
 In 1813 Crockett served with credit as a scout under 
 Jackson in the Creek War. In 1816 he married again, 
 this time a widow. There were three sets of children 
 who lived together in an amicable if happy-go-lucky way. 
 In 1821 he was elected a magistrate and a colonel of mili- 
 tia, although at the time he says he had never read a 
 newspaper ! Such was his popularity that he was succes- 
 sively elected to the State Legislature and then to Con- 
 gress, where he served two terms; his ignorance, his odd- 
 ity, his humor, his bravery, and his shrewdness, making 
 him a figure of national prominence. Failing of re-elec- 
 tion because of his antagonism to the policy of his whilom 
 friend Jackson, and finding any future political career in 
 Tennessee closed to him, he determined like many south- 
 ern men of that day to go to Texas, then in the beginning 
 of her efforts for freedom. There he hoped to make his 
 fortune and there he found his end. And truly nothing 
 in his life became him better than the ending of it !
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 II. The Lone Star Republic 
 
 By the treaty of 1819 with Spain the United States re- 
 linquished all claim to the western part of Louisiana, so 
 called, lying south of the Red River and west of the Sa- 
 bine, including the territory now comprised within the 
 present state of Texas, then a part of the vice-royalty of 
 Mexico. In 1821 Mexico revolted from Spain, and in 
 1822 one Iturbide assumed the government and the Im- 
 perial title; his career was brief but stirring, and in 1824 
 he was deposed and a constitution establishing the Re- 
 public of Mexico was adopted. Of this Republic Texas, 
 conjoined to Coahuila, its western neighbor, became one 
 of the states. 
 
 The first American colony of any moment had been 
 planted there in 1820 under the leadership of Stephen T. 
 Austin, justly styled " The Father of Texas." Successive 
 immigration from the southern United States during fif- 
 teen years had brought the number of white Americans 
 within the quarter million miles of Texas land up to twen- 
 ty thousand, with a small but steadily increasing number 
 of negro slaves. The Spanish or Mexican population 
 was inconsiderable. 
 
 The character of the American immigrants was not 
 uniform. There were many insolvent debtors who had 
 fled from their creditors in the States, broken shop-keep- 
 ers leaving the letters " G. T. T." (Gone to Texas) chalked 
 upon their doors, not a few adventurers and soldiers of 
 fortune, and as everywhere, some scoundrels, but the gen- 
 eral average of the American settlers was remarkably 
 high. The majority were honest, capable, law-abiding, 
 hard-working people of the middle class, the best stock
 
 David Crockett 3*3 
 
 out of which to build a nation. Accustomed to hunting 
 and frontier life, they were bold and hardy, if reckless and 
 impatient of discipline and restraint. All of them, like 
 Crockett, were expert riflemen. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Mexican government became the prize 
 of a succession of worthless adventurers, using their op- 
 portunities for their own aggrandizement. Finally, in 
 1833, one Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna seized the Pres- 
 idential office, abolished the Congress and made himself 
 Dictator. This petty " Napoleon of the West," as he 
 loved to style himself, was as black-hearted a scoundrel 
 as ever schemed himself into power. Born at Jalapa in 
 Mexico in 1795, he had been successively a lieutenant- 
 colonel in the Spanish army, an adherent of Iturbide, a 
 traitor to him, the diabolus ex machina of the successive 
 revolutions with their different presidents, dictators, etc. 
 in short, a sort of sub-tropic Warwick ! He was not 
 without some of the qualities of a soldier, however, and he 
 certainly knew how to win the confidence of his country- 
 men again and again, in spite of their frequent repudia- 
 tions of him, in his long and eventful career. His op- 
 pressive hand was at once laid upon Texas, and because 
 the Americans would not tamely submit to be deprived 
 of every political right by a series of drastic measures 
 which actually included the proposed confiscation of their 
 arms their sole means of defence against Indians and the 
 Mexicans themselves they revolted. As a matter of 
 fact they were eager to do so. 
 
 The position of Mexico on the question of slavery was 
 a great cause of irritation to the Texans. Slavery was 
 prohibited by the Mexican Congress in 1824 and was for- 
 mally abolished by the legislature, all Mexicans, in Tex- 
 as-Coahuila, in 1829. The Americans refused to be gov-
 
 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 erned by these enactments and prohibitions and defiantly 
 retained their slaves, even adding to their number by im- 
 portation. This was flat and open rebellion and was quite 
 sufficient to account for the hostilities that followed. 
 However, Mexico might have cared but little about that 
 matter if the colony had not rebelled against the wretched 
 maladministration of the Mexicans and because the 
 Americans were practically refused even the smallest share 
 of the government, in spite of the constitution. Besides, 
 it is not the habit of Americans to submit to the dom- 
 ination of any alien race whatsoever, especially of the 
 Spanish family. They could not stand the Spaniard in 
 his Mexican, or any other guise that was enough to 
 account for it. 
 
 III. The Mission del Alamo 
 
 The Texan War of Independence began with a skirmish 
 at Gonzales near the end of October, 1835. A Texan dec- 
 laration of principles was adopted November I3th, 1835, 
 and the Declaration of Independence on March 2nd of 
 the following year. The battle of Concepcion was won 
 by the Texans on October 28th, 1835, and on December 
 loth, after a siege and an assault which continued for six 
 days, the city of San Antonio de Bexar, the most consid- 
 erable town in Texas, was captured, and every Mexican 
 soldier was expelled from the territory. Hard by the 
 town stood the buildings of the Mission of San Anto- 
 nio de Valero, commonly called the Mission del Alamo, 
 or the Alamo, word signifying cotton-wood tree. The 
 Alamo was founded by the Franciscans in 1703, and 
 after various removals, established in its present loca- 
 tion in 1722.
 
 <U 
 
 _c 
 
 H
 
 David Crockett 3 J 5 
 
 The mission buildings comprised a main plaza in the 
 shape of a long parallelogram about fifty by a hundred and 
 fifty yards, with the major axis north and south; the en- 
 closing wall, built of adobe bricks, was about eight feet 
 high and three feet thick. On the west side of the plaza 
 stood a row of one-story buildings, and along the middle 
 of the east side for about sixty yards was a two-story con- 
 vent eighteen feet wide. To the east of the convent lay 
 a yard about a hundred feet square with walls over three 
 feet thick and about sixteen feet high, further strength- 
 ened on the inside by an embankment eight feet high. At 
 the northeast corner of this yard was a sally-port covered 
 by an earth redoubt. At the southeast corner of the yard 
 stood the stone church of the mission, built in the form of 
 a cross, properly orientated; the walls of the church were 
 five feet thick and twenty-two feet high, and the building 
 was roofless and dismantled. A formidable stockade con- 
 nected the church and the southeast corner of the main 
 plaza. Fourteen small pieces of artillery were mounted 
 on the walls, including three in the chancel of the church. 
 Two aqueducts touching the west wall and the church re- 
 spectively provided a sufficiency of water. 
 
 Early in 1836 the commander of this fort, if such the 
 mission may be called, was Lieutenant-Colonel William 
 Barrett Travis, a young lawyer from North Carolina, a 
 tall, manly, red-headed young fighter, then just twenty- 
 eight years of age.* Associated with him in the Alamo 
 
 * Since the first publication of this sketch, I have received a number of let- 
 ters from persons prominent in the local history of South Carolina, asserting 
 that Travis' name was William Barr, not Barrett, and that he was a found- 
 ling ; the name, which should be spelled Bar, being given him, it is alleged, 
 from the fact that he was found one morning tied to the bars of a gate on 
 the farm of a man named Travis, who adopted him and named him accord- 
 ingly. The Travis lot was situated on the public road between Saluda and
 
 316 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 was Colonel James Bowie of Georgia he of the sinister 
 knife of the same name. Bowie was senior in age and 
 rank to Travis, but had been disabled by a fall and was 
 then confined to his room by the injury, to which an at- 
 tack of pleuro-pneumonia was superadded; and he was 
 therefore compelled to yield the command to Travis. 
 Bowie was not too ill to fight, though, as we shall see. 
 Under these two officers were about one hundred and forty 
 officers and men, a totally inadequate force, as it would 
 have required at least one thousand men properly to man 
 the extensive lines of the Alamo. 
 
 To this little band early in February, 1836, came a wel- 
 come re-enforcement in the shape of David Crockett with 
 twelve of his Tennessee friends and neighbors willing to 
 help Texas to gain her independence and incidentally to 
 join in what they all dearly loved any kind of a fight! 
 They were all clad in hunting suits, with 'coon-skin caps, 
 and armed with long rifles and Bowie knives ! It is sig- 
 nificant of the spirit of the man, that Crockett refused to 
 swear allegiance to " any future government of Texas," 
 until the word " republican " had been inserted after the 
 word " future " in the prescribed form of the oath. 
 
 IV. The Hundred and Eighty against the Five 
 Thousand 
 
 On the twenty-third of February, 1836, Santa Anna 
 in person appeared before the fort with the advance 
 of his army and demanded its surrender. He had led 
 some five thousand men of the Mexican regular army, 
 with many camp followers and women, a forced march of 
 
 Johnston, South Carolina, and my correspondents claim Travis should there- 
 fore be credited to that State. This adds a further touch of romance to 
 Travis' story.
 
 David Crockett 317 
 
 one hundred and eighty leagues from Monclova to San 
 Antonio, across a desert country in the depth of a Texas 
 winter with its extremes of heat and cold and blasting 
 storm. Only after incredible hardships and great losses 
 had the terrible march been completed. That Santa 
 Anna could do this is no small evidence of his capacity as 
 a leader and his ability to inspire his men to heroic action. 
 
 His arrival was a complete surprise to the Texans; 
 many of them were scattered through the town at a fan- 
 dango at the time. When the alarm was given they re- 
 paired to the Alamo and Travis met the demand for a 
 surrender by a shot from his battery, at the same time 
 hoisting his flag. This was the white, red, and green 
 banner of the Mexican Republic with two stars (Texas- 
 Coahuila) in the centre in place of the familiar eagle and 
 serpent. The lone star flag had not then been adopted. 
 
 Santa Anna displayed a red ensign signifying that no 
 quarter would be given, and began erecting batteries with 
 which he opened fire, the Texans replying with good ef- 
 fect. The Mexicans, while greatly outnumbering the 
 garrison, were not yet in sufficient force completely to 
 invest the works, although their numbers were increasing 
 as the different regiments followed the advance guard, 
 and the Texans might easily have escaped. Travis, how- 
 ever, had no. thought of retreating not he. He imme- 
 diately despatched the following appeal for assistance : 
 
 " To the people of Texas and all Americans in the World. 
 " Commandancy of The Alamo, 
 
 " BEXAR, February 24, 1836. 
 " FELLOW CITIZENS AND COMPATRIOTS. 
 " I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans 
 under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bom-
 
 3*8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 bardment for twenty-four hours and have not lost a man. 
 The enemy have demanded a surrender at discretion; oth- 
 erwise the garrison is to be put to the sword if the place is 
 taken. I have answered the summons with a cannon shot 
 and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. / shall 
 never surrender or retreat. Then, I call upon you, in the 
 name of liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to 
 the American character, to come to our aid with all dis- 
 patch. The enemy are receiving re-enforcements daily 
 and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in 
 four or five days. Though this call may be neglected, I 
 am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and 
 die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own 
 honor and that of his country. 
 
 " Victory or Death! 
 
 " W. BARRETT TRAVIS, 
 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding. 
 
 " P. S. The Lord is on our side. When the army 
 appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We 
 have since found in deserted houses eighty or ninety 
 bushels and got into the walls twenty or thirty beeves." 
 
 Brave Travis ! Other ringing sentences from his sub- 
 sequent letters are worth quoting : 
 
 " I shall continue to hold the Alamo until I get relief 
 from my countrymen, or I perish in its defence." 
 
 " Take care of my little boy, if the country should be 
 saved I may make him a splendid fortune, but if the coun- 
 try should be lost and I should perish, he would have 
 nothing but the proud recollection that he is the son of a 
 man who died for his country." 
 
 The thought of that little boy adds a touch of pathos to 
 the story of the dauntless cavalier and his devoted band
 
 David Crockett 319 
 
 facing fearful odds " for liberty and honor, God and Tex- 
 as, victory or death ! " 
 
 Travis also despatched messengers invoking assistance 
 from adjacent garrisons. Colonel James Butler Bonham, 
 a young South Carolina volunteer, broke through the 
 Mexican lines and rode post-haste to Colonel Fannin at 
 Goliad, some two hundred miles to the southeast. Fan- 
 nin promptly started out with three hundred men and 
 four guns, but his ammunition wagons broke down, his 
 transportation failed him, his provisions gave out, he 
 could not get his artillery over the rivers, and he was 
 reluctantly forced to turn back. 
 
 He tried in vain to keep Bonham with him. " I will 
 report to Travis or die in the attempt," returned the chi- 
 valric Carolinian, who had been a schoolboy friend of 
 Travis, as he started back to the fort. At one o'clock in 
 the morning of March 3rd he succeeded in reaching the 
 fort through the beleaguering army, after a long and dan- 
 gerous ride in which he literally took his life in his hands. 
 So far as any one could see he came back to certain death 
 with his friends. Honor to him ! Travis had received a 
 valuable re-enforcement of thirty-two heroic fellows from 
 Gonzales, who dashed through the lines on horses, cut- 
 ting their way into the Alamo at three in the morning of 
 March ist. Captain J. W. Smith led them and they came 
 cheerfully, although they divined what their fate would 
 be if the place was stormed. 
 
 For eleven days the siege continued. The Mexicans 
 lost heavily whenever they came within rifle range; on 
 one occasion they tried to bridge the aqueduct and thirty 
 of them were instantly killed. Sorties were made by the 
 besieged at first, but were soon given over. The bom- 
 bardment of the works was continuous, but, strange to
 
 320 Border Fights and Fighters . 
 
 say, no Texan was killed, although the whole garrison was 
 completely worn out by the strain of ceaseless watching 
 and continual fighting. There is no question but they 
 could have cut their way out and escaped at almost any 
 time, but no one dreamed of such a thing. They were 
 there to stay until the end, whatever it might be. 
 
 Santa Anna would undoubtedly get the fort eventual- 
 ly ; well, he might have it by paying the price ; so they rea- 
 soned, but that price would be one, in the words of a later 
 revolutionist, that would " stagger humanity." Know- 
 ing Santa Anna, they could have no doubt of his inten- 
 tions toward them, especially as he had made no secret 
 of his purpose to put them all to death unless they surren- 
 dered at discretion. The calm courage with which they 
 faced this appalling certainty is as noteworthy as the high 
 heroism of their last defence. 
 
 The last of Santa Anna's army arrived at Bexar on the 
 second of March; he allowed them three days for recuper- 
 ation and on the fifth held a council of war to decide upon 
 the course to be pursued. The council, like every other, 
 was divided, with a preponderance of opinion in favor of 
 waiting for siege guns to breach or batter down the walls. 
 Santa Anna, however, determined upon an immediate as- 
 sault, to be delivered at daybreak the next morning. 
 Twenty-five hundred picked men in four columns, com- 
 manded respectively by General Cos, who violated his 
 parole thereby, and Colonels Duque, Romero and Mo- 
 rales, were detailed to make the attack. They were pro- 
 vided with scaling ladders, axes, and crowbars, in addi- 
 tion to their weapons; and the cavalry of the army was 
 disposed at strategic points to prevent escape should any 
 of the hundred and eighty defenders succeed in breaking 
 through the assaulting columns. Or, possibly, their
 
 David Crockett 321 
 
 function was to cut down any panic-stricken Mexican 
 who might wish to withdraw from before the death-deal- 
 ing Texas rifles ! 
 
 Colonel Duque was to lead the main assault on the 
 north side, while a simultaneous attack was to be made 
 on the east and west sides and at the redoubt covering the 
 sally-port from the convent yard. No attack appears to 
 have been contemplated on the stockade on the south 
 wall at first. Accounts of what happened differ widely; 
 it is to be remembered that no American lived to tell the 
 tale, and it is hard to get at the absolute truth from Mex- 
 ican testimony, and the frightened recollection of two 
 dazed women and two servants. Each narrator must 
 build his own account by considering all the testimony 
 and weighing the evidence. This that follows seems to 
 me to be what happened. 
 
 About four o'clock on Sunday morning, March the 
 sixth, the notes of a bugle calling the Mexican troops to 
 arms rang over the quiet plain, across which the first gray 
 light, precursor of the dawn, was already stealing. Bu- 
 gles all about caught up the shrill refrain, lights appeared 
 in the circling camps, the trampling feet of hurrying men, 
 the commands of the officers, the rattling of arms, the 
 neighing of the horses, all apprised the weary garrison 
 that the moment they had expected was at hand. They 
 were instantly assembled. 
 
 What happened as they fell in on the plaza before they 
 went to their several stations? Tradition has it that Trav- 
 is paraded them, briefly addressed them, pointed out their 
 certain fate, as he had sworn never to surrender, and bade 
 any who desired to do so to leave him freely and escape 
 while there was yet time. Not a man availed himself of 
 the permission. " We will stay and die with you," they
 
 322 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 cried unanimously as they repaired to their stations on 
 the outer wall. 
 
 Cool, calm, and resolute, they waited the breaking of 
 the battle storm; undaunted by the prospect, unshaken 
 by the fearful odds before them. America has produced 
 no better soldiers ! Even the dozen sick men in the long 
 room of the hospital with Bowie were provided with 
 arms, of which, fortunately, they had a good supply, and 
 they, too, shared the same heroic resolution. Ill and 
 well were equally determined. 
 
 It was early morning when all the dispositions were 
 made on both sides, and the day was breaking clear, cool 
 and beautiful, a sweet day indeed in which to die for home 
 and country and liberty, in the great cause of human free- 
 dom so they may have thought as they looked toward 
 the eastward light for the last time. The quiet watchers 
 on the walls presently detected movements in the dark 
 rank of the besiegers. They were coming, then ! Music, 
 too, was there. All the bands of the Mexican army sta- 
 tioned with Santa Anna on the battery in front of the 
 plaza were playing a ghastly air called " Deguello " 
 cut-throat ! that and the red flag speaking of no quar- 
 ter pointed out a deadly purpose. Well, the Texans 
 needed none of these things to nerve their arms. Rifles 
 were lifted and sighted, the lock-strings of the carefully 
 pointed cannon were tightened; they could not afford to 
 throw away any shots, there was no hurry, no confusion.- 
 
 The Mexicans were nearer now. The bugles rang 
 charge, the close ordered ranks broke into a run. From 
 the east, the west, the north, they came, cheering and yell- 
 ing madly ! A shot burst from the plaza, the crack of the 
 rifles broke on the air, a fusillade ran along the walls on 
 every side. The cannon roared out, hurling into the
 
 David Crockett 3 2 3 
 
 faces of the Mexicans bags filled with hideous missiles. 
 The advancing lines hesitated, paused, halted, fled ! The 
 first assault was beaten off, the ground was covered with 
 dead and wounded; comparative stillness supervened. 
 Well done, brave Texans, look to your arms again, 
 snatch a cup of water, enjoy your moment of respite, 
 they are coming again ! 
 
 The east and west columns had been driven to the 
 north. Colonel Duque, gallant soul, re-formed them on 
 his own brigade; there was a small breach in the north 
 wall; he hurled the mass at it, himself in the lead. The 
 Americans ran to the point threatened; again the wither- 
 ing rifle fire. Duque fell, desperately wounded; mortal 
 man could not face that deadly discharge; the soldiers 
 gave way once more repulsed a second time; would they 
 dare come on again? 
 
 Far off on the east side the roar of battle still surged 
 around the redoubt covering the convent yard. How 
 went the battle there, thought the triumphant defenders 
 of the plaza as they gazed on their flying foemen? It was 
 a critical moment for the Mexicans. Santa Anna recog- 
 nized it, and galloped on the field leading a re-enforce- 
 ment. He noted that the west wall had been denuded of 
 most of its defenders, and with soldierly decision threw 
 his fresh troops against it, leading them in person, some 
 accounts say. Oh, for a thousand brave hearts and true 
 to man the long lines! The hundred and eighty could 
 not be everywhere, the few at the point of impact died, 
 and the Mexicans entered the plaza, at last. 
 
 At the same time the officers drove the men up to the 
 third assault on the north wall. Under the eye of Santa 
 Anna they advanced for a last desperate attempt. Honor 
 to those Mexicans for their bravery too. In this attack a
 
 324 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 bullet pierces Travis' brain the little boy has only the 
 heritage of honored and heroic name then he falls dead 
 on the trail of a cannon. Bonham is killed serving a gun, 
 the north wall is taken, the redoubt to the east is gained, 
 the stockade is attacked, other soldiers swarm up to the 
 south wall, break through the gate they come in on 
 every side. The Texans are surrounded by fire and steel. 
 Some of them run back while there is yet time and rally 
 in the convent where Bowie lies. Others follow Crock- 
 ett, now in chief command, to the church to die with 
 him there. The whole Mexican army is upon them now, 
 the nine score against the five thousand at last. 
 
 The old convent is divided into little cell-like rooms, 
 each with a door opening into the yard or plaza, but with 
 no connection between the rooms. A few Texans hold 
 each chamber, and into each smoke-filled enclosure the 
 infuriated troops pour their gun fire and then rush the 
 rooms, to writhe and struggle over the bloody pavements 
 until all the defenders are killed. No quarter indeed ! 
 
 What of the invalids in the hospital fighting from their 
 beds? Forty Mexicans fall dead before the door of the 
 long room before they think to bring a cannon and blow 
 the defenders into eternity. Bowie lies alone in his room 
 waiting with grim resolution for what is coming, pain 
 from injuries forgotten, fevered pulse beating higher; his 
 bed is covered with pistols and near his hand lies his trusty 
 knife. A brown fierce face peers in the door, another and 
 another, the room is filled with smoke; yells and curses 
 and groans rise from the floor where a trail of stricken 
 soldiers reaches from the door to the bedside. And one 
 bolder than his fellows lies on Bowie's breast with that 
 awful American knife buried deep in his heart and Bowie 
 has died as he had lived sword in hand !
 
 " So he makes a fine end ! "
 
 David Crockett 325 
 
 The only fight left now is in the churchyard. A little 
 handful, bloody, powder-stained, desperate, are backed 
 up against the wall. It is hand-to-hand work now on 
 both sides, no time to reload, bayonet thrust against rifle- 
 butt in berserker fury. Hope is lost, but they are dying 
 in high fashion, faces to the foe, striking while they have a 
 heart-beat left. " Fire the magazine," says Crockett to 
 Major Evans, the only remaining officer. The man runs 
 toward the church where the powder is stored and is 
 stricken down on the threshold. The Mexicans rush 
 upon Crockett and his remnant. The keen death-dealing 
 " Betsy " has spoken for the last time, the old frontiers- 
 man has clasped it by the barrel now. Swinging this iron 
 war-club he stands at bay, disdaining surrender. The 
 Mexicans are piled before him in heaps, but numbers tell; 
 they swarm about him, they leap upon him like hounds 
 upon a great stag, they pull him down, bury their bayo- 
 nets in his great heart, spurn him, trample upon him, spit 
 upon him so he makes a fine end ! 
 
 It is over. Gunner Walker, the last man in arms, is 
 shot and stabbed, tossed aloft on bayonets in fact. The 
 flag is down. No one is left to defend it longer. Five 
 wounded, helpless prisoners are dragged before Santa 
 Anna and at his command butchered where they lie, or 
 stand, some of the Mexicans officers to their credit be 
 it said vainly protesting. Six people who were in the 
 fort at the beginning were left alive by the Mexicans, two 
 women, two children, and two servants, one a negro slave, 
 the other a Mexican. 
 
 One hour! One short hour filled with such sublime 
 struggle as has not been witnessed often in the brief com- 
 pass of sixty minutes. The sun is shining. The plaza is 
 filled with light, the light of morning, the light of heroic
 
 326 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 death, of self-sacrifice absolute; and the day breaks, a day 
 of eternal remembrance. Wherever men live to love the 
 hero, these will not be forgotten. By the defence of that 
 old deserted Spanish House of Prayer, it was consecrated 
 anew to the service of God, through the sufferings of men. 
 Their sacrifice had not been in vain, for the cry that swept 
 Texas to freedom, that drove the Mexican beyond the 
 Rio Grande was 
 
 Remember the Alamo! 
 
 One scene remains of the splendid story. By Santa 
 Anna's orders the dead Texans, to the number of one 
 hundred and eighty-two, were gathered together and 
 arranged in a huge pyramid, a layer of wood, a layer of 
 dead, and so on, and the torch applied. A not unfitting 
 end. As. the dead demigod of Homeric days was laid 
 upon his funeral pyre, as the dead Viking of later time 
 was burned with his ship, so these modern heroes. The 
 wind scattered their ashes on the spot their defence had 
 immortalized and made it forever hallowed ground. 
 
 The hundred and eighty had done well, each one had 
 accounted for more than four of the enemy, for the Span- 
 ish casualties are estimated as between six hundred and a 
 thousand. And most was in hand-to-hand fighting. The 
 Texan-Americans had done their best and given their all. 
 Honor to their valor and their courage ! 
 
 On the monument erected at the state capitol at Aus- 
 tin, to commemorate their unparalleled achievement, is 
 graven this significant line : 
 
 " THERMOPYLAE HAD ITS MESSENGER OF DEFEAT, 
 THE ALAMO HAD NONE."
 
 PART VI 
 TEXAS 
 
 II 
 
 The Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds
 
 THE WORST OF SANTA ANNA'S 
 MISDEEDS 
 
 I. The Delay at Fort Defiance 
 
 THERE are thousands who have read of the siege 
 and defence of the Alamo. The tale of the heroic 
 resistance put forth by the little band of Ameri- 
 cans under Travis, Crockett, Bowie and Bonham, who 
 fought until they were exterminated without exception, 
 when Santa Anna stormed the old Mission in San An- 
 tonio, is a familiar one. Without in the least measure 
 condoning the action of the Mexicans, there was some 
 degree of justification for it, in that the Americans refused 
 to surrender, and when the place was taken by storm they 
 were naturally put to death by the infuriated soldiery, es- 
 pecially as they disdained to ask for quarter. To ask 
 mercy would have been useless anyway, for other events 
 showed that it would not have been granted. But for the 
 massacre of the men of Fannin's command at La Bahia, 
 or Goliad, there is not the shadow of justification. And 
 their story is not often told outside of Texas and is prac- 
 tically forgotten by the general reader. 
 
 In the spring of 1836 the bulk of the Texan forces was 
 stationed at the town of Goliad, or the old Spanish Mis- 
 sion of La Bahia, on the San Antonio River, in the south- 
 western portion of the present state, under the command 
 of Colonel J. W. Fannin, a brave, enthusiastic young 
 
 329
 
 33 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 southerner, a soldier of fortune in fact, who had proffered 
 his services to the Texans to assist them to gain that in- 
 dependence of Mexico for which they were struggling-. 
 Fannin's command comprised nearly five hundred men, 
 all Americans, less than a score being Texans. The men 
 were all volunteers who had come principally from the 
 southern United States, although the recruits were by 
 no means confined to that section; among them were sev- 
 eral from Illinois. Texas had spread appeals broadcast 
 throughout the Union, and the response had been prompt. 
 
 Old Sam Houston, the commander-in-chief of the Tex- 
 an army, unfortunately was not allowed to have his way, 
 and differences between him, the President, and the Vice- 
 President, and other authorities, produced the inevitable 
 results of divided counsels and many heads; successive 
 failures. The loss of the Alamo need never have oc- 
 curred, and the fearful fate meted out to Fannin and his 
 men, as we shall see, was more unendurable to think of 
 because unnecessary. 
 
 The Mexicans invaded the country in force. Instead 
 of concentrating the Texan troops and the volunteers, 
 who were men of a very high class indeed, the Texan 
 forces were scattered. Consequently they were beaten in 
 detail and it was not until Houston's masterly strategy 
 had drawn Santa Anna, the Dictator, far into the country, 
 where his force was annihilated and he was captured at 
 San Jacinto, that success attended the American efforts 
 for freedom. 
 
 A column of Mexican troops under General Urrea, 
 marching up the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, had over- 
 whelmed several small detachments of Fannin's com- 
 mand, the main body of which was concentrated at Goliad 
 for the purpose, utterly futile, of invading Mexico with
 
 Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 331 
 
 a view to capturing Matamoras. Urrea's success with the 
 detachments was complete, though not won without a 
 heavy cost in life, for the Texans resisted manfully and 
 never gave up as a rule until their ammunition was ex- 
 hausted and they were left without means of defence. 
 
 The Mexican Republic had decreed that any foreign- 
 ers that is, Americans captured under arms, or found 
 bearing arms against Mexico, should suffer instant death. 
 Urrea, like all the other Mexican commanders, invariably 
 executed the members of the detachments as fast as he 
 captured them. Once in a while one or two from the dif- 
 ferent little garrisons escaped to tell the story, but that 
 was all. 
 
 When the Alamo was captured and its defenders 
 slaughtered, Houston sent peremptory orders to Fannin 
 to retire to Victoria, where he would be in position to 
 join forces with the commander-in-chief. He instructed 
 him to bury his heavy artillery and destroy or conceal 
 such stores as would impede his rapid movement, and to 
 start immediately. 
 
 Some twenty-five miles south of Fannin's post, which 
 he called Fort Defiance, was a little station called Refu- 
 gio. Learning that there were some unprotected fami- 
 lies there, Fannin had despatched Captain King with his 
 company of some twenty-eight men to bring them off. 
 King marched to Refugio and got there just before 
 Urrea, who immediately assaulted him with his advance. 
 The Texans seized the Mission church and defended it 
 gallantly, so that Urrea's efforts to storm were success- 
 fully withstood at great cost to the Mexicans. 
 
 Meanwhile Fannin waited, delaying his departure and 
 postponing obedience to Houston's orders, for tidings of 
 King. Finally on the arrival of a messenger from Refu-
 
 33 2 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 gio asking for help, he sent Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, 
 his second in command, with one hundred and seventy- 
 five men to Refugio to bring off King and his party. 
 Ward reached the Mission in safety. 
 
 Fannin's force was divided into two battalions, a Geor- 
 gia battalion, of which Ward was the immediate com- 
 mander, and the Lafayette battalion. King, belonging to 
 the other battalion, foolishly refused to acknowledge 
 Ward's seniority and in the face of the enemy there was a 
 difference between the two commanders, which resulted 
 in King's leaving Refugio with his own men and a few of 
 Ward's. 
 
 They were pursued, captured, and shot dead to a man. 
 Ward with the remainder of his command, now defending 
 the Mission, fought off the Mexicans, who, whatever may 
 be said against them, certainly showed dauntless gallantry 
 in assaulting so often and so unsuccessfully fortified po- 
 sitions defended by men whose ability as marksmen had 
 been proven over and over again; but the ammunition of 
 the Americans at last grew low, and finding that he had 
 but a few rounds left, Ward broke through the besieging 
 line in the night, and by keeping closely in the timber and 
 marshes, thus avoiding the effective Mexican cavalry, he 
 made good his escape for the time. 
 
 He headed for Victoria, where he supposed he would 
 find Fannin and possibly Houston. Meanwhile Fannin, 
 having weakened his force by some two hundred men, was 
 still waiting at Goliad. Six days actually passed after he 
 received the order to move immediately before he com- 
 plied with it. He was moved to delay, first, by a desire to 
 help the people at Refugio, and then by his unwillingness 
 to sacrifice King's command, and then by the necessity of 
 hearing from Ward's expedition, so that for the sake of a
 
 Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 333 
 
 few families, whom he eventually failed to save, he threw 
 away the precious days and finally involved the whole 
 command in overwhelming disaster. An eye-witness tes- 
 tifies that the order to retreat was received just before 
 the march of Ward's battalion. Fannin's excuse was, of 
 course, his chivalric reluctance to abandon King. 
 
 The military exigency was so great that he should have 
 started without a moment's hesitation in obedience to his 
 positive orders. He held the command of by far the most 
 efficient body of men in Texas; if lost they could scarcely 
 be replaced. He was not a professional soldier, however. 
 His military experience had been confined to the battle 
 of Concepcion late in the previous year, in which he had 
 distinguished himself for courage and daring, of which in- 
 deed he manifested no lack at this juncture. Finally he 
 received information from one Captain Frazier, who had 
 volunteered to procure it, which convinced him of the 
 folly and futility of waiting any longer for tidings from 
 Refugio and, after wasting Friday in some useless scout- 
 ing, on the morning of Saturday, the nineteenth day of 
 March, 1836, he moved out from Fort Defiance, first dis- 
 mantling it, and started to march to Victoria. 
 
 Even then he lingered, although the Mexican troops 
 had been reported the day before. Instead of discarding 
 everything but absolute necessities he took with him a 
 great train of artillery and supplies drawn by oxen. The 
 party now numbered about three hundred and fifty men. 
 The day was damp and foggy. Although they started 
 very early in the morning they did not succeed in getting 
 across the ford of the river until after ten o'clock. Then 
 they moved slowly over the open prairie until about noon, 
 when they halted in a little depression of the country 
 which had been burned over and in which, perhaps be-
 
 334 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 cause it was low and received the drainage, there was an 
 outcrop of fresh grass. They rested here an hour to give 
 the cattle time for a mouthful. 
 
 II. The Battle of the Coleta 
 
 Fannin now sent his only horsemen, some thirty troop- 
 ers, under the command of Colonel Horton, ahead to re- 
 connoitre. This little band was prevented from rejoining 
 the main body and so escaped capture. Early in the after- 
 noon the oxen were yoked to the wagons and the party 
 started forward again, hoping to reach the heavily wood- 
 ed banks of a little river, the Coleta, where they would 
 find shelter and water and could make camp for the 
 night. They were about four miles from the river when 
 a body of horse galloped out from the cover of the trees 
 and approached them from the flank. 
 
 At first they imagined that the horsemen were their 
 own cavalry, but they were soon undeceived. The troop- 
 ers were accompanied by infantry, and easily got between 
 them and the river. On either side the Americans the 
 tree clumps extended for some distance, and as they halt- 
 ed and opened fire with a six-pounder on the Mexican 
 cavalry, other troops broke from the woodland referred 
 to and debouched upon the open prairie. A glance back- 
 ward revealed additional troops following upon their 
 trail. It took but a moment to discover to them that 
 they were fairly surrounded upon an open prairie without 
 wood, or water, or protection. 
 
 They happened at the time to be in a depression some 
 six feet below the normal level of the prairie; some little 
 distance off there was a slight elevation raised as many 
 feet above the level. Fannin at once put his force in mo-
 
 vVorst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 335 
 
 tion to reach the knoll, but the breaking down of his am- 
 munition wagons forced him to stay where he was. He 
 drew up the three hundred men in a hollow square in the 
 shape of a parallelogram, with the oxen and wagons in 
 the middle, with a few women and children whom he had 
 brought with him. He placed a small piece of artillery, 
 a four or six-pounder, at each corner of the square and 
 then resolutely awaited the attack. 
 
 The flag carried by the Georgia battalion, a white field 
 with a single blue star with the words, " Liberty or 
 Death ! " was then unfurled. Fortunately the Texans 
 possessed an abundant supply of arms and ammunition. 
 There were two or three weapons to each man, rifles, 
 muskets, and pistols. 
 
 The Mexicans made no haste to approach, and Fannin 
 very deliberately completed his preparations, cautioning 
 his men by no means to fire until he gave the word. Be- 
 tween two and three o'clock Urrea, who was in command 
 of the Mexican forces, began the battle. His troops, 
 converging upon the square from all sides, opened fire 
 as they came within range, and under cover of the smoke 
 tried to rush the Americans with the bayonet. 
 
 Reserving their fire until the Mexicans were close at 
 hand, the Texans poured in volley after volley, which did 
 frightful execution, and as the Mexicans turned and fled, 
 leaving numbers of dead and dying upon the field, the six- 
 pounders opened fire upon them with good effect. 
 
 The Mexicans had no artillery with which to make re- 
 ply, but with remarkable courage considering the popu- 
 lar idea of their quality they re-formed out of range and 
 came on once more, only to be whirled back in another 
 disastrous repulse. Finally Urrea in person led a dash- 
 ing cavalry charge on the front of the square, at the same
 
 33 6 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 time making a demonstration with his infantry on the 
 other sides to prevent Fannin from detaching men to 
 meet the onset of the horse. 
 
 The attack was gallantly made, but was no more suc- 
 cessful than the first two had been. Although the can- 
 non through rapid firing had become by this time so 
 clogged and so hot as to put them out of action, there be- 
 ing no water in the square with which to sponge them, 
 the Texans managed by quick and hard fighting to beat 
 back for the third time the Mexicans, who outnumbered 
 them three to one. An eye-witness gives the following 
 account of the field after their first repulse : 
 
 " The scene was now dreadful to behold. Killed and 
 maimed men and horses were strewn over the plain; the 
 wounded were rending the air with their distressing 
 moans; while a great number of horses without riders 
 were rushing to and fro back upon the enemy's lines, in- 
 creasing the confusion among them; they thus became so 
 entangled, the one with the other, that their retreat re- 
 sembled the headlong flight of a herd of buffaloes, rather 
 than the retreat of a well-drilled, regular army, as they 
 were." 
 
 The casualties in the little band had been by no means 
 light, and there were already many wounded in the 
 square. Instances of heroism were many. One young 
 lad named Ripley, who was shot in the thigh, especially 
 distinguished himself. Unable to stand, he was lifted up 
 on a cart, and with a woman to assist him in making a rest 
 for his gun, he watched his opportunity and killed four of 
 the Mexicans in succession by accurate shooting before he 
 was hit a second time in the arm and was unable to take 
 further part in the action. 
 
 During the whole of the battle most of the men re-
 
 Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 337 
 
 mained lying down until the successive assaulting columns 
 had nearly reached them, when they would rise and deliv- 
 er their fire. Fannin and his officers, however, persisted 
 in standing, as the artillerists of necessity had done. 
 Many of them were wounded, including Fannin quite 
 severely in the thigh. 
 
 As evening drew on, numbers of Indians, allies to the 
 Mexicans, crept forward through the tall grass, skilfully 
 masking their progress and successfully concealing them- 
 selves, until they were close enough to take pot shots at 
 the Texans, who suffered more from this attack than from 
 the previous efforts of the Mexicans. 
 
 When it grew dark enough, however, for the Texans to 
 see the flashes of the Indians' guns, their skilful marks- 
 manship drove the savages out of range. It was as much 
 as a man's life was worth to fire his gun, a Texan bullet 
 always found the flash and the man back of it, so that 
 when darkness came the enemy drew out of range. Out 
 of the three hundred men sixty-seven had been killed or 
 wounded, most of the wounded being seriously hurt. 
 
 Their situation was critical. They were surrounded 
 by an overwhelming force of Mexicans. There was no 
 water in the square, and they found by some oversight 
 that no food had been brought along, or the wagons con- 
 taining it had been abandoned. It was possible for the 
 survivors, staking everything on the attempt, to break 
 through the Mexican lines in an endeavor to reach the 
 river, but to do it they would have to abandon some sixty 
 wounded comrades to the mercy of the conquerors, 
 which was not to be thought of. The matter was de- 
 bated furiously early in the evening, and it was unani- 
 mously decided to stay together. 
 
 Fannin, whose superb courage redeems his lack of ca-
 
 33 8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 pacityj 'was confident that as they had beaten the enemy 
 before they could do it again without difficulty, and that 
 if they maintained a bold front the Mexicans would with- 
 draw. The wounded stifled their groans and endured 
 their sufferings, therefore, as best they could; while the 
 surgeons, of whom there were several with the party, men 
 of skill and training, did what they could to alleviate their 
 sufferings in the pitch darkness. Everybody else worked 
 in preparing for the attack of the morrow. The area en- 
 closed by the square was much contracted, and the wagons 
 were placed on the outside to form some sort of a protec- 
 tion, a trench was dug and a slight earthwork thrown up 
 behind which the men could await the coming attack. 
 
 Nobody slept. The night was chill and damp. The 
 next morning, Sunday, the twentieth of March, Passion 
 Sunday, broke clear and warmer, but the day brought no 
 encouragement to the hungry, thirsty little army. The 
 Mexicans had been heavily re-enforced during the night 
 until they numbered some 1,200 effectives, and they were 
 now provided with artillery overmatching the useless 
 American guns. The battle began at once. The artil- 
 lery fired grape shot and solid shot, demolishing the frail 
 American entrenchments and rendering the position un- 
 tenable. The Americans replied as well as they could, 
 but their ammunition presently gave out and there was 
 nothing left for them but surrender. 
 
 III. The Massacre at Goliad 
 
 Fannin was averse to capitulation, but he was over- 
 borne. Indeed it is hard to see what else they could have 
 done but surrender. Accordingly, after passively endur- 
 ing the enemy's fire for some time, the white flag was
 
 Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 339 
 
 raised. After due preliminaries a solemn convention 
 was drawn up in triplicate, duly signed and witnessed, by 
 which the most favorable terms were given the Ameri- 
 cans. The officers' side arms and private baggage were 
 to remain in their possession, and the whole party was to 
 be sent back to the United States upon their promise not 
 to bear arms against the Mexican government in future. 
 As solemnly as men could do it, these conditions were ex- 
 pressed and the terms made. The men were to be treat- 
 ed as prisoners of war until they could be sent back, with 
 every right jealously preserved. Upon these terms and 
 no other Fannin surrendered. The Mexicans allege that 
 the surrender was unconditional, but their statement is 
 disputed by every American witness who survived the 
 massacre that followed. 
 
 The captured Americans were immediately disarmed 
 and marched back to Goliad, whither they were joined a 
 few days later by eighty recruits who had landed at Mata- 
 gorda Bay and been captured before they had an oppor- 
 tunity to strike a blow. They were also joined by the sur- 
 vivors of Ward's command who were taken near Victoria. 
 Ward's party had but three rounds of ammunition left 
 per man when they surrendered. 
 
 The surgeons, of whom there were eight with the sev- 
 eral commands the Texan cause seems to have appealed 
 powerfully to doctors were left on the battle-field with 
 the wounded of both sides, who were treated temporarily 
 as well as possible, and two days afterward they were all 
 brought back to Goliad. 
 
 General Urrea seems to have acted at first in good faith. 
 In spite of his severe wound, Fannin, in company with a 
 German officer in the Mexican service named Holzinger, 
 and some of his own subordinates, had gone down to
 
 340 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Matagorda to charter a steamer or other vessel to take 
 the prisoners to New Orleans. 
 
 None being immediately available, however, he re- 
 turned to Goliad to wait. The men suffered the usual 
 hardships of prisoners of war, but otherwise were not 
 badly treated, except in the case of the wounded. 
 
 The loss of the Mexicans in the battle was never ascer- 
 tained definitely. It must have been, however, between 
 two and three hundred, although the Mexican reports 
 claim much less, for the Texans were remarkably good 
 marksmen, who shot to kill. At any rate, there were at 
 Goliad over one hundred Mexican wounded, most of 
 them so severely as to be utterly incapacitated. The ser- 
 vices of the American surgeons were invaluable to these, 
 and the Mexicans at first refused to allow the Texan 
 wounded to be attended to at all until the Mexicans had 
 been looked after, but the doctors stoutly insisted upon 
 treating the cases in the order of their severity, without 
 regard to nationality, and in the end had their way. 
 
 Santa Anna, who was campaigning to the eastward, 
 had been apprised of the capture. He instantly de- 
 spatched an order to the commanding officer at Goliad, 
 in the absence of Urrea, one Colonel Portilla, directing 
 his attention to the proclamation of the government 
 himself with regard to foreigners in arms against the 
 Mexican Republic, and peremptorily ordering him to 
 carry out the decree in other words, to have the prison- 
 ers shot at once ! 
 
 The order reached Portilla on Saturday night, March 
 27th. It filled him with dismay, and it is only just to the 
 other Mexican officers to say that their commander's dis- 
 may and horror were shared by the most of them. But 
 Santa Anna was the Dictator of the miscalled Mexican
 
 Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 341 
 
 Republic, and no despot ever ruled more supremely than 
 he. Portilla deliberated for a night upon the subject, and 
 finally concluded that he had no alternative but obe- 
 dience. He determined, however, to save Miller's men, 
 who had committed no overt act other than landing on 
 the shore, and the surgeons as well, with some others 
 who had been attending to the wounded, eight in all. 
 
 He did this largely on the representations of Colonel 
 Garay, one of his subordinates, whose name deserves to 
 be held in kindly remembrance, for he protested vehe- 
 mently against the order and repudiated all connection 
 with it both before and after the catastrophe. 
 
 The eight surgeons, in entire ignorance of the reason 
 for the order, early on the morning of Palm Sunday, 
 March 27th, 1836, were marched to Garay 's head-quarters 
 and kept there with two other men to whom he had be- 
 come attached, and to save whom he had risked much. 
 The wife of one of the officers, Senora Alvarez, also 
 secreted several of the Americans. 
 
 The prisoners were entirely unconscious of the fearful 
 fate prepared for them. Indeed, although Fannin had 
 not succeeded in getting a ship, they anticipated an early 
 release, and one of the survivors relates that they spent 
 the evening before congregated around one of their num- 
 ber who had saved, or borrowed, a flute, and who played 
 hymns which they sang, ending with " Home, Sweet 
 Home," in which everybody joined. Early in the morn- 
 ing of the fateful Sunday the three hundred prisoners 
 appointed for massacre were divided into three companies 
 of one hundred each. The wounded for the present were 
 left behind. 
 
 The men were lined up between two rows of Mexican 
 soldiers fully armed. One party was told that it was to
 
 342 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 go out to slaughter beeves; another party that it was to 
 be taken to a convenient place for exchange; the third, 
 that it was to be quartered somewhere else, as the place it 
 had occupied was needed for Santa Anna's army which 
 was approaching. 
 
 It was a pleasant, sunny, delightful spring morning. 
 Chatting and laughing among themselves and entirely 
 unconscious of any impending disaster or treachery, the 
 three parties set out in different directions. As they 
 marched through the town many pitying glances were 
 cast upon them, and here and there a woman, more tender- 
 hearted than the rest, was heard to murmur, " Poor fel- 
 lows, poor fellows ! " (Pobrecitos.) The Texans attached 
 no meaning to these words, however, supposing that 
 they were being commiserated as prisoners, not realizing 
 that it was on account of their approaching murder. 
 
 The parties soon separated, but what happened to one 
 happened to all. When they had reached a suitable place 
 outside the town, where each party was hidden from the 
 others, at a sudden command the Mexicans on the left 
 flank, facing about, marched through the open ranks of 
 the prisoners and joined their comrades on the right. 
 The men were ordered to turn their backs upon the sol- 
 diers, and sit down, and as, in their bewilderment, most of 
 them did so, the guns of the troops were presented and a 
 volley was poured on the helpless prisoners at contact 
 range. 
 
 Nearly the whole of each party fell at the first fire. 
 Some there were, however, who were only slightly 
 wounded, and a few untouched. They made a bold dash 
 instantly to escape. Their efforts in most cases were en- 
 tirely unavailing, for the cavalry had been ordered out and 
 squads now appeared on the scene running down the fu- 
 gitives, who were also the targets for rapid firing as the
 
 Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 343 
 
 guns were loaded. Most of them were shot down. Out 
 of the whole number some twenty-seven, many of whom 
 were wounded, did make good their escape. 
 
 Acts of heroism were numerous. 
 
 " Boys," said one young man, " they're going to mur- 
 der us ! Let's die with our faces to the foe ! " 
 
 Many of them followed his example, refusing to sit 
 down, and faced the Mexican guns, waving their caps and 
 shouting with their last breath, 
 
 "Hurrah for Texas!" 
 
 With incredible brutality the Mexicans examined the 
 bodies of the fallen and deliberately bayoneted those who 
 yet survived. The hellish work, however, was not yet 
 over. Squads of soldiers went back to the barracks 
 where the wounded Americans lay. They dragged them 
 out on the prairie and threw them upon the ground. 
 Those who could do so struggled to their feet or their 
 knees, but most of them lay helpless on the sod and 
 were shot to death. Ward, a powerful and splendid 
 soldier, died with words of scorn and contempt and bitter 
 reproaches for their treachery on his lips. 
 
 Fannin was the last one to be shot. He handed his 
 watch and money to the officer commanding the firing 
 party, asked him not to shoot him in the face and to see 
 that he was suitably buried. Then he struggled to his 
 feet, opened the breast of his shirt, and calmly awaited his 
 end. He had no wish to survive after having witnessed 
 the massacre of his men. He was shot in the face, and 
 his body, with those of the others, thrown into a great 
 brush heap which was set on fire with but partial results. 
 
 Among the surgeons was one Dr. Bernard from Illi- 
 nois, who has left a description of the situation, of the 
 helpless men in the tents listening to the massacre, even 
 seeing some of the fugitives being shot or bayoneted.
 
 344 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Another surgeon was the commander of the Georgia 
 company, the " Red Rovers' Battalion," Dr. Shackelford, 
 who was forced to stand passive in Garay's -tent while his 
 own company, composed of the best young men in his 
 neighborhood, whom he had personally enlisted, and 
 which included his son and two nephews, was shot to 
 death. 
 
 The feelings of those who had been saved can scarcely 
 be imagined. Their utter impotence was the worst 
 feature of the situation. Such was the temper of the 
 soldiers, inflamed by the massacre, that they would have 
 killed them out of hand if they could have reached 
 them. The surgeons were eventually saved and with the 
 twenty-seven who escaped and a few others secreted by 
 Madame Alvarez, in all less than forty, were the only sur- 
 vivors of this horrible massacre of quite three hundred 
 and thirty helpless prisoners who had trusted to the sol- 
 emn word of their captors men to whom honor was 
 nothing but a name. 
 
 When the massacre, coupled with the slaughter at the 
 Alamo, became known, such a wave of horror rushed 
 through Texas and the United States as finally brought 
 about the success of the effort to establish the Lone Star 
 Republic. The Texans at last took fierce vengeance for 
 these butcherings on the bloody field of San Jacinto. It 
 is to be wondered how the officers ever succeeded in re- 
 straining the men from executing summary justice upon 
 the bloodthirsty butcher who disgraced the profession of 
 arms and the country over which he ruled by this and 
 other murders and massacres which he ordered without 
 a shadow of justification. 
 
 Santa Anna, who loved to style himself the Napo- 
 leon of the West, is one of the meanest characters of 
 modern history.
 
 PART VI 
 TEXAS 
 
 III 
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom
 
 SAM HOUSTON AND FREEDOM 
 
 I. Some Characteristics of the Man 
 
 A REMARK ABLE character was General Sam 
 Houston, to whom we were introduced at the 
 . Battle of Tohopeka. He was a descendant of a 
 North of Ireland family, coming from the place which 
 may justly boast of the ancestry of such men as Stark of 
 the Revolution, Crockett of the Alamo, and Jackson him- 
 self. The Houston family was one of consideration en- 
 titled to coat armor in the old country. One of them had 
 been among the redoubtable defenders of Londonderry in 
 1689. While not belonging to the landed gentry of the 
 Old Dominion, they were large and prosperous farmers. 
 
 Houston's father was an officer of the famous brigade 
 of riflemen that Morgan led to Washington's assistance 
 from the right bank of the Potomac. His mother was 
 one of those pioneer women of superb physique, high 
 principles, and strength of mind and courage to match. 
 After the death of her husband, when young Sam, who 
 was born in 1793, was but thirteen years old, she took the 
 family far over the Allegheny Mountains and settled on 
 the borders of the Cherokee Nation in western Tennes- 
 see. 
 
 Such schooling as the neighborhood afforded was 
 given Sam. His educational opportunities were meagre, 
 but he made the best of his limited advantages and with 
 such books as the Bible, the Iliad, Shakespeare, the Pil- 
 
 347
 
 348 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 grim's Progress, and later when he was commander-in- 
 chief of the Texan army, Caesar's Commentaries in 
 translation, of course, which he studied for the art of war 
 he gave himself a good grounding. He was a constant 
 student in his way, and in manner and in ability, when he 
 became Governor of Tennessee, President of Texas, Sen- 
 ator of the United States, Governor of Texas, etc., he had 
 no cause to blush when placed by the most distinguished 
 men of his time. 
 
 According to some authorities his unwillingness to 
 clerk in a country store, according to others the refusal 
 of his older brothers to permit him to study Latin, caused 
 him to abandon civilization and cast his lot in with the 
 Cherokees, whose territory lay adjacent to his home. He 
 was adopted into the family of one of the sub-chiefs of the 
 tribe, and for a long period he lived a wild, savag;e life 
 with them. At different intervals during his career he re- 
 sumed his relations with them, on one occasion taking a 
 wife from among them, who afterward died, leaving no 
 children. 
 
 When he was begged to come back, in his grandilo- 
 quent way he remarked that he preferred " measuring 
 deer tracks to measuring tape." After several years with 
 the Cherokees, finding himself in debt for some barbaric 
 finery, he returned to civilization and opened a country 
 school at the age of eighteen. His pluck was greater than 
 his attainments, which yet appear to have been sufficient 
 to make the school a success, for it included all the chil- 
 dren of the neighborhood, and he was enabled to raise the 
 tuition fee from six to eight dollars per year, one-third 
 payable in corn at thirty-three and one-half cents per 
 bushel, one-third in cash, and one-third in cotton goods 
 or other kind. He once said, after he had filled almost
 
 " She took the family far over the Allegheny 
 Mountains."
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 349 
 
 every elective position except that of President of the 
 United States, that he experienced a higher feeling of 
 dignity and self-satisfaction when he was a school-master 
 than at any period of his life. 
 
 Tiring of school-teaching he enlisted in the army as a 
 private and soon won promotion to the rank of ensign. 
 After his early exploits he resigned from the service ; one 
 of the reasons therefor being on account of a severe and 
 merited rebuke which he received for appearing before 
 the Secretary of War dressed like a wild Indian! He 
 never liked Calhoun or his Democracy after that day. 
 He was always a dandy in his dress, although at times he 
 affected peculiar and striking costumes which his great 
 height and imposing presence enabled him to wear with- 
 out inspiring that ridicule which would have attended a 
 similar performance on the part of a less splendid man. 
 
 When he was first inaugurated Governor of Tennessee, 
 August 2, 1827, he wore " a tall bell-crowned, medium- 
 brimmed, shining black beaver hat, shining black patent- 
 leather military stock or cravat incased by a standing col- 
 lar, ruffled shirt, black satin vest, shining black silk pants 
 gathered to the waistband with legs full, same size from 
 seat to ankle, and a gorgeous red-ground, many colored 
 gown or Indian hunting shirt, fastened at the waist by a 
 huge red sash covered with fancy bead work, with an im- 
 mense silver buckle, embroidered silk stockings, and 
 pumps with large silver buckles. Mounted on a superb 
 dapple-gray horse he appeared at the election unan- 
 nounced, and was the observed of all observers." I 
 should think so ! 
 
 When he was a United States Senator it was his habit 
 to wear, in addition to the ordinary clothing of a gen- 
 tleman of the times, an immense Mexican sombrero and
 
 35 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 colored blanket, or serape, and his appearance naturally 
 excited attention in Washington. 
 
 While candidate for re-election as Governor of Ten- 
 nessee, he abandoned his young wife after six weeks of 
 married life, gave over his campaign, and once more 
 sought asylum with the Cherokees. The reason for his 
 action has never been discovered, although he explicitly 
 stated that no reflection upon the character or conduct 
 of the lady in question was implied or expressed by his 
 conduct. Championing the Indians when he came back 
 to civilization, he became involved in a quarrel with Rep- 
 resentative Stanberry, whom he publicly caned. For his 
 conduct he was formally censured at the bar of Congress. 
 This quarrel brought him into public notice again. It is 
 shrewdly surmised that he provoked it for that purpose, 
 for he said : 
 
 " I was dying out once, and had they taken me before 
 a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars for assault 
 and battery it would have killed me; but they gave me a 
 national tribunal for a theatre and that set me up again." 
 
 Like many men of great physical vigor he was much 
 given to excess. In his last sojourn among the Chero- 
 kees, the Indians expressed their contempt for his dissi- 
 pated habits by naming him the " Big Drunk," but drunk 
 or sober, there was something about him that inspired re- 
 spect. Whatever he did he was always " Sam Houston." 
 People used to say that he really signed his name " I am 
 Houston." After he was converted, however and in a 
 large measure before that time, at the instance of his third 
 wife, a woman of the most noble character, who married 
 him to reform him and did so he entirely stopped drink- 
 ing and demeaned himself to the end of his life as a sincere 
 and humble Christian of the very highest type. When
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 351 
 
 he got drunk, he got thoroughly drunk, and when he 
 became converted to the Baptist faith, he did it with the 
 same thoroughness; a thorough-going man, indeed. 
 
 In one particular he was remarkable among his con- 
 temporaries. He had the greatest reluctance to resort 
 to the duel, which was then the usual method of settling 
 differences between gentlemen. He had to endure many 
 sharp remarks and bitter criticisms on this account, his 
 courage was even impugned at times, although we now 
 realize it not only to have been past reproof but actually 
 to have been the very highest courage, as evidenced, for 
 one thing, by those very refusals. Sometimes his wit en- 
 abled him to escape. To one gentleman who challenged 
 him, after counselling with his secretary, he informed the 
 gentleman who brought the challenge that his principal 
 was number fourteen on the list, and that he could hold 
 out no hope of meeting him until he had disposed of the 
 other thirteen ! 
 
 His grandiloquent mind invested the slightest occur- 
 rence with majesty. A friend of his gave him a razor, 
 which he received with these words : 
 
 " Major Rector, this is apparently a gift of little value, 
 but it is an inestimable testimony of the friendship which 
 has lasted many years, and proved steadfast under the 
 blasts of calumny and injustice. Good-by. God bless 
 you. When next you see this razor it shall be shaving 
 the President of the Republic, by G d ! " 
 
 His manner toward ladies was as magnificent as his 
 person, his dress, his oratory. His habitual word of ad- 
 dress to them was " lady; " a very courtly, distinguished 
 old fellow was he. 
 
 After his supersession as Governor of Texas, because 
 of his unwillingness to allow the state to go out of the
 
 35 2 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 Union, when the officers of the Confederacy established 
 a stringent law requiring all men over sixteen years to 
 register and obtain a pass, Houston paid no attention to 
 the order. When he was halted by an officer who de- 
 manded his pass, the old man waved him aside in his 
 most Olympian manner, frowning and remarking, " San 
 Jacinto is my pass through Texas." Small wonder that 
 the people loved him. 
 
 He had such a sense of humor and the dramatic as few 
 men have ever had. He was one of the best campaigners 
 among thousands of brilliant specimens that America has 
 ever produced. His witty and epigrammatic speech is 
 well illustrated by the following: 
 
 A former friend had betrayed him and when the 
 traitor's character was assailed on account of his ingrati- 
 tude, Houston remarked, " You mustn't be too hard on 
 
 S . I always was fond of dogs and S has all the 
 
 virtues of a dog except his fidelity." 
 
 This, his characterization of the leader of a certain 
 cause, is one of those brilliant epigrams in which the very 
 truth of history is enshrined : " Ambitious as Lucifer, and 
 cold as a lizard." 
 
 He may fairly be called a statesman, he most certainly 
 can be styled an orator, and a little verse which he wrote 
 to a relative illustrates that he was not deficient in the arts 
 and graces, and is worth quoting : 
 
 " Remember theef Yes, lovely girl. 
 
 While faithful memory holds its seat, 
 Till this warm heart in dust is laid. 
 
 And this wild pulse shall cease to beat, 
 No matter where my bark is tost 
 
 On life's tempestuous, stormy sea, 
 My anchor gone, my rudder lost. 
 
 Still, cousin, I will think of thee."
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 353 
 
 Houston did everything in his power to prevent the 
 secession of Texas in 1861, but when she left the Union 
 he went with her. We can understand him, Texas was 
 like his own child. He died in reduced circumstances in 
 1863, his last years embittered by the too evident failure 
 of the Confederacy and the discords which tore his beloved 
 country in twain. But the world is familiar with the 
 events of his strange, romantic and useful career; few men 
 have been so written about, and few men have deserved 
 it more. While he did not rise to the solitary height to 
 which the title of greatness accrues, yet he was one of the 
 most eminent men of his time, and his valuable services 
 are held in undying remembrance. Pass we to the second 
 great day of his life. 
 
 II. In the Service of the Texan Republic 
 
 Aroused at last by the pleadings of his better nature he 
 determined to abandon the loose, aimless, lazy, drunken, 
 savage way of life with the Cherokees and go to Texas. 
 It is believed that he went there at the instigation of Pres- 
 ident Jackson, whose friendship and regard for him never 
 wavered. A man of such prominence could not fail to 
 attract attention in a country like Texas, and he was 
 presently made commander-in-chief of the Texan army. 
 After the capture of the Alamo and the terrible and in- 
 human massacre at Goliad, Santa Anna deemed that the 
 Texan revolution had been crushed and that the war was 
 practically over. He intended to send back most of his 
 troops to Mexico, but upon the urgent representations of 
 some of his generals he agreed to march them further 
 eastward and complete the subjugation of the country be- 
 fore he did so. Houston with a small body of Texans,
 
 354 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 numbering less than one thousand, was encamped at the 
 crossing of the Colorado River near Bastrop, whither he 
 had retired from Gonzales. 
 
 It is probable that, in the light of subsequent develop- 
 ments, his force was strong enough on account of its 
 quality successfully to have engaged the whole Mexican 
 army. No one knew or believed this would be so then. 
 The Mexicans were regular soldiers, trained in the latest 
 European methods. They were led by an hitherto suc- 
 cessful commander who had succeeded in every battle. 
 The Texans were a body of undrilled, untrained frontiers- 
 men, armed with their own rifles and bowie knives, with 
 no artillery, no bayonets, no camp equipage to speak of. 
 There was but one drum in the whole camp, and Hous- 
 ton did the drumming himself! His reveille was three 
 taps on the drum. 
 
 The problem presented itself in this way. If the Tex- 
 ans moved forward to attack Santa Anna he would im- 
 mediately concentrate his force and Houston would have 
 to engage the whole Mexican power with his little hand- 
 ful of men. If, on the contrary, he retreated, the prob- 
 abilities were that Santa Anna, disdaining the little Texan 
 army, especially when it was in retreat, would divide his 
 force in order to seize as many points as possible ; when, 
 if Houston watched carefully, he might find an oppor- 
 tunity of destroying them in detail. He chose the latter, 
 which was the better course. 
 
 III. "The Runaway Scrape" 
 
 It was a risky plan, and the risk lay in this : it is im- 
 mensely difficult to hold together in retreat an army 
 which has but little organic coherence and is mainly un-
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 355 
 
 disciplined and irregular. The men grumbled at being 
 marched back to the eastward, and a panic immediately 
 pervaded the country. Everybody sought to escape 
 from the dreaded Mexican advance. The country was 
 depopulated, and this precipitate flight of the inhabitants 
 passed into history as " The Runaway Scrape." 
 
 It was not without hundreds of incidents, tragic and 
 otherwise. One lone woman whose husband was with 
 the army strapped a feather-bed on her solitary pony, tied 
 her three oldest children on it, and plodded on with the 
 baby in her arms. In one of the wagons, an open one, lay 
 a woman with a nine-day-old baby ; the mothers of Texas 
 have loved to tell how, one rainy night in the wild flight, 
 they stood about her for hours with blankets held over her 
 to protect her from the storm. 
 
 Houston carefully kept his disintegrating army between 
 the fugitives and the Mexicans, and he saw that all the 
 people had left any given section before he took up his 
 daily march. On one occasion he gave over fifty dollars 
 from the military treasure-chest, which only contained 
 two hundred and fifty, to the destitute widow of a de- 
 fender of the Alamo. 
 
 There was the greatest indignation in certain quarters 
 over this retreat and many protests were made. Hous- 
 ton, however, was undeterred by this opposition, which 
 even went so far as to question his courage, and steadily 
 led his men backward over the prairie. When they 
 reached Brazos, he determined upon a continuance of the 
 retreat, and there some of his men broke out in open 
 mutiny. He left several of the most recalcitrant com- 
 panies to protect the town of San Felipe de Austin at the 
 crossing and marched northward on the west bank of the 
 river.
 
 35 6 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 On the part of the Mexicans it happened as he had im- 
 agined. Santa Anna had concentrated his army at the 
 Colorado to meet the Texans, but finding that Houston 
 was in retreat, he had divided his force in three columns 
 and despatched them in different directions, leading the 
 centre column himself, to raid and capture Harrisburg. 
 The Texan army was now reduced to less than seven 
 hundred men. The retreat was conducted under circum- 
 stances of the greatest difficulty. Up the valley of the 
 Brazos, over the rain-sodden prairies, the men toiled. 
 Finally some distance up the river, at a place called 
 Groce's Ferry, they found a little steamer called the 
 Yellowstone, which they seized and by means of it crossed 
 the river. 
 
 Santa Anna, advancing with imperious energy, ap- 
 peared in force before the Austin defenders, who set fire 
 to the town and promptly did a little retreating on their 
 own account. The Mexicans, by a ruse, inveigled a fer- 
 ryman from the other side and crossed the Brazos, where- 
 after Santa Anna, taking no account of Houston to the 
 northward, pushed on to Harrisburg at the head of the 
 centre column. 
 
 Meanwhile Houston had been re-enforced by a small 
 body of men, two cannon, six-pounders, called the " Twin 
 Sisters," sent by the citizens of Cincinnati, via Harrisburg, 
 and the Secretary of War. The President at Harrisburg, 
 apprised of Santa Anna's rapid advance, barely escaped 
 before he reached the town. Despatching one of his regi- 
 ments to the gulf shore to head off the President and his 
 Cabinet, who were fleeing to Galveston, Santa Anna 
 marched on toward Washington. Houston, however, 
 was marching toward the same town. The mutinous 
 Texan companies, persuaded this time of the wisdom of
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 357 
 
 their general, came rushing back and raised his force to 
 about seven hundred and fifty men. 
 
 IV. Santa Anna is Trapped 
 
 Santa Anna was in the heart of Texas with a force not 
 too great for the Texans to meet with hopes of success 
 and with no possibility of re-enforcement. Houston's 
 strategy had proven his wisdom, and he now prepared to 
 attack the unsuspecting Mexican. The forced march to 
 catch him was a terrible one even to these men inured 
 to all the vicissitudes of frontier life. The rains still con- 
 tinued, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the 
 baggage wagons and artillery could be transported. 
 Houston himself set an example to his soldiers. Dis- 
 mounting from his horse he put his own shoulder to the 
 wheel, encouraging them in every way, telling them that 
 the opportunity they had craved was at last at hand, mak- 
 ing no secret of his hope to strike a blow which would be 
 decisive and result in the freedom of the Republic. On 
 the 1 8th of April, 1836, the army reached Buffalo Bayou, 
 then swollen bank full and unfordable, opposite the ruins 
 of Harrisburg, which Santa Anna had destroyed. 
 
 A celebrated scout named Deaf Smith with Captain 
 Karnes of the regular cavalry met them here with a bag 
 full of captured despatches which confirmed the fact that 
 Santa Anna was with the force which had burned Harris- 
 burg and was marching to New Washington. Houston 
 was overjoyed at the possibility thus of capturing the 
 Mexican commander-in-chief. With him in his posses- 
 sion he would be able to dictate terms of peace. Leaving 
 his baggage wagons with a guard of thirty men he pre- 
 pared to cross the bayou, taking with him the two cannon 
 and a single ammunition wagon. They found a leaky
 
 35 8 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 boat, and upon this and a rude timber raft they succeeded 
 in ferrying over the army. 
 
 Houston remained on one bank while the long tedious 
 passage was being made, and Rusk, the Texan Secretary 
 of War, remained on the other. Only by the greatest dif- 
 ficulty was the crossing finally effected. The cavalry 
 horses indeed had to swim the bayou. By nightfall, how- 
 ever, they were all over and on the march toward the 
 junction of Buffalo Bayou with the San Jacinto River, at 
 a place called Lynch's Ferry, where they hoped to head 
 off the Mexicans, who were supposed to be marching 
 toward La Trinidad. 
 
 The tired army marched twelve miles that night, stop- 
 ping for rest at one A. M. on the 2Oth. Houston allowed 
 his soldiers but a few hours for repose, for before dawn 
 they started again and marched seven miles. A halt was 
 taken for breakfast, but, upon receipt of intelligence that 
 the Mexican army was at hand they left off preparations 
 for the meal and marched post-haste to the ferry, across 
 San Jacinto Bay, a little below the point where the Buf- 
 falo joins the river. 
 
 They reached the coveted point before the Mexicans, 
 for no sign of the invaders were found. Six men under 
 Captain Hancock, however, had made a valuable capture 
 of a flat boat loaded with flour and filled with Mexicans, 
 who surrendered without firing a shot. That cargo was 
 intended for Santa Anna's army, which, in ignorance of 
 the proximity of the Americans, had been marching for 
 the same spot. It was a most welcome contribution to 
 the American commissariat, for they were almost literally 
 without anything to eat.* 
 
 * There is a legend to the effect that after the battle Houston exhibited 
 an ear of corn to Santa Anna with the question: "Sir, do you ever expect
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 359 
 
 Confident that the Mexicans were moving into the trap, 
 they now turned back up the Buffalo for about three 
 quarters of a mile, where Houston posted his army in a 
 strong defensive position in a thick wood on the edge of 
 the bayou. In front of the camp lay a stretch of prairie 
 land broken by three large clumps of trees, known as 
 islands. On the left was the broad arm of San Jacinto 
 Bay, the enclosing marshy shores of which swept around 
 to the south in front of them at a distance of a mile away. 
 The marsh grew wider as it trended to the southwest. 
 Beyond the tree islands lay another clump of trees termi- 
 nating in the marshland. The country to the southwest 
 was also marshy and impassable. The road up which 
 they had marched to their position led across a deep ra- 
 vine with very high banks called Vince's Creek. The 
 road crossed this creek on a wooden bridge about eight 
 miles from the battle-ground. 
 
 Santa Anna with some twelve hundred of his men was 
 in New Washington when his scouts brought word that 
 the American forces were at hand. A scene of wild con- 
 fusion and terror ensued, a panic in fact, extending from 
 the general to the soldiery; but as the day wore on and no 
 attack was made the Mexicans recovered their self-con- 
 trol in a measure, and order having been restored, they 
 marched toward Lynch's Ferry to meet the enemy. The 
 Mexican advance came in touch with the Texans on the 
 afternoon of the 2Oth. Santa Anna's artillery consisted 
 of one nine-pounder. There was a fruitless duel between 
 this gun and the " Twin Sisters," and some cavalry skir- 
 
 to conquer men who fight for freedom, whose general can march four days 
 with one ear of corn for rations ? " The story goes on to say that the men 
 begged the ear from the general, divided its kernels, planted them, and that 
 Texas is full of San Jacinto corn to this day !
 
 360 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 mishing, which was not unimportant, in that it gave one 
 Mirabeau B. Lamar, one of the romantic characters of the 
 period, an opportunity to distinguish himself under fire 
 by the rescue of a comrade in circumstances of peculiar 
 danger ; as a reward for which, he was immediately pror 
 moted to the rank of colonel by Houston and given com- 
 mand of the sixty horse which comprised the Texan 
 cavalry ! 
 
 Aside from this skirmish no attempt was made by either 
 army to bring on a general engagement that day. Hous- 
 ton had his own reasons for not wishing to fight and 
 Santa Anna desired time to bring up a re-enforcement of 
 five hundred men which was near at hand. Houston is re- 
 ported to have said that his reason for not engaging was 
 that he wanted the Mexicans to bring their whole availa- 
 ble force in the vicinity to the field that he might over- 
 come the enemy with one blow and not be compelled to 
 make " two bites at a cherry." At any rate Santa Anna 
 encamped in the woods to the south of the Texans, his 
 right resting on the marshes which extended around his 
 rear from San Jacinto Bay. He refused his left slightly 
 and protected his front by making a flimsy entrenchment 
 of pack saddles, baggage, etc., about five feet high, in the 
 centre of which in an opening he planted his nine-pound- 
 er. His cavalry, several hundred in number, he posted 
 on the right. 
 
 On the morning of the 2ist of April, 1836, five hun- 
 dred men under General Cos marched up the road from 
 Vince's bridge and joined Santa Anna. Houston gave 
 out that it was not a real re-enforcement but merely part 
 of the army already encamped, marching about to give the 
 impression of an augmented force, but the statement 
 deceived no one. Neither did it diminish the con-
 
 362 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 fident courage of the Texans in the slightest de- 
 gree. 
 
 Houston had fully decided upon his course of action. 
 He called Deaf Smith to him and bade him and a compan- 
 ion named Reeves procure two sharp axes and hold them- 
 selves in readiness for orders, directing them to keep with- 
 in close touch during the day. The Texans waited under 
 arms thinking the Mexicans in greater force, in fact out- 
 numbering them over two to one, would attack them. 
 But Santa Anna made no movement to advance and at 
 the request of some of the higher officers Houston called 
 a council of war at noon, the question being whether they 
 should make, or wait, an attack. The two junior officers 
 were in favor of attacking at once. All of the seniors 
 said that it would be madness to attack regular and vet- 
 eran soldiery with undrilled levies, pointing out that there 
 were but two hundred bayonets in the Texan army, that 
 they had a good strong defensive position where they 
 were, and they ought to wait for the Mexicans there. 
 
 Houston heard the discussion and received the conclu- 
 sions in silence. He had already made up his mind, how- 
 ever, for he called Smith and Reeves to him and secretly 
 ordered them to go with all speed and cut down Vince's 
 bridge. In other words, he deliberately destroyed the 
 only practicable means of escape for either army in case 
 of defeat. By his action the battle which ensued was lit- 
 erally fought in an enclosure made by Buffalo Bayou on 
 the north, San Jacinto Bay on the east, the marshes and 
 waste land on the south, and Vince's Creek on the west.
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 363 
 
 V. The Battle of San Jacinto 
 
 At half after three o'clock the men were drawn up on 
 the prairie in front of the camp, their movements being 
 screened from the observation of the Mexicans, who were 
 most careless on this occasion and had apparently posted 
 neither scouts nor sentinels, by the tree islands. Colonel 
 Burleson with the first regiment occupied the centre. 
 Colonel Sherman was on the left with the second regi- 
 ment, with the two pieces of artillery posted on the right 
 of Colonel Burleson's men. The guns were supported by 
 four companies of infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Mil- 
 lard. The newly celebrated Lamar, burning to distin- 
 guish himself again, occupied the right of the line with his 
 cavalry. Secretary Rusk had general command of the 
 left, while Houston led the centre in person. 
 
 At four o'clock Houston gave the order to advance. 
 The band, which consisted of the solitary drum of famous 
 memory, re-enforced by a single fife, struck up a familiar 
 popular air entitled " Will You Come to the Bower ? " 
 It was a bright, brilliant, sunny afternoon. The men with 
 their guns a-trail advanced slowly until they passed the 
 timber islands and appeared in view of the surprised Mex- 
 icans. Then they broke into a run and darted forward. 
 Houston dashed up and down the lines on horseback, 
 waving his old white hat * and shouting profanely but 
 emphatically, " G d d n you, hold your fire ! " 
 
 When they were within two hundred feet of the Mexi- 
 
 * On this day Houston wore "an old black coat, a black velvet vest, a 
 pair of snuff-colored pantaloons, and dilapidated boots," with his trousers 
 tucked in them. " His only badge of authority during the campaign was a 
 sword with a plated scabbard which he tied to his belt with buckskin thongs."
 
 364 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 can line Deaf Smith tore madly on the field, his panting 
 horse flecked with foam, and shouted in tones that could 
 be heard all along the little line : " You must fight for 
 your lives ! Vince's bridge has been cut down ! " The 
 purport of this startling message was instantly perceived 
 by the Texans. Like Cortez, Houston had burned his 
 boats behind him. If they did not conquer, they would 
 be like the army of Sennacherib, " all dead corpses." 
 
 The Mexican camp was a picture of consternation and 
 terror. They had never dreamed of the possibility of as- 
 sault. Santa Anna was asleep, many of the officers were 
 taking their afternoon siesta; the cavalrymen were water- 
 ing their horses, the company cooks were preparing for 
 the evening meal, the soldiers had laid aside their arms 
 and were playing games. In great astonishment, as they 
 discovered the Texans passing around the tree islands, 
 they ran to their arms, and as Houston's men came on, 
 the Mexicans delivered a wavering volley, which, being 
 aimed too high, did almost no execution. One bullet 
 struck Houston in the ankle, making a bad wound, and 
 several others hit his horse, but nothing could stop the 
 advance. Before the Mexicans could discharge their 
 cannon it was found loaded when captured the Amer- 
 icans struck the place. 
 
 Quick as had been their advance the " Twin Sisters " 
 had been able to deliver two well-aimed shots which had 
 demolished a large portion of the flimsy barricade. As 
 they reached the rampart the Texans fired pointblank at 
 the huddled Mexicans. The discharge did fearful execu- 
 tion. Before the Spanish could turn and fly, the fierce, 
 furious faces of the Americans burst upon them through 
 the smoke, and with clubbed muskets, a few bayonets, and 
 many bowie knives, began their dreadful work. The cry
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 365 
 
 that ran over the field with ever-increasing volume until 
 it drowned the roar of the guns, had been one filled with 
 menace to Santa Anna and his men. 
 
 "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Re- 
 member La Bahia ! " 
 
 Inspired to fury by the recollection of the cruel, blood- 
 thirsty massacres, which Santa Anna had instigated and 
 in which these men had participated, the Americans swept 
 everything before them by their valor. In fifteen min- 
 utes the whole Mexican army was either dead or on the 
 run. Lamar, with his handful of horse, had thrown him- 
 self upon the Mexican cavalry and routed them. Horse- 
 men who could do so were galloping headlong down the 
 road toward Vince's bridge pursued by the mounted 
 Americans. The infantry and many officers on the Mexi- 
 can right plunged into the marshes, vainly seeking safety, 
 only to be slaughtered as they stood enmired. 
 
 The Mexican defence, however, was not without some 
 redeeming features. General Castrillon coolly stood in 
 plain view of the Americans on an ammunition box, vain- 
 ly imploring his flying men to make a stand. When they 
 had retreated at least fifty yards from him, in despair of 
 rallying them, he turned to follow and was shot down by 
 the enemy, several bullets being found in his body after 
 the engagement was over. Colonel Almonte succeeded 
 in rallying some five hundred men in the trees, but was 
 unable to inspire them with any energy, so he surrendered 
 them in a body. 
 
 Santa Anna with some others fled at top speed toward 
 Vince's bridge, hotly pursued by Captain Karnes. When 
 the fugitives reached the crossing and found it destroyed 
 they faced about, but the pursuing Texans slaughtered 
 them without mercy. A few, however, Santa Anna
 
 366 Border Fights and Fighters 
 
 among the number, leaped recklessly into the ravine and 
 managed to make good their escape on the other side. 
 
 The Mexican army had been completely routed. As 
 an army it had been eliminated from the campaign. Six 
 hundred and thirty dead bodies were left on the field, of 
 whom twenty-four were officers. Two hundred and eight 
 lay wounded and helpless, of whom eighteen were offi- 
 cers. There were seven hundred and thirty prisoners, a 
 few fugitives, and many unknown and unaccounted for, 
 who died in the marshes or rivers attempting to escape. 
 The total Mexican force engaged had been about eigh- 
 teen hundred. Of Texans there were just seven hundred 
 and eighty-three, of whom eight were killed and twenty- 
 three wounded! It was one of the most crushing and 
 bloody defeats on record. 
 
 Though the numbers engaged were small the results 
 were remarkable, for Santa Anna was captured next day 
 by a party of Texans, and with him in possession the war 
 was over, and the independence of Texas accomplished. 
 
 Besides the arms and equipments twelve thousand dol- 
 lars in specie was found in the Mexican treasure-chest. 
 Houston generously gave up his share of plunder to 
 his soldiers. Having set aside a portion for the Texan 
 Navy, the men received on an average about seven dollars 
 and a half apiece, but no reward could have measured up 
 to the standard of their splendid victory; and the Field of 
 the Hyacinth, changed from purple to red by the blood of 
 their enemies, in Thomas H. Benton's poetic figure, is as- 
 sociated with the brightest day in the story of the Lone 
 Star Republic, which then took its place in the constel- 
 lation of nations. 
 
 Houston had again led the charge as he had done years 
 before, and he was the hero of the occasion, although, as
 
 Sam Houston and Freedom 367 
 
 he said himself, the " glorious achievement was at- 
 tributable not to superior force but to the valor of our 
 soldiery and the sanctity of our cause." Certainly I think 
 San Jacinto must be placed high among the memorable 
 conflicts and struggles that have occurred during the 
 evolution of the American people, for it terminated for- 
 ever any possibility of Spanish dominion in what is now 
 one of the greatest and most important parts of the 
 United States. From that point it is one of the most 
 decisive of our battles. 
 
 Old Sam Houston had not read Caesar's Commenta- 
 ries for nothing. His masterly retreat from the enemy 
 inducing him to divide his force, when the composition of 
 the army is considered, was a splendid manoeuvre. He 
 showed that he knew how to carry the shield of Fabius; 
 and when he learned that Santa Anna was alone, with a 
 part of his force at Harrisburg, his forced march to cor- 
 ner him and the brilliant, workmanlike manner in which 
 he planned and fought the battle, his daring in staking all 
 upon the hazard by destroying his only means of retreat, 
 showed that he wielded the sword of Marcellus as well. 
 
 While he had no opportunity to distinguish himself on 
 larger fields and with greater force, yet he made the very 
 best possible use of, and secured the greatest possible re- 
 sults from, the means at his command. No one could 
 have done better, few could have done so well. There- 
 fore we may write him down a soldier. 
 
 No monument has yet been erected by grateful Tex- 
 ans over his remains, but the state itself, empire as it is 
 in extent, in resources, is forever associated with his 
 name. 
 
 THE END.
 
 INDEX
 
 INDEX 
 
 A~)AIR, JOHN, assists 
 Sevier and Shelby with 
 North Carolina funds, 
 78 
 
 Alamo, the Mission del, 314- 
 316; meaning of the word, 
 314; description of mission 
 buildings, 315; siege of, 319 
 
 Amathla, Charlie, Seminole 
 ch>ef, 195 
 
 American, racial type of, vii 
 
 Arbuckle, Capt. Matthew, ar- 
 rests Cornstalk, 58 
 
 Army of the West, the, 271- 
 274 
 
 Artaguiette, d', defeated by 
 Natchez and Chickasaw Ind- 
 ians, 212 
 
 Austin, Stephen Fuller, " The 
 Father of Texas," plants first 
 American colony in Texas, 
 312 
 
 " PACK WATER MEN," 74 
 Baen, Major, killed, 259 
 
 Bahia, La, mission of, 329 
 
 Bailey, Dixon, elected captain 
 at Fort Mims, 170; heroic 
 conduct of, 174; death of, 176 
 
 Bartholomew, Col., wounded 
 at Tippecanoe, 261 
 
 Bassinger, Lieut., 198, 201; 
 heroic conduct of, 202; butch- 
 ered by negroes, 203 
 
 Batcheldor, Capt., 170 
 
 Battle of Bushy Run, 13-16; of 
 
 Point Pleasant, 48-55; of 
 King's Mountain, 85-88; of 
 Enaree, 95 ; of Blue Licks, 
 140-145; of Tohopeka, 177; 
 of Burnt Corn, 193 ; of the 
 Thames, 248; of Fallen Tim- 
 bers, 249; of Frenchtown, 280- 
 286; of Concepcion, 314; of 
 the Coleta, 334-338; of San 
 Jacinto, 363-368 
 
 Batts, Capt. Thomas, Virgin- 
 ian explorer, 115 
 
 Beasley, Major Daniel, at Fort 
 Mims, 170; careless conduct 
 of, 171-172; death of, 174 
 
 Beattie's Ford, 81 
 
 Bedford, Pa., fugitives at, 6; 
 relief of, 9 
 
 Bellerive, Louis St. Ange de, 
 Governor of Vincennes, Ind., 
 
 212 
 
 Bennett's Creek, 255 
 
 " Betsy," David Crockett's 
 
 rifle, 309 
 " Big Knives," Kentuckians so 
 
 called, 222 
 Big Turtle, Indian name of 
 
 Daniel Boone, 132 
 Black Fish, Shawnee Chief, 
 
 adopts Daniel Boone, 132; 
 
 attacks Boonesborough, 134 
 Bloody Spring, massacre of 
 
 Indians at, by Capt. Samuel 
 
 Brady, 28-32 
 Bloody Year, the, 36 
 Blue Licks, 131, 140 
 Bonham, Col. James Butler, 
 
 Texan volunteer, 319; killed, 
 
 324 
 Boone bibliography, 116
 
 Index 
 
 Boone, Daniel, commands 
 three frontier forts, 48; 
 words of, on surveying the 
 country, 66; the greatest of 
 the pioneers, 113-147; birth 
 of, 116; family of, 116-117; 
 handwriting of, 118; mar- 
 riage of, 118; captured by Ind- 
 ians, 119, 130-132; slaughter 
 of his family by Indians, 123; 
 removes to Clinch River, 
 Va., 123; commissioned cap- 
 tain in the British service, 
 123; returns to Kentucky, 
 124; fac-simile letter of, to 
 Gen. Shelby, 124; named Big 
 Turtle by Black Fish, Indian 
 chief, 132; attacks Indians on 
 Scioto River, 134; court- 
 martialled, 138; promoted 
 lieutenant-colonel, 138 ; aban- 
 dons his first land claim, 139 ; 
 advice at Blue Licks, 141-142; 
 at Battle of Blue Licks, 143; 
 his two sons killed, 145 ; dis- 
 possessed of his second land 
 claim, 146; removes to Mis- 
 souri, 146; his wife dies, 146; 
 dispossessed of his third land 
 claim, 147; Congress grants 
 him a tract of land, 147; 
 death of, 147; buried in Ken- 
 tucky, 147 
 
 Boone, Edward, killed by Ind- 
 ians, 131 
 
 Boone, Frances, captured by 
 Indians, 128 
 
 Boone, Isaac, death of, 144 
 
 Boone, Jemima, captured by 
 Indians, 128 
 
 Boone, Squire, brother of Dan- 
 iel, 120; severely wounded by 
 Indians, 137 
 
 Boonesborough, erection of, 
 125; plan of, 126; attacked by 
 Indians, 127, 128, 131, 133; de- 
 fence of, 134-138 
 
 Boone's Creek, 115 
 
 Boone's Station, 139 
 
 Borderers, Capt. Samuel 
 Brady, first of the, 27-28 
 
 Bouquet, Henry, how he saved 
 Pennsylvania, 3-20; sketch of, 
 7-8; death of, 19 
 
 Bowie, Col. James, of Georgia, 
 second in command of the 
 Alamo, 316; killed, 324 
 
 Boy in command of other boys. 
 291-295 
 
 Boyd, Col. John P., commands 
 Fourth U. S. Infantry at Vin- 
 cennes, 252; sketch of his life, 
 252 
 
 Brady, Hugh, Major-Gen. U. 
 S. Army, sketch of, 25, 40 
 
 Brady, Capt. John, vii, 23 
 
 Brady, Capt. Samuel, Chief of 
 the Rangers, sketch of, vii, 23- 
 40; enlisted, 26; brevetted 
 captain, 26; escaped from 
 British, 26; ordered to West- 
 ern Pennsylvania, 27; com- 
 mended to Washington by 
 Col. Brodhead, 27; commend- 
 ed by Washington, 27 ; given 
 command under Gen. Wayne, 
 28; death of, 28; adventure 
 of, at Bloody Spring, 28-33; 
 famous leap of, 33-36; expe- 
 dition of, with Wetzel, 36-40 
 
 Brady, William, in Battle of 
 Lake Erie, 26 
 
 Brady's Run, 30 
 
 Brandt, Joseph, Indian chief, 
 
 243 
 
 Brazos, Valley of, Houston's 
 retreat up the, 355-356 
 
 Brodhead, Col., commissioned 
 by Washington to protect 
 Pennsylvania against Indian 
 incursions, 24 
 
 Bryan's Station, Ky., attacked 
 by Indians, 139; founding of, 
 153; an old-time frontier fort, 
 153-155; the women and chil- 
 dren of, 151-164 
 
 Buffalo Bayou, Texas, 357-358 
 
 Burnt Corn, Battle of, 169, 193 
 
 Bushy Run, engagement at, 10- 
 16; battle of, 13-16 
 
 Byrd, Col. William, a Virgin- 
 ian Tory leader, 154
 
 Index 
 
 373 
 
 , Indian chief, re- 
 ceives Americans friendly, 
 222 
 
 Callaway, Col., companion of 
 Daniel Boone, 128 
 
 Callaway, Elizabeth, captured 
 by Indians, 128; marries son 
 of Col. Henderson, 129-130 
 
 Camp Charlotte, Indian treaty 
 of, 56 
 
 Camp Union, 47 
 
 Campbell, William, assists Se- 
 vier and Shelby in expedition, 
 76-77, 80 
 
 Canadians attack Bryan's Sta- 
 tion, Ky., 140 
 
 " Captina Affair," the, 45 
 
 Carleton, Governor of Quebec, 
 224 
 
 Carlisle, Pa., fugitives at, 6; re- 
 lief of, 9 
 
 Chambers, British Major, 288 
 
 Cherokee Ford, 84 
 
 Chickasaw Indians, 212 
 
 Christian, Col. William, leads 
 settlers of Fincastle County 
 against Logan, 47, 49, 54 
 
 Chronicle, Major, 89 
 
 " Chucky Jack," 70 
 
 Claiborne, Gen., U. S. military 
 commander, 170 
 
 Clark, George Rogers, in com- 
 mand under Lord Dunmore, 
 47 ; Daniel Boone accompanies 
 in expedition after Battle of 
 Blue Licks, 145-146; in the 
 Great Northwest, 211-241; 
 sketch of, 213-214; on Lord 
 Dunmore's staff, 214; peti- 
 tions Gov. Patrick Henry for 
 500 pounds of powder, 215 ; his 
 attempt to stop Indian forays, 
 217; confers with Gov. Patrick 
 Henry, 218; his plan, 218-219; 
 surprises a dancing party, 221 ; 
 his methods of dealing with 
 Indians, 223 ; a great bluffer, 
 225 ; arranges Virginia cur- 
 rency, 227 ; marches to Wa- 
 
 bash, 229-231 ; captures Vin- 
 cennes, 234-238; his services, 
 239; disappointment and neg- 
 lect, 239; his death, 240. 
 
 Clark, Ransom, terrible expe- 
 rience at Dade massacre, 
 203; pitiable condition and 
 death of, 204 
 
 Cleaveland, Col. Benjamin, of 
 North Carolina, 76-77, 79; 
 speech of, to mountaineers, 
 80, 88-89 
 
 Clinch, U. S. Commander-in- 
 Chief in Florida, 198 
 
 Coffee, Gen., defeats Creek 
 Indians on the Tallapoosa 
 River, 181, 184-186 
 
 Coleta, Battle of the, 334-338 
 
 Concepcion, Battle of, 314 
 
 Corn Island, 219 
 
 Cornstalk, Indian chief, in com- 
 mand of Indians at Battle 
 of Point Pleasant, 50, 53; op- 
 poses treaty with Lord Dun- 
 more, 55; fate of, 58; death 
 of, 59 
 
 Cornwallis, Lord, in South 
 Carolina, 73-74; falls back, 93 
 
 Cowpens, 81 ; muster of Lacey's 
 army at, 82 
 
 Craig, Capt. John, in command 
 of Bryan's Station, 155; suc- 
 cessful defence of, 156 
 
 Creek Indians, sketch of, 168; 
 join the British in War of 
 1812, 168; the last stand of 
 the, 181-186; defeated by Cof- 
 fee and Jackson, 181-190 
 
 Creek War, the beginning of 
 the, 167-171 
 
 Creole militia, 220 
 
 Creoles in Geo. Rogers Clark's 
 march, 229 
 
 Cresap, Col., Logan's famous 
 speech against, 56-57 
 
 Cresap's War, 45 
 
 Crockett, David, and the most 
 desperate defence in Ameri- 
 can history, 307-326; a typi- 
 cal American, 307-311; a 
 modest man, 308; sketch of
 
 374 
 
 Index 
 
 early life, 309-311; takes rein- 
 forcements to Texas, 316; 
 killed in the Alamo, 325 
 
 Croghan, George, joins Harri- 
 son against Tecumseh, 202; 
 his defence of Fort Stephen- 
 son, 291-304; promoted major 
 of I7th Infantry, 293; his re- 
 markable note to Gen. Har- 
 rison, 296; brevetted lieuten- 
 ant-colonel, 304 
 
 Croghan, Mrs., sister to Geo. 
 Rogers Clark, 240 
 
 Crooked Creek, 54 
 
 Cumberland River, explored by 
 Dr. Thomas Walker, 115 
 
 D 
 
 f)ADE, MAJOR FRANCIS 
 L., massacre of, and his 
 command, 198-202; discovery 
 of his body by Capt. Hitch- 
 cock, 206'; monument and in- 
 scription to, at West Point, 
 207 
 
 Dade Massacre, 197-202; Capt. 
 E. A. Hitchcock's report on, 
 204-207 
 
 Daviess, Major Jo, joins Harri- 
 son against Tecumseh, 252; 
 ambitious of distinction, 253; 
 his impatience to attack, 260; 
 death and burial of, 260, 263 
 
 Deaf Smith, celebrated scout, 
 357, 362, 364 
 
 Decker, Lieut-Col., wounded 
 at Tippecanoe, 261 
 
 Deckhard rifle, the, 77 
 
 De Peyster, Capt., of New 
 York, 85; raises flag of truce 
 at King's Mountain, 90-91 
 
 De Quindre, Dagniaux, with 
 Indians attacks Boonesbor- 
 pugh, 134 
 
 Dixen, Capt., Royal Engineers, 
 298, 302; wounded, 302 
 
 Doak, Presbyterian Parson, 79 
 
 Dragging Canoe, Chickamauga 
 chief, killed by John Sevier, 
 
 71; on the gloom of Ken- 
 tucky, 119 
 
 Dunmore, Lord, Governor of 
 Virginia, calls out Blue 
 Ridge Militia, 46; feeling of 
 Virginians against, 55; ex- 
 pelled from Virginia by Gen. 
 Andrew Lewis, 58 
 
 Dunmore's, Lord, War, 45 
 
 Duque, Col., attacks the Al- 
 amo, 321; wounded, 323 
 
 Du Quesne, see De Quindre, 
 Dagniaux 
 
 pLKSWATAWA (the proph- 
 
 et), Indian chief, 247; his 
 
 abandoned early life, 247; has 
 
 charge of affairs during Te- 
 
 cumseh's absence, 251 
 
 Ellinipsico, son of Cornstalk, 
 killed, 59 
 
 Elliott, British Col., demands 
 surrender of Fort Meigs, 288 
 
 Embarrass River, Geo. Rogers 
 Clark on the, 231 
 
 Enaree, Battle of, 95 
 
 England, by treaty, obtains 
 possession of the country 
 from the Great Lakes to the 
 Gulf of Mexico, 213 
 
 Everglades, Florida, inacces- 
 sible character of, 197 
 
 T7ALLEN TIMBERS, Battle 
 of, 249 
 
 Fannin, Col. J. W., massacre of 
 his command at Goliad, 329- 
 330; surrounded by Mexicans 
 at the Coleta, 334; shot, 343 
 
 Ferguson, Major Patrick, 47; 
 distinguished conduct of, at 
 Battle of the Brandywine and 
 at Camden, 71 ; commands in 
 South Carolina, 73; reverses 
 and successes of, 74-76; dash
 
 Index 
 
 375 
 
 to catch him, 79-82; killed 
 at King's Mountain, 91; orig- 
 inal account of his capture by 
 Rev. Stephen Foster, 95-109 
 
 Field, Col. John, leads a volun- 
 teer company against Logan, 
 47-48, 51-52; killed, 52 
 
 Findlay, John, explorer, 115 
 
 Finley, John, explorer, 115, 118; 
 captured and killed by Ind- 
 ians, 1 20 
 
 Flemming, Col. William, leads 
 expedition from Botetourt, 
 47, 51; shot, 52 
 
 Forbes, Gen. John, 44 
 
 Forbes' Road, march of Bou- 
 quet's army through, 9-10 
 
 Fort Brady, 14 
 
 Fort Brooke, Fla., U. S. troops 
 at, 198, 204 
 
 Fort Chartres, principal mili- 
 tary post in Great Northwest, 
 213 
 
 Fort Defiance, the delay at, 329- 
 333; dismantled, 333 
 
 Fort Du Quesne, Pa., 220 
 
 Fort Harrison, 253, 263 
 
 Fort King, Fla., U. S. troops 
 at, 198, 204 
 
 Fort Lee, Tenn., siege of, 70 
 
 Fort Ligonier, garrison of, 4; 
 relief of, 9 
 
 Fort Mclntosh, 32 
 
 Fort 'Massac, 220 
 
 Fort Meigs, 295, 300 
 
 Fort Mims, the massacre at, 
 167-178; plan of fort, 170 
 
 Fort Morgan, 204 
 
 Fort Mpultrie, Osceola impris- 
 oned in, 197 
 
 Fort Necessity, 43 
 
 Fort Pierce, 172 
 
 Fort Pitt, defence of, 4; relief 
 of, 8-9, 1 8, 24 
 
 Fort Sackville, Vincennes, 
 Ind., 225, 232; repaired by 
 Gov. Hamilton, 228 
 
 Fort Stanwix, Indian treaty of, 
 44, 66 
 
 Fort Stephenson, defence of, 
 291-304; map of, 294 
 
 Fort Stoddardt, Ala., 167 
 Fort Washington, Ind., 224 
 Fort Williams, 190 
 Foster, Rev. Stephen, 79; his 
 
 original account of the Battle 
 
 of King's Mountain and death 
 
 of Major Ferguson, 95-109 
 Franklin, the State of, and its 
 
 governor, 68-72 
 Fraser, Capt., 198, 200; killed, 
 
 20 1 ; his body found by Capt. 
 
 Hitchcock, 206 
 Frederick, Lord Dunmore at, 
 
 46 
 Frenchtown, Mich., 274, 276; 
 
 map of, 278; Battle of, 280- 
 
 286 
 Fugitives, horrible sufferings 
 
 of, in Western Pennsylvania, 6 
 
 (RAINES, MAJOR-GEN. E. 
 P., Capt. Hitchcock's re- 
 port to, on the Dade massa- 
 cre, 204-207 
 
 Gardiner, Capt, 198-199; killed, 
 202 
 
 Gatlin, Assistant Surgeon, 198; 
 killed, 202 
 
 Geiger, Capt., wounded, 259, 
 262 
 
 Gibault, Father, French mis- 
 sionary, 223 
 
 Gilbert Town, 81 
 
 Girty, Simon, in command un- 
 der Lord Dunmore, 47; takes 
 part in Indian attack on 
 Bryan's Station, 140, 154-155; 
 treacherous conduct of, 162- 
 163 
 
 Goliad, Texas, massacre of 
 Fannin's command at, 329- 
 330 
 
 " Good Bess," 298 
 
 Grant, Major, defeat of, 5 
 
 Greathouse, Indian trader, 46 
 
 Green River, 81; explored by 
 Boone, 121-122 
 
 Groce's Ferry, 356
 
 376 
 
 Index 
 
 H 
 
 "UAIR-BUYER GENER- 
 AL," the, 224-229 
 
 Haldimand, Governor of Que- 
 bec, 224 
 
 Hambrignt, Col., 89 
 
 Hamilton, British Governor of 
 Detroit, 127; incites Indians 
 to go on the warpath, 216; the 
 " Hair-buyer General," 224- 
 229; marches down the Wa- 
 bash to meet Geo. Rogers 
 Clark, 225; Clark's peremp- 
 tory letter to. 236; applies to 
 Clark for truce, 235 
 
 Hampden-Sidney College, Will- 
 iam Henry Harrison graduate 
 of, 249 
 
 Harrisburg, Texas, Santa Anna 
 destroys, 356-357 
 
 Harrison, Captain Benjamin, 
 leads a force against Logan, 
 47 
 
 Harrison, William Henry, Isaac 
 Shelby assists, in defeating 
 Tecumseh, 47; his part in 
 breaking up the league of the 
 Trans-Allegheny tribes, 248; 
 his ancestry, 249; his military 
 experience under Anthony 
 Wayne, 249; his daring and 
 gallantry, 250; his marriage, 
 250; delegate to Congress 
 from Northwest Territory, 
 250; Governor of Indiana Ter- 
 ritory, 250; attends Indian 
 council at Vincennes, 250-251; 
 his disposition of his men at 
 the Battle of Tippecanoe, 255- 
 256; his experience in Indian 
 warfare, 257; his bravery in 
 action, 260; fights the Battle 
 of the Thames, 264-268; given 
 supreme command of forces 
 to recapture Canada. 272; ap- 
 peals to women of Kentucky, 
 273 
 
 Hart, Capt, brother-in-law of 
 Henry Clay, killed by Indians, 
 287-288 
 
 Helm, Capt. Leonard, appointed 
 commandant at Vincennes, 
 223; bluffs Gov. Hamilton, 
 225; his toddy spoiled, 235 
 
 Henderson, Lieut., 198; heroic 
 conduct of, 202 
 
 Henderson, Col. Richard, nego- 
 tiates with Cherokees for pur- 
 chase of Transylvania terri- 
 tory, 119; sends Boone to ex- 
 plore it, 124 
 
 Henry, Patrick, consulted by 
 Geo. Rogers Clark, 218 
 
 Hester, negro woman in massa- 
 cre at Fort Mims, 167 
 
 Hill, Col., 81 
 
 Hillsboro Bay, Fla., 198 
 
 Hitchcock, Capt. E. A., his re- 
 port to Major-Gen. E. P. 
 Gaines on the Dade massacre, 
 204-207 
 
 Holston, Fincastle County, Ky., 
 
 47 
 
 Horse Shoe Bend, Alabama 
 River, Jackson's fight with 
 Indians at, 177; map of, and 
 plan of battle, 182 
 
 Houston, Sam, heroism of, 186- 
 190; his fight for the freedom 
 of Texas, 347-367; some char- 
 acteristics of, 347-353; sketch 
 of his early life, 347-350; his 
 peculiarities in later life, 350- 
 352; his opposition to seces- 
 sion, 353; in the service of the 
 Texan Republic, 353*354; his 
 risky plan of retreat, 354-356; 
 his dress at Battle of San Ja- 
 cinto, 363; captures Santa 
 Anna, 366 
 
 Hunter, Capt, second in com- 
 mand of Fort Meigs, 300, 303 
 
 ILLINOIS, County of, estab- 
 lished, 223 
 
 Illinois, Province of, military af- 
 fairs of, administered by Geo. 
 Rogers Clark, 223
 
 Index 
 
 377 
 
 Independence, Texan war of, 
 3I.4-3I5 
 
 Indian wars justifiable, 193; 
 some not justifiable, 193-194 
 
 Indians defeated at Bushy Run 
 by the Scottish Highlanders, 
 16-17; engagement of, with 
 Bouquet's army, 10-16 
 
 Iturbide assumes government of 
 Mexico, 314 
 
 */ 
 ' TACK, CAPTAIN, 170 
 
 J Jackson, Andrew, calls put 
 militia of Tennessee against 
 Creek Indians, 177; his vic- 
 tory at Tohopeka, 181-190 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 218 
 
 Jessup, U. S. General, treachery 
 of, toward Osceola, 196 
 
 Johnson, Mrs. Jemima Suggett, 
 brave act of, 157-159 
 
 Johnson, Richard Mentor, Vice- 
 President of U. S., adventure 
 of, in infancy, 158; in Battle 
 of the Thames, 265-266 
 
 17-ANAWHA RIVER, Gen. 
 Lewis on the, 46-47 
 
 Kaskaskia, 211-212, 219; only 
 school at, in Northwest Ter- 
 ritory, 212-213 
 
 Kaskaskia River, 220 
 
 Keais, Lieut., 198; killed, 202 
 
 Kennedy, Major, heads relief 
 expedition to Fort Mims, 177 
 
 Kenton, Simon, in command 
 under Lord Dunmore, 47; 
 saves life of Daniel Boone, 
 130 
 
 Kentucky, the beauties of, 113; 
 a home for humanity, 114; ex- 
 ploration of, 118-122; meaning 
 of the name, 119; settlement 
 of, 122-127; first religious ser- 
 vices in, 127; first marriage in, 
 
 130; her important part in the 
 War of 1812, 272 
 
 Kentucky River, Boone's settle- 
 ment on, 122 
 
 King's Mountain, 81; launching 
 the thunderbolt, 83-91; Battle 
 of, 85-88; plan of battle, 86; 
 casualties of battle, 91 ; origi- 
 nal account of battle, 95-109 
 
 King's Mountain expedition, 
 fighting in the, 71-72 
 
 JACEY, COL., 81; muster of 
 his army at Cowpens, 82 
 
 Lamar, Mirabeau B., promoted 
 for bravery by Houston, 360 
 
 La Mothe, Capt, in George 
 Rogers Clark's expedition, 
 234; Clark's plan to capture, 
 236 
 
 La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur 
 de, the first white man in 
 Kentucky, 114; in the Great 
 Northwest, 211 
 
 Last battle of the Revolution, 
 Blue Licks, Ky., 138-146 
 
 Lewis, Gen. Andrew, and his 
 Borderers, 43-59; sketch of, 
 43; in Braddock's army, 44; 
 major in Washington's regi- 
 ment, 44; promoted as colonel, 
 44: commands the Blue Ridge 
 militia, 46; in the Battle of 
 Point Pleasant, 48-55; his con- 
 duct at Battle of Point Pleas- 
 ant criticised by Bancroft, 57; 
 Washington's friendship for, 
 58; resigns his command, 58; 
 death of, 58 
 
 Lewis, Col. Charles, leads an 
 expedition from Augusta 
 against Logan, 47, 51; shot, 
 52 
 
 Lewisburg, Blue Ridge militia 
 rendezvous at, 46 
 
 Licking River, 140 
 
 Ligonier, Fort, see Fort Ligo- 
 nier
 
 378 
 
 Index 
 
 Little Turtle Creek, Indian at- 
 tack at, 18 
 
 Logan, Col. Benjamin, in com- 
 mand of a company at battle 
 of Blue Licks, 140, 145 
 
 Logan (Tah-gah-jute), Cayugan 
 Indian, declares war on Penn- 
 sylvanians, 46; famous speech 
 of, 56-57; killed, 57 
 
 Lone Star Republic, the, 312-314 
 
 Long Hunters, the, 122 
 
 Louisville, Ky., 219 
 
 Lulbegrud Creek, 122 
 
 Lynch's Ferry, 358, 359 
 
 Lythe, Rev. John, Episcopal 
 clergyman, holds first relig- 
 ious services in Kentucky, 
 127 
 
 M 
 
 GARY, MAJOR, leads 
 attack on Indians at 
 Bryan's Station, 142-143 
 
 McGillivray, Indian chief, 216 
 
 McLanahan, Major, 282; killed, 
 283 
 
 Madison, Major, fierce defence 
 by, at Frenchtown, 284; or- 
 dered by Gen. Winchester to 
 surrender, 285 
 
 Maiden, now Amherstburg, On- 
 tario, British headquarters at, 
 273, 275, 286, 295 
 
 Mars, Corporal Stephen, gives 
 first alarm of Indian attack at 
 Tippecanoe, 258 
 
 Martin's Station, massacre at, 
 
 57 
 
 Mason, George, 218 
 
 Massacre at Martin's Station, 
 57; at Ruddle's Station, 57; at 
 Fort Mims, 167-178; of Major 
 Dade's command, 198-202; of 
 the Raisin, 271-289; at Goliad, 
 
 338-345 
 
 Matthews, Gen. George, in 
 command under Lord Dun- 
 more, 48 
 
 Maumee Rapids, 273 ; Winches- 
 ter ordered to march to, 274 
 
 Medals awarded for heroic ex- 
 ploits, 291-292 
 
 Merrill, Mrs. John, kills four 
 Indians, 151 
 
 Metacomet, the Wampanoag 
 Indian chief (King Philip), 
 243 
 
 Micanopy, Seminole chief, 195 ; 
 leads Indians in attack on 
 Major Bade, 200 
 
 Michilimackinac, 244 
 
 Middleton, Capt, 170, 172 
 
 Miller, Lieut.-Col., garrisons 
 Fort Harrison, 255 
 
 Mims, Fort, massacre at, 167- 
 178 
 
 Mims, Samuel, his farm at- 
 tacked by Creek Indians, un- 
 der Weatherford, 169-171 
 
 Mobilian race of Indians, 244, 
 246 
 
 Monroe, Mich., 274 
 
 Montgomery, Major L. P., 
 killed by Creek Indians, 186- 
 187 
 
 Moore, Gen. Andrew, in com- 
 mand under Lord Dunmore, 
 48 
 
 Morgan, Daniel, in command 
 under Lord Dunmore, 47 
 
 Morgans, the story of the, 163- 
 164 
 
 Morris, Robert, guardian of 
 William Henry Harrison, 249 
 
 Moscoso in Kentucky, 114 
 
 Mountaineers, the assembling of 
 the, 72-78 
 
 Mountains, the land beyond the, 
 
 II3-U5 
 Mudge, Lieut., 198, 200; killed, 
 
 201 
 Musgrove's Mills, skirmish at. 
 
 74,83 
 
 N 
 
 "XJAPOLEON of the West," 
 
 1 313 
 
 Natchez Indians, 212 
 Negroes butcher and mutilate 
 troops in the Dade massacre.
 
 Index 
 
 379 
 
 203; quasi-liherty of, among 
 the Indians, 194 
 
 Netherland, Major, checks ad- 
 vance of Indians on Bryan's 
 Station, 144-145 
 
 New Washington, 357, 359 
 
 Nez Perces War not justifiable 
 by United States, 193 
 
 " Nolichucky Jack," 70 
 
 Ninety Six, 81 
 
 Northwest Territory, the, 21 1- 
 304 
 
 o 
 
 QCONOSTOTA, Indian chief, 
 216; at siege of Fort Lee, 
 70 
 
 " Old King's Mountain," 47 
 Osceola, Seminole chief, 195- 
 197; treachery of Gen. Jessup 
 toward, 196; kills Gen. 
 Thompson, 200 
 Ouabache, see Wabash 
 Ouithlacoochee River, 198 
 Owen, Major Abraham, joins 
 Harrison's expedition against 
 Tecumseh, 252; mistaken for 
 Harrison by Indians and 
 killed, 259 
 
 pARKER, SIR PETER, at- 
 tempt of, to capture Charles- 
 ton, 70 
 
 Pennsylvania, how Henry Bou- 
 quet saved, 3-20; western, ac- 
 tivity of Indians in, 5 
 
 Pennsylvania and Virginia, 
 strife between for possession 
 of land, 45 
 
 Philip, King, Algonquin Indian 
 chief, 243 
 
 Piankeshaw Indians volunteer 
 services to Geo. Rogers Clark, 
 
 234-235 
 
 Pioneer, the American, ix-x 
 Pioneers of East Tennessee, 63- 
 
 93 
 
 Pioneers, the wives of the, 151- 
 153 
 
 Pitt, Fort, see Fort Pitt 
 
 Point Pleasant, Battle of, 48-55 
 
 Point Pleasant, on the Kana- 
 wha, 214 
 
 Pontiac, Ottawa Indian Chief, 5, 
 246 
 
 Portilla, Mexican Colonel, de- 
 stroys remnant of Fannin's 
 command, 341-343 
 
 Potomac Gap, 46 
 
 Precedence, disastrous result of 
 question of, 277-279 
 
 Proctor, English commander in 
 War of 1812, 264; at Battle of 
 the Thames, 267; outpost of, 
 at Frenchtown, 275; attacks 
 Winchester's command, 279; 
 infamous treachery of, 284- 
 286; withdraws to Maiden, 
 286; attacks Fort Meigs, 295; 
 frustrated in his attack on 
 Fort Stephenson by Captain 
 Croghan, 296-304 
 
 DAISIN RIVER, massacre 
 on the, 271-288; Winches- 
 ter's camp on the, 277; map of 
 massacre, 278 
 
 Red Hawk, Indian chief, killed, 
 59 
 
 Red River, camp of Daniel 
 Boone on, 121 
 
 Red Sticks, Creek warriors, 173 
 
 Red Warrior, Creek Indian, 169 
 
 Reed, Joseph, Pres. of Supreme 
 Executive Council of Penn- 
 sylvania, 33 
 
 Refugio, Texas, Gen. King's 
 command overwhelmed at, 
 332, 333 
 
 Revolution, on the eve of the, 
 43-59; last battle of the, 138- 
 146 
 
 " Revolution, the Rear Guard of 
 the," 67-68 
 
 Reynolds, British Major, 277
 
 3 8o 
 
 Index 
 
 Robb's Kentucky Riflemen, 262 
 
 Robertson, James, of Tennessee, 
 in expedition against Logan, 
 47; settles in East Tennessee, 
 67-68 
 
 Rocheblave, M. de, commander 
 on the Kaskaskia River, 220; 
 his wife conceals valuable 
 papers, 222 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, on con- 
 quering a continent, ix 
 
 Round Head, Indian chief, 279, 
 283 
 
 " Royal Americans," 8 
 
 Ruddle's Station, massacre at, 
 
 57 
 " Runaway Scrape, the,' 354- 
 
 356 
 Ruse against ruse, 155 
 
 QT. AUGUSTINE, FLA., U. 
 
 S. troops at, 198; officers 
 
 and soldiers of Bade massacre 
 
 interred at, 207 
 
 Salt River, explored by Boone, 
 
 121 
 
 San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, 
 captured, 314; Santa Anna's 
 army at, 320 
 San Antonio de Valero, mission 
 
 of, 314 
 
 San Felipe de Austin, 355 
 San Jacinto, Battle of, 363-368 
 San Jacinto corn, 358-359 
 Sandusky Indians ambushed by 
 
 Capt. Samuel Brady, 33 
 Sandusky, Lower, defence of, 
 
 293 ; see Fort Stephenson 
 " Sandy Creek Voyage," 44 
 Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez, be- 
 comes Dictator of Mexico, 
 313; sketch of, 313; demands 
 surrender of the Alamo, 316; 
 storms the fort and butchers 
 its defenders, 324-326; the 
 worst of his misdeeds, 329- 
 344; concentrates his army at 
 the Colorado, 356; trapped by 
 
 Houston, 357-362; captured at 
 San Jacinto, 368 
 
 Scalping of Indians, official, 33 
 
 Scioto River, 47; Boone attacks 
 Indians on the, 134 
 
 Scottish Highlanders in battle 
 of Bushy Run, 16-17 
 
 Seminoles, their fight for free- 
 dom, 193-208; meaning of 
 their name, 193 
 
 Seneca Falls, Gen. Harrison's 
 post at, 395 
 
 Sevier, John, and the Watauga 
 men, 63-68; organizer of the 
 first democratic government, 
 63; origin of his family, 64; 
 organizes the State of Frank- 
 lin, 68; betrayed and tried for 
 high treason, 69; set free and 
 elected to the legislature, 69; 
 chosen governor, 69; death of, 
 69; romantic episode of his 
 life, 70-71 ; his gallant conduct 
 in Battle of King's Mountain, 
 86-93 
 
 Sevier, Valentine, leads a force 
 against Logan, 47 
 
 Shawnees, Capt. Samuel Brady 
 and Lewis Wetzel in camp of, 
 36-38; Col. Lewis's expedition 
 against, 44 
 
 Shelby. Capt. Evan, in com- 
 mand under Gen. Lewis, 47, 
 52; companion of Sevier, 65-66 
 
 Shelby, Col. Isaac, in Battle of 
 Point Pleasant, 47, 54; com- 
 panion of Sevier, 65-66, 75-78; 
 in Battle of the Thames, 265 ; 
 commands the left centre at 
 Battle of King's Mountain, 
 86-93 
 
 Sherrill, Katharine, second wife 
 of John Sevier, 70-71 
 
 Shipp, Ensign Edmund, inter- 
 esting interview of, with Brit- 
 ish officers, 299 
 
 Shippensburg, Pa., fugitives at, 
 6 
 
 Short, British Lieut. -Col., at 
 attack on Fort Meigs, 302; 
 killed, 302
 
 Index 
 
 38' 
 
 Slavery, position of Mexico to, 
 313; question of, in Texas, 313 
 
 " Sons of Fire," Cherokees, 71 
 
 Spencer, Capt. Spier, commands 
 mounted company in Harri- 
 son's army, 253; killed at 
 Tippecanoe, 261 
 
 Stars and Stripes, domination 
 of, yiii; first floated over Mis- 
 sissippi River, 222; hoisted in 
 Vincennes, Ind., 236-238 
 
 Stewart, explorer and compan- 
 ion of Daniel Boone, 119-121 
 
 Stone Eater, Indian chief at 
 Tippecanoe, 263 
 
 Stuart, Major, incites Creeks 
 and Cherokees against Amer- 
 icans, 216 
 
 Stupes, Jenny, rescued by Capt. 
 Samuel Brady, 38 
 
 Sumter, Col., 81 
 
 Sycamore Shoals, 76 
 
 Symmes, Judge, father-in-law of 
 William Henry Harrison, 250 
 
 npAH-GAH-JUTE, Cayugan 
 Indian, 45 ; see Logan 
 
 Talladega, Creek Indians de- 
 feated at, by Gen. Jackson, 181 
 
 Tallapoosa River, Ala., last 
 stand of Creek Indians at, 
 182-186 
 
 Talluschatches, Creek Indians 
 defeated at, by Gen. Coffee, 
 181 
 
 Tampa Bay, 205, 206 
 
 Tecumseh, Indian Chief, 47; his 
 qualities as a statesman, 244; 
 his views on possession of 
 land, 244; James Parton's 
 view of his character, 245; 
 Gen. Harrison's testimony as 
 to his character and abilities, 
 246; his patience and restraint, 
 248; his part in the Battle of 
 Fallen Timbers, 249; heart- 
 broken at result of Battle of 
 Tippecanoe, 6; Proctor, Eng- 
 
 lish commander, inferior to, 
 264; in Battle of the Thames, 
 265; killed, 266-267; perpetu- 
 ation of name, 268 
 
 Tecumseh and William Henry 
 Harrison, 243-268; the great- 
 est of the Indians, 243-248 
 
 Tennessee, Pioneers of East, 63 
 
 Tensaw Lake, 167, 169 
 
 Terre Haute, Ind., site of, 253 
 
 Texas and her heroic sons, 307- 
 367 
 
 Texas, Republic of, 312-314 
 
 Thames, Battle of the, 264-268; 
 important results of, 248 
 
 Thames River, Province of On- 
 tario, 264 
 
 Thayendenegea (Joseph Brandt) 
 Indian chief, 243 
 
 Thompson, Gen., killed by Os- 
 ceola, 200 
 
 Tippecanoe, result of battle of, 
 248; meaning of the word, 
 253; Harrison's disposition of 
 troops on ground at, 255-256; 
 plan of battle of, 256; account 
 of the battle, 257-263 
 
 Tipton, Ensign, made captain of 
 his company, 262 
 
 Todd, Col. John, defends 
 Bryan's Station, 140; first 
 governor of Illinois, 123 
 
 Tohopeka, Battle of, 177; Jack- 
 son's victory at, 181-190 
 
 Tories in Ferguson's army, 75 
 
 Trans-Allegheny tribes, league 
 of, 245; the protagonist of the 
 league, 248-252 
 
 Transylvania Company estab- 
 lished at Boonesborough, 127; 
 claims right of eminent do- 
 main over Kentucky, 215 
 
 Travis, Lieut.-Col. William Bar- 
 rett, commander of the Alamo, 
 315; his appeal for assistance, 
 3.I7-3I8 
 
 Trigg, Col. Stephen, defends 
 Bryan's Station, 140 
 
 " Twin Sisters," Houston's can- 
 non, 256, 259, 364
 
 382 
 
 Index 
 
 u 
 
 TTNITED STATES, injustice 
 of the, to Indians, 193-197; 
 boundaries as arranged by 
 France and Spain, 228-229 
 
 Urrea, Mexican General, over- 
 whelms Fannin's command, 
 330-342 
 
 yiGO, FRANCIS, sketch of, 
 227, 228; his claim allowed 
 
 by government, 240 
 Villiers, Conlon de, 43 
 Vince's Creek, Texas, 359, 364 
 Vincennes, Sieur de, establishes 
 
 a military post on the Wabash, 
 
 211 ; killed by Natchez Indians, 
 
 282 
 Vincennes, Ind., founded, 211; 
 
 held by Geo. Rogers Clark, 
 
 219, 223; captured by Clark, 
 
 234-238 
 Virginia and Pennsylvania, strife 
 
 between for possession of 
 
 land, 45 
 
 w 
 
 "WABASH, military post at, 
 established by Vincennes, 
 
 211 
 
 Walker, Gunner, the last man 
 killed in the Alamo, 325 
 
 Walker, Dr. Thomas, Virginian 
 explorer, 115 
 
 Warburton, British colonel, at 
 attack on Fort Meigs, 303 
 
 Ward, Lieut.-Col., takes assist- 
 ance to the Refugio garrison, 
 332; escapes, 332; shot by 
 Mexicans, 343 
 
 Warrick, Capt, killed at Tippe- 
 canoe, 261 
 
 Washington, George, narrow 
 escape of, 73 
 
 Watauga men and John Sevier, 
 63-68 
 
 Watauga, Tenn., visited by De 
 Soto, 66; settled by Dougher- 
 ty, an Irish trader, 66 
 
 Watauga, Fincastle County, 47 
 
 Waxhaws, massacre at, 87 
 
 Wayne, Anthony, instructor of 
 William Henry Harrison, 249 
 
 Weatherford, Indian war chief. 
 169 
 
 Wells, Col. of iTth U. S. Infan- 
 try, 273, 277, 280, 282; killed, 
 283 
 
 Wetzel, Lewis, adventure with 
 Capt. Samuel Brady in camp 
 of Shawnees, 36-38 
 
 White Loon, Indian chief at 
 Tippecanoe, 263 
 
 White, Stuart Edward, on the 
 American pioneer, ix 
 
 Wilderness Road, 124 
 
 Williams, Col., 81; killed at 
 King's Mountain, 91 
 
 Willing, Anne, refuses to wed 
 General Bouquet, 19 
 
 Willing, the, a bateaux com- 
 manded by Capt. Rogers, 229, 
 235 
 
 Winchester, Col., ordered to 
 march to Maumee Rapids, 
 274; camps on the Raisin 
 River, 277 ; his command at- 
 tacked by Gen. Proctor, 279 
 
 Winnemac, Indian chief at Tip- 
 pecanoe, 263 
 
 Winston, Major, 86, 89 
 
 Withlacoochee River, 198, 199, 
 204 
 
 Wood, Col., Virginian explorer, 
 
 US 
 Wyandotte Indians assist Gen. 
 
 Proctor at Frenchtown, 279; 
 
 attack Bryan's Station, 140- 
 
 144 
 Wythe, George, 218 
 
 VADKIN RIVER, Boone's 
 settlement on, 121-122 
 
 " Yellow Jackets," Capt. Spen- 
 cer's company of mounted 
 rifles, 253; at Tippecanoe, 261 
 
 VANE, ELIZABETH, brav- 
 ery of, 152
 
 AMERICAN FIGHTS AND 
 FIGHTERS SERIES 
 
 COLONIAL, 1556 to 1759 
 
 1 HE volume tells of Frontenac's exploits, the capture of 
 
 Louisburg by the colonists, the fighting around Ticonderoga 
 
 and the battle of Quebec, and contains tales of Sir Henry 
 
 Morgan and other famous pirates, the story of de Soto, etc. 
 
 " It is a fascinating period, and the author has picked out thrilling 
 
 stories and told them in good fashion." SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN. 
 
 16 Illustrations. Postpaid, $1.35 ; net, $1.20 
 
 REVOLUTIONARY, 1776-1812-1815 
 
 A. SERIES of dramatically told stories, based on the history 
 of the greatest battles fought in the early days of the Amer- 
 ican people. (Formerly "American Fights and Fighters ") 
 
 " Every page in this volume is readable and every campaign and 
 battle is described with clearness and vigor." NEW YORK TIMES. 
 16 Illustrations. $1.50 
 
 BORDER, 1760 to 1836 
 
 STORIES of Daniel Boone, Sam Houston, David Crockett, 
 Andrew Jackson, etc., whose battles in the wilderness and on 
 the plains mark the decisive steps by which the boundaries 
 of the nation were pushed westward. 
 
 " It is full of romance, and should prove more interesting to a boy 
 than any novel of adventure." PITTSBURG DISPATCH. 
 
 16 Illustrations. Postpaid, $1.45 ; net, $1.30 
 
 INDIAN, 1866 to 1876. (New) 
 
 I ELLING for the first time the history of the Indian war- 
 fare during this century in America. It is the only connected 
 account of the struggle that the American government has 
 made in this period to keep the red man in check. 
 
 "Admirable from every point of view." PHILADEPHIA INQUIRER. 
 Illustrated. Postpaid, $1.45 ; net, $1.30 
 
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