was judiciously posted to prevent their advance. The Volunteers occupied the town or were posted behind pickets, from which they could annoy the enemy's flanks; the regular troops defended the fort, and two twenty-four pounders were posted on an eminence charged with grape, and could sweep the whole line of the enemy as it advanced. All was now silent expectation. The daring foe still moved slowly for ward, apparently regardless, or unconscious of their danger-for their destruction must have been certain-had they not been impressed with contempt for a commander, whose treachery or pusillanimity they knew. The hearts of the Americans beat high, at the near prospect of victory and triumph. But who can describe the chagrin and mortification of these troops, when at the very moment it was thought the British were deliberately advancing to certain destruction, the artillery were ordered not to fire! and the whole force was ordered to retire into the fort. Here the troops were ordered to stack their arms, and to the astonishment of every one, a white flag, in token of submission was suspended from the walls! A British officer rode up to ascertain the cause. A capitulation was agreed upon, without even stipulating the terms. Thus without firing a gun, did this pusillanimous commander, surrender an army of about seventeen hundred brave men, well provided with provisions and the requisite munitions of war, to an infirm force of about seven hundred British soldiers and Canadian militia, and six hundred Indians. The British took immediate possession of the fort, containing forty barrels of powder, four hundred rounds of twenty-four pound shot, one hundred thousand ball cartridges, two thousand five hundred stand of arms, twenty-five pieces of iron and eight brass cannon, a great number of which had been captured by the Americans during the war of the revolution. The detachments under Colonels Cass and M'Arthur, and the whole territory, was surrendered to the British.

The disgraceful surrender of Hull, aroused the public mind to the necessity of retrieving the lost honor of the nation by a vigorous prosecution of the war. In every part of the west, the most animated scenes of preparation prevailed, Civil pursuits were almost forgotten. Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Western Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, were animated by an enthusiasm seldom surpassed. Volunteer compa nies were raised, and equipped in a day, and on their march for the frontier. So numerous were the volunteers, that many companies were not received and compelled to return. the Kentucky volunteers was assigned to Gen. Payne.

The

command of

Those from

A

Pennsylvania, under Gen. Crooks, and those from Virginia, under Gen. Leftwitch. Thus in a few weeks upwards of four thousand men, were drawn from their homes, completely equipped, and ready for the field. The command of this army was given to Maj. Gen. Harrison, who was well known to the people of the western country, and whose recent conduct at Tippecanoe had raised him high in public estimation.(1) In order to secure him this rank he was appointed by Charles Scott, Governor of Kentucky, a Major General in the Kentucky militia. On his way from Cincinnati to the army, on the thirtieth of August, Gen. Harrison overtook the Kentucky troops near Dayton, and as he passed them from rear to front, they gave him three hearty cheers of welcome. He received also at this time the commission of Brigadier General in the army of the United States, and at the request of the army was soon afterwards appointed by the President, Major General and Commanderin-Chief of the northwestern army, with orders to retake Detroit as soon as practicable.

The first step taken by General Harrison, was to relieve the frontier posts-Fort Harrison on the Wabash, and Fort Wayne on the Maumee. Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, was defended by one company of about twenty-five effective men, under the command of Captain ZACHARY TAYLOR, now Major-General Taylor, the Hero of the Rio Grande. This fort was infested by a large Indian force, some of whom pretended to be friendly. On the third of September, 1812, two men were killed near the fort, and on the next day a party from the Prophet's town appeared with a white flag, and announced to Captain Taylor their intention of having a conference in the morning. Captain Taylor, expecting an attack that night, examined the arms of his men, provided them with ammunition, and put every thing in the best possible state of defence, that the weakness of the garrison, and the weak fortifications would admit. About eleven o'clock at night, the attack commenced. Captain Taylor was aroused by the firing of the sentinels, and immediately sprung up and ordered the men to their posts. The fire was now brisk on both sides, when it was discovered that the Indians had set fire to one of the block-houses, unperceived. Every effort to extinguish the flames proved abortive. A quantity of whiskey, belonging to a contractor, took fire, and blazing up, immediately enveloped the whole building in a conflagration. The situation of the fort became desperate, the yells of the Indians the shrieks of a number of women and children, who had sought shelter in the fort, added to the discharge of musketry, and the

raging of the flames, altogether produced a terrific scene. Despair seized upon the boldest, and two soldiers, giving up all for lost, leaped over the pickets, for the purpose of escaping, and one of them was instantly cut to pieces by the Indians. Captain Taylor did not lose his presence of mind, but coolly ordered the roofs of the adjoining barracks to be taken off, and a breast-work raised opposite the burning building. This was done, and a breast-work raised eight feet high, to cover the open space which would be left by the burnt block-house. The other buildings were then preserved, and the garrison saved from massacre. The firing continued until daylight, when the Indians retired, after suffering great loss. The loss in the fort was only three killed, and one or two wounded. The Indians, foiled in their attack upon the fort, fell upon the settlements on a fork of White River, and murdered twenty-one men, women and children.

On the sixteenth of September, Colonel Russel arrived to the relief of the fort with a reinforcement of six hundred mounted Rangers and five hundred Infantry.(1) For this gallant defence Capt. Taylor received a Major's commission.

A large army of four thousand mounted Riflemen, was raised chiefly in Kentucky, for an expedition against the Kickapoo and Peoria Indian towns on the Illinois river, and placed under the command of Major General Hopkins. The army marched from Vincennes to Fort Harrison, and from there proceeded west, through open plains covered with tall grass, which at this time was dry and combustible. The distance

from Fort Harrison to the Peoria towns, was about one hundred and twenty miles, and to the Kickapoo villages one hundred and eighty. Murmurs and discontent began to show themselves in this unwieldy and independent body, which was kept together by no discipline or authority. In this effervesence of chivalry every one consulted his own will, without restraint. It had hardly been four days on its march, when they halted, and a Major rode up to Gen. Hopkins, ordered him to return, and lead back the troops. An idea began to prevail that the guides were ignorant of the country, and that they were pursuing the wrong Just at this time, the wind arose blowing violently towards them, the grass was on fire, and the flames approaching them with great velocity. This was supposed to be an Indian attack. By setting fire around their camp, they arrested the progress of the flames, and saved themselves. The next morning, a council of officers was called, and the General, seeing the state of the army proposed to proceed with five

course.

hundred men, if that number would volunteer. Not a man agreed to accompany him. He then requested to direct the operations of that single day. This was agreed to; but when orders were given to march, they all turned round, and pursued their course towards home, leaving him in the rear. Thus terminated the expedition.(2)

At the same time, another army destined to meet Gen. Hopkins at the Peoria towns, was raised in Illinois. It consisted of a corps of Riflemen under the command of Ninian Edwards, Governor of the territory, and three companies of United States Rangers, under Col. Russel. Notwithstanding the failure of Gen. Hopkins to co-operate, they persevered in the enterprise, destroyed one of the towns, and pursued the Indians into a swamp, where they fled for shelter. The troops waded into the swamp, in some places the water being up to the middle, for several miles, and killed upwards of twenty of the enemy, in this place upon the bank of the Illinois. Pamitaris' town, a populous and flourishing village, was completely destroyed, together with all the Indians' provisions for the winter.

Gen. Hopkins, determined to wipe off the disgrace of his lost expedition, and therefore, led another army, better disciplined against the Indian towns, on the head waters of the Wabash. On the eleventh of November, he set out from Fort Harrison, with about twelve hundred men; while at the same time, seven boats, under the command of Lieut. Col. Butler, ascended the river with supplies and provisions. On the nineteenth, Gen. Hopkins arrived at the Prophet's town, and immediately sent Col. Butler with three hundred men, to surprize the Winnebago towns on Ponce Passu creek. He came upon the place about daylight, but found it evacuated. The Winnebago towns, the Prophet's town, and a large Kickapoo village, containing one hundred and twenty cabins, were burned, and their winter provisions of corn destroyed. No Indians were discovered until the twenty-first, when they fired upon a small party and killed a man by the name of Dunn. The next day about sixty horsemen went to bury the dead, when they were suddenly attacked, and eighteen men killed and wounded. The Indians then evacuated their camp, and retreated, when the army returned.

About the time, that the Indians were repulsed by Capt. Taylor, at Fort Harrison, a large Indian force had invested Fort Wayne, and also Fort Defiance. Gen. Harrison reached Fort Defiance on the twelfth of September, and the Indians immediately disappeared. On the sixth and ninth, they had attacked the fort with great fury, resorting to every

stratagem, and attempting several times to take it by assault, but were compelled to retire. Gen. Harrison then resolved to lay waste the Indian country. One detachment proceeded against a Potawatomee town, on the river St. Joseph, which discharges itself into Lake Michigan; and the other against the Miami villages. Both of the detachments were successful, the bark and wooden huts of nine villages were burned, the inhabitants having abandoned them, and their corn was cut up and destroyed.

General James Winchester, at the head of about two thousand men, was ordered to take post at the Rapids of the Maumee, while General Harrison repaired to Fort St. Mary, for the purpose of organizing the ulterior movements of the army. General Winchester was obliged to advance slowly in consequence of the great difficulties of the route, and to avoid surprise. His route lay through a country covered with deep forests, close thickets and marshes, in which the horses sunk to the knees at every step in the mire. Colonel Jennings had been ordered to proceed with the supplies by the river Au Glaize. After six days march, the army arrived at Fort Defiance, and the British and Indians who had again laid seige to it, precipitately retreated down the river in boats.

General Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia county, Ohio, had raised about one thousand volunteers for six months duty, and his brigade was attached to the command of General Winchester. Orders were now given to General Tupper by General Winchester, to proceed immediately to the Rapids, and drive the enemy from that place. On the route General Tupper sent out a small party to reconnoitre. This detachment pursued the Indians six or seven miles, and returned without finding the enemy. General Winchester was offended, and ordered General Tupper to send out a larger force, but the troops with their half-starved horses refused to go. General Winchester in a rage, ordered General Tupper himself to go with all his mounted men. Obeying this order, as he was just about to march, Colonel Allen came up with a commission from General Winchester to take this command. This so irritated General Tupper and his brigade, that they left the camp afterwards and applied to General Harrison to be allowed to serve under him. (1)

Genera! Tupper having returned to Urbania with his mounted men, organized another expedition for the purpose of proceeding to the Rapids. His force consisted of about six hundred men, and was furnished with six days provisions. He found the place in the possession of the British and Indians, and a number of boats and small vessels lying below.