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A7 PREFACE. .> / [from the trefack to the first edition.] * * * « * « * In the preparation of this work the authors have been much aided by Colonel M'Aflee's excellent His- tory of the Late War— by Mr. Dawson's Historical Narrative, which embraces many valuable and au- thentic documents — and by Ju(%e Hall's elegant Memoir of the Public Services of General Harrison. Several other historical and biographical narratives have been consulted ; and, in addition to these sources of information, the authors have had the benefit of original letters and documents not heretofore em- braced in any similar publication. They have also been favored with the personal recollections of seve- ral officers of the late war, who participated with honor in the north-western campaigns. Finally, they themselves happen to have a personal know- ledge of many of the scenes and incidents which they have undertaken to describe. LFnder these circumstances, whatever may be thought of the literature of the work, they venture to claim for it, at least, the merit of authenticity in every substantial particular. Running, as it does, through a period of nearly fifty years, in the history of the West, it will be found to embrace a variety of matter valuable to the general reader, independently of its immediate relation to the distinguished citizen whose remarkable public career has been briefly portrayed in its pages. C. S. T. B. D. Cincinnati, March, 1840. INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED EDITION. I Two Chapters have been added to this work, as it originally stood. In those an account is given of the political campaign of 1840; of the inauguration of General Harrison, and of his brief administration of one month. A few alterations have been made in the work ; mostly such as were called for by the death of the sub- ject of the Biography, since the original edition was prepared ; some slight errors, which had escaped the authors, have been corrected, and the Volume is now submitted to the Public as containing, in a cheap form, a condensed, and, it is believed, correct account of one of the best men yet born in America. J. H. P. < CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Hia birth. — Parentage, — Education. — Entrance into the army. — Services under St. Clair and Wayne — Butllt of the Mau- mee. — In conamand of Fort Washington (now Cincinnati.) — Hia marriage. — Resignation of liis commission in tlie ar- iV nay _ Page 11 CHAPTER n. Retires to a farm. — Appointed Secretary of the North-weat- em Territory. — Elected a delegate in Congress. — Procures a Law sub-dividing the Public Lands. — Division of the North- western Territory. — Military Land Warrants. — PoUtical sen- timents. — Charge of Federalism. 19 CHAPTER III. Harrison appointed Governor of Indiana Tcnitory. — Commis- sioner to treat with the Indian Tribes. — His Message to the Legislative Council. — Addresses of tlxe Council to him. — Cor- respondence with President Jefferson and the War Depart- ment. — Indian Treaties. — Reappointed Governor by Jelfer- Bon, and again by Madison.— Recommends the building of a fleet on lake Erie. 23 CHAPTER IV. Interview between Governor Harrison and Tecumthc Battle of Tippecanoe. — Various documents concerning the same vii Viii CONTENTS. from individuals — the legislatures of Indiana and Kentucky ; from President Madison, and the historians M'Afee, Dawson and Hall. - - 30 CHAPTER V. Governor Harrison visits Kentucky. — Appointed Major-general in the militia of that state. — Brigadier in the United States army. — Commander-in-chief of the North-western army.— Relieves Fort Wayne. — Leads an expedition against the Wa- bash Indians. — Appoints Winchester to the command of the left wing of the army. — Refutation of the charge that he had intrigued for Winchester's command. — Reconciles the troops to serve under Winchester. — Plan of campaign 40 CHAPTER VI. Movements of the army. — Tupper's expedition to the Rapids. — Campbell's expedition to Mississiniway. — General Harrison recommends a fleet on lake Erie. — Plan of operations for the campaign. — Again urges on the Secretary at War the neces- sity of a fleet on lake Erie. — Winchester's movement to the Rapids. — His movement to the river Raisin, and defeat on the 22nd of January. — The question examined, on whom rests the blame of that defeat. — Opinion of Wood — M'Afee's opinions. — Address of the Kentucky and Ohio officers — 48 CHAPTER VII. Movements of the North-western army, after the defeat at the river Raisin. — Establishment of Camp Meigs. — Kentucky and Ohio militia discharged. — Termination of the first campaign. — Preparations for the next. — Colonel Morrison's opinion.— Siege of Fort Meigs. — Arrival of Kentucky troops under General Clay. — Dudley's defeat. — Brilliant sorties, 5th May. — Proctor's demand of a surrender. — His abandonment of the riege. — Gallant conduct of General Harrison. 64 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. Council with friendly Indians. — Rp;.ortod investment of Fort Meigs. — Second siege of Fort Meigs. — Attack on Fort Ste- phenson. — Croghan's letter. — Statement of the general, staflQ and field officers, about the attack on Fort Stephenson. — Ohio Militia at Grand Camp. — Preparations for crossing the lake. — Perry's victory. — Army reaches Maiden. — Proctor pursued. — Council at Sandwich. — Shelby, Cass, and Perry's letters. 81 CHAPTER IX. Battle of the Thames. — Documents as to the same General Harrison sails for Buflalo. — Marches to Fort George. — Or- dered to his District. — Descends lake Ontario to Sackett'a Harbor. — Passes to Cincinnati, via. New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. — Interference with his command by Gen- eral Armstrong. — Perry's letter. — M'Arthur's letter. — John- son's letter. — Croghan's letter. — Harrison's letter of resigna- tion to the President — Governor Shelby's letter to the Pres- ident. 98 CHAPTER X. Commissioner to treat with the Indians. — Elected to Congreas in 1816. — Investigation of his conduct in that body. — Effort in favor of the pension laws. — Speech in regard to Kosci- Uisko.— Speech on General Jackson's conduct in the Seminole war. — Favors the independence of the South American Re- publics. — A gold medal, and the thanks of Congress award- ed him.— Elected to the Legislature of Oliio.— Unfounded charge of having voted to sell white men imprisoned for debt. — Elected to the Senate of the United States. — Refutes Randolph's charge of federalism. — Minister to Colombia. — Letter to Bolivar. — Recalled by General Jackson, 114 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. Colonel Johnson's speech in Congress. — General Harrison's Cheviot address. — His address in 1832. in regard to Slavery. — Vincennes speech about Abolition. — His speech at the 47th anniversary celebration of the settlement ot Ohio. — His- torical discourse on the aborigines of the Ohio. 130 CHAPTER XH. General Harrison's first nomination for the presidency. — His letter to Sherrod Williams. — His opinions upon Duelling.— His letter to Harmer Denny, on the principles upon which the government should be administered, — Second nomination for the presidency, December, 1 S39. 142 CHAPTER Xni. Harrisburg convention Canvass of 1 840. — Great mass meet- ings at Fort Meigs, Tippecanoe, Bunker Hill, «fcc. — Election of General Harrison 159 CHAPTER XIV. Inauguration of Gen. Harrison. — His address. — His conduct after taking office. — His sickness and death. — Disposal of his remains. — Grant by the nation to his family 175 CHAPTER XV. General Harrison's civil and military qualifications considered. — Parallel between him and Washington. — His integrity and disinterestedness, illustrated by several anecdotes. — His social and Uterary character. — His enjoyment of a green old age in body and mind 219 SKETCHES OF GENERAL HARRISON. CHAPTER I. His birth. — Parentarire- — Education. — Entrance into the army. — Services under SSt. Clair and Wayne. — Battle of the Mau- mee. — In command of Fort Washin^on (now Cincinnati) — Hia marriage. — Resignation of his commission in the army. William Henry Harrison was born on the 9th day of February, 1773, at Berkley, on James River, in the county of Charles City, in the state of Virginia. He was descended lineally from the general Harrison, who was a distincruished actor in the civil wars of England, and a prominent officer in the armies of the common- wealth. Benjamin Harrison, the father of the subject of this memoir, early distinguished himself in opposition to the high-handed measures of the British ministry; — and played an important part in the Colonial Legislature of Virginia. As early as the 14th November, 1764, he was one of the committee to prepare a remonstrance against the odious stamp act, at that time contemplated by the British cabinet, and from this period he was associated with Lee, Henry, Nicholas and others, in energetic efforts which were directed towards a vindication of the rights of the people against the encroachments of the crown. He w^as a member in the Continental Congress during 1774-5-6. In the congress of 1775 the office of speaker was vaca- ted by Peyton Randolph, and in the choice of a succes- sor, congress was divided between Benjamin Harrison and John Hancock. In this early period of the struggle for liberty, Mr. Harrison being a delegate from the "Old Dominion," in the south, gave an illustrious evidence of his patriotism by yielding his pretensions in favor of the 12 SKETCHES OF great patriot from the Bay State of the north : and Mr. Hancock, hesitating for a moment to take the chair, Mr. Harrison, with practical good humor, " seized the modest candidate in his athletic arms, and placed him in the presidential chair ;" then turning to the members, he ex- claimed, "We will show mother Britain how little WE CARE FOR HER, BY MAKING A MASSACHUSETTS MAN OUR PRESIDENT, WHOM SHE HAS EXCLUDED FROM PARDON BY A PUBLIC PROCLAMATION." Mr. Harrison was a member of the committee of that year, whose report formed the basis of our present militia system. He was associated with the immortal Wash- ington, in a committee which arranged a plan for the fu- ture support of the army. He was chairman of the com- mittee whose agency brought to our standard the gallant La Fayette, and was afterwards appointed a member of the Board of War. On the 10th of June, 1776, he called up the resolutions by which the colonies were declared INDEPENDENT, and which authorized a Declaration of Independence to be prepared ; and took part in the va- rious discussions which preceded the final adoption of Jefferson's celebrated paper. A curious anecdote is on record, which furnishes a graphic description of the tem- per and intrepidity of the patriots of that day. Elbridge Gerry, a delegate from Massachusetts, as slender as Mr. Harrison was portly, stood beside Harrison whilst sign- ing the Declaration. Harrison turned round to him with a smile as he raised his hand from the paper and said, *' when the hanging scene comes to be exhibited, I shall have all the advantage over you. It will be over with me in a minute, but you will be kicking in the air half an hour after I am gone." Mr. Harrison continued in congress until 1777, when he retired, and having been elected to the House of Del- egates of Virginia, was chosen speaker, the duties of which he performed until 1782, when, on the resignation of general Nelson, he was elected governor of Virginia, and was re-elected as long as the constitution would per- mit. He died whilst a member of the legislature, in 1791.* * See Sanderson's "Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence." GENERAL HARRISON. 13 William Henry Harrison was educated at Harnpden Sydney coUeire, in Prince Edward County, Va., and then repaired to IMiiladelpliia to pursue the study of med- icine under the instruction of thtMlistinsjuislu-d Dr. Bvn- jamin Hush, and under the i>uardianship ot" Robert Morris, the great financier of the revolution, both of whom were signers of the Declaration of Independence. The youth who had laid the foundations at college for a taste in the literature and history of the ancient classics, was thus afforded an opportunity of drinking deep at these foun- tains, of the genius and spirit of the revolution. He had derived from liis j)atriotic father, the lessons of republi- can liberty, and in the school of Rush, of Morris, and of Wajshingtcm, he imbibed a love of country, which led him to encounter difliculty and danger in her defence. About this period the disasters of the north-western army under the accomplished Harmar, excited a deep sympa- thy in the public mind, and the youthful Harrison, par- taking largely of the generous impulses of the day, re- solved to abandon the studies in which he was engaged and to participate in the perils as well as the sacrifices "which were incident to this ijreat border warfare. His guardian and his friends opposed his wish to enter upon this hazardous duty : but he applied in person to gene- ral Knox, secretary of war, and to the Immortal Wash- ington, who granted him a commission of ensign in the first regiment of United IStates' artillery, and in Novem- ber, 1791, when but nineteen years of age, he marched on foot to Pittsburgh, and by descending the Ohio, joined his regiment, then stationed at Fort Washington. It was shortly before the defeat of the veteran St. Clair, that Harrison formed the resolution to devote his energies to the military service of his country, at a period when his judgment and feelings must have been guided by a high sense of patriotism, and a disinterested love of fame. The theatre of the war was in the remote wil- derness, and the character of the enemy such, that laurels were to be won only by great suffering and exposure, in situations destitute of the comforts or even the necessa- ries of civilized life. A great national disaster had oc- curred in 1790, under the gallant Harmar, who, though 14 SKETCHES OF seconded by the heroic conduct of colonel Hardin, was defeated in two partial actions, by the Indians, near the Maumee. Conofress authorized, at its next session, the raising of two thousand men, under the denomination of levies, and general St. Clair, governor of the north-west- ern territory, was appointed commander-in-chief. On the 4th of November, 1791, he was met and like- wise defeated, with great loss, by a formidable body of Indians, on the head waters of Wabash river. The defeat of St. Clair, though congress subsequently acquitted him of all blame, produced a deep impression on the public mind, and, connected with the previous dis- asters of the war, rendered the service unpopular, drained the public treasury, and brought the country into a crisis which developed the energies of Washington's great in- tellect. The war had assumed a national importance, inducing the president to select for the chief of the army a soldier of prudence, of experience and of energy. For some time Washington was in doubt whom to appoint. Wayne, Henry Lee, and various others were named : at length the former was chosen, although the appointment excited much dissatisfaction in Virginia. Wayne was well known to the President; and his conduct of the In- dian war fully justified the choice which Washington had made ; combining great determination with great caution he won for himself in his Western campaign the name of " Black Snake," with no less propriety than he had, during his earlier y^ears gained that of " mad Anthony." Ensign Harrison joined hisregimentat Fort Washing- ton just in time to witness the return of the fragments of that gallant band, which, marching out in the proud anti- cipations of victory, was destined to a sad reverse under the veteran St. Clair. Under these discouraging circum- stances, and with the near approach of winter, ensign Harrison commenced his public service in the command of an escort, having charge of a train of pack horses des- tined for Fort Hamilton. It was a duty involving peril and fatigue, by night and by day, and requiring the ex- ercise of sagacity and self-denial. His performance of the arduous task elicited the commendations of general St. Clair, and exhibited an interesting instance of a char- acter in which the ardor of youth was combined with the GENERAL HARRISON. 15 maturity of a^e. In 1792 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and in 1793 joined the legion under gew eral Wayne, and was not long afterwards selected by him as one of his aids-de-camp — illustrating, in an eminent degree, the confidence of tliat tried soldier, since lieuten- ant Harrison was only twenty-one years of age. He continued to act as aid to general Wayne during the whole of ihe ensuing campaign, receiving, as he merited, re- peated instances of high encomium from his commander. The first occurred upon the occasion of a detachment having been sent on the 23d of December, 1793, to take possession of the field of battle of the 4th of November, 1791, and to fortify the position. To the new post was given the name of Fort Recovery. The following gene- ral order was issued on the return of the troops from that interesting duty ; "The commander-in-chief returns his most grateful thanks to major Henry Burbeck, and to every officer, non-commissioned officer, and private, belonging to the detachment under his command, for their soldiery and exemplary good conduct during their late arduous tour of duty, and the cheerfulness with which they surmount- ed every difficulty, at this inclement season, in repos- sessing general St. Clair's field of battle, and erecting thereon F»rt Recovery^ a work impregnable by savage force ; as also for piously and carefully collecting and interring the bones, and paying the last respect ana mil- itary honors to the remains of the heroes who fell on the 4th of November, 1791, by three times three discharges from the same artillery that was lost on that fatal day, but now recovered by this detachment of the lejjion. "The commander-in-chief also requests major Mills, captains De Butts and Butler, lieuteiiarU, Harrison^ and Dr. 8cott, to accept his best thanks for their voluntary aid and services on this occasion." The other instance of commendation of the gal- lantry of lieutenant Harrison is to be found in the report made by general Wayne to the war department, in rela- tion to the celebrated battle of the Maumee, which we shall presently introduce to the notice of the reader. The youth, the early habits of study, and the delicate 16 SKETCHES OF frame of Mr. Harrison, not less than the perils and pri- vations incident to the border warfare, would have intim* idated a spirit less heroic than his, in entering upon the arduous service in the north-west. As illustrative of the aspect of affairs, and of his first appearance in the army, an old soldier of St. Clair, who was present, has re- marked : — " I would as soon have thought of putting my wife in the service as this boy ; but I have been out with him, and I find those smooth cheeks are on a wise head^ and that slight frame is almost as tough as my own weather-beaten carcass." General Charles Scott, a veteran of the revolution, who enjoyed the special confidence of Washington, arrived in July from Kentucky with his command of mounted vol- unteers, and on the 8th of August, general Wayne took up a position at Grand Glaize, seventy miles in advance of Greenville. A strong work was erected at the junc- tion of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers, and general Wayne a^ain opened a communication with the Indians before striking the final blow. " I have thought pro- per," he said, " to offer the enemy a last overture of peace ; and as they have every thing that is dear and in- teresting at stake, I have reason to expect they will listen to the proposition mentioned in the enclosed copy of an address dispatched yesterday by a special flag, under circumstances that will insure his safe return, and which may eventually spare the effusion of much human blood." " But should war be their choice, that blood be upon their own heads. America shall no longer be insulted with impunity. To an all powerful and just God, I therefore commit myself and gallant army." The enemy rejected the offer of peace, and the cele- brated Little Turtle, who advised its adoption in a coun- cil on the night before the battle, spoke as follows : "We have beaten the enemy twice under separate command- ers. We cannot expect the same good fortune to attend us always. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps : the night and the day are alike to him. And during all the time he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think GENERAL HARRISON. 17 well of it. There is somethinp^ whispers me it would bo prudent to listen to his otrers of peace." We refer the reader to the oificial report of general Wayne of 27lh Antriist, 1791, for a persj)iciious account of llie celebratt^d battle of Mau/nec, and deem it sufiicient for our present purpose to give an extract relating to the conduct of his aid-de-camp, lieutenant Harrison. "The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest aj)probation. There were, however, some whose rank and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I observed with pleasure and the most lively gratitude: among whom I beg leave to mention lirigadier general Wilkinson, and colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left wings of the legion, wiiose brave example inspired the troops ; and to these I must add the names of my faithful and gallant aiils-de-camp, captains De Butts and T. Lewis, and lieutenant Harrison, who, with the adju- tant general, major Mills, rendered ike most essential service by coin muni cat in i!; my orders in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery excitin<^ the troops to pr ass for victory .''* The praise of which lieutenant, now general, Harrison was the subject in the dispatch from the illustrious Wayne, was of a character to soothe him for the trials and the perils he had encountered, and to stimulate him to increased diligence in the discharge of the high and responsible duties confided to him when placed after- wards in the command of Fort W ashinjiton. This com- mendation received additional weiaht from the remarks made in the presence of a venerable gentleman, now liv- ing, by general Wilkinson and colonel Shaumburg, who said that " Harrison was in the foremost front of the hottest battle — his person was exposed from the com- mencement to the close of the action. Wherever duty called, he hastened, regardless of danger, and by his ef- forts and example contributed as much to secure the for- tune of the day, as any other officer subordinate to the commander-in-chief.'" The victory at Mamnee was achieved by the discipline of Wayne's army, and the introduction by that sagacious 2 18 SKETCHES OF leader, of a new feature in military tactics, as applied to Indiem warfare, which was the result of a plan di- gested by Washington, Knox, and Wayne. The north- western savage chooses his own time and his own posi- tion, and he retreats from it at his own pleasure. To be overcome, he must be outflanked or kept on the wing, as he was by Wayne, by a constant charge of the bayonet. To provide against the contingency of the enemy assail- ing his flanks, Wayne had adopted the plan of forming his troops at open order, so as to extend his flanks and move with celerity in the woods. These principles were acted upon in the subsequent war conducted by general Harrison, and may be now reg.vded as the approved mode of fiophtinjj the north-western Indians. A permanent peace with the Indians was the fruit of this great victory. The negociations commenced in January and terminated in August, 1795. Soon after the close of this campaign, captain Harrison was en- trusted by Wayne with the command of Fort Wash- ington, where he was directed to advise the general of all movements connected with the invasion of Louisiana, then projected, and to prevent the forwarding of any military stores by the French agents. As a further evi- dence of the confidence of Wayne, he specially entrusted captnia Harrison with his commands and intentions as to the supply of the troops intended to occupy the posts theretofore held by the British on the northern frontier. Whilst in the command of Fort Washintrton, (now Cin- cinnati,) captain Harrison married the daughter of John Cleves Symnnes, the founder of the Miami settlements. An anecdote is given in relation to the marriage, illus- trative of the independent character of captain Harrison. On the proposal to Mr. Symmes for his consent, Harri« son was asked what were his resources for maintaining a wife] Placing his hand upon his sword, he replied, *' this, sir, is my means of support." The chivalry and undaunted confidence of the younff soldier at once obtain- ed the approbation of Mr. Symmes. Captain Harrison continued in the command of Fort Washington until 1797, when, upon the death of general W^ayne, ho re- signed, his conrinnission in the army. GENERAL HARRISON. 19 CHAPTER II. Retires to a Farm — Appointed Secretary of the North-west- ern Territory. — Elected a delegate in Congress — Procures a Law sub-tUviding the Public Lands. — Division of the North- western Territory. — Military Land Warrants. — Political sen- timents. — Charge of Federalism. The war being ended, captain Harrison, like the Father of his country, retired to the peaceful pursuits of agri- culture; and on his farm, near Cincinnati, soon acquired that taste for the cultivation of the soil, which through a long life, prompted him when not engaged in the public service, to return to the plough. Having turned his sword into the pruning hook, he identified himself with the people in whose defence he had been drawn to the banks of the Ohio. He was not suffered, however, long to enjoy the repose of his log-cabin. Early in 1798, Wintiirop Sargent, secretary of the north-western territory, having been appointed governor of the south- western territory, president Adams selected Mr. Harrison to fill the office thus vacated. The appointment made him ex'officio lieutenant governor, and in the absence of governor St. Clair from the territory, he discharged the executive duties in a manner that won the approbation of the people. In the month of October, 171)9, when, under the ordinance of 1787, the territory was admitted to the second grade of government, tlie legislative coun- cil elected him a delegate to conijress. In January, 1800, Mr. Harrison took his seat in that body, then in session in Philade]])bia. His first effort was to effect a chancre in the mode of sellinj; the public lands, which had hitherto been offered in large tracts — a system well suited to the rich speculator, but adverse to the interest of the poor man, however industrious or en- terprising. The subject was one of vital interest not only to the territory, but the whole country. The injus- tice of this aristocratic mode of selling the public do- main, had engaged the attention of Mr. Harrison, prior 20 SKETCHES OF to his election ; and having maturely considered the sub- ject he lost no time in callino-the attention of congress toil. From a circular of Mr. Harrison, to the people of the territory, under date of Philadelphia, 14th May, 1800, we make the following quotation, showing the result of his efforts on tiiis important subject; " Amongst the variety of objects which engaged my aitentiun, as peculiarly interesting to our territory, none appeared to me of so much importance as the adoption of a system for the sale of the public lands, which would give more favorable terms to that class of purchasers who are likely to become actual settlers, than was offered by the existinu laws upon that subject; conformably to this idea, I procured the passage of a resolution at an early period for the appointment of a committee to take the matter into consideration. And shortly after I re- ported a bill containing terms for the purchaser, as favora- ble as could have been expected. This bill was adopted by the house of representatives without any material alteration ; but, in the senate amendments were introduc- ed, obliging the purchaser to pay interest on that part of the money for which a credit was given from the date of the purchase, and directing that one-half the land (in- stead of the whole, as was provided by the bill from the house of representatives,) should be sold in half sections of three hundred and twenty acres, and the other half in whole sections of six hundred and forty acres. All my exertions, aided by some of the ablest members of the lower house, at a conference for that purpose, were not sufficient to induce the senate to recede from their amend- ments ; but, upon the whole, there is cause of congratu- lation to my fellow-citizens that terms, as favorable as the bill still contains, have been procured. This law promises to be the foundation of a great increase of pop- ulation and wealth to our country ; for although the min- imum price of the land is still fixed at two dollars per acre, the time for making payments has been so extended as to put it in the power of every industrious man to comply with them, it being only necessary to pay one- fourth part of the money in hand, and the balance at the end of two, three and four years ; besides this, the odious GENERAL HARRISON'. ft circamstance of forfeiture, which was made the penalty of failirijj in the payments under the old law, is entirely abolished, and the purchaser is allowed one year after the last payment is due to collect the money; if the land is not then paid for, it is sold, and, after the pub- lic have been reinibursed, the balance of the money is returned to the purchaser. Four land-offices are direct- ed to be opened — one at Cincinnati, one at Chiiicothe, one at Marietta, and one at Steubenville, for the sale of the lands in the neig-hborhood of those places. In a communication of this kind, it is impossible to detail all the provisions of the law. 1 have, however, sent a copy of it to the printers at Cincinnati, with a request that they would publish it several weeks." In contemplating the present condition of the states and territories norih-west of the Ohio, too much praise cannot be awarded to the author of this law. Had the system of selling the public lands, in large tracts, been continued, it is certain, that the population and wealth of this immense recnon would not have been half what they now are. The poor but sturdy and independent farmers, whose axe has felled the forest, and whose plough has upturned the soil, would h?ve been precluded from becoming freeholders within this immense region, which, by the sweat of their brows, is now made to '• bud and blossom as the rose." Mr Harrison's land bill met with violent opposition in congress, especially in the senate. But being himself thoroughly conversant with the evils of the existing law, and tlie manifest justice of the proposed one having secured its author the support of some able and efficient members, it was finally passed, although shorn of a part of its salutary provisions. In the subsequent legislation of congress, regulating the sales of the public lands, all the features, it is believed, of the original report and bill upon this subject, have been incorporated : and in tracing this most beneficent mode of disposing of the public d<^main, it would be an act of injustice to withhold from Mr. Harrison the proud appellation of being the father of the land system, and the poor man's friend. Dnrins: the same session of congress, Mr. Harrison 22 SKETCHES OF obtained an extension of the time of payment, for the pre-emptioners in the northern part of the Miami pur- chase, which enabled them to secure their farms. In this matter there was some collision of interest between the settlers and the original proprietor, John Cleves Symmes, the father-in-law of Mr. Harrison. He was consequently placed in a delicate and responsible situa- tion. But his conduct was marked by that integrity of purpose, which has ever been one of the striking charac- teristics of his life. He zealously sustained the rights of the meritorious purchasers. At the same session, he also effected an important change in the plan of locating military land warrants; and among other acts of a local character, procured the passage of a law, in conformity with numerous petitions from different parts of the dis- trict he represented, providing for the division of the north-western territory into two separate governments — the western being called the "Indiana Territory," the eastern the " Territory of the United States North-west of the Ohio." After the adjournment of congress, Mr. Harrison pro- ceeded to Virginia, on a visit to his family and friends, from whom he had now been separated more than seven years. Prior to his entering into civil ofHce, Mr. Harrison had identified himself with the great republican party of the country, and was the consistent advocate of popular rights. It has been charged upon him, that he was a federalist and a supporter of the "alien and sedition law," in the time of the elder Adams. This unfounded allegation, has probably arisen from the fact of his be- ing appointed to office by president Adams. It is well known, however, that Mr. Harrison warmly opposed his election to the presidency ; but this consideration did not deter the president from the faithful discharge of his duty. He knew the high qualifications of Mr. Harrison for civic ofhce, and although a pofitical opponent, did not hesitate to call him into public life. At that period in the history of our country, it is well known, men were not, as at the present day, proscribed for opinion's sake. Washington and Adams, in their appointments to office, acted on the principle, afterwards beautifully announced GENERAL HARRISON. flV by Jeffersnn, in his inaiigrural address, — "is he honesil is he capable 1 is he faithful to the constitution ?" But this charge of federalism, has been forever put to rest, by the very highest authority. The honorable Ja- cob Burnet, than whom no one knew more intimately the political sentiments of Mr. Harrison, says, *' it has been asserted entirely at random, 'that he was a federalist of the old black cockade order, in the time of the elder Ad- ams.' A more unfounded falsehood was never invented. My personal acquaintance with him commenced in 1796, under the administration of Washington. The intimacy between us was great, and our intercourse was constant; and from that time till he left Cincinnati, I was in the habit of arguing and disputing with him on political sub- jects. I was "a federalist — honestly so, from principle, and adhered to the party till it dissolved, and its elements mingled with other parties formed on different principles. I can therefore speak on this point with absolute cer- tainty, and I affirm most solemnly, that under the admin- istration of Washington, and the administration of the elder Adams, William Henry Harrison was a firm, con- sistent, unyielding republican, of the Jefferson school. He advocated the election of Mr. Jefferson, and warmly maintained his claims against Mr. Adams."* CHAPTER HL Harrison appointed Governor of Indiana Territory. — Commw- sioner to treat with the Indian Tribes. — His Message to the Legislative CounciL — Addressesof the Council to him. — Co». respondence with President Jefiferson and the War Depart- ment. — Indian Treaties. — Re-appointed Governor by Jeffer- son, and again by Madison. — Recommends the building of a fleet on lake Erie. It has been seen that the north-western territory was divided by congress, in the spring of 1800. Soon after * Public speech in Cincinnati. 24 SKETCHES OF the passage of that law, president Adams appointed Mr. Harrison governor of the western division, known as the Indiana territory, which then embraced the region of country now inchided within the boundaries of the states of Indiana and Illinois, and the territory of Wisconsin. In 1803, upon the admission of Ohio into the union, the re- gion of country which now forms the state of Michigan was added to the Indiana territory ; and during the subse- quent year, governor Harrison was made, ex-officio, gover- nor of upper Louisiana. The population of the Indiana territory, at the period when Mr. Harrison was appointed governor, did not ex- ceed five thousand, and was principally confined to three settlements, — the first on Clark's grant, near the falls of the Ohio; the second at Vincennes ; the third on the Mississippi river, extending from Cahokia to Kaskaskia. The wide regions to the north and north-west of these three points, were either occupied by the Indians, or constituted their hunting grounds. Notwithstanding the treaty of Greenville, a spirit of restless hostility towards the United States, prevailed among the Indian tribes, which was constantly fomented by British agents, who visited their villages, and did not hesitate to misrepresent the policy of the American government; and, by pres- ents of merchandize and spirituous liquors, to stimulate the Indians to annoy the white settlements, and resist their further extension to the north-west. Such were the limits of the Indiana territory, and such the temper of the aborigines residintf within it, when governor Harri- son entered upon his duties. The powers conferred upon the governor of Indiana were extensive and multifarious. The people had no voice in the management of their affairs. The duty of or- ganizing all the civil institutions belonged to the gover- nor. With the advice of the judges, he was empowered by congress to adopt and puhlish the necessary civil and criminal laws. He was charged with the appointment of magistrates and other civil officers, and of the militia officers, below the rank of general. The duty of divid- ing the territory into counties and townships was also assigned to the executive, and being, ex-nfficiG, superin- GENERAL HARRISON. 25 tendont of Indian afTi^irs, he was compr^lled to keep up a laborious and extensive correspondence with the general govertjment. Another power, equally responsible, and of a more delicate character, was confided to provernor Harrison — that of decidinjr upon tho validity of certain equitable grrants of land, held by individuals. There was no check or linnitation upon these confirtnations. Each case was submitted, without notice, directly to the governor, and his decision and sig'nature, vested a title as safe and unalterable as a patent from the United Slates. A still further and most extraordinary power, was added to those already enumerated. On the 3d of February, 1803, the president sent a message to the senate of the United States, in the following words : " I nominate William Henry Harrison, of Indiana, to be a commissioner to enter into any treaty or treaties which may be necessary, icith any Indian tribes north-west of the Ohio, and within the territory of the United States, on the subject of boundary or lands. " Thomas Jefferson." The message containing this nomination, was read on the 4th, and on the 8th received the unanimous sanction of the senate. This appointment, without a parallel in the history of our country, exhibits in a striking manner, the unlimited confidence reposed in governor Harrison, by Mr. Jefferson and his counsellors, the senate of the United States. It is obvious that an able and faithful discharore of such varied and responsible duties, as were devolved upon the governor of Indiana, required a rare combination of mor- al and intellectual powers. That he should have been four times appointed to this office, -first by Adams, twice by Jefferson, and finally by Madison, — may be taken as conclusive evidence, that governor Harrison possessed the wisdom, discretion, ard inteurity, neces- sary for the performance of such high duties. But there are other evidences of the fact. In 1809, eight years after governor Harrison had first entered upon that sta- tion, the legislative council and house of represent", lives of the territory, addressed a resolution to the president and senate of the United States, in which they say ; 26 SKETCHES OP " They cannot forbear from recommending to, and re- questing of the president and senate, most earnestly, in their names, and in the names of their constituents, the re-appointment of tlieir present governor, William Henry Harrison: — because they are sensible he possesses the good wishes and affection of a great majority of his fel- low-citizens ; because they believe him sincerely attach- ed to the union, the prosperity of the United States, and the administration of its government; because they be- lieve him, in a superior degree, capable of promoting the interest of our territory, from long experience, and laborious attention to our general concerns — from his influence over the Indians, and his wise and disinter- ested management of that department — and because they have confidence in his virtues, talents, and republican- ism." About the same time, a meeting of the officers of the militia for the county of Knox, was held in Vincennes, approving of governor Harrison's official conduct. In July, 1805, the citizens of St. Louis, when their connexion with the governor of Indiana was about to cease, made an address to him, in which they commend the "assiduity, attention and disinterested punctuality," which he had manifested in the temporary administration of the government of Louisiana. The conduct of governor Harrison, in administering the affairs of the Indiana territory, was repeatedly ap- proved by the legislative council and house of represen- tatives. In 1805, the former, in reply to the message of the governor, say : "The confidence which our fellow-citizens have uni- formly had in your administration, has been such that they have hitherto had no reason to be jealous of the un- limited power which you possess over our legislative proceedings. We, however, cannot help regretting that such powers have been lodged in the hands of any one, especially when it is recollected to what dangerous lengths the exercise of those powers may be extended." The house of representatives, in their reply, make the following remarks : " Accept, sir, the thanks of the house of representa- GENERAL HARRISON. 27 tives for the speech you made to both houses of the leg-- islature on the opening of the present session. In it we discern the solicitude for the future hap|)iness and pros- perity of the territory, which has been uniformly evinced by your past administration.'" It is unnecessary to occupy more space in citing testi- ' mony in favor of the conduct of governor Harrison, while presiding over the territory. In the administration of its afiairs, he laid the foundation of a popularity, which after the lapse of thirty years, overspreads the population of the slates of Indiana and Illinois, now amounting to more than a million of souls. The course of governor Harri- son won for him more than the respect and confidence of the people — it secured their warm and affectionate re- gard. The moderation, good sense and disinterested- ness, with which he exercised the almost unlimited pow- ers conferred upon him, could not fail to produce these results. His appointments were always made with a reference to the public good and the wishes of the peo- ple. Neither private friendship nor personal animosity was suffered to influence him, in the discharge of his official duty. In the management of the Indian affairs of the terri- tory, governor Harrison had unlimited authority to draw on the government for money. Perhaps no individual has ever disbursed so large an amount of the public trea- sure, as governor Harrison, and had so little difficulty in adjusting his accounts with the war department. This arose from the simple mode in which he kept his ac- counts. He refused to keep any amount of the puhlic money on hand. When called on to make payments, he drew for the amount, on the department, and forthwith transmitted a copy of the draft, and a receipt for the pay- ment, to Washington in the same letter. By this sim- ple mode, the department was saved the risk and expense pf sending mon^ to the west, and the subsequent settle- ment of long and complicated accounts. The messages of tjovernor Harrison to the legislature of the territory, during the twelve years of his adminis- tration, are replete with sound, practical and statesman- like view's ; but our limits do not admit of the introduo- < 28 SKETCHES OF tion of these documents, so creditable to the head and heart of their author. Those who are familiar with the character of the north- western tribes, stimulated about this time by British agents, and roused to action by the cunninor of the Pro- phet and the genius of Tecumthe, will readily appreciate the difficulties to be encountered by governor Harrison, in preserving peace on the frontiers, and effecting those treaties of cession, which added an immense body of val- uable land to the public domain of his country. He had no military force under his command to awe the Indians or avenge their aggressions upon the settlements. It was the moral influence of his character, founded on the justice of his course towards them, which enabled him to bring about those great results which have given so much lustre to the civil administiation of governor Har- rison, in Indiana. It is a remarkable fact, that during this period, he effected not less than thirteen treaties with these tribes, by which the United States acquired the peaceable possession of sixty millions of acres of land. These treaties were all made by governor Harrison as sole commissioner, and it is creditable to the wisdom and moderation of their author, that the provisions of every one of them received the sanction of the president and senate of the United States. The reputation of governor Harrison as a civilian and statesman, may be safely rested upon his administration of the affairs of Indiana. His messages to the legisla- tive council and house of representatives, during a period of twelve years — his various communications to the In- dian tribes — his voluminous correspondence with the sec- retary at war, and with the president of the United States, are all eloquent and imperishable records of the extent and accuracy of his knowledge — the force and graceful- ness of his pen — the clearness and maturity of his judg- ment. The powers conferred upon him by the govern- ment of the United States, were varied and extraordi- nary — being legislative, executive, judicial and military, to which may be added that of making treaties with the Indians They were powers, greater than the constitu- tion confers upon the president of the United States, and GFNERAL HARRISON. 29 required in the proper exercise of theni, a combination of rare and varied talents. Governor Haiiison so acquit- ted hinjself, in this responsible station, as to leave no stain upon his inteijrity, and no neceasity foreulony upon the wisdom of liis measures. Soon after Mr. Madisnn became president, he directed the secretary at war to procure from governor Harrison, his opitiion upon the best mode of protecting the north- western froniior from invasion. In a letter, under date of Vmcennes, 5th July, 1809, the jjovernor replies at length upon the subject, in which he defines the position and temper of the Indian tribes, and in a minute and lucid manner, examines the military topography of the country along the lakes, and the Mississippi river, and designates the points where forts should be erected and garrisons established. From this very able document, we take the following paragraph, for the purpose of showing at how early a period, the military eye of gov- ernor Harrison saw the necessity of the United States obtaining the naval ascendancy on lake Erie. " When I was at Detroit in 1803, the British had, and I believe still have, six or seven armed vessels, carrying from eight to twenty-two sfuns, on lake Erie. With a part of this force, and with the assistance of the Indians, Mackinac would be easily reduced ; as, from its insular situation, reinforcements or supplies cnuld not reach it, if the enemy should possess the superiority of naval force on the upper lakes; to prevent this, it will be necessary either to build a number of vessels equal to theirs, or, by fortifying the river of Detroit, confine them to lake Erie. A situation proper for this was the object of my enquiry : and Hog island, two miles above Detroit, was pointed Gilt as the most eligible; there is, also, another favorable situation for commanding the navigation, on the strait below lake St. Clair and lake Huron." It was not until the lapse of three years after the date of this letter, that the government acted upon the sug- gestion of governor Harrison in regard to a fleet upon lake Erie. Had it been attended to when made, it is obvious, that the coinmencement of the war with Great Britain would not have resulted in that profuse loss of 30 SKETCHES OF blood and treasure, which marked the first campaigns on the north-western frontiers. CHAPTER IV. Interview between governor Harrison and Tecunithe. — Battle of Tippecanoe. — Various documents concerning the same from individuals — the Legislatures of Indiana and Kentucky ; from President Madison, and the historians M'Afee, Dawson, and Hall. Between the years 1806 and 1811, governor Harri- son's duties as superintendent of Indian alfairs, were de- licate and responsible. During this period, the British ajjents were powerfully aided in their efforts to excite the Indians to hostility afrainstthe United States, by two remarkable individuals, 'IVcumthe and his brotlier OUi- wachica, better known as the Prophet. The genius of the one, and the prophetical character of the other, drew around them a band of desperate followers, who finally established themselves at Tippecanoe. The treaty made at Fort Wayne in 1809, by ffovenor Harrison, gave of- fence to Tecumthe, it being in violation of the great principle of his confederacy, that the Indian lands were the common property of all the tribes, and could not be sold without the consent of all. In August, 1810, he invited Tecumthe to visit Vincennes, to have the difficul- ty adjusted. The chief, attended by four hundred war- riors, armed with war-clubs and tomahawks, presented themselves at the appointed time. It was at this coun- cil that Tecumthe declared the governor's statements false, and sprung to his arms, his example being follow- ed by forty of his warriors, who were present at the con- ference. The firmness of the governor, and the final ter- mination of this extraordinary interview, must be famil- iar to the reader. It was at the close of this council, when, upon govenor Harrison's telling him that he would GENERAL HARRISON. 31 refer the question between them, to the president, that Tecumihe replied, " Well, as the g-reat chief is to deter- mine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head, to induce him to direct you to give up this land. It is true he is so far off, he will not be injured by the war: he may sit still in his town, and drink his wine, whilst you and I will have to fij^ht it out." The governor, in conclusion, told Tecumthe that he had one proposal to make, and that was, in the event of a war, to put a stop to that cruel and disgraceful mode of warfare which the Indians were accustomed to wage against women and children, and upon their prisoners. To this proposition, resulting from governor Harrison's benevolent forecast, he cheerfully assented, and it is due to the memory of Tecumthe to add, that he faithfully kept his promise. Tecumthe left Vincennes boldly avowing his determi- nation to persevere in his effort to combine the tribes, on the principle already alluded to ; and in the next year, he visited the southern Indians for this purpose, leaving the Prophet in charge of the party at Tippecanoe, but with instructions to avoid an open rupture with the Uni- ted States during his absence. In the summer of 1811, the danger to the frontier became so imminent that the president placed some troops under the command of go- vernor Harrison, to be used offensively, however, in such a contingency only, as in his judgment, he might deem indispensably necessary. Governor Harrison consulted with governors Howard and Edwards of Missouri and Illinois, who advised the breaking up of the Prophet's town, or at all events the prevention of the further assem- blage of Indians at that point. The governor's force consisted of regulars and militia, a small part of the lat- ter being from Kentucky, with whom came Daviess,* Croghan, O'Fallon, Shipp, Meade, Edwards, and Saun- • In a letter to the governor, Daviess said : **I make free to tell you that I have imagined there were two men in the west who had military talents, and you, sir, were the first of the two. It is thus an opportunity of service much valued by me. I go as a volunteer, leaving you, sir, to dispose of me as you choose." 32 SKETCHES OF ders, gallant young volunteers, who not only distinguish- ed themselves in the action which ensued, but performed a brilliant part in the subsequent war with Great Britain. The governor was also joined by Owen and Wells, both celebrated in the early history of Kentucky. Passing over the intermediate details, the governor, on the evening of the 6th of November, with a force of nine hundred men, was within a mile and a half of the Pro- phet's town, where he halted the army, to make a final effort to prevent the necessity of an attack. This effort proved unavailinor. The army then marched towards the village. This led to a conference with the Indians, who announced their pacific intentions, and agreed that the terms of peace should be settled on the following day. A halt was ordered, and majors Waller Taylor and Marston Clark, and colonel William Piatt, were directed to examine and select a suitable spot for an encampment. The two former reported that they had found a place, combining all that could be desired, on the bank of a small stream, nearly surrounded by an open prairie, on the north of the town. On this spot, late in the evening of the 6th, the army was encamped. The details of the severe and brilliant action which took place on the fol- lowing morning, are familiar to the reading public. W^e have not space to give them. The Indians made a fierce and gallant attack, but were as gallantly met, and finally compelled to retreat. The officers and soldiers acted with great bravery, and were specially noticed in the official letter of the com- mander-in-chief. The number of men killed, including those who died of their wounds, was upwards of fifty ; the wounded were more than double that number. The loss of the Indians, in killed, was about the same with that of the whites. They left thirty-eight dead on the field of battle. Some were buried in the town, and oth- ers, it is supposed, died of their wounds subsequently. The force of governor Harrison on the day of action, amounted to about nine hundred. The traders estimated the Indian force at from eight hundred to one thousand men. Captain W^ells, the Indian agent, assured a gen- tlemen of Ohio, now living, that several of the Indiana GENERAL HARRISON. 33 eng-anred in the battle, who visited Fort Wayne after the action, stated tiieir number to have been near twelve hun- dred, and that the proportion of wounded was unusually great. It is an act of justice to the commander-in-chief to add, that a ball passed through his cravat, bruising' his neck, and another struck his saddle and then hit his thiph. The horse on which he rode was severely woun- ded in the head. No battle ever fought in the United States, has been more extensively examined or severely criticised than the battle of Tippecanoe. Soon after its occurrence, the enemies of governor Harrison severely censured his con- duct, and charged upon him that he permitted the Indians to select his camping ground, and was taken by surprise on the morning of the attack. These charges, although generally discredited, and made by irresponsible persons, called out the testimonv of the officers and men engao-ed in the action, and thus placed all the facts before the public. In regard to the first of these charges, general Waller Taylor, of Indiana, under date of 15th of July, 1823, says : "The Indians did not dictate to the gover- nor the position to encamp tiie army, the night before the battle of Tippecanoe. After the army reached the In- dian town, in the afternoon, perhaps about sun-set, the governor ordered major Clark and myself to proceed to the left, and endeavor to find a suitable place for encamj)- ment ; we did so, and discovered the place upon which the battle was fought the next morning ; upon our return to the army, we reported to the governor our opinion about the place, which we stated to be favorable fer an encampment."* This statement is corroborated by col- onel William Piatt, late of Cincinnati, who was also in the action. Major Charles Larrabee, a brave officer, who was also present, says, under date of 13th October, 18*23 : *' Three officers, well able to judge, went out in search of a place, and they reported the one taken up. The situa- tion was such, that if the army had been called upon to make choice of a place to fight the Indians, I venture to say, nine-tenths would have made that their selection." f • Dawson. f lb. 34 SKETCHES OF In the year following, general Hopkins, of Kentucky, a revolutionary officer, wiiile on an expedition against the Peoria towns in Indiana, visited the battle ground of Tippecanoe, and expressed the opinion that the spot on which general Harrison encamped, was the best in the neighborhood of the Prophet's town. In this opinion the officers of this expedition concurred; and such, we are authorized to say, has been the fact with many mili- tary men, who have since visited the scene of action. In reply to the second charge, Joel Cook, Josiah Snel- ling, R. C. Barton, O. G. Burton, Nathaniel F. Adams, Charles Fuller, A. Hawkins, George Gooding, H. Burch- stead, Josiah D. Foster, and Hosea Bloodgood, all of them officers of the fourth regiment, United States in- fantry, an-din the battle of Tippecanoe, say, under their own proper hands: "We deem it our duty to state, as incontestable facts, that the commander-in-chief through- out the campaign, and in the hour of battle, proved him- self the soldier and the general — that on the night of the action, by his order, we slept on our arms, and rose on our posts; that notwithstanding the darkness of the night, and the most consummate savage cunning of the enemy in eluding our sentries, and rapidity in rushing through the guards, we were not found unprepared : that few of the men were able to enter our camp, and those few doomed never to return ; that in pursuance of his orders, which were adapted 1o every emergency, the enemy were defeated with a slaughter almost unparallel- ed among savages. Indeed, one sentiment of confidence, respect, and affection towards the commander-in-chief, pervaded the whole line of the army, any attempt to de- stroy which, we shall consider as an insult to our under- standings, and an injury to our feelings." * Major Larrabee, under date of Fort Knox, January 8th, 1812, says, *' at the commencement of the action, my company were at rest in their tents, with their clothes and accoutrements on, their guns lying by their sides, loaded, and bayonets fixed, and were by my order para- ded in line of battle, ready to meet the enemy within * Dawson. GENERAL HARRISON. 36 forty seconds from the commencement of the action, all of which was performed one or two minutes before a man of the company was wounded."* The olhccrs and non-coniniissioned ofricors and pri- yates of the militia corps (Harjjrave's excepted) of Knox county, in Indiana, who served in this cainpaif^n, held a meeting in Vincennes, 7th December, 1811, and passed the followiujr resolutions, unanimously: '' That it is a notorious fact, known to the whole army, that all the changes o{ position rnad<> by the troops du- rintj the action of the 7lh ultimo, and by which the vic- tory was secured, were made by the direction of the com- mander-in-chief, and generally executed under his imme- diate superintendence. '' That it was owing to the skill and valor of the com- mander-in-chief, that the victory of Tippecanoe was ob- tained. *' That we have the most perfect confidence in the com- mander-in-chief, and shall always feel a cheerfulness in serving under him, whenever the exigencies of the coun- try may recr.iire it."]- General Thomas Scott, of Indiana, under date of Vin- cennes, July 25, 1823, says: " I have thought, and still think, that few generals would have faced danger at so many points as general Har- rison did in the action of Tippecanoe. Wherever the ac- tion was warmest, was general Harrison to be found, and heard encouragingand cheeringtheoflicersand soldiers.":^ Mr. Adam Walker, of Keene, New Hampshire, a Erinter by profession, who was in the action, says, in is published journal : " General Harrison received a shot through the rim of his hat. In the heat of the action his voice was fre- quently heard, and easily distinguished, giving his or- ders in the same calm, cool and collected manner, with which we had been used to receive them on drill or pa- rade. The confidence of the troops in the general was unlimited." General John O'Fallon, now residing in St. Louis, a nephew of general George Rocrers Clark, and a gallant * Dawson. f R). 4 lb. 36 SKETCHES OF officer of the late war, havinfj distinguished himself at the siefre o^ Fort Meiffs and the battle of the Thames, in a late speech, at a public meeting in that city, in speak- ing of general Harrison, says : " At the age of nineteen, I first became acquainted with the distinguished patriot in whose behalf we have assembled, and having been by his side through nearly the whole of the late war, I can bear testimony to his cool, undaunted and collected courage, as well as to his skill, as an able, efficient and active officer. After the battle of Tippecanoe, wliich has thrown so much glory over our country's arms, it was universally adndtfed that y which had been assigned to him by the war department, com- posed of the regiments of Allen, Lewis and Scott, of the Kentucky troops, Garrard's troop of cavalry of the same state, and a part of the 17th U. S. regiment of infantry, under Wells. The command of the residue of the Ken- tucky troops, embracing Simrall's regiment of cavalry, and the regiments of infantry under Jennings, Poague and Barbee, was retained by general Harrison, the}' hav- GENERAL HARRISON 43 ing been placed under him, ns {rovernnr of Indiana, hy the secretary at war. 'i'liis change of commanders, was very unacceptable to the first named detachment, the troops having become enthusiastically nttaclied to cr»n- eral Harrison. From the ireneral order, issued by him, at Fort Wayne, on the IDth, upon turning over the com- mand to Winchester, the followinrj parstown to the Kapids, rioting upon the plunder of the farms which have been abandoned." From Fort Wayne, creneral Winchester proceeded down the Miami of the lake to Defiance, but was impe- ded in his march by a large body of Indians, and sonrie British troops, with artillery. Of the advance of this force towards Fort Wayne, general Harrison was inform- ed on the same day, by two expresses, one from governor Meigs, enclosing a loiter from Cleveland, and the other from general Winchester. General Hiurison, on the evening of the same day, started to Defiance with two regiments of infantry, and the whole of the mounted men, and reached that j)1ace on the 2nd of October; but the enemy had passed that point, some days betbre. In the march to Defiance, the troops suffered greatly : the weather was cold and inclement, and the want of tents was severely felt. The general shared the same nriva- tions as his troops, and by his fortitude and cheerfulness, served to encourage his men. While at Defiance, news reached the annv, that general Harrison had been ap- 46 SKETCHES OF pointed to the command of the whole north-western de- partment, — a fact which gave great satisfaction to the troops, and contributed to reconcile them to the arduous service in which they were engaged. When making this appointment, the department had given to general Winchester, the option of remaining with Harrison, or of joining the army on the Niagara frontier. General Harrison, in announcing his appointment to general Win- chester, says ; *' Need I add, that it will give me the most heartfelt pleasure, if you could determine to remain with us." On the 3rd of October, at camp Defiance, under a general order, in yielding up the command of his detach- ment, general Winchester said : " I have the honor of announcing to this army the ar- rival of general Harrison, who is duly authorized by the executive of the federal government, to take the com- mand of the north-western army. "This officer, enjoying the implicit confidence of the states, from whose citizens this army is and will be col- lected, and possessing himself, great military skill and reputation, the general is confident in the belief that his presence in this army, in the character of its chief, will be hailed with universal approbation." General Winchester, preferring the service in the north- west, to that on the Niagara frontier, general Harrison immediately invested him with the command of the left wing of the army, the advance portion of which was then at Fort Defiance. An accusation has been preferred against general Har- rison, by Winchester and his friends, that he had in- trigued with the war department to obtain the command, with which he was now invested. This charffe is found- ed on the fact that the officers of the regiments of Poague, Jennings, and Barbee, had requested the president to ap- point general Harrison to the supreme command in the west. It is to be borne in mind, that Winchester had no right to command these regiments — they had been dis- tinctly assigned to Harrison by the proper authority. Winchester had no command but of the single detach- ment sent from Kentucky for the relief of Hull. How then could the memorial of Harrison's own officers, in GENERAL HARRISON. 47 favor of his bointr mnde commander-in-chief, interfere with the rights of {General Winchester, when he m-veT had been invested with, n«)r promised that station? The memorial did not ask that Winchesti r should be sus- pended in the command of his parlicnlar detachment, but simply that Harrison should l)e placed in a new position. This charire has been fully met, however, by the written statements of fjeneral Waller 'I'aylor, late of Itidiana, tlie Rev. JSamuel Shannfin, captain John Arnold, the Rev. James JSusju^et, and (general 'J'iiomas 13odley, of Ken- tucky; all of whom were present with the army at the period of this allpdired intrigue. Their statements, made in 1817, '18 and '19, are published at lenirih in Daw- son's Life of Harrison. 'i'hey prove substantially and fully, that when general Winchester arrived at Fort Wayne to take command of the detachment assigned him by the secretary at war, that great disapprobation was expressed by the officers and men, at the circum- stance ; that the dissatisfaction was so great as to amount almost to open mutiny — that Harrison, by his general orders and his personal ap})eals to the officers and troops, did much to recoticiie them to the change, and, in short, that bnt for his influence and most active exertions, the men would have refused to serve under general Win- chester. It is due to the reputation of general Winchester, to add, that the principal objection of the volunteers to serv- ing under him, arose from the fact of his being an officer in the resfular army. They had no personal objection to him. Indeed, it was not so much a dislike to general Winchester, which created the difficulty, as a desire to serve under one who had so recently gained the brilliant victory of Tippecanoe, and was familiar with Indian warfare. From Defiance, general Harrison returned to St. Ma- ry's, and from thence passed through Piqua and Urbana to Franklinton, which was the line of march for the right wing of the army. His object in returning to this place was to hasten the supplies of provisions, clothing and ammunition, and make other arrangements for the ad- vance of the troops. While at St. Mary's, on his way 48 SKETCHES OF to Franklinton, he was informed that Fort Wayne was again invested. He forthwith dispatched colonel Allen Trimble, with five hundred mounted riflemen, to the re- lief of the place. At Franklinton, he received a dispatch from the worthy oflUcer commanding this expedition, in- forming him of its partial failure, in consequence of the defection of one half of his troops, who abandoned him upon reaching Fort Wayne. He proceeded, however, with the remainder, and destroyed two Indian villages. About the same time, intelligence reached the com- mander-in-chief, of the failure of the expedition under general Hopkins, against the Indian villages on the Illi- nois river. Another expedition, prosecuting at the same time, and in the same region, under governor Edwaids and colonel Russel, surprised the Kickapoo town of Pe- oria, at the head of Peoria lake, and either killed or dis- perssed the inhabitants. In connection with these opera- tions, the brilliant defence of Fort Harrison, under the command of the gallant captain, Zachary Taylor, may be named. It covered that young officer with glory, and led to his being honored with the brevet commission of major, in the United States army. CHAPTER VI. Movements of the army.— Tupper's expedition to the Rapids. — Campbell's expedition to Mississiniway. — General Harrison recommends a fleet on lake Erie. — Plan of operations for the campaign. — Again urges on the Secretary at War the neces- sity of a fleet on lake Erie. — Winchester's movement to the Rapids. — His movement to the river Raisin, and defeat on the 22nd of January. — The question examined, on whom rests the blame of that defeat.— Opinion of Wood— M'Afee's opinions. — Address of the Kentucky and Ohio ofl[icers. We now recur to movements more immediately under the direction of the commander-in-chief. " The troops i GENERAL HARRISON. 49 advancing on the line of operations, which passed from Delaware, by Upper to Lower JSandusky, composed of the liriirades from VirfrJiiia and Pennsylvania, and that of Perkins from Ohio, were dtsiijnated in general orders, and commonly known as the right wing of the army ; Tuppir's brigade from Ohio, moving on Hnll's road, for- med tl'.e eentro division ; and the Ivontuckians, under \Vinciiesrt.er, were styled llie left wing." Early in November, general Tnpper of the Ohio mili- tia, wiili a detachment of six hundred and fifty men, marched to the ra})ids of tjie Miami of the lake, for the purpose of attacking a force of several hundred Indians, and some British troops, who were at that point gather- ing corn. 13etor-e starting, he advised general Winchester of the intended movement. He reached the foot of the Rapids, and made an eft'ort to cross the river in the nitrht, for the purpose of meeting the enemy next morning. Failing in this, he dispatched an express to general Win- chester, on the 14th, stating his situation, and asking for a reinforcement. After furtiier inefiectual attempts to cross the river, and to decoy the enemy across, he returned to his encamp- ment. M'Afee, in his history of the war, thus notices the progress and result of the expedition : "When Tupper's second express reached general Winchester's camp, he found that a detachment of four hundred men had been sent out under the cnmmand of colonel Lewis, to march to his support ; they proceeded, on the morning of the 15th, down the left bank of the river, and in the course of the night ensign Charles S. Todd was sent with a few men by colonel Lewis to apprise Tupper of his approach, to concert the time and manner of forniing a junction of the two corps. 'I'odd found 'I'upper's camp evacuated, and the bodies of two men, who had been killed and scalped. Todd returning with this inf irmation to colo- nel Lewis, that officer retreated with his command to Winchester's camp. If this expedition did not produce all the good which mifjht have resulted from it, it was of great service in one particular. The detachment of Bri- tish and Lidians, consisting of about four hundred of the latter, and seventy-five of the former, fell back upon the 4 50 SKETCHES OF river Raisin, and gave up the idea ot removing the corn from the abandoned farms at the Rapids, which was the object of their being at that place." About the period of this enterprise, the commander-in- chief resolved to send an expedition against the Indian towns on the Mississiniway river, one of the branches of the Wabash. This measure was rendered the more necessary from the failure of the expedition under gen- eral Hopkins, already mentioned. The detachment was placed under lieutenant colonel Campbell, of the 19th United States regiment. It was composed of six hundred mounted men. They left Franklinton on the 25th of November, passed Greenville on the 14th of December, and reached the first village on the Missis- siniway, on the 18th, which was attacked, and eight men killed, and forty-two prisoners taken. Two other towns were visited and destroyed, the inhabitants having fled. Before day on the following morning, the Indians at- tacked colonel Campbell's camp. A severe action of an hour ensued, when the Indians were finally charged with great spirit and dispersed. They left fifteen dead on the ground, others were thrown into the river or carried off. Colonel Campbell had eight killed, and forty-eight wounded. When the detachment reached Greenville, on their return, one-half of it was unfit for duty, being ei ther wounded, frost-bitten, or sick. General Harrison issued a general order, after the expedition was termina- ted, from which we quote the concluding paragraph. It must be universally admired, not less for the beauty of the sentiment, than the eloquence with which it is ex- pressed : " But the character of this gallant detachment, exhib- iting as it did, perseverance, fortitude and bravery, would, however, be incomplete, if in the midst of victory they had forgotten the feelings of humanity. It is with the sincerest pleasure, that the general has heard that the most punctual obedience was paid to his orders, in not only saving all the women and children, but in sparing all the warriors who ceased to resist; and, that when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the claims of mercy prevailed over every sense of their own danger, and the 4 GENERAL HARRISON. 51 heroic band respected the lives of their prisoners. Let an account of murdered innocence be opened in the re- cords of Heaven, afrainst our enemies alone. 'I'iie Amer- ican soldier will follow the example of his government, and the sword of the one, will not be raised an^jiinst the fallen and the helpless, nor the go\d of the other paid for the scalps of a massacred enemy." i The troops composing the hftwinfr of the army, hav- ing finished the erection of Fort Winchester, were direc- ted by the commander-in-chief, early in December, to march to the Rapids, so soon as provisions for a few weeks had been accumulated. On the 12lh of this month, general Harrison, in a letter to the war depart- . ment, says : " If there were not some important political I reason, urging the recovery of the Michigan territory, and the capture of Maiden, as soon as these objects can possibly be efiected ; and that to accomplish them a few weeks sooner, expense was to be disregarded, I should not hesitate to say, that if a small proportion of the sums, which will be expended in the quarter-master's department, in the active prosecution of the campaign, during the winter, was devoted to the obtaining the com- I mand of lake Erie, the wishes of the government in their utmost extent, could be accomplished without diffi- 1 cuhy, in the months of April and May. Maiden, De- troit and Macinaw, would fall in rapid succession." The necessity of securing the naval ascendency of lake Erie, had been forcibly pointed out to the government, by general Harrison, as early as the year 1809. On the 20th, the commander-in-chief established his head quarters at Upper Sandusky. Whilst here, he re- ceived a communication from colonel Campbell, inform- ing him of the result of the INIississiniway expedition. He forthwith started for Chillicothe, to consult with governor Meigs about another expedition against the In- dians of that quarter. At Franklinton he received a let- ter from the new secretary at war, Mr. Monroe, in which he was told that the president, havintj great confidence in the solidity of his opinion, leaves the object of the cam- paign entirely to the decision of general Harrison, and promises the support of the government to any measures 52 SKETCHES OF he may think proper to adopt. In a letter from Fran ! linton, dated the 4th of January, 1813, the general sa- . to the department: " My plan of operations has bee . and now is, to occupy the Miami Rapids, and to depof there as much provisions as possible; to move fro ■ thence with a choice detachment of the army, and wi i as much provision, artillery and ammunition, as the mea' of transportation will allow — make a demonstration t wards Detroit, and by a sudden passa^re of the strr. '! upon the ice, an actual investiture of Maiden." On tl 8th, in another letter, the general says : " Should our c. fensive operations be suspended until spring, it is m- decided opinion, that the most effectual and cheapest plz .* will be to obtain the command of the lake. This bein once effected, every difficulty will be removed. An arm of four thousand men, landed on the north side of th -: lake, below Maiden, will soon reduce that place — retak'^ Detroit, and, with the aid of the fleet, proceed down th lake to co-operate with the army from Niagara." A fe\ days after the date of this letter, the general returned t Upper Sandusky, where troops and supplies for the armv were rapidly accumulating. We again return to the left wingr of the army. M'Al fee, in his " History of the Late War," says : "General Harrison had expected, on his first arriva" at Upper Sandusky, about the 18th of December, to b met there by an express from general Winchester, witl; information of his advance to the Rapids, in conformity with the advice which had previously been given him. As no such information had arrived, he soon afterward, dispatched ensign C. S. Todd, division judge advocate of the Kentucky troops, to Winchester's camp, on the Miami below Defiance. Todd was accompanied by two gentlemen of the Michigan territory, and three Wyandott Indians. He proceeded directly across the country, and performed the journey with a degree of secrecy and dis- patch highly honorable to his skill and enterprise, hav- ing completely eluded all the scouts of the enemy. He was instructed to communicate to general Winchester the following directions and plans from the commander- in-chief: "that as soon as he had accumulated provisions GENERAL HARRISON. 53 - !br twenty days, he was authorized to advance to the c- *laj)ids, where he was to conwuer.ce the building of huts, ,£ro induce the enemy to believe that he was going into jjtvinler quarters; that he was to construct sleds for the jivnain expedition against Maiden, but to i:n])ress it ou the /"•ninds of his men that ihey were for transporting provi- KTiions from the interior; that the dilTerent lines of the -oirmy would be concentrated at that place, and a choice i'iJetachrnent from the whole would then be marched rap- «){idly on Maiden ; that in the meantime he was to occupy ^-'i-lhe Kapids, for the purpose of securing the provisions and ifistores forwarded from the other wings of the army." ID On the 22nd, a moderate supply of provisions and cloth- g,ing were received by general Winchester. On the 30th, Tthe march for the Rapids was commenced, and, at the •jwsame time, Mr. Leslie Combs, a volunteer in the army, !ft;was seiit to inform the commander-in-chief of the move- •jsment ; but owing to a severe snow-storm, he did not reach 7»him, at Upper Sandusky, until the 11th of January, ■■o While on his march to the Rapids, a dispatch was V received by Winchester, from general Harrison, recom- ' mending him to abandon the movement to the Rapids, and -1 fall bask to Fort Jennings. This was owing to the in- formation brought by colonel Campbell, from Mississin- [i iway, in rrcrard to the Indians; but the recommendation a was not folLwed. On the 10th of January, the detach- il ment under Winchester reached the Rapids. On the ^ Uth, a dispatch was sent to inform the commander-in- i chief of the arrival of the troops at that point; but the ,j communication was transmitted by the persons who were *■ ■ taking the worn-out pack horses to Fort McArthur, a place°as distant from the Rapids as Upper Sandusky and from which it must then pass through a swampy wil- derness of forty miles, to the head quarters of the gene- ral, and was finally received by him at the Rapids, the point from whence it started. On the 12th, general Winchester forwarded another letter by the same kind of conveyance, to the command- er-in-chief, at Sandusky, saying, that nc reliance could be placed on retaining any of the Kentucky troops, after the expiration of their term of service, in February. This 64 SKETCHES OF communication was sent to Lower Sandusky, with this endorsement on the back, "general Tupper will please to forward this letter by express. J. Winchester." It did not reach the commander-in-chief until the morning of the 16th, and was the first information which he had received of Winchester's arrival at the Rapids, although general Harrison had directed him to forward intelli- gence of that event as early as possible, that he might send on the remaining stores and troops. On the evening of the 13th, two Frenchmen arrived from the river Raisin, with information that the Indiana had threatened to attack their town, and asking assist- ance from general Winchester. On the 14th and 16th, other messengers arrived in camp, making similar ap- peals. Great ardor now prevailed among the troops to march to Raisin, and a majority of officers concurring, general Winchester agreed to the movement. Raisin is thirty-six miles from the Rapids, and eighteen from Mai- den. On the morning of the 17th, colonel Lewis, with a detachment of men, moved down to Presque Isle, a dis- tance of twenty miles. Here he ascertained that four hundred Indians were at the Raisin, and that Elliott was expected from Maiden, with a detachment to attack the camp at the Rapids. This information was sent back to Winchester, who forwarded it in a dispatch to the com- mander-in-chief, with information of the movement he was making to Frenchtown. The dispatch was sent by way of Lower Sandusky, and was met at this place by general Harrison, on the morning of the 19lh. On the 18th, Lewis reached Frenchtown, on the Rai- sin, met the enemy at that place, attacked and defeated them, with considerable loss. On the night of the i8th, a messenger was sent to Winchester with news of the result. The intelligence made the troops under him anx- ious to move on to Frenchtown. On the 20th, at night, Winchester, with all the troops that could be spared from the Rapids, reached Frenchtown, and encamped in an open lot of ground, on the right of Lewis' detachment, which was defended by some garden pickets. Colonel Wells commanded the reinforcement. To him, general Winchester named, but did not direct a breast-work, for OENKllAL HARRISON. 56 the defence of his cimp. The general himself estab- lished his head-quarters in a lioiise on the opposite side of the river, more than a half a mile from his troops. On the 21st, a spot n-as selected for the whole army to camp ill oood order, wiih a determination to fortil'y on the next day. Certain information was received through the day, that the British were preparin]? to make an at- tack, and that it would be made with dispatch. Colo- nel Wells obtained leave, in the evening, to return to the Rapids, which place he reached that night, and found general Harrison, who had arrived the day before, and had made every exertion in his power to hasten on a re- inforcement. It should here be stated, that when general Harrison, on the 11th, was advised by Mr. Combs' dis- fiatch, of general Winchester's movement towards the iaisin, he ordered on some droves of hogs, and held the artillery in readiness to march as soon as he should be advised of the arrival of the detachment at the Rapids. On the UUh, the commander-in-chief was^rs^ informed of Winchester's arrival at the Rapids, and that he vicdiia- (ed a movement against the enemy, and had sent to Per- kins, at Lower S-.indusky, for a battalion of men. Gene- ral Harrison immediately gave orders for the artillery to advance by the way of Portage river, with a guard of three hundred men under major Orr. Escorts of provi- sions were ordered on the same route; but owing to the badness of the roads, slow progress was made. At the same time an express was sent to the Rapids for infor- mation, which was to return and meet the comrmmder-in- chief at Lower Sandusky, which place he reached on the following night. On the 18ih, a battalion, under major Cotgreave, was started from the Rapids. General Harri- son determined to follow, that he might have a personal consultation with Winchester. At four o'clock, on the morning of the 19th, he received a letter from Winches- ter, announcing Lewis' advance to the Raisin, and the objects of the expedition. He immediately ordered the remaining regiment of Perkins' brigade to march to the Rapids, and proceeded there himself. On his way he met an express, with intellitjence of Lewis' battle on the 18th. On the morning of the 20th, he reached the Rap- 56 SKETCHES OF ids, and found that Winchester had marched the evening before for the river Raisin, having left Payne in his camp with three hundred men. Major Cotgreave was so impe- ded by bad roads and ice, that on the night of the 21st, he was yet fifteen miles from Raisin. When general Harrison reached the Rapids, on the 20th, he sent cap- tain Hart express to Frenehtown, that Winchester might be informed of the movements in the rear, and with in- structions to the general " to maintain the position at the river Raisin at any rate." On the 21st, a dispatch was received from general Winchester, in which he stated, that if his force was increased to one thousand or twelve hundred, he could maintain the ground he had gained. On the evening of that day, Perkins' brigade reached the Rapids, and the remaining Kentuckians, under Payne, were ordered to march to Winchester, which they did next morning. The corps under Cotgreave and Payne, would have made the army under Winchester considera- bly stronger than the amount deemed by him sufficient to hold his position. At 12 o'clock, A. M. of the 22nd, news of the attack on Winchester reached the Rapids. General Harrison immediately ordered the regiment of Perkins' brigade to march with all possible expedition, and proceeded himself after the detachment under Payne, which he soon overtook. In a short time some men were met, who announced the total defeat of Winchester's forces, and that the British and Indians were pursuing them to the Rapids. This report induced the general to hasten on with still greater rapidity. In a siiort time, other fugitives were met, who stated that the defeat was total, and that resistance on the part of our troops had ceased early in the day. A council of the general and field officers was then held, who decided that it was im- prudent and unnecessary to proceed any further. Some parties of active and enterprising men were sent forward to assist and bring in those who might have escaped. The rest of the detachment returned to the Rapids. The tragical events which occurred at Frenehtown, on the 22nd and 23rd, would require, in their detail, more space than can be assigned them iri this work. They filled the West with mourning, and have beeri again and M una. 1 SL f* GENERAL HARRISON. 07 agrain recounted, in every part of onr land. Winchester had vviih him in all, nine hundred nnon. The Uriii5»h and Indians, by whom he was detVatnd, amounted to near three thousand. The loss ol" Winclirsier was Iwu hun- dred and ninety in killed, massacred and missinn-. Only thirty-three escaped to the Rapids. The British took live- hundred and forty-seven prisoners, and the Indians forty- five. The loss of the British in killed and wounded is supposed to have heen between three and four hundred. So great a disaster, as the defeat at the river Raisin, created much exriteinent throu«{hout the country. 'I'he question arises, upon whom the blame of this defeat should rest ? We propose to say a few words upon this subject. In doinff so, we disclaim, in advance, all unkind feeling towards the name and fame of general Winchester, who was a brave soldier of the revolution, and is now " gath- ered to his fathers," — two circumstances sufficient to dis- arm criticism, and allay censure. Our only object is to show that the blame of this calamity cannot, with any justice whatever, be laid upon the commander-in-chief. General Harrison has been censured for the advance of Winchester to the river Raisin; and, for not reinforcing him wheri there. The instructions sent by general Harrison to Winches- ter, which were delivered to him on the 24th of Decem- ber, at his camp, a few miles below Fort Defiance, by en- sign Todd, were, that he should move to the Rapids, when twenty days' provisions had been accumulated — that when he reached that place, he was to build huts, as if going into winter quarters, and then to construct sleds, for the main but secret expedition of the cam- paign, an attack upon Maiden, contemplated by the com- mander-in-chief, after the other lines of the army had concentrated at the Rapids. While on his way to the Hnpids, general Winchester received another dispatch from tjeneral Harrison, recommending him, in conse- quence of information received from colonel Campbell, of a large body of Indians on the Wabash, under Te- cumthe, to abandon the movement to the Rapids, and fall back, with the greater part of his force, to Fort Jen- nings. This recommendation was disregarded. So far 58 SKETCHES OF from any authority being given him to make a movement from the Rapids, against the enemy, such a movement was in direct violation of the whole plan of the campaign, as communicated to him. Of course, general Winches- ter could have had no assurances of support, when ma- king a movement not contemplated by the commander-in- chief, and in violation of his orders. After general Harrison was informed that Winchester had arrived at the Rapids, which information did not reach him until the night of the 16th of January, and that he Tneditated some movement against the enemy, he did all in his power to hasten forward the necessary rein- forcements. He was then at Upper Sandusky, sixty-five miles from the Rapids, and one hundred from Raisin, the point to which Winchester's meditated attack was di- rected. The space between the two former points, was a swampy wilderness, the ground partly frozen, and al- most impassable for troops or artillery. The preceding narrative has shown the promptness and energy with which general Harrison pushed forward the reinforce- ments. His personal exertions to reach the scene of ac- tion, were very great. He started from Lower Sandusky in a sleigh, with general Perkins, and a servant, to over- take the battalion under Cotgreave. "As the sleigh went very slow, from the roughness of the road, he took the horse of his servant and pushed on alone. Night came upon him in the midst of the swamp, which was so imperfectly frozen, that the horse sunk to his belly at every step. He had no resource but to dismount and lead his horse, jumping, himself, from one sod to another, which was solid enough to support him. When almost exhausted, he met one of Cotgreave's men coming back to look for his bayonet. The general told him, he would not only pardon him for the loss, but supply him with another, if he would assist him to get his horse through the swamp. By his aid the general was enabled to reach the camp of the battalion."* The gallant colonel Wood, than whom, on a question of this kind, there is no higher authority, says : " What * M'Afee. i GENERAL HARRISON. GO human means, in the control of general Harrison, could prevent the anticipated disaster, and save that corps, which was already looked upon as lost, as doomed to in- evitable destruction ? Ortainly none — because neither orders to halt, nor troops to succor him, could be received in time, or at least that was the expectation. He was already in motion, and general Harrison still at Upper Sandusky, seventy miles in his rear. The weather was inclement — the snow was deep — and a large portion of the black swamp was yet open. What could a Turenne or an Eugene have done, under a pressure of embarrass- ing circumstances, more than Harrison did?^^ After the action of the 18th, there were powerful rea- sons why general Winchester shoukl not abandon his position. " The protection of the French inhabitants was now an imperative duty. The advance to their town had been made at their solicitation; and when the battle had commenced, many of them joined the American forces, and fought with great gallantry ; and afterwards they attacked and killed the straggling Indians, wherever they met them. Their houses were open to our men, and they offered to give up the whole of the provisions, which yet remained to them, upon condition that they should not again be abandoned to the fury of the savages, or subjected for what they had done, to be immured in the prisons of Maiden. The amount of provisions to be se- cured was believed to be very considerable. The duty of protecting the faithful inhabitants, however, had been so strongly impressed by their conduct, on the minds of general Winchester and his men, that an order to retreat would not, perhaps, have been very promptly obeyed." General M'Affee, another meritorious officer of the late war, in referring to this disastrous action, says : "From the whole of the facts, which are now before the reader, he will be able to judge for himself, with res- pect to the causes of the disaster. The advance to the river Raisin was a very important movement; it was made from the best and most urgent motives ; but it is questionable whether it was not too hazardous and pre- mature. It was a rule with general Harrison, and un- doubtedly a very good one, never, in Indian warfare, to 60 SKETCHES OF send out a detachment, unless indispensably necessary, and then to make it sufficiently strong to contend with the whole force of the enemy. The rule was peculiarly applicable in this instance. Frenchtown was within eighteen miles of Maiden, the head quarters of the ene- my, while it was more than double that distance from the Rapids, and about one hundred miles, on an average, from the other corps of the American army. The idea of reinforcing an advanced corps at that place, to sup- port it against any speedy movement of the enemy, was hence altogether chimerical. It should have been strong enough in the first instance, or with the reinforcements to be immediately sent after it from the Rapids, to main- tain its ground, against the whole disposable force of the enemy, for a week at least. And this was probably the case. The greatest error, judging from the information we possess, after the affair is over, does not appear to have been so much the advance of the detachment, as the neglect to fortify the camp. The force actually on the ground, if well posted and well defended by fortifica- tions, and amply supplied with ammunition, could cer- tainly have resisted such an attack as was made, until reinforcements had arrived. On the 21st, general Win- chester thus addressed general Harrison: 'All accounts from Brownstown and Maiden agree in stating, that the enemy is preparing to retake this place ; if he effects his purpose, he will pay dear for it. A few pieces of artil- lery, however, would add to our strength, and give con- fidence to our friends in this place.' Though possessed of this information, and lying so near the enemy, that they could march at any time in the evening, and attack him before day next morning, yet he suffered his men to go to rest that night in an open camp, in wiiich they had lain a whole day since his arrival at that place." Colonel Wood says, again: " Unsuspicious, and elated with this flash of success, the troops were permitted to select, each for himself, such quarters on the west side of the river, as might please him best; whilst the general, not liking to be a- mongst a parcel of noisy, dirty freemen, took his quarters on the east side ! not the least regard being paid to de- GKNKRAL IIAKUISON. 61 fence, order, rouularity, or system in the postintr of the dirtVronl corj)s." After sspfakiiin of tlio battle aiiJ mas- sacre, he proceeds: "thus was there a corps of otic thou- saiiil men, the elite of the army, totally sacrificed, in the most wanton manner prtssihie; and that too, without the slijrhtest benefit to their country or posterity. V^ ith only one third or one fourth of the f irce destined for that ser- vice ; destitute of artillery, of eiif[ineers, of men who had ever seen or heard the least of an enemy, and with but a very inadequate supply of ammunition; hovv he ever could h^'e entertained the most distant hope of success, or what rijiht he had to presume to claim it, is to me one of the stranijest things in the world. An adept in the art of war is alone authorized to deviate from the ordi- nary and established rules, by which that an for a great length of time has been usefully and successfully ap- plied. " Winchester was destitute of every means of support- ing his corps long at the river Raisin, was in the very javvs of the enemy, and beyond the reach of succor. He who fights with such flimsy pretensions to victory, will always be beaten, and eternally ought to be." On the 13th of February, the field and platoon officers of all the Kentucky reyiments, from which the detach- ment sent to the river Raisin, was formed, held a meet- ing and made the following address to general Harrison, It'^is dated at the Miami Rapids, and signed by R. M. Gano, M. D. Hardin, Patrick Gray, Thomas Morris, George Pugh, Joseph Redding, Thomas Story, James W. GillaspTe, James King, Joel Garnett, Peter Dudley, Thomas Brooks, R. C. Holder, Thomas Gest, S. W. McGowan, William Caldwell, Daniel Bowen, and Alex- ander Welch. They were near the scene of action, had every means of knowing the facts in the case, and were mourning over their friends, killed or massacred at the Raisin, when this address was made to the commander- in-chief: " Although various causes have reduced the regiments to which we respectively belong to a very small number, we had flattered ourselves, when we marched from our late encampment, on Portage river, to this place, that ^ SKETCHES OF you would have been enabled immediately to have led us on, and to have given us an opportunity, under your immediate eye, to have avenged the injury sustained by our friends and our country, on the river Raisin, in the last month ; to have regained the ground lost, and to have seen and aided you in repairing the loss sustained. Had circumstances justified you in proceeding, we could rot have doubted the result under your auspices, and we should have remained with you, regardless of the time we had served, or the fatigues we had undergone, and uninfluenced by any pecuniary considerations. But, as events not within your control, seem to forbid immediate active operations, the time we have remained in the wil- derness, as the advance of the north-western army, re- quires our return to civilized life and to our homes. When permitted to return, we shall, after a service of six months under you, carry back to our friends and our country, a confirmation of those high opinions of your military worth, which were formed upon a first acquaint- ance. " Should circumstances again call us to the field, we should be highly gratified at being placed under your im- mediate command. In the meantime, permit us to as- sure you, that we entertain for you, individually, the highest sentiments of personal respect and esteem." In the month of February, the two brigades of Ohio militia, under Tupper and Perkins, were discharged. The general and field officers, on the 20th, at camp Mi- ami Rapids, made an address to general Harrison. We quote the concluding paragraph : " Great was the undertakingp, and numerous the obsta- cles which opposed your progress; a wilderness of near- ly one hundred and fifty miles was to be traversed, which, with its swamps and morasses, presented difBculties far greater than the Alps. Great as were these obstacles, relying on the willingness of your troops to endure any hardships, to reach the enemy, you rightly judged that they might be surmounted. A few weeks past, every circumstance united to promise you an immediate accom- plishment of your designs. Large supplies of provi- sions, and numerous munitions of war were so far ad- OENXRAL HARRISON. 63 vanced as to be within your control ; your troops, with an vinhounded reliance on your judjrment and skill, were eager to be led up to the enemy, and waited but your or- der to march ; your exertions had been gfreat, and every thing promised the sullVring soldier a speedy reward for his toils. At this imj)ortant moment the unfortunate movement of general Winchester to the river Raisin, with its unhappy consequences, (a movement we believe without your orders or concurrence) broke the successful chain of operations, and presented new and unlooked-for dirticulties before you. " On retiring from service, sir, we are happy in assu- ring you of our fullest confidence, and that of our res- pective commands, in the measures you have taken ; they have been cautious, skillful, and guarded, such as would at this lime have carried our arms to the walls of Mai- den, had not the unhappy occurrences at the river Raisin checked your progress, and for a short time thwarted your plans of operation. That you may soon teach the enemy the distinction between an honorable and savage warfare, by planting our standard in the heart of their country, and reijain the honor and territory we have lost, and, as a just tribute to valor, toils and suffering, receive the grateful thanks of a generous and free people, is amonjT the first, the warmest wishes of our hearts." This address is sii/ned by Edward W. Tupper, Simon Perkins, Charles Miller, John Andrews, William Rayen, Robert SatTord, N. Beasley, James Galloway, Solomon Bentley, George Darrow, W. W. Cotgreave, and Jacob Frederick. The conclusions to which every candid mind must come, after a careful perusal of the preceding narrative, and the hiijh testimony by which it is accompanied, are the following: 1. That general Winchester's movement to the river Raisin was in violation of the orders of gen- eral Harrison and the plan of the campaign. 2. That when informed of the movement, general Harrison did all in his power to reinforce the detachment under Win- chester. 3. That after the movement had been made, and the battle of the 18th had occurred, it was inexpe- dient to abandon the place. 4. That if general Winches- 64 SKETCHES OF ter had taken the necessary steps to fortify his camp, and arrangre his troops, the defeat of the 22nd of January would not, in all human probability, have taken place. It is due to the reputation of general Winchester, to add, that in this unfortunate and unauthorized movement to the river Raisin, he vv^as sustained, generally, by the officers and men of his corps. They w^ere a gallant band, panting for an opportunity, before their return to Kentucky, to meet their country's enemy : this feeling, with the still nobler one of protecting the women and children of Frenchtown, from the tomaliawk and scalp- ing knife, contributed to overcome the moral firmness of general Winchester, and led him to a disobedience of or- ders : the same extenuation, however, cannot be pleaded for his conduct, in neglecting the most ordinary precau- tions for the safety of his camp, when within striking distance of a powerful and ferocious enemy, of whose meditated attack he had certain intelligence. CHAPTER VII. Movements of the North-western army, after the defeat at the riv- er Raisin. — Establishment of Camp Meigs. — Kentucky and Ohio Militia discharged. — Termination of the first campaign. — Preparations for the next. — Colonel Morrison's opinion. — Siege of Fort Meigs. — Arrival of Kentucky troops under General Clay. — Dudley's defeat. — Brilliant sorties, 6th May. — Proctor's demand of a surrender. — His abandonment of the siege. — Gallant conduct of General Harrison. On the night of the 22nd of January, a council was called at the Rapids, by general Harrison, to determine whether it was probable the enemy would attack the camp at that place, and whether the force then in camp, consisting of nine hundred men, and a single piece of artillery, would be able to make an effectual resistance? The force of the enemy in the battle, was stated to be GENERAL HARRISON. 65 from two to three thousand, witli six pieces of artillery, principally howiizers. It was decided unanimously, to retire a slurt distance on the road, upon which the artil- lery and reinforcements were approaching. This move- ment was deemed to be prudent, from the fact that Win- chester, with a larger force, had been defeated by the same enemy ; ami it was to be presumed that they would advance atjainst the position ai the Rapids, or do what was more to he deprecated, send tire Indians to intercept those entrusted in the rear, with the artillery and provisions. The position which had been occupied, and partially for- tified, at the Rapids, by - tucky militia, having arrived, they were mounted on pack- horses, and proceeded with all possible expedition. The squadron of colonel Ball was, also, ordered to repair to Fort Meigs, where the men could act as infantry. The general hastened to Fort Amanda, on the Auglaize, and • Dawson and M'Alfee. 72 SKETCHES OF being joined at that place by colonel Miller with the regulars from Chillicoche, embarked with them and one hundred and fifty Ohio militia, under colonel Mills. In the event of the fort being besieged, it was his intention to attack the British batteries in the same way in which he afterwards directed it to be done by colonel Dudley. The general was received in the fort with great joy on the 12th of April, and found that the Virginia general and troops had gone, but that two hundred and thirty of the Pennsylvania line had volunteered to remain until the ar- rival of the expected reinforcements. As soon as major Ball and major Johnson arrived, the Pennsylvania troops were honorably discharged. After the departure of gen- erals Leftwich and Crooks, the command had devolved on major Stoddard, of the United States artillery, whose force consisted of the remaining Pennsylvanians, a bat- talion of twelve month's volunteers under major Alexan- der, a company of artillerists, and small fragments of the 17th and 19th regiments of infantry, amounting in all to five hundred men. Early in April intelligence had been received at the fort, of the designs of the enemy. General Proctor was embodying the Canadian militia, and Tecumthe had join- ed him with six hundred warriors from the Wabash. As soon as the enemy was discovered approaching in force, on the 28th of April, general Harrison dispatched captain William Oliver, the field commissary of the army, to communicate with general Clay, commanding the Ken- tucky reinforcements, who were presumed to be ap- proaching by the Auglaize. This duty required the agent to possess an intimate knowledge of the country, and an intrepidity and firmness peculiar to Indian warfare. These qualities were conspicuous in captain Oliver, and the selection was creditable to the discernment of gene- ral Harrison. Captain Oliver was accompanied by one Indian and one white man, and performed the duty assigned to him with signal success. He found general Clay at Fort Winchester, to whom he communicated the fact of the investment of Fort Meigs, and the urgent importance of forwarding the reinforcement with all practical dispatch. GENERAL HARRISON. 73 As soon as captain Oliver had loft the fort, it was in- vested by the enemy. On the next inoriiinp:, the vements of the army. liut public confidence in the commanding general is essen- tial to the success of the campaign, and causelessly to withdraw or to withhold that contidence, is more than individual injustice; it hecomes a serious injury to the service. A part of the force, of which the American army consists, will derive its greatest strength and efficacy from a confidence in the commanding general, and from those moral causes which accompany and give energy to public opinion. A very erroneous idea re- specting the number of the troops then at the disposal of the general, has doubtless been the primary cause of those unfortunate and unfounded impressions. A sense of duty forbids us from giving a detailed view of our strength at that time. In that respect, we have for- tunately experienced a very favorable change. But we refer the public to the general's official report to the secretary of war, of major Croghan's successful defence of Lower Sandusky. In that will be found a statement of our whole disposable force; and he who believes that with such a force, and under the circumstances which then occurred, general Harrison ought to have advanced upon the enemy, must be left to correct his opinion in the school of experience. " On a review of the course then adopted, we are decidedly of the opinion, that it was such as was dic- tated by military wisdom, and by a due regard to our own circumstances and to the situation of the enemy. The reasons for this opinion it is evidently improper now to give, but we hold ourselves ready at a future period, and when other circumstances shall have inter- vened, to satisfy every man of its correctness who is anxious to investigate and willing to receive the truth. And with a ready acquiescence, beyond the mere claims of military duty, we are prepared to obey a general. i 90 ' SKETCHES OF whose measures meet our most deliberate approbation, and merit that of his country. Lewis Cass, Brig, Gen. U. S. A. Samuel Wells, Col. 17 R. U. S. I. Thos. D. Owings, Col. 28 R. U. S. I. George Paul, Col. 17 R. U, S. I. J. C. Bartlett, Col. Q. M. G. James V. Ball, Lieut. Col. Robert Morrison, Lieut. Col. George Todd, Maj. 19 R. U. S. L William Trigg, Maj. 28 R. U. S. I. James Smiley, Maj. 28 R. U. S. I. Rd. Graham, Maj. 17 R. U. S. L Geo. Croghan, Maj. 17 R. U. S. L L. HuKiLL, Maj. & Ass. Insp. Gen. E. D. Wood, Maj. Engineers." These two documents, spontaneously given, and from the highest possible authority, must, with all honorable minds, relieve the eommander-in-chief from the censure which partizan illiberality, attempted to cast upon him, in this affair. It is plucking no leaf from the laurels which the gallantry of the youthful Croghan entwined around his brows, in the defence of Fort Stephenson, to claim for his commander, the credit of having acted, on this occasion, with prudence, fidelity, and profound mili- tary skill. As soon as this invasion of the territory of Ohio was known, governor Meigs called upon the militia of the „ state to repel the enemy. The appeal was promptly and f nobly responded to, but the abandonment of the siege of Fort Meigs, and the gallant defence of Fort Stephenson, rendered their services unnecessary. When the militia were disbanded, without an opportunity of meeting the foe, or being employed in the main expedition against Canada, there was much discontent among them. To allay this feeling, general Harrison met them at Upper Sandusky ; and, through the governor, made known the reasons for their being disbanded. These were, mainly, that to retain in camp all the Ohio troops, then embo- died, was impossible, as the embarkation on the lake I GENERAL HARRISON. 91 Dould not be effected under fifteen or eighteen days, and so large a force, even for a short time, would consume tthe provisions providtd for the support of the campaign. :The delay in movini; upon Canada arose from a cause Nvliich general Harrison could not then publicly explain, lest it should reach the enemy. Under the plan of the campaign, he was not to cross the lake until he had the full co-operation of commodore Perry's fleet. The pe- riod when this could be obtained was uncertain. Under such circumstances, the retention of so large a body of militia, in camp, would have defeated the plan of the campaign. At the same time, the commander-in-chief bore his testimony to the fact, that the exertions made by governor Meigs to assemble the militia, and the prompti- tude with which the call had been met, was truly astonish- ing, and reflected the highest credit on the state. Some of the disbanded- officers, however, met together, notwith- standing this explanation, and in a moment of popular discontent, passed resolutions to the effect, that they were greatly disappointed in not being kept in service, and that there was something mysterious in the conduct of general Harrison. The cool reflection of these offi- cers, and a subsequent knowledge of the whole plan of the campaign, have long since caused them to regret their course on this occasion; and, to admit with a frankness •honorable to their character, that they had done great in- justice to the commander-in-chief. Active preparations for the expedition against Upper Canada were now making. The call by general Harri- son, on the governor of Kentucky, for volunteers, was promptly responded to, by the venerable Shelby, who, in a patriotic appeal to the people of that state, appointed Ihe 31st of August for the rendezvous of the troops at '^ Newport. Public attention was now directed with great intenseness, to the rival fleets on lake Erie. About the 2nd of August, the vessels under commodore Perry were finally equipped. On the 5th, general Harrison visited .:he fleet, and furnished the commander with a company Df soldiers, to act as marines, who were afterwards ac- knowledged to have performed a valuable service. Col- DDol Johnson, with his mounted regiment, was recalled 92 SKETCHES OF from Kentucky, to the frontiers. Every exertion was made along the whole line from Cleveland to Fort Meigs, to hasten on the stores, while governor Shelby was stea- dily advancing with a strong body of mounted men towards the scene of action. In the midst of these ac- tive preparations, in which the energy of the commander- in-chief was everywhere perceptible, he received on the 12th of September, at Seneca, a note in which commo- dore Perry says : " We have met the enemy and they are ours — two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and a sloop." This important and glorious news spread, with the rapidity of an electric shock, throughout the whole line of the army, and as it reached the various detachments, pressing on to the shore of the lake, it quickened their speed, and awakened a burning desire to achieve a victory equally brilliant over the enemy under Proctor. On the 20th, the embarkation commenced from the mouth of Portage river. On the 26th, the army reached the Middle Sister, — having touched at Put-in-bay, where a general order of debarkation, of march and of battle, was issued by the commander-in-chief, which, for lucid mi- nuteness and military acumen, has been pronounced by competent judges, to be unsurpassed in its kind. On the morning of the 27th, the final embarkation of the army commenced, in sixteen vessels and upwards of eighty boats. The sun shone in all his autumnal beauty, and a gentle breeze hastened onward the ships to that shore, on which it was anticipated the banner of our country would have to be planted, amid the thunder of British arms, and the yells of ferocious Indians. While moving over the bosom of the lake, — every eye en- chanted with the magnificence of the scene, and every heart panting for the coming opportunity of avenging their country's wrongs, — the beloved commander-in-chief caused the following address to be delivered to his army : " The general entreats his brave troops to remember, that they are the sons of sires whose fame is immortal ; that they are to fight for the rights of their insulted coun- iry^ while their opponents combat for the unjust preten- sions of a master. Kentuckians ! remember the river GENERAL HAURISON. 03 Raisin ; but remember it onh/^ whilst victory is suspend- ed. Tlie revenge of a soldier cannot be gratified upon a fallen enemy." When this stirring ap[)eal was read, on each ves- sel, and in each boat, the shouts of '* Harrison and victory," rose, successively, from an army of freemen, and went booming over the rippling waters. The luid- ing was etVected at four o'clock, with a celerity and an order, as remarkable as the spectacle was beautiful and grand ; and, about sundown, the army entered Mai- den in triumph, heralded by the national air of " yankee doodle." The enemy had lied — the town was nearly de- serted, and the fort a pile of smouldering ruins On the 29th, the army reached Sandwich, in pursuit of the re- treating foe. At this place, a council was held, on the question of a choice of routes, over which to pursue Proctor. The one up the 'I'hames was finally selected. Personal ani- mosity tow-ards the commander-in-chief, subsequently gave xiiiQ to the charge, that in this council, he was on- posed to the pursuit of the enemy, and was reluctantly forced into it, by the venerable hero of King's Mountain, , who commanded, in person, the Kentucky irocpt. on this r memorable expedition. That the reader may see the fal- I sity of this allegation, we here break the thread of our f narrative, to introduce the fqllowing letters, which con- tain the most ample refutation of a charge as unfounded as it is malicious : Frankfort, April 2\y 1816. "Dear General: — Your letter of the 15th instant has been duly received, in which you stated that a charge has been made against you, ' that you were forced to pursue Proctor from my remonstrances,' and that I had said to you upon that occasion, 'that it was immatorial ■what direction you took, that I was resolved to pursue the enemy up the Thames ;' and you request me to give you a statement of facts in relation to the council of war held at .Sandwich. " I will, in the first place, freely declare that no such language ever passed from me to you, and that 1 enter- 94 SKETCHES OF tained throughout the campaign, too high an opinion of your military talents, to doubt for a moment your capacity to conduct the army to the best advantage. It is well recollected, that the army arrived at Sandwich in the afternoon of the 29th of September, and that the next day was extremely wet. I was at your quarters in the evening of that day; we had a conversation relative to the pursuit of the enemy, and you requested me to see you early the next morning. I waited on you just after daybreak — found you up, apparently waiting for me ; you led me into a small private room, and on the way ob- served, ' We must not be heard.' You were as anxious to pursue Proctor as I was, but might not have been en- tirely satisfied as to the route. You observed that there were two ways by which he might be overtaken: one was down the lake by water, to some post or point, of the name of which I am now not positive ; thence to march across by land twelve miles to the road leading up the Thames, and intercept him. The other way by land, up the strait, and up the Thames. I felt satisfied, by a pursuit on land, that he could be overhauled, and ex- pressed that opinion, with the reasons on which it was founded, and we readily agreed in sentiment; but you observed, as there were two routes by which "he might be overtaken, to determine the one most proper was a measure of great responsibility, that you would take the opinion of the general officers as to the most practicable' one, and you requested me to collect them in one hour at your quarters. I assembled them accordingly, to whom you stated your determination to pursue Proctor, and your object in calling them together; and after explain- ing the two routes by which he might be overtaken, you observed, ' that the governor thinks, and so do I, that the pursuit by land up the Thames, will be most effectual." The general officers were in favor of a pursuit by land ; and in the course of that day, colonel Johnson, with his mounted regiment, was able to cross over from the De- troit side to join in the chase. He might, however, have been ordered the day before, during the rain, to cross over with his regiment ; but of this I have not a distinct recollection. The army I know was on its march by OENEIIAL IIAKRISON. 95 Bunrise on the morninp of tlie 2nd of October, and continued the pursuit (often in a run,) until the eveuinnr of the 5th, when the tucMiiy was overtaken. Duriiijr the whole of this loiior -and arduous pursuit, no man could make greater exertions, or use more vigilance than you did to overtake Proctor, whilst the skill and promptitude with which you arranged the troops for battle, and the distinguished zeal and bravery you evinced during its continuance, merited and received my highest approba- tion. " In short, sir, from the time I joined you to the mo- ment of our separation, I believe that no commander ever did or could make greater exertions than you did to effect the great objects of the campaign. I admired your plans, and thought them executed with great ener- gy ; particularly your order of battle, and arrangements for landing on the Canada shore, were calculated to in- spire every officer and man with a confidence that we could not be defeated by. anything like our own number." " Until after I had served the campaign of 1813, I was not aware of the difficulties which you had to encounter as commander of the north-western army. I have since often said, and still do believe, that the duties assigned to you on that occasion, were more arduous and difficult to accomplish than any I had ever know^n confided to any commander; and with respect to the zeal and fidel- ity with which you executed that high and important trust, there are thousands in Kentucky, as well as my- self, who believed it could not have been committed to better hands. " With sentiments of the most sincere regard and esteem, I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, ISAAC SHELBY. " Major General William Henry Ilttrrison. »» Newport, Jugtist 18, 1817. " My Dear Sir : — I have received your letter of the 11th ult. in which you request me to reply to the fol- lowing questions, viz : first, ' Whether the statements made by governor Shelby in his letter to you of the 21st of April, ^1816, be substantially correct T to which 1 re- 96 SKETCHES OF ply in the affirmative. Secondly, ' Whether you did ever, either in the council held at Sandwich, or in pri- vate conversation with me, evince anything like an in- disposition to pursue the British army hy one of the two routes which were under consideration V — to which: I answer in the negative. In a conversation which I held with you the morning prior to the assembling of the general council at Sandwich, you appeared particularly desirous of attempting to cut off the retreat of the Bri- tish army by the route from port Talbot. To your argu- ments in favor of this measure, I opposed our limited means of transportation, and the great difficulty and uncertainty of the lake navigation at this season of the year. These obstacles appeared to induce you to have recourse to the measure which was afterwards adopted. "Although I have little or no pretensions to military knowledge as relates to an army, still I may be allowed, to bear testimony to your zeal and activity in the pursuit of the British army under general Proctor, and to say, the prompt change made by you in the order of battle, on discovering the position of the enemy, always has appeared to me to have evinced a high degree of military talent. I concur most sincerely with the venerable governor Shelby, in his general approbation of your con- duct as far (as it came under my observation,) in that campaign. With great regard, I am, my dear sir, your friend, " 0. H. PERRY. *' Major General W. H. Harrison^ Extract of a letter from Governor Cass to General Harrison^ dated Detroit^ August 31, 1817. " Upon the subject of the council which was held at Sandwich, I cannot speak with precision ; I think that for some cause, I do not now recollect, I was not present at its deliberations. But I do recollect that at all the interviews I had with you, you were ardent and zeal- ous for the pursuit of Proctor; nor did I ever hear that a doubt had been expressed by you upon that subject, till long after the events themselves had passed away. In the letter from governor Shelby to you, which has been published, the governor has stated so correctly and CKNERAL IIAnUlSON. 97 dislinclly, tho propositions which were made for the pur- suit of Proctor, liiat there is less necessity for me to enter into a detail of them. The main body of the ene- my's army iiad left Ainherstburj^ some days before we landed, and were under;:lood to be upon the river French. If conducted with common prudence, it was my opinion then, and it is my opinion yet, that they might have moved with such celerity as to have rendered it im- practicable for us to have overtaken them. A deep in- dentation of the lake some distance below Maiden would have brought us within a few miles of the road upon which Proctor retreated, and considerably advanced of the position where we overtook him. The propriety of pursuing him along the road he had taken, or of endeav- oring to intercept him by the other route, was the subject of conversation on our first arrival at Sandwich. But whenever I conversed with you, the latter route was mentioned as one which deserved examination rather than one upon which any decided opinion had been formed. Upon a consideration of its uncertainty at that season of the year, it was soon abandoned. I was w ith you fre- quently, and conversed with you freely, during our con- tinuance at Sandwich, and I am confident you never hes- itated in your determination to pursue Proctor. So far as my feeble testimony can aid in removinjr erroneous impressions, which have injured you, it is given with pleasure. From the time I joined the army under your command, its operations were conducted with as much celerity as possible, and so far as respects yourself, its fiscal concerns, I am confident, were managed with the most scrupulous integrity." 98 SKETCHES OF CHAPTER IX. Battle of the Thames. — Documents as to the same. — General Harrison sails for Buffalo. — Marches to Fort George. — Or- dered to his District. — Descends lake Ontario to Sackett's Harbor. — Passes to Cincinnati, via. New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. — Interference with his command by Gen- eral Armstrong. — Perry's letter. — M'Arthur's letter. — John- son's letter. — Croghan's letter. — Harrison's letter of resigna- tion to the President. — Governor Shelby's letter to the Pres- ident. When the army reached Sandwich, on the 29th, gen- eral M'Arthur was detached with his brigade to retake possession of Detroit, which for thirteen months had been in the possession of the British and Indians. The latter did not leave it until startled by a few rounds from one of our vessels. On the same day, the creneral, seizing the first moment to abrogate the martial law in force by Proctor, re-established the civil government of Michigan, to the great joy and relief of the inhabitants. Colonel .Johnson, with his mounted regiment, crossed the strait early on the 1st of October, and rejoined- the army. On the 2nd of October, the pursuit was resumed. On a fork of the Thames, near Chatham, a large party of Indians were found prepared to dispute the passage of that stream. A few shot from Wood's artillery dis- persed them. This was the place appointed by Proc- tor, in his conference with Tecumthe, to make a stand. " Here," said the former, " they would either defeat gen- eral Harrison, or there lay their bones." Tecumthe ap- proved of the position, and said, "when he should look at the two streams, they would remind him of the Wa- bash and Tippecanoe."* The pursuit was continued with unabated speed, — the troops being frequently on a run, until the 5th, when near the Moravian towns, * A deep, unfordable creek falls into the Thames, near Chat- ham. I I GENERAL HARRISON. 60 twelve miles beyond the crossing of the Thames, the enemy was overtaken. The position selected by the enemy was eminently ju- dicious. The British troops, amouniiiipr to eight or nine hundred, were posted witli their lefi upon the river, which was unfordable at that point; their right extended to, and across a swamp, and united there with a body of Indians, led by the celebrated Tecunithe, amounting to eighteen hundred or two thousand. The British artil- lery was placed in the road along the river, near to the left of their line. At from two to three hundred yards from the river, a swamp extends nearly parallel to it, the intermediate ground being dry. This position of the enemy, with his flank j)rotected on the left by the river, and on the rifjht by the swamp filled by the Indians, was evidently calculated to call for a display of military tal- ent in the opposing general, and of valor in his troops. As the winjjs could not be turned, fjeneral Harrison made his arranjrements to concentrate his forces atjainst the British line. The 1st division, under major-eeneral Henry, was formed in three lines at one hundred yards from each other — the front line consisting of Trotter's britjade, the second line of Chiles's brigade, and the re- serve of King's brio-ade. These lines were in front of, and parallel to, the British troops. The second division, und(r major general Desha, composed of Allen's and Caldwell's [)rigades, was formed en putence, or at right angles to the first division. Governor Slielby, as senior major general of the Kentucky troops, was posted at this crotchet, formed between the first and second divisions. Colonel Simrall's regiment of light infantry was formed in reserve, obliquely to the left division and covering the rear of the front division; and after much refleciion as to the disposition to he made of colonel Johnson's mountfd troops, ihey were directed, as soon as the front line ad- vanced, to take ground to the left, and, forming upon that flank, to endeavor to turn the right of the Indians. A de- tachment of regular troops of the 2Gth United States in- fantry, under colonel Paul, occupied the space between the road and the river for the purpose of seizing the ene- my's artillery ; and simultaneously with this movement, 100 SKETCHES OF forty friendly Indians were to pass under the bank to the rear of the British line, and by their fire induce the enemy to suppose their own Indians had turned against them. At the same time, colonel Wood had been in- structed to make preparations for using the enemy's ar- tillery, and rake their own line by a flank fire. By refu- sing the left ar second division, the Indians were kept in the air, that is, in a position in which they would be use- less. It will be seen, as the general anticipated, that they awaited in their position the advance of the second divisi(/n, whilst the British left was contending- vvith the American right. The Indians afterwards inquired why this division did not charge their line. This disposition of the troops was a combination of the modern tactics in Europe, with that prescribed by Washington and adopt- ed by general Wayne. Johnson's corps consisted of nine hundred men, and the five brirjades under governor Shel- by, amounted from fifteen to eighteen hundred, in all not exceedng two thousand seven hundred. In the midst of these arrangements, and just as the or- der was about to be given to the front line to advance, at the head of which general Harrison had placed himself with his staff, major Wood approached him with the intelligence, that having reconnoitred the enemy he had ascertained the remarkable fact, that the British lines, in- stead of the usual close order, had been drawn up at open order. This departure from ordinary military principles in the formation of the British troops, at once induced general Harrison to adopt the novel expedient of charg- ing the British lines with Johnson's mounted troops. This determination was communicated to colonel John- son, who was directed to draw up his regiment " in close column, with its right fifty yards from the road, (that it might be, in some measure, protected by the trees from the artillery,) its left upon the swamp, and to charge full speed upon the enemy." At this juncture, general Harrison, with his aids-de- camp, attended by general Cass and commodore Perry, advanced from the right of the front line of infantry, to the right of the front of the column of mounted troops led by lieutenant colonel James Johnson and major Du- GENERAL HARRISON. 101 val Payne. General Harrison personally pave llie direr- tions tor the charge to be made " w lien ihe riiihi hat- lalion of the mounted men received the fire of the Hrit- ish ; tl>e horses in the front df the colutun recoihd from thi," fire ; another was given hy tlie enemy, aiui our col- umn at lenoih orettiiKT in motion, broke throuj^h the ene- my with irresistible force. In one minute the contest in front was over. Tlie British officers seeing no prospect of reducing their disordered ranks to ord»>r," and sei-ing the advance of infantry "and our mounted men wheeling upon them and pouring in a destructive fire, immediately surrendered."* 'I'he result of this charge decided the fate of the day. It uncovered the Indian left, and necessarily comj)elled a retreat, although the battle continued to rage severi'ly to the left aIon«T the Indian line. Colonel Richard M. John- son, by the extension of his line, had come in contact with the Indians, who had made some impression tipon him and the left of Trotter's brigade. As soon as the charge upon the right had taken etfect, general Harrison dispatched an order to governor Shelby to bring up Sim- rali's regiment to reinforce the point pressed by the In- dians, and then the general passed to the left to superin- tend the operations in that quarter. The governor, how- ever, had anticipated the wishes of the general, and bringing up Simrall's regiment, met the general near the crotchet, and soon after the battle ceased. The com- manding general then directed a portion of the right bat- talion, under major Payne, to pursue general Proctor, who had tied under the escort of a troop of dragoons and some mounted Indians. The pursuit was so hot for six miles beyond the Moravian town, that the British gene- ral was compelled t^j abandon his sword, papers, and carriage, which, with sixty-three prisoners, several In- dians killed, and aji immense amount of stores, was the result of this daring enterprise by seven ofTicers and three privates, who alone continued the pursuit after the first few miles. Our loss in this decisive battle, was from seventeen to ♦ Oincial disjMtch. 102 SKETCHES OP twenty killed, and thirty to forty wounded. The British loss was six hundred and forty-five, of which eighteen were killed and twenty -six wounded ; and the Indians left on the ground and in the pursuit, between fifty and sixty killed, and, estimating the usual pioportion of wounded, their total loss must have been near two hun- dred. Among our gallant dead, was colonel Whitley, and lieutenant Logan. Colonel R. M. Johnson and cap- tains J. Davidson and Short, were severely wounded. Tecumthe, a brigadier-general in the British service, and the formidable chief of the Indian confederacy, fell in this memorable battle, by which an important territory was restored to the United States, the uppermost Canada was conquered, and the blessinfjs of peace extended to the frontier settlements in the north-west. From a review of the arrangements and incidents in this battle, it will be seen that the plan of refusing the left winsr, was attended with the happiest consequences. The force of the enemy consisted principally of Indians in position, with the right of their line thrown forward obtusely from the point where they united with the British : the latter appeared to constitute the weakest wing of the enemy; and therefore general Harrison ex- hibited military genius in so arranging his troops as to suspend or avoid a conflict with the Indians, and concen- trate his strencrth ajjainst the British line. The severe loss inflicted by the Indians on colonel Johnson's left, and the small part of the infantry with which they came in contact, abundantly shews what would have been the loss of life, if the left wing had advanced upon the In- dian line. We introduce in this place, an extract of the official letter of general Harrison, bearing testimony to the con- duct of his officers and so'diers in this battle. " In commimicatintr to the president through you, sir, my opinion of the conduct of the cfficers who served un- der my command, I am at a loss how to mention that of governor Shelby, being convinced that no eulogium of mine can reach his merit. Tlie governor of an indepen- dent state, greatly my superior in years, in experience, and in military character, he placed himself under my GENERAL HARRISON. 103 command, and was not more remarkable for his zeal and activity, than for the promptitude and cheerfulness with which he obeyed my orders. 'I'he major-jrenerals Mt-nry and Desha, and the brifjadiers Allen, Caldwell, King-, Chiles, and Trotter, all of the Kentucky volunteers, man- ifested great zeal and activity. Of governor Shelby's staff, his adjutant-general, colonel ^^Dowell, and his quarter-master general, colonel Walker, rendered great service, as did his aids-de-camp, general Adair and ma- jors Barry and Crittenden. 'I'he military skill of the former was of great service to us, and the activity of the two latter gentlemen could not be surpassed. Illness deprived me of the talents of my adjutant-general, colo- nel Gaines, who was left at Sandwich. His duties were, however, ably performed by the acting assistant adju- tant-general, captain Butler. My aids-de-camp, lieutenant O'Fallon and captain Todd, of the line, and my volunteer aids, John Speed Smith and John Chambers, Esq. have rendered me the most important service from the opening of the campaign. I have already stated that general Cass and commodore Perry assisted me in forming the troops for action. The former is an officer of the high- est merit, and the appearance of the brave commodore cheered and animated every breast. *' It would be useless, sir, after stating the circum- stances of the action, to pass encomiums upon colonel Johnson and his regiment. Veterans could not have manifested more firmness. The colonel's numerous wounds prove that he was in the post of danger. Lieu- tenant-colonel James Johnson and the majors Payne and Thomson were equally active, thouoh more forfunaie. Major Wood, of the engineers, already distinguished by his conduct at Fort Meigs, attended the army with two six pounders. Having no use for them in the action, he joined in the pursuit of the enemy, and with major Payne of the mounted regiment, two of my aids-de-camp, Todd and Chambers,* and three privates, continued it forseve- * Captain Langham, and lieutenants Scrogg:in and Bell, in- advertently omitted in this letter, were noticed in a subsequent general order, as being in the pursuit." 104 SKETCHES OF ral miles after the rest of the troops had halted, and made many prisoners. " I left the army before an official return of the prison- ers, or that of the killed and wounded, was made out. It f was however ascertained that the former amounts to six hundred and one regulars, includinjr twenty-five officers. Our loss is seven killed and twenty-two wounded, five of which have since died. Of the British troops twelve were killed and twenty-two wounded. The Indians suf- fered most — thirty-three of them having- been found upon the ground, besides those killed on the retreat. On the day of the action, six pieces of brass artillery were taken, and two iron twenty-four pounders the day before. Sev- eral others were discovered in the river, and can be easily procured. Of the brass pieces three are the trophies of our revolutionary war, that were taken at Saratoga and York, and surrendered by general Hull. The number of small arms taken by us and destroyed by the enemy must amount to upwards of five thousand ; most of them had been ours, and taken by the enemy at the surrender of Detroit, at the river Raisin, and colonel Dudley's de- feat. I believe that the enemy retain no other military trophy of their victories than the standard of the 4th reg- iment. They were not magnanimous enough to bring that of the 41st regiment into the field, or it would have been taken. "You have been informed, sir, of the conduct of the troops under my command in action ; it gives me great pleasure to inform you, that they merit also the approba- tion of their country for their conduct, in submitting to the greatest privations with the utmost cheerfulness. The infantry were entirely without tents, and for several days the whole army subsisted on fresh beef without bread or salt. I have the honor to be, &;c. "WILLIAM H. HARRISON. " P. S. General Proctor escaped by the fleetness of his horses, escorted by forty dragoons and a number of mounted Indians. " General James Armstrongs Secretary of TVar.^^ GENERAL HARRISON. 105 Colonel Wood, whose military eye discovered tfrat position of the enemy which induced general Harrisnn to chancre the mode of attack, introduced into liLs journal ihe following criticism npon the events of the day : "It is really a novel thing- tiiat raw militia, stuck \ipon horees, with muskets in their hands instead of sabres, sl.ould be able to pierce British lines with such com- plete effect, as did Johnson's men in the afTair upon the Tiraiues ; and perhaps the oidy circumstance which could justify that deviation from the long established rules of the art military, is the complete success of the result. Great generals are authorized to step aside occasionally — especially when they know that their errors will not be noticed by their adversary." Commodore Perry, in a letter to general Harrison of 18th August, 1817, says: " The prompt change made by you in the order of bat- tle on discovering the position of the enemy, has always appeared to me to have evinced a high degree of mili- tary TALENT. I concur with the venerable Shelby in his general approbation of your conduct in that campaign." ]Mr. Madison, in his annual message to congr. ss, thus notices, with rare discrimination and justice, the promi- nent actors in this scene: "The success on lake Erie having opened a passage to the territory of the enemy, the officer commanding the north-western army transferred the war thither, and rap- idly pursuing the hostile troops, fleeing with their sav- age associates, forced a general action, which quickly terminated in the capture of the British, and dispersion of the savage force. — This result is signally honorable to major-general Harrison, by whose military talents it was prepared ; to colonel Johnson and his mounted volun- teers, whose impetuous onset gave a decisive blow to the ranks of tlie enemy ; and to the spirit of the volunteer mi- litia, equally brave and patriotic, who bore an interesting part in the scene ; more especially to the chief maijistrate of Kentucky, at the head of them, whose heroisu), signal- ized in the war which established the independence of his country, sought, at an advanced age, a share in hard- ships and battles, for maintaining its rights and its safety." 106 SKETCHES OF Mr. Cheves alludes to this event in a speech in con- gress, in the following- terms : *' The victory of Harrison was such as would have se- cured to a Roman general in the best days of the Repub- lic, the honors of a triumph ! He put an end to the war in the uppermost Canada." And the patriotic Simon Snyder, governor of Pennsyl- vania, introduces the subject to the legislature in these terms : "Already is the brow of the young warrior, Croghan, encircled with laurels, and the blessings of thousands of women and children, rescued from the scalping knife of the ruthless savag-e of the wilderness, and from the still more savage Proctor, rest on Harrison and his gallant army." The capture of the British, and dispersion of the In- dian force on the Thames, enabled general Harrison to proceed to the Niagara frontier with the brigade of Mc Ar- thur, the rifle regiment under colonel Wells, and the battal- ion under colonel Ball. On this, as on a former occasion, he anticipated the wishes of the government ; for although he had received no instructions since the preceding July, his own judgment led him to transfer his disposable force to the Niagara strait, after he had accomplished the objects of the campaign. The want of the necessary provisions, and the season being too far advanced to en- counter the upper lakes, had previously determined the general and commodore Perry, to abandon the expedition against Macinaw. General Cass was stationed at De- troit with his brigade, and the civil government of Mich- igan and the military occupation of the uppermost Can* ada, committed to his charge. General Harrison sailed in Perry's fleet and reached Erie on the 22nd, and Buffalo on the 24th of October, and proceeded immediately to Newark, when he assu- med the command of the troops at that place, and Forts George and Niagara, then under the command of general McClure, of the New York militia. He received at this point from general Armstrong, secretary of war, a copy of the dispatch of the 22nd of September, wliich had been lost with captain Brown, in the attempt to pass up to GENERAL HARKISON. 107 Detroit, in October. This letter sugrtrrsted the propriety of general Harrison proceeding to the Niagara strait, af- ter he had secured Maiden and the army under Proctor. Another letter received about this tinu? from the secretary of war, under date of the *2()th of October, adds the au- thority of general Armstrong's military opinion, so far a8 it was entitled to weight, to the propriety of general Harrison having convened a council of war at Sandwii-h, to determine upon the route by which Proctor should l)e pursued. We introduce an extract of the letter to show that Armstrong recommended the very route which was not taken : "Sackett's Harbor, Odoher 20, 1813. "We are, perhaps, too remote to profit by eacli oth- er's suggestions ; but it docs not appear to me that Sand- wich is the point at which Proctor will stop, if you pur- sue him. From Point aux Pins, on lake Erie, there is a good road to Chatham, on the rhames, the distance not more than twenty-four miles. Were this gained and traveled back to Sandwich, the enemy's means of sub- sistence might be destroyed, and himself compelled to surrender — but of the practicability of this, you are the best judge. My opinion is suggested by the map." The secretary of war, in a letter of the 30ih of Octo- ber, recommended to general Harrison to move against the enemy, at Burlington Heights, near the head of lake Ontario, the capture or destruction of which, he says, would be a glorious T^/m/e to his campaiirn. But whilst the most active preparaticns were making to elfect this object, another letter from the secretary, on the 3rd of November, four days later, required general Harrison to send McArthur's brigade to Sacketi's Harbor, concluding with the declaration'ihat the " general would be permit- ted to make a visit to his family, which he understood as an order to retire to his own district."* His letters of the loth of November, 1S13, to general M'Clure, show the sense in which general Harrison regarded this letter, which "left him no alternative as to the disposition of McArthur's brigade," and which he considered as " or- M'Affee, 405. 108 SKETCHES OF dering him to return to the westward." Generals Hani- Bon and McClure were actively eiij^aj^ed in preparations against the enemy in conformity to Armstrong's sugges- tion on the 30th ot'Octoher, when those arrangements were nrresieJ hy the requisition contained in the letter of the 3rd of November, and the arrival of commodore Chaiin- cey, with his squadron, on the 1 Ith of November. The commodore " was extremely jiressing that tlio troops should imu'ediately embark, declaring tlvat the naviga- tion at that season, to small vessels, was very danger- ous."* The general acconjpanied the troops to Sackeit's Harbor, and returned to his district hy the way of New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. In the two for- mer cities, he received those evidences of public grati- tude which belong only to public benefactors. Early in January he resumed, at Cincinnati, the command of the 8lli military district. The course of public opinion during the winter, indica- ted very decidedly that general Harrison ought to be in- vested with the chief command in the next cam-paign. Con)modore Perry, who had witnessed the exertions, the skill and bravery of general Harrison, addressed to him about this period, a letter, in which he says, " You know what has i)een my opinion as to the future commander- in-chief of the army. I pride myself not a little, 1 assure you, on seeing my predictions so near being verified ; yes, my dear friend, 1 expect to hail you as the chief who is to redeem the honor of our arms in the north." The veteran general McArthur, another eye-witness to the career of general Harrison, wrote to him early in 1814, from Al- bany, New York, from which the following is an extract: *' You, sir, stand the highest with the militia of this state of any general in the service, and 1 am confident, that no man can fioht them to so great an advantaoe ; and 1 think their extreme solicitude may be tlie means of calling you to this frontier." 13ut from causes, which it is dilficult at this time to explain, genera! Armstrong's feelings and opinions in relation to general Harrison, had undergone a material change. His letter of the 14th May, 1814, * 5th vol. Niies. 333. GENERAL HARRISON. 109 enclosing t)ie plan of the canipaifrn, as snluiiiitcd to the president on the 30lh of April, fully adlhorizrs the infer- ence that rrcncral Harrison would not he assigned any coflimaiul in the active operations of the n[>proachin|j cam- paign. All of the troops in tlio Hth niililary district, ex- cepting garrisons for Detroit and Maiden, w«re to he held in readiness to move down the lake to HiifTalo, and j^erieral McArthur was desii^nnicd for the comniand of those corps, includin"- the 17tli, 19ih, 'Jlth, and iiSih rej^- iments of rejrulars. This arrangement of all the (tiajMHO' hie furcc in Ihc north-xrcat, while it left ge'ieral Harrison to remain in the 8th military district, was made after the receipt at the war office of his letter of the 13th of Feh- ruary, 1814, in which he expresses his views and feel- ings arising from the interference of the secretary in with- drawing general Howard from his command. That letter concludes with the following declaration :** Apart from the considerations of my duty to my country, I have no inducement to remain in the army, and if the prerogatives of my rank and station as the Cdmmainlnr nfa district, be taken from me, being fully convinced that I can render no important service, 1 should much rather be permitted to retire to private life."* This was the condition of things, when the secretary persevered in interferinff with his j)rerot:atives, as the commander of the district, by dispatching to major Holmes, a subordinate officer at Detroit, an order to lake three hundred men from that post, and j)roceed on hoard commodore Sinclair's fleet, destined to Macinaw. This proceeding on the part of the secretary, was a gross in- vasion of military propriety ; and whatever may have been the design, it authorized jjeneral Jlarrison to jmp- pose it was not the intention of the secretary to respect his rank as commander of the district. The order not only passed by the general, hut was derogatory to the rank of colonel Crnghan, the immediate commander of the post. That gallant young officer spoke of Uiis course without reserve; and in a letter to general Har- rison, made the following appropriate remarks: "Major Dawson, 435. 110 SKETCHES OF Holmes has been notified by the war department, that he is chosen to command the land troops which are intended to co-operate with tlie fleet at^ainst the enemy's force on the upper lakes. So soon as I may be directed by you to order major Holmes on that command, and to furnish him with the necessary troops, 1 shall do so ; but not till then shall he, or any other part of my force, leave the sod." * In another letter to oreneral Harrison, he re- marks : " I know not how to account for the secretary of war's assuminop to himself the right of designating . major Holmes for this command to Macinaw. My ideas on the subject may not be correct; yet for the sake of the principle, were I a general commanding a district, I would be very far from suffering the secretary of war, or any other authority to interfere with my internal police." f This order to major Holmes would authorize the infer- ence that the secretary may have had other correspon- dence with him or other inferior officers of the district. It was evidently a course of conduct indicating a very different state of feeling towards the only successful general of the previous campaigns, from that implied l)y the unlimited powers confided to him in 1812-'13. Of the impolicy and great indelicacy, of a secretary at war interferinor in the internal arrang-ements of the district confided to a commanding general, abundant evidence is afforded in the uiimilitary order given to colonel Johnson in June, 1813, to march to St. Louis. Colonel Johnson and his regiment were anxious to participate in the con- templated movements into Canada, and were exceedingly mortified with this order, interfering as well with their wishes as with the internal police of the commanding general. It was on this trying occasion that colonel Johnson, on the 4th of July, appealed to general Harri- son, to countermand the order; but the general regarded it as so imperative that he would not disobey it. In the colonel's letter, he expressed the wish, to " serve under a general who was brave, skilful, and prudent;'*'' but gen- eral Harrison would only so far modify the order, as to permit colonel Johnson and his regiment to take Ken- * M'Affee, 417. f M'Afee, 418. GENKRAL HARRISON. Ill tucky in the route to St. Louis, in the hope that the horses might be recruited, and additional volunteers obtained. In the history of the latn war in the west, it is stated, tliat " he had scarcely reached Kentucky, be- fore general Harrison had been authorized to recall Inni, by a letter from the war department, in which the secre- tary expressed his rct^rct (hat the urdrr for his niortal."* In 1S16, a resolution was introduced into tlie senate of the United States, voting- - sively circulated and greatly admired in the United States, is written with great force and rlefjance o( dic- tion, and breathes the pure spirit of re|)uhlican liberty. We have only room to cite the concluding jjaragraphs of this masterly production : " In relation to the effect which this investment of power is to hdve upon your happiness and your famr, will the pomp and glitter of a court, and the rtallrry of venal courtiers, reward you for the troubles and anxieties attendant upon the exercise of sovereignty, everywhere, and those which will flew from your peculiar situation 1 Or power, supported by the bayonet, for that willmg homage which you were wont to receive from your fel- low-citizens 1 The groans of a dissatisfied and oppress- ed people will penetrate the inmost recesses of your pal- ace, and you will be tortured by the reflection, that you no longer possess that place in their aflections, which was once your pride and your boast, and wl.;'-h would have been your solace under every reverse of iorlune. Unsupported by the people, your authority can be mam- tained only, by the terrors of the sword and the scafl^old. And have these ever been successful under similar cir- cumstances 1 Blood may smother, for a period, but can never extinguish the fire of liberty, which you have con- tributed so much to kindle in the bosom of every Co- lombian. " I will not urge, as an argument, the personal dangers to which you will be exposed. But I will ask, if you could enjoy life, which would be preserved by the r u- stant execution of so many human heiucr^ — y«';- - men, your former friends, and almost yuur >n . ■ The pano-s of such a situation will be made more acute, by reflecTino- on the hallowed motive of many of ihowi who would'aim their daggers at your bosom. 'I hat. like the last of the Romans, they would strike, not from ha- tred to the man, but love to the country. 126 SKETCHES OP "From a knowledge of your own disposition, and pres- ent feelings, your excellency will not be willing to believe, that you could ever be brought to commit an act of tyranny, or even to execute justice with unnecessary rigor. But trust me, sir, that there is nothing more cor- rupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlim- ited power. The man who, in the beginning of such a career, might shudder at the idea of taking away the ' life of a fellow-being, might soon have his conscience so seared by the repetition of crime, that the agonies of his murdered victims might become music to his soul, and the drippings of his scaffold afford *' blood enough to swim in." History is full of such exam- ples. " From this disgusting picture, permit me to call the at* tention of your excellency to one of a different character. It exhibits you as the constitutional chief magistrate of a free people. Giving to their representatives the influ- ence of your great name and talents, to reform the abuses which, in a long reign of tyranny and misrule, have fas- tened upon every branch of the administration. The army, and its swarm of officers, reduced within the lim- its of real usefulness, placed on the frontiers, and no longer permitted to control public opinion, and be the terror of the peaceful citizen. By the removal of this incubus from the treasury, and the establishment of order, responsibility, and economy, in the expenditures of the government, it would soon be enabled to dispense with the odious monopolies, and the duty of the AlcavalUi which have operated with so malign an effect upon com- merce and agriculture; and, indeed, upon the revenues which they were intended to augment. No longer op- pressed by these shackles, industry would everywhere re- vive : the farmer and the artizan, cheered by the prospect of ample reward for their labor, would redouble their ex- ertions : foreigners, with their capital and skill in the arts, would crowd hither, to enjoy the advantages which could scarcely elsewhere be found : and Colombia would soon exhibit the reality of the beautiful fiction of Fenelon — Salenlum rising from misery and oppression, to prosper- GENERAL HARRISON. 127 ity and happiness, under the councils and dirrclion of the concealed goddess. " What objections can bo iirfted against tliis course 1 Can any one, acquainted with the circumstances of the country, doubt its success, in reslorincr and maintaining tranquillity? The people would certainly not revolt against themselves ; and none of the chiefs who are sup- posed to be factionsly inclined, would think of oppDsuifr the strength of the nation, when directed by your talents and authority. But it is said, that the want of intelli- gence amongst the people unfits them for the govern- ment. Is it not right, however, that the expr-riment should be fairly tried? I have already said, that this has not been done. For myself, I do Rot hesitate to de- clare my firm belief, that it will succeed. The people of Colombia possess many traits of character, suitable for a republican government. A more orderly, forbear- ing, and w'ell-disposed people are nowhere to be met with. Indeed, it may safely be asserted, that their faults and vices are attributable to the cursed crovernmont to which they have been so long subjected, and to the intolerant character of the reliorion, whilst their virtues are all their own. But admitting their present want of iiuellioence, no one has ever doubted their capacity to acquire knowl- edge, and under the stronfj motives which exist, to obtain it, supported by the influence of your excellency, it would soon be obtained. "To yourself, the advantage would be as great as to the country ; like acts of mercy, the blessings would be reciprocal; your personal happiness secured, and your fame elevated to a height which would leave but a sin- gle competition in the estimation of posterity. In be- stowing the palm of merit, the world has become wiser than formerly. The successful warrif>r is no longer regarded as entitled to the fust place in the temple ot fame. Talents of this kind have become too common, and too often used for mischievous purposes, to be n»- garded as they once were. In this enlijrhtencd age, th« mere hero of the field, and the successful leader of ar- mies, may, for the moment, attract attention. Hut it will be such as is bestowed upon the passing inbtcor, whose 128 SKETCHES OF blaze is no longer remembered, when it is no longer seen. To be esteemed eminently great, it is necessary to be eminently good. The qualities of the hero and the general must be devoted to the advantage of mankind, before he will be permitted to assume the title of their benefactor; and the station which he will hold in their regard and affections will depend, not upon the number and the splendor of his victories ; but upon the results and the use he may make of the influence he acquires from them. " If the fame of our Washington depended upon his military achievements, would the common consent of tlte world allow him the pre-eminence he possesses? The victories at Trenton, Alonmouth, and York, brilliant as they were — oxhihiting, as they certainly did, the highest grade of military talents, are scarcely thought of. The source of the veneration and esteem which is entertained for his character, by every description of politicians — the monarchist and aristocrat, as well as the republican, is to be found in his undeviating and exclusive devotedness to the interest of his country. No selfish consideration was ever suffered to intrude itself into his mind. For his country he conquered ; and the unrivalled and in- creasinij prosperity of that country is constantly adding fresh glory to his name. General ; the course which he pursued is open to you, and it depends upon yourself to attain the eminence which he has reached before you. " To the eyes of military men, the laurels you won on the fields of Vargas, Bayaca, and Carebobo, will be for- ever green ; but will that content you 1 Are you willing that your name should descend to posterity, amongst the mass of those whose fame has been dejived from shed- ding human blood, without a single advantage to the hu- man race ? Or, shall it be united to that of Washing- ton, as the founder and the father of a great and happy people? The choice is before you. The friends of lib- erty throughout the world, and the people of the United States in particular, are waiting your decision with in- tense anxiety. Alexander toiled and conquered to attain the applause of the Athenians ; will you regard as noth- ing the opinions of a nation which has evinced its supe- GENERAL HARRISON. 129 riority over that celebrated people, in the science most useful to man, by bavins: carried into actual practice a system of government, of which the wisest Athenians hnd but a glimpse in theory, and considered as a blessing never to be realized, however ardently to be desired! The place which you are to occupy in their esteem de- pends upon yourself," It has been stated that general Harrison was recalled from Colombia in consequence of his interference in the internal affairs of the republic. Tiiis is not the fact. He reached Bogota on the 5th of February, 1829. Presi- dent Jackson was inaugurated on the 4th of March of that year, and Mr. Moore was appointed to iliis office oa the Sth. It is therefore impossible that the president could even have known of general Harrison's arrival at the seat of government, when he was recalled. Mr. Moore reached Bogota in September, and on the •2Gth of that month, general Harrison had his audience of leave. On that occasion, the president of the council said to him : " In expressing to you, sir, the sentiments of the council towards your government, it is agreeable to me to declare, that the hopes formed by Colombia, when the appointment was announced of so distinguished a gen- eral, and one of the most eminent citizens of the oldest republic of America, have been realized by your resi- dence in this capital, as envoy extraordifiary, and minis- ter plenipotentiary near this government; and, iherefore, it is highly satisfactory to me, to show ihe high esteem which your personal qualities have inspired." At the time when this address was made, Bolivar was absent from Bogota, and the president of the council was ad- ministering the affairs of the government. His address to general Harrison, the concluding paragraphs of which have been quoted, clearly demonstrates that our minister had discharged the duties of his station witii dignity, prudence and ability. 9 130 SKETCHES OF CHAPTER XL (/olonel Johnson's speech in Congress. — General Harrison's Cheviot address. — His address in 1832, in regard to slavery. — Vincennes speech about Abolition. — His speech at the 47th anniversary celebration of the settlement of Ohio. — His- torical discourse on the aborigines of the Ohio. After general Harrison's return from Colombia, he retired to his farm and resumed the peaceful pursuits of a;?riculture. In June, 1831, he was chosen to deliver the annual discourse before the Hamilton county Agricultu- ral Society. In this address, he gave evidence of being a sound practical farmer, combining theory and practice, in regard to crops and herds, with the same ready suc- cess, that in other days he had applied military princi- ples to the movement of armies. A single extract from this valuable discourse, is all that our limits will per- mit: " The encouragement of agriculture, gentlemen, would be praiseworthy in any country : in our own it is pecu- liarly so. Not only to multiply the means and enj.oy- ment of life, but as givinjj greater stability and securi- ty to our political institutions. In all ages and in aii countries, it has been observed, that the cultivators of the soil, are those who were least willing to part with their rights, and submit themselves to the will of a mas- ter. I have no doubt also, that a taste for agfricultural pursuits, is the best means of disciplining the ambition of those daring spirits, who occasionally spring up in the world, for good or for evil, to defend or destroy the liberties of their fellow-men, as the principles received from education or circumstances may tend. As long as the leaders of the Roman armies were taken from the plough, to the plough they were willing to return. Never in the character of general, forgetting the duties of the citizen, and ever ready to exchange the sword and the triumphal purple, for the homely vestments of the hus- bandman. 1 GENERAL HARRISON. 131 " The history of this far-famed rcpuhiic is full of instan- ces of this kind; but none more remarkable than our own age and country have produced. 'I'he fascinations of power and the trappings of command, were as much despised, and the enjoyment of rural scenes, and rural employments as highly prized by our Washington, as by Cincinnatcs or Regulus. At the close of his glori- ous military career, he says, '1 am preparirig to return to that domestic retirement which it is well known I left with the deepest regret, and for which I have not ceased to sigh through a long and painful absence.' " Your efforts, gentlemen, to diffuse a taste for agricul- ture amongst men of all descriptions and professions, may produce results more important even than increas- ing the means of subsistence, and the enjoyment of life. It may cause some future conqueror for his country, to end his career ** Guiltless of his cmmtry's blood." * * * * i^ * * " To the heart-cheering prospect of flocks and herds feeding on unrivalled pastures, fields of grain, exhibiting the scriptural proof that the seed had bet n .•'! ;t on good ground — how often is the eye of the philanthropic travel- er disgusted with the dark, unsightly manttfactories of a certain poison — ]>oison to the body and the soul. A modern jEneas or Ulysses might mistake them for en- trances into the Infernal Regions; nor would they great- ly err. But unlike those passages which conducted the Grecian and Trojan heroes on their pious errands, the scenes to v/hich these conduct the unhappy wretch who shall enter are those, exclusively, of misery and woe. No relief to the sad picture; no Tartarus therf, no Ely- sium here. It is all Tartarian darkness, and, not un- frequently, Tartarian crime. I speak n)ore freely of the practice of converting the material of the 'staff of life' (and by which so many human beings yearly perish) into an article which is so destructive of health and hap- piness, because in that way I have sinned myself; but in thai way I shall sin no morcJ'^ * *Some years since, general Harrison ostablUhcd a distillery 132 SKETCHES OF In 1831, pendinnr an application in congress for the settlement of the accounts of J. Symmes Harrison, late Receiver of public monies at Vincennes, colonel Richard M. Johnson, now vice-president of the United States, in alluding to the father of the late Receiver, spontaneously bore the following well merited tribute to his old com- mander : " Who is general Harrison? The son of one of the signers of the declaration of independence, who spent the (Treater part of his large fortune in redeeming the pledge he then gave, of his ' fortune, life and sacred hon- or,' t'j secure the liberties of his country. "Of the career of general Harrison I need not speak — the history of the west, is his history. For forty years he has been identified with its interests, its perils and its hopes. Universally beloved in the walks of peace, and distinguished by his ability in the councils of his coun- try, he has been yet more illustriously distinguished in the field. " During the late war, he was longer in active service than any other general officer; he was, perhaps, oftener in action than any one of them, and never sustained a defeat." In 1833, general Harrison delivered, by appointment, at Cheviot, Hamilton county, Ohio, an address in com- memoration of the 4th of July, which was subsequently published by the committee of arrangements. It pre- sents a summary of the causes which led to the revolu- tionary war, and a lucid exposition of the constitution of the United States. His interpretation of that instrument is in strict accordance with the celebrated resolutions of Virginia and Kentucky, of 1798. Being desirous of making a fair representation of the views of general Harrison, on all important public mat- ters, we now introduce two documents touching his opin- on his farm, to convert his surplus corn into wliiskey. Soon perceivins; the bad consequences of such a manufactory, upon the surrounding population, he cheerfully encountered pecunia- ry sacrifice by abolishing his manufactory of that baneful ar- ticle. GENERAL HARRISON*. 133 Ions on tlie siiI)joct of slavery. In the year 1822, wlinn he was a can(ii.|f»te for con«»rrss, his opponents, lV»r Uie purpose of dpfcatitiir his «»l«^ction, charrrcd him wiili \>e- iiis; a pro-slavery man — that he liad oun-'d slaves, and had been in favor of introducing slavery into Indiana. In refutation of this sweepinor ctiarfre, general Il.irrisnn published an address, from whieh we take all of that por- tion relating to the subject of slavery. It is in these words : *' Being called suddenly home to attend my sick fam- ily, I have but a moment to answer a few of the calum- nies which are in circulation concerning me. "I am accused of being friendly to slavery. From my earliest youth to the present moment, I have been the ardent friejid of Human Liberty. At the age of eiijh- teen, I became a member vf an Abolition Society establish- ed at Richmond, Virginia; the object of which was to ameliorate the condition of slaves and procure their free- dom by every legal means. My venerable friend, Judtre Gatch, of Clermont county, was also a member of this society, and has lately given me a certificate that I was one. The obligations which I then came under I have faithfully performed. I have been the means of liberating many slaves, but never placed one in bondage. I deny that my vote in congress in relation to Missouri and Arkansas, are in the least incompatible with these prin- ciples. Congress had no more legal or constitutional right to emancipate the negroes in those sections.of Lou- isiana without the cofisent of their owners, than they have to free those of Kentucky. These people were secured in their property by a sob-mn covenant with France when the countfv was purchased from that pow- er. To prohibit the emiizration of citizens of the south- ern states to the part of the country, the situation and climate of which, was peculiarly suited to them, would have been highly unjust, as it had been purchased out of the common fund. Particularly, too, when it is recollect- ed that all the immense territory to the north-west of the Ohio had been ceded by Virciiiiia, and with an unexampled liberality, she had herself proposed, that by excluding slavery "from it, to secure it for the emigration of those 134 SKETCHES OF states which had no slaves. Was it proper, then, when her reserved territory was in a great measure filled up, to exclude her citizens from every part of the territory pur- chased out of the common fund ? I was tJie first person to introduce into congress the proposition that all the country above Missouri (which having no inhabitants was free from the objection made to Missouri and Arkansas) should ne- ver fiave slavery admitted into it. I repeat what I have be- fore said, that as our union was only effected by mutual concession, so only can it be j)reserved. " My vote against the restriction of Missouri in form- ing her constitution was not a conclusive one ; there would have been time enoufjh, had I continued to be a member, before the question was decided, for my consti- tuents to have instructed me, and I shoald have rejoicea in an opportunity of sacrificing my seat to my principles, if they had instructed me in opposition to my construc- tion of the constitution. Like many other members from the non-slaveholding states, of whom I mention Shaw, Holmes, Mason of Massachusetts, Laman of Connec- ticut, and Baldwin of Pennsylvania, I could see nothing in the constitution which 1 had sworn to .support, to warrant such an interference with the rights of the states, and which had never before been attempted. And where is the crime in one set of men not beino' able to interpret the constitution as other men interpret it 1 As we had all sworn to support it, the crime would have been in giving it a construction which our consciences would not sanction. And let me ask, for what good is this question again brought up 1 It has been settled, as all our family ditferences have been set- tled, on the firm basis of mutual compromise. And pat- riotism, as well as prudence, devoted the eflfects of that aiuful discussion to eternal oblivion. Is it not known, that from that cause the great fabric of our Union was shaken to its foundation ? Is it not known that Missou- ri would not have submitted to the restriction, and that the other slave-holding states had determined to support herl But for this compromise, the probability is, that at this moment we might look upon the opposite shore of Ohio, not for an affectionate sister state, but on an GENERAL HARRISON. 135 armed and implacable rival. What patriotic man would not join the gallant Eaton in execrating the head and the hand that could devise and execute a scheme productive of a calamity so awful 1 " Upon the whole, fellow-citizens, our path is a plain one ; it is that marked out as well by humanity as duty. We cannot emancipate the slaves of the other states without their consent, hut by producing a convulsion which would undo us all. For this much to be desired event, we must wait the slow but certain progress of those good principles which are every where gaining ground, and wh-ich assuredly will ultimately prevail." It is proper to remark, that this society, originally established by the Quakers, but not confined to them, was, according to the statement of Judge Gatch, a " Hu- mane Society ;" and it seems to have been of a character to which no exceptions were taken in V^irginia. A num- ber of the citizens of Richmond were members, and its principles were not understood to be at all in conflict with the rights guarantied to the owners of slaves, by the constitution and the laws of the land. Within a few months after his first connection with this society, general Harrison, then but eighteen years of age, re- moved from Virtjinia, since which time he has never at- tended one of its meetings, nor been either directly or indirectly connected with any society touching the ques- tion of slavery. The other document upon this subject, is taken from a speech made by general Harrison, at Vincennes, Indiana, in May, 1835, on the occasion of a public dinner having been given to him by the citizens of that place. "I have now, fellow-citizens, a few more words to say on another subject, and which is, in my opinion, of more importance than any other that is now in the course of discussion in any part of the Union. I allude to the societies which have been formed, and the movements of certain individuals in some of the states in relation to a portion of the population in others. The conduct of these persons is the more dangrerous, because their object is masked under the carb of disinterestedness and bene- volence; and their course vindicated by arguments and 136 SKETCHES OF propositions which, in the abstract, no one can deny. But, however fascinating may be the dress with which their schemes are presented to their fellow-citizens, with whatever purity of intention they may have been formed and sustained, they will be found to carry in their train mischief to the whole Union, and horrors to a largre por- tion of it, which, it is probahle, some of the projectors and many of their supporters have never thought of; the latter, the first in the series of evils which are to sprinnr from their source, are such as you have seen perpetrated on the fair plains of Italy and Gaul, by the Scythian hordes of Attila and Alaric; and such as most of yru apprehended upon that memorable night, when the toma- hawks and war clubs of the followers of Tecumthe were rattling in your suburbs. I regard not the disavowals of any such intention upon the part of the authors of these schemes, since, upon the examination of the publi- cations which have been made, they will be found to con- fcdin the very facts, and very arguments which they would have used, if such had been their object. I am certain that there is not, in this assembly, one of these deluded men, and that there are few within the bounds of the state. If there are any, I would earnestly entreat them to forbear; to pause in their career, and deliberately con- sider the consequence of their conduct to the whole Union, to the states more immediately interested, and to those for whose benefit they profess to act. That the latter will be the victims of the weak, injudicious, pre- sumptuous and unconstitutional efforts to serve them, a thorough examination of the subject must convince them. The struggle (and strugorle there must be) may com- mence with horrors such as I have described, but it will end with more firmly riveting the chains, or in the utter extirpation of those whose cause they advocate. " Am I wrong, fellow-citizens, in applying the terms weak, presumptuous and unconstitutional, to the mea- sures of the emancipators 1 A slight examination will, I think, show that I am not. In a vindication of the objects of a convention which was lately held in one of the towns of Ohio, which I saw in a newspaper, it was said that nothing more was intended than to produce a 1 GENERAL HARRISON. 1^7 stato of public feelinr(iinate officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of ilie regular army in the west, under Harmer, St. Clair and Wayne, who brought the war of the revo- lution to a close hy the victory of the Miami of the Lake. In this address, the claims of these snldiors were present- ed in a strong, touching and bcauiiful manner. From the many aihnirahlo sentiments contained in this speech, we cannot forbear quoting the following: "No more fatal idea can be entertained than that onr republic is to be preserved, either by the wealth of our citizens or the anjount of the revenue of the government. The bright- est eras of the rej)ublics which have existed, were thos«» when honorable poverty prevailed, and when patriotism was best rewarded." In the autuuin of 1837, general Harrison delivered a discourse before the Philosophical and Historical Society of Ohio, on the aborigines of the Ohio, which has since been published in the first volume of the Transactions of that body. It embraces about fifty pages of the work, and is among the most valuable contributions which have yet been made to that society. This discourse, written with classic elegance, in pure Saxon, is ingenious and profound, presenting the results of much close and accurate observation upon the ancient works and aborigi- nes of the valley of the Ohio. Having space but for a sincrle extract, we take the following, on the reproduction of the forest upon the banks of the Ohio, after it has once been destrf>yed. The subject is introduced by the author to prove the great antiquity of the ancient mounds and fortifications of this region. " The process by which nature restores the forest to its original state, after being once cleared, is extremely slow. In our rich lands, it is, indeed, soon covered again with limber, but the character of the growth is entirely differ- ent, and continues so, through many generations of men. i GENERAL HARRISON. 1 1 1 In several places on tlie Ohio, particularly upon the farm which I occupy, clearinrrs were made in ihe first settlement, abandoned, and sulTered to {jrow up. Some of them, now to be seen, of nearly fifty years' growth, have made so little progress towards attaining the ap- pearance of the immediately continruous forest, as to in- duce any man of reflection, to determine, that at least ten times fifty years would be necessary before its comj)hue assimilation could be effected. The sites of the ancient works on the Ohio, present precisely the same appearance as the circumjacent forest. You find on them, all that beautiful variety of trees, which gives sucli ufirivalled richness to our forests. This is particularly the case on the fifteen acres included within the walls of the work at the month of the Great Miami, and the relative pro- portions of the different kinds of timber, are about the same. The first jTrowth on the same kind of land, once cleared, and then abandoned to nature, on the contrary, is more homogeneous — often stinted to one, or two, or at most three kinds of timber. If the ground has been cul- tivated, yellow locust, in many places, will spring up as thick as garden peas. If it has not been cultivated, the black and white walnut will be the prevailinrr orowth. The rapidity with which these trees grow for a time, smothers tlie attempt of other kinds to vegetate and grow in their shade. The more thrifty individuals soon over- top the weaker of their own kind, which sicken and die. In this way, there is soon only as many left as the earth will well support to maturity. All this time the squir- rels may plant the seed of those trees which serve them for food, and by neglect suflTer them to remain, — it will be in vain ; the birds may drop the kernels, the ex- ternal pulp of which have contributed to their ncirish- ment, and divested of which they are in the best state for germinating, still it will be of no avail: the winds of heaven may waft the winged seeds of the sycamore, cot- ton-wood and maple, and a friendly shower ruay bury them to the necessary depth in the loose and fertile soil — but still without success. The roots below rob them of moisture, and the canopy of limbs and leaves above intercept the rays of the sun, and the dews of heaven : tlie 142 SKETCHES OF young giants in possession, like another kind of aristoc- racy, absorb the whole means of subsistence, and leave the mass to perish at their feet. This state of things will not, however, always continue. If the process of nature is slow and circuitous, in puttini^ down usurpa- tion and establishing the equality which she loves, and which is the great characteristic of her principles, it is sure and efTecutal. The preference of tlie soil for the first growth, ceases with its maturity. It admits of no suc- cession, upon the principles of legitimacy. The long un- disputed masters of the forest may be thinned by the lightning, the tempest, or by diseases peculiar to them- selves ; and whenever this is the case, one of the oft-re- jected of another family, will tind between its decaying roots, shelter and appropriate food; and, springing into vijnrous growth, will sonn push its ^reen foliage to the skies, through the decayed and witherinjr limbs of its blasted and dying adversary — the soil itself, yielding it a more liberal support than any scion from the former oc- cupant. It will easily be conceived what a length of time it will require for a denuded tract of land, by a pro- cess so slow, aorain to clothe itself with the amazinor va- nety of foliage which is the characteristic of the forests of this region. Of what immense age, then, must be those works, so often referred to, covered, as has been supposed by those who have the best opportunity of ex- amining them, with the second growth after the ancient forest state had been regained 7^^ CHAPTER XII. General Harrison's first nomination for the presidency. — His letter to Sherrod Williams. — His opinions upon duelling. — His letter to Harmer Denny, on the principles upon which the government should be administered. — Second nomination for the presidency, December, 1839. In the autumn of this year, by a spontaneous move- ment of the people, in different parts of the Union, gene- I GENERAL HARRISON. 148 lal Harrison was nominated as a candidate for the presi- dency. The late period in the canvass, at which this movement was made, prevented that concentration of ac- tion among his friends, necessary to secure his election ; but, under this disadvantajje, and with their other candi- dates in tlie field, he received seventy-two electoral votes. In the fifteen states in which Mr. Van IJuren and jreneral Harrison were alone opposed to each other, the former received five hundred and ci<;hty thousand, and the latter five hundred and fifty-two thousand votes, being- a ma- jority of less than thirty thousand for Mr. Van Buren. This fact evinces — all circumstances considered — the re- markable popularity of general Harrison with the peo])le of the United States. During this canvass, Sherrod Williams, Esq. a mem- ber of congress from Kentucky, addressed a letter of en- quiry to general Harrison, on certain political matters, which drew forth the following reply : North Bend, May 1, 1836 Sir: — 1 have the honor to acknowledge ihc receipt of your letter of the 7th ultimo, in which you request me to answer the following qupstions : 1st. " Will you, if elected president of the United States, sign and approve a bill distributing the surplus revenue of the United States, to each state accordiricr to the federal population of each, for internal improvement, education, and to such other objects as the legislature of the several states may see fit to apply the same ?" 2nd. " Will you sign and approve a bill distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands to each State, according to the federal population of each, for the purposes above specified ]" 3d. " Will you sign and approve bills making appropri- ations to improve navigable streams above ports of entryl" 4th. " Will you sign and approve (if it becomes ne- cessary to secure and save from depreciation the revenue and finances of the nation, and to afford a uniform sound currency to the people of the United States) a bill, with proper modifications and restricrions, chartering a bank of the United States?" 144 SKETCHES OF 5th, " What is your opinion as to the constitutional power of the senate or house of representatives of the congress of the United States, to expunfje or obliterate frum the journals the records and proceedings of a previ- ous session ]" From the manner in which the four first questions are stated, it appears that you do not ask my opinion as to the policy or propri(>ty of the measures to which they respectively refer; but what would be my course, if they were presented to me (being in the presidential chair of the United States) in the shape of bills, that had been duly passed by the senate and house of representatives. From the opinions whhh I have formed of the inten- tion of the constitution, as to cases in which the veto power should be exercised by the president, I would nave contented myself with givincr an affirmntive answer to the four first questions ; hut, from the deep interest which has been and indeed is now felt in relation to all the subjects, I think it proper to express my vievt's upon each one separately. I answer, then, 1st. That the immediate roiurn of all the surplus money which is, or ought to be, in the trea- sury of the United States, to the possession of the people from whom it was taken, is called for by every principle of policy and, indeed, of safety to our institutions; and I know of no mode of doing it better than that recom- mended by the present chief magistrate, in his first an- nual messacre to cong-ress, in the following words : " To avoid these evils it appears to me that the most safe, just and federal disposition which could be made of the surplus reve- nue, would be its apportionment among the several states accordins; to the ratio of representation. This proposition has reference to a state of things which now actually exists, with the exception of the amount of money thus to be disposed of; for it could not have been anticipated by the president that the surplus above the real wants or convenient expenditures of the government would become so large, as that retaining it in the treasury would so much diminish the circulating medium as greatly to embarrass the business of the country. I I I GENERAL HARRISON. 145 What other disposition can be made of it with a view to get it into immediate circulation, but to place it in the hands of the state authorities? So areat is the amount, and so rapidly is it increasing, that it could not be ex- pended for a very considerable time on the comparatively few objects to vi'hich it could be appropriated by the gen- eral goverBment; but the desired distribution amongst the people could be immediately effected by the sta'te, from the infinite variety of vi^ays in which it might bo employed by them. By them it might be loaned to their own banking institutions, or even to individuals — a mode of distribution by the general government, wliich I sin- cerely hope is in the contemplation of no friend to his country. 2nd. Whilst I have always broadly admitted that the ubiic lands vi'ere the common property of all the states, have been the advocate of that mode of disposing of them, v^'hich would create the greatest number of free- holders ; and I conceived that in this way the interests of all would be as well seo^tred as by any other disposition; but since, by the small size of the tracts in vvhich the lands are now laid out, and the reduction of the price, this desirable situation is easily attainable by any person of tolerable industry, I am perfectly reconciled to the distribution of the |)roceeds of the sales as provided for by the bill introduced into the senate by Mr. Clay; the interests of all seem to be well provided for by this bill ; and as for the opposition which has hitherto been made to the disposition of the lands heretofore contemplated by the representatives of the new states, there is no prob- ability of its being adopted, I think it ought no longer to be insisted on. 3rd. As 1 believe that no money should be taken from the treasury of the United States to be expended en in- ternal improvements but for those which are strictly na- tional, the answer to this question would be easy but from the difficulty of determining which of those that are from time to time proposed, would be of this description. This circumstance, the excitement which has already been produced by appropriations of this kind, and tfie jealousies which it will no doubt continue to produce if 10 146 SKETCHES OF persisted in, give additional claims to the mode of appro- priating all the surplus revenue of the United States in the njanner above suggested. Each state will then have the means of accomplishing its own schemes of internal improvement. Still there will be particular cases when a contemplated improvement will be of greater advantage to the Union generally, and some particular slates, than to that in which it is to be made. In such cases, as well as those in the new states, where the value of the public do- main will be greatly enhanced by an improvement in the means of communication, the general government should certainly largely contribute. To appropriations of the lat- ter character there has never been any very warm oppo- sition. Upon the whole, the distribution of the surplus revenue amongst the states seems likely to remove most, if not all, the causes of dissension of which the internal improvement system has been the fruitful source. There is nothing, in my opinion, more sacredly incumbent upon those who are concerned in the administration of our government, than that of preserving harmony between the states. From the construction of our system, there has been, and probably ever will be, more or less jeal- ousy between the general and state governments; but there is nothing in the constitution — notliing in the char- acter of the relation which the states bear to each other, which can create any unfriendly feeling, if the common guardian administers its favor with an oven and impartial hand. That this may be the case, all those to whom any portion of this delicate power is entrusted, should always act upon the principles of forbearance and conciliation; ever more ready to sacrifice the interest of their imme- diate constituents, rather than violaie the riorhls of the other members of the family. Those who pursue a dif- ferent course, whose rule is never to stop short of the at- tainment of afl which they may consider their due, will often be found to have trespassed upon the boundary they had themselves established. The observations with which I shall conclude this letter, on the subject of the veto power by the president, will apply to this as well as your other questions. 4tli. I have before me a newspaper, in which I am GENERAL HARniFOX. 147 designated hy its distinguished editor, " 77/c hnnh and federal ccnuUdale.'''* I think it would puz'/lt; tlie writer to adduce any act of my life which warrants liira in identifying me wilii the interest of the first, or the poli- tics of the latter. Having no means of ascertaining the sentiments of the directors and stock-holders of the bank of the United States, (which is the one, 1 presume, with which it was intended to associate me,) I cannot say what their course is likely to be in relation to the en- suing election for president. Should they, however, give me their support, it will be evidence at least, that the opposition which I gave to their institution in my ca- pacity of representative from Ohio, in congress, pro- ceeded, in their opinion, from a sense of duty which I could not disregard. The journals of the second session of the thirteenth, and those of the fourteenth congress, will show that my Totes are recorded against them upon every question in •which their interest was involved. I did, indeed, exert myself in the senate of Ohio, to procure a repeal of the law, which had imposed an enormous tax upon the branches which had been located in its boundaries at ihe request of the citizens. The ground of those exertions was not the interest of the bank ; but to save what I considered the honor of the state, and to prevent a controversy be- tween the state officers and those of the United States. In the spring of 1834, I had also the honor to preside at a meeting of the citizens of Hamilton county, called for the purpose of expressing their sentiments in relation to the removal of t!ie public money from the custody of the bank, by the sole authority of the executive. As president of the meeting, I explained at some length the object for which it was convened, but I advanced no opinion in relation to the rechartering of the bank., A most respectful memorial to the president in relation to the removal of the deposites was adopted, as were also resolutions in favor of rechartering the bank ; but, as I have already said, this was not the purpose for which the meeting was called, and nut one upon which, as pre- siding officer, I was called upon to give an opinion, but in the event of an equal division of the votes. 148 SKETCHES OF As a private citizen, no man can be more entirely clear of any motive, either for recharterinjr the old institution, or creating a new one under liie authority of the United States. 1 never had a single share in the former, nor in- deed, in any hank, with one exception ; and that many years ago failed, with the loss of the entire stock. 1 have no inclination again to venture in that way, even if I shonhl ever possess the means. With the exception above mentioned, of stock in a bank, long since bro- ken, I never put ont a dollar at interest in my life. My interest being entirely identified with the cultivation of the soil, I am immediately and personally connected with none other. I have made this statement to show you that I am not committed to any course in relation to the chartering of a bank of the United JStates ; and that I might, if so disposed, join in the popular cry of denunciation against the (Id institution, and upon its misconduct, predicate an opposition to the chartering of another. 1 shall not, however, take this course so opposite to that which 1 hope 1 have followed through life, but will give you my sentiments clearly and fully, not only with regard to the future condvict of the government on the subject of a national bank, but in relation to the operation of that which is now defunct. I was not ill congress when the late bank was char- tered, but was a member of the 13th congress, after its first session, when the conduct of the bank, in its incip- ient measures was examined into; ;ind believing, from the result of the investigation, that the charter had been violated, I voted for the judicial investigation, with a view of annullincT its charter. The resolution for that purpose, however, failed ; and shortly after, the manage- ment of its affairs was committed to the talents and in- tegrity of Mr. Cheves. From that period to its final dis- solution, (although I must confess I am not a very com- petent judge of such matters,) I have no idea that an institution could have been conducted with more ability, integrity, and public advantage than it has been. Under these impressions, I agree with general Jackson in the opinion expressed in one of his messages to con- GENERAL HARRISON. 149 gress, from which I make the foil-wing extract : " That a hank of the United States, competent to all the dutiet which may he required hy the L!;overnment, might he so or- ganized as not to infringe on our delegated powers, or the reserved rights of the states, I do not entertain a douht^^* But the period for rocharterinor the old institution has passed, as Pennsylvania has wisely taken care to appro- priate to herself the benefits of its large capital. The question, then, for me to answer, is whnther, un* der the circumstances you state, if elected to the othce of president, I would sign an act to charter another bank. I answer, I would, if it were clearly ascertained that the public interest in relation to the collection and disburse- ment of the revenue would materially suffer without one, and there were unequivocal manifestations of public opinion in its favor. I think, however, the experiment should be fairly tried, to ascertain whether the financial operations of the crovernment caimot be as well carried on without the aid of a national bank. If it is not neces- sary for that purpose, it does not appear to me that one can be constitutionally chartered. 'I'here i^s no construc- tion which I can give the constitution which would au- thorize it, on the ground of affording facilities to com- merce. The measure, if adopted, must have for its ob- ject the carrying into effect (facilitating at least the exer- cise of,) some one of the powers positively granted to the general government. If others flow from it, producing equal or greater advantages to the nation, so much the better; but these cannot be made the ground fur justify- ing a recourse to it. The excitement which has been produced by the bank question, the number and respectability of those who deny the right to congress to charter one, strongly recom- mended the course above suggested. 5th. I distinctly answer to this question, that, in my opinion, neither house of congress can constitutionally expunjje the record of the proceedings of liieir prede- cessors. The power to rescind certainly belongs to them; and is, for every public legitimate purpose, all that is necessary. The attempt to^ expunge their journal, now 150 SKETCHES OF making in the senate of the United Slates, 1 am salia- iied could never have been made but in a period of the highest party excitement, wlien the voice of reason and generous feeling is stifled by long protracted and bitter controversy. In relation to the exercise of the veto power by the president, there is, I think, an important difference in opinion between the present chief magistrate and myself. I express this opinion with less diffidence, because 1 be- lieve mine is in strict accordance with those of all the previous presidents to general Jackson. The veto power, or the control of the executive over the enactment of laws by the legislative body, was not unknown in the United States previously to the formation of the present federal constitution. It does not appear, however, to have been in much favor. The principle was to be found in but three of the state constitutions ; and in but one of them (Massachusetts,) was the execu- tive power lodged in the hands of a single chief magis- trate. One other state, (South Carolina,) had, indeed, not only adopted this principle, but had given its single executive magistrate an absolute negative upon the acts of the legislature. In all other instances it has been a qualified negative, like that of the United States. The people of South Carolina seem, however, not to have been long pleased with this investment of power in their governor, as it lasted but two years; having been adop- ted in 1776, and repealed in 1778; from which lime the acts of the legislature of that state have been entirely freed from executive control. Since the adoption of the constitution of the United States, the veto principle has been adopted by several other states; and until very lately, it seemed to he very rapidly growing into favor. Before we can form a correct opinion of the manner in which this power should be exercised, it is proper to un- derstand the reasons which have induced its adoption. In its theory, it is manifestly an innovation upon the first principle of republican government — that the majority should rule. Why should a single individual control the will of that majority ? GENERAL HARRISON. 151 It will not be said that there is more probabirity of finding greater wisdom in the executive chair, ilian in the halls of the legislature. Nor can it possibly be supposed, that an individual residing in the centre of an extensive country, can be as well acquainted wiih ihe wants and wishes of a numerous people, as those who come immediately from amongst them — the partakers, for a portion of the year, in their various labors and employ- ments ; and the witnesses of the effects of the laws in their more minute as well as general operations. As far, then, as it regards a knowledge of the wants and wishes of the people, wisdom to discover remedies for increasing the public prosperity, it would se«-m that the leo-islative bodies did not require the aid of an vwv- utive magistrate. But there is a principle, recognized by all the American constitutions, which was unknown lo the ancient republics. They all acknowledge. ri^Miis in the minority, which cannot rightfully be taken Iroin them. Experience had shown that in large assemblies, these rights were not always respected. It would bo in vain tTiat they should be enumerated, and respect for them enjoined in the constitution. A popul..' assembly, under the influence of that spirit of parly which is always discoverable in a greater or less degree in all republics, mio-ht, and would, as it was believed, sometimes disre- gar'd them. To guard aaainst this danger, and to secure the ricrhts of each individual, the expedient of creating a department independent of the others, and amenable only to the laws, was adopted. Security was thus V. That he should never suffer the intluence of his of- fice to be used for purposes of a purely parly character. VI. That in removals from office of those who hold their appointments during the pleasure of the executive, the cause of such removal should be stated, if requested, to the senate, at the time the nomination of a successor it made. And last, but not least in inii)ortance, VII. That he should not suffer the executive depart- ment of the (rovernment to becon.e the source of legisla- i! li 158 SKETCHES OF tion : but leave the whole business of making laws for the Union to the department to which the constitution has exclusively assigned it, until they have assumed that perfected shape, where and when alone the opinions of the executive may be heard. * * * # The question may perhaps be asked of me, what secu- rity I nave in my power to offer, if the majority of the American people should select me for their chief magis- trate, that I woifld adopt the principles which I have herein laid down as those upon which my administration would be conducted ; I could only answer, by referring to my conduct, and the disposition manifested in the dis- charge of the duties of several important offices, which have heretofore been conferred upon me. If the powe: placed in my hands has, on even a single occasion, been used for any purpose other than that for which it was given, or retained longer than was necessary to accom- plish the objects designated by those from whom the trusts were received, I will acknowledge that either will constitute a sufficient reason for discrediting any promise I may make, under the circumstances in which I am now placed." GENERAL HARRISON. 159 CHAPTER XIII. Harrisburg convention. — Canvass of 1810. — Great mass meet- ings at Fort Meigs, Tippecanoe, Bunker Hill, &c. — Election of General Harrison. Although Harrison had been defeated in the canvass of 1836, his friends had no doubt that by sufficient efforts he might be chosen in 1840, and their hopes were strengthened by the growing dissatisfaction with the administration, after the terrible revulsion in com- mercial and financial matters which took place in the spring of 1837. Gen. Harrison's name, however, was not the only one before the American people in opposi- tion to Mr. Van Buren's. The long services, and tried talents of Mr. Clay induced his friends to hope that he would be selected; the unquestioned ability of .Mr. Webster led many to look to him as the man best fitted to restore credit and security to the country; while the popularity of Gen. Scott caused his name also to be brought forward. At an early period, however, it was proposed by the Whigs to leave the selection of a candidate to a national convention, and the opposition members of Congress were requested to name a place and time for the meeting of such a convention. 'J'bis they did upon the 15th of May, IH.'iH, fixing upon Harrisburg, Penn., as the point, and the first Wednes- day in December, 1839, as the day, of meeting : they 160 SKETCHES OF also agreed that each State should send as many dele- gales as it had senators and representatives in Congress. This course, on the part of the whigs, prevented all distraction in their party, and offered no man to the shafts of the administration speakers and writers until a late period in the canvass. One other principle was agreed to hy the foes of Mr. Van Buren; this was, that they would select the candidate who had the best chance of being elected, without reference to his compar- ative talents, or previous services : the object was to ensure a whig administration, and it was believed that either of the four gentlemen named had an abundance of ability and integrity, and might be safely placed in the presidential chair. Some months before the meeting of the convention, in June, 1839, Mr. Webster, then on a visit to England, publicly declined being considered a candidate; so that when the delegates of twenty-two States met at Harrisburg on the day agreed upon, they had to choose between (/lay, Scott, and Harrison. The choice was soon made, and the hero of the west received the unanimous vote of the convention. This nomination, at first, gave some offence to the Virginians and other southerners who had been half persuaded that Harrison was an abolitionist. Some of Mr. Clay's friends were also disappointed. These feel- ings, however, soon passed away. The whig members of the Virginia Legislature confirmed the nomination of Harrison and Tyler upon the 8th of January. Mr. Clay, himself, behaved with the magnanimity which became him ; and his supporters, in general, at once ac- quiesced in the nomination which had been made. The news of the choice that had taken place was received throughout the west with enthusiasm ; and Ohio at once took measures to ensure a great meeting of the people at her capital, to show the country that the nominee was GEN KRAI, HARRISON. 101 honoured in lus own latid. Harrison, liinisolf, nrr('|)tf«l the honour contorred upon him in ii short and niodisl letter, written from North Uend, upon tlio lOlh f)t' l)»- cember. In this letter he enters into no particulars, as m his views, referrinsj to the published replies to Sherrnd Williams, and Mr. Denny, already ijuot^'d by us, h\\\. reiterates his determination not to be a candidate Ibr a second term. Amonor those ciroumstanoes whieli jrreatlv tended to in- spirit the friends ofGeneral Harrison during this first win- ter of the presidential contest, was the letter of William C. Rives, of Virorinia, well known as the leader nf the C'on- servative party. In this epistle, dated February Ifjih, which was very lonsr and very able, the distinfruislud senator presented his oi\iections to Mr. Van Hurru, and urj^ed the claims of General Harrison to the support of all true democrats with ecjual plainness and eloquence. The charo-e of abolitionism urixed airainst the statesman of Ohio was examined by Mr. Rives, and shown to be groundless ; so groundless that he does not hesitate to exclaim, "Where is the man, whether of the south or the north, who, in the practical assertion of the rijrhtM of the south, and in enerjretic and decisive reprobation of the designs of the abolitionists, lias gone farther than General Harrison!" He next attacks the charge of federalism which, also, had been brought to overwhelm the claims of the western hero. In disproving this ac- cusation, he quotes from an address by Harrison, pub- lished in 1822, containing his views on the great contested points, and then adds :— " A political creed more tnily re- publican and patriotic than this, I tiunk, you nmII agrc.^ with me, has never been submitted to the American people." He next defends the whig candidate against the charges of favouring a protective tariff, internal im- provements, and a national bank. 11 162 SKETCHES OF Upon the 21st and 22d of February took place the great Harrison gathering, at Columbus, attended, as it was believed, by no less than twenty three thousand persons. At this convention the popular symbols of coon-skins, log-cabins and hard-cider barrels, which through this whole contest played so important a part, were for the first time, made pre-eminent. The delegates from Clark county came with their log-cabin, having skins stretched upon its outer walls, while the representatives of the frontier men, clad in hunting shirts, ate corn bread upon the roof: those from Wood county brought a miniatureFort Meigs, drawn by six horses ; it " was an exact repre- sentation of the fort, with the pickets and block-houses, made from a diagram drawn by an officer who was one of its defenders during the siege. Cannon peeped from the embrasures, and one of the pieces was fired during the entrance of the miniature. A number of the dele- gates garrisoned the fort and cheered heartily, as they came in." From Cleveland came a fine brig, with all sails set. Crawford county brought as her banner a living bald-eagle, perched upon a staff, ten feet high. Although the second day (Feb. 22d) was rainy and the mud ancle deep, the procession which then formed, was more than a mile in length, the delegates walking eight abreast, and was attended by sixteen bands of music. The president of the convention was General Reazin Beall, who was supported by nineteen vice-presidents, one from each congressional district, and by eight secre- taries. It nominated Thomas Corwin as candidate for Governor, and also an electoral ticket pledged to Har- rison and Tyler. The spirit shown on this occasion by the citizens of Ohio lent new hope and strength to the whig cause throughout the country. It would be impossible for us to detail the meetings which took place from this time forward in favor of the GENERAL HARRISON'. l$9 Harrisburg nominees. In »>very sccUon ot" tlio country the same spirit was shown, and vwry d;iy made the whigs more cunlident of electing their candidal*-. The absurd objection made to General Harrison by sf»me letter writer, thiit lie was just fit to livtj in ;i loi;-cabin and drink hard-cider, became the suurce of on*- of ilio most powerful inlluenct'S in his favor, for it idi-nlified him with the masses, it made him the democratic can- didate : and it is worth while to mention that wben thin ridiculous letter lirst reaelud Cincinnati, the Itfueral said to his friends that plenty of such abuse would en- sure his election to a certainty. Neither were the graver charges of abolitionism, federalism, portant topics, were open to the scrutiny of his country- ?1 men ; but a torrent of calumny had brought him from his home. He then adverted to the various slanders pro- mulgated against him. His answer to the charge of federalism, as understood in 1798, was especially happy. ^- From his youth upwards, he said, he had been a republi- can. A jealousy of federal power, particularly of execu- tive power, was among the first lessons instilled into his mind by his venerated parents. Those early admoni- tions were indelible, and he trusted he had made them the rule of his life. When he was appointed governor of Indiana, he remarked that great, even despotic powers were vested in him. He was authorised by the ordi- 'ii GENERAL HARRISON. 169 nance "to lay off new counties, and to organise them by the appointment of county officers — among others the sheriffs. He considered, however, that he had not re- ceived his office from the people, and he felt bound by duty, and a proper sense of the spirit of republicanism, to give to the people of the territory a voice in the admin- istration of atfairs, in as far as it was within his power to do so. When a sheriff was to be appointed, and ap- plication was made to him for the office, he would say ; " Sir, I can not give you this office — you must go to the people of your county ; and if in an election you shall be successful, it will give me pleasure to give you a com- mission." He then told various anecdotes connected with these elections ; and, among others, some incidents connected with the organization of Wayne county, Indiana. In this account of the administration of the territory, he was frequently interrupted by the grateful recollections of some of the gray-headed citizens of Indiana. In the fullness of theirhearts they would frequently exclaim; " General, it is true ;" " We know it to be true, general." During this summer of 1840, a letter writtpr by Har- rison to Mr. Berrien of Georgia, in 183G, and which had been lost sight of, came to light again, and was re-pub- lished at the South. It was as follows : — Near New Lancastery Nov. 4, 1836. My Dear Sir : This is the first day of leisure that I have had since I had the honor to receive your letter of the 30th September, and I avail myself of it to answer the three questions you propose to me, and which are in the following words, viz : 1st. " Can the Congress of the United States, consis- tently with the consutution, abolish slavery, either in the States, or in the District of Columbia ?" 2d. " Do not good faith and the peace and harmony of the union require that the act for the compromise of the tariff commonly known as Mr. Clay's bill, should be carried out according to its spirit and intention '" 3d. "Is the principle proclaimed by the dominant party, that ' the spoils belong to the victors,' consistent with an honest and patriotic administration of the office of the President of the United States]" 170 SKETCHES OF I proceed to answer these questions in the order they are proposed. 1st. I do not think that Congress can abolish, or in any manner interfere with slavery, as it exists in the States, but upon the application of the States ; nor abol- ish slavery in the District of Columbia, without the con- sent of the States of Virginia and Maryland, and the people of the District. The first would be, in my opinion, a palpable viola- tion of the constitution, and the latter a breach of faith towards the States I have mentioned, who would cer- tainly not have made the cession, if thoy had supposed it would ever have been used for a purpose so different from that which was its object, and so injurious to them as the location of a free colored population in the midst of their slave population of the same description. Nor do 1 believe that Congress could deprive the people of the District of Columbia of their proj)erty without their consent. It would be reviving tiie doctrine of the tories of Great Britain in relation to the powers of Parliament over the colonies before the revolutionary war, and in direct hostility to the principle advanced by Lord Chat- ham, that *' what was man's own was absolutely and exclusively his own, and could not be taken from him, without his consent, given by himself or his legal rep- resentative." 2d. Good faith and the harmony and peace of the Union do, in my opinion, require that the compromise of the tariff, known as Mr. Clay's bill, should be carried out according to its spirit and intention. 3d. I am decidedly of opinion that the power of ap- pointment to offices, vested in the executive of the Uni- ted States by the constitution, should be used with a sin- gle eye to the public advantage, and not to promote the interests of party. Indeed, that the President of the United States should belong to no jfarty. You are at liberty to use this letter for any purpose you may think proper. I am, dear sir, with great regard and consideration, Your humble servant, (Signed) W. H. Harrison. GENERAL HARRISON. 171 As the time drew near for those elections whirh wrro to determine the fate of the candidates for llu- I'r.-si- dency, the popular exhibitions of fi'oliii • 7-J.h74 • • 5.21.J • iil:2V2 • :i:i:.i5i 144.0 IS . - 5.iHi:i ;i;].5-29 41,40.5 40.o7lj . 40..349 • 28.471 . 19.51 S • ll.-iOG . . 4,9GI . 59.054 . 58,489 148.141 . 65.302 . 45.537 . 21.441 . 22,911 1,269,763 1,126.1.37 143,626 Van Buren. 4t>.201 33,919 18.00!) 51.944 • 3.2G; 24.S.-V 212.51! 31.034 143.6751 • 4.«72 28.754 42,81 H ;W,7&y 31.981) 33.991 1G.9<)5 • 7.617 • 6,766 47.482 32,616 124.780 51,604 47,476 28.043 21,106 1,126,1.3^ X ■< H V* H p p K^ p 1 1 p 'J7,l>-Jl Western States 07,7 (JH ..i3l,5l)8 Southern States 18,418 ....lJ,jJ7 Harrison's maj. in 18 10.. 11 3,G-JG 21,568 4H,li:{ VanBuren's niaj. in '30. . 20,575 21,50rt Whig gain since '30. . . . 170,201 20,575 On the 20th of January, 1841, Gen. Harrison left Cin- cinnati on his way to Washington. His di-j)ariurt> was witnessed by a collection of ten or twelve ilimisaiid of his fellow citizens, who little thought that they were never to see him again. From the deck of the boat he spoke to the crowd, and feelingly contrasted his posiiion and that of the country wJK^n h(^ first reached that hwxl- ing, a young ensign in the army, anil at the moment he spoke. He asked his political opponents to be just, to wait his action as chief matjistrate, and if thai proved false to Democracy, then to denounce him. His journey was a triumphal procession. At Wheeling, Pittsburg, Brownsville, Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond, crowds constantly beset him, and he was forced to decline shaking hands, in cons(;(|uence of tlie extreme pain whieh he already sulfered in his arm. On the 20th of February the votes of the electoral col- leges were opened in Congress, and the choice of Har- rison was officially promulgated. CHAPTFR XIV. Inauguration of Gen. Harrison, — His mLlri-s!*. — His conduct after taking office. — His sickness and (kmth. — l)b" but an alloy. The late Vice l^KKsintNT and the Vick PiiKsiriKNT elect became the next objects of notice. 'I'hey advanced together to the steps of the president's chair, when Mr. Tyler, having bctMi presented to the presiding officer, took the oath of ofhce, and then ascemling to the chair, which had been vacated for his reception by .Mr. Kino, delivered with much grace, diiriiity, and self possession, an address to the senate, of moderate length, marked by modest)', propriety, and sound sense. The new senators were then successively sworn in, and took their seats. At twenty minutes past twelve o'clock, the warning note was heard from tin; table of the Vice Prksioknt, when Gen. Haiuuson entered and took the st ai prepared for him in front of the secretary's table. H«( looked cheerful but composed ; his l)odily health was manifestly perfect; there was an alertness in his movement which was quite astonishing, considering his advanced age, the multiplied hardships through which his fnime had passed, and the fatigues he had lately undergone. After he had retained his seat fnr a few minutes, prepa- rations were made for forming the line of pr<»ression to the platform prepared for the ceremony of the inaugura- tion, erected over the front steps of the portico of the east front of the capitol. The procession was in the pr.*- scribed order, as announced the day before by authority of the conmiittee of the senate. It was not without great difficulty, and very severe pressure, that the body of citizens who followed and ac- companied this train passed out of the east dm.r of the rotunda : and tiie inatlequate and disnroporlionate sim of that entrance (always a defect at lea6^ if not a de- 12 178 SKETCHES OF formity) was never more sensibly manifested. Some ladies suffered severely from the pressure of the crowd, but no serious accident is known to have occurred. On the platform, seats had been provided for the Pres- ident and the Chief Justice, who were placed imme- diately in front. On their right, seats were assigned to the diplomatic corps. Behind sat members of both houses of congress, officers of the army and navy, and many distinguished characters who had assembled in the city, intermingled with a great company of ladies, who occupied not only the steps in the rear of the plat- form, but both the broad abutments of stone which sup- port the steps on either side. Temporary balustrades had been placed around those exposed spaces, without which they would have been a very unsafe station, more especially for females. But the sight which attracted and arrested and filled the eyes of all those who were fortunate enough to get a favorable post of observation from which to witness the scene, was the people. There they stood, and had stood for hours, in a solid dense mass, variously estimated to contain (in the space before the capitol and extending back some distance into the open square) from thirty to fifty, and even sixty thousand. Happy was the man who could climb upon railing, or post, or pillar, to obtain a better sight of the expected object. All such places were filled, piled up, with clinging occupants ; some ascended the trees in the square, whose branches, in their denuded condition, af- forded an unobstructed prospect. On the verge of tiie crowd were drawn up carriages, filled with ladies; while here and there peered up a standard, bearing a pa- cific banner, or the stand of colors of some volunteer company. While patiently waiting for the arrival of the presi- dent, this mass of heads resembled some placid lake, not in a perfect calm, but gently rippled by a passing breeze, its waters in perpetual but gentle motion ; but the instant he was seen advancing from the capitol, it suddenly resembled that same lake, when a blast from the mountain has descended upon it, thrown it into tu- GENERAL HARRISON. 179 multuous agitation, and " lifted up ita hands on hiKh.'* A deafening shout went up from the frhid hearts and exulting voices of an oinnucipated people. It sung wel- come to the MAN whom the i'Kopi.k delight to honor, and must have met, with overwhelming power, the tliroh- bings of his own bosom. When the uproar had subsided, it was succeeded by the deep stillness of expectation, .md the new president forthwith proceeded to read, in accents loud and clear, his address to the nation, which we subjoin entire, as containing his full political creed, and showing the prin- ciples by which, had he lived, he would have been guided. In the delivery of this address, the voice of Gen. Harrison never flajjoed, but to the end retained its full and commanding tone. As he touched on succes- sive topics, lying near the heart of the people, their sympathy with its sentiments was manifested by shouts which broke forth involuntarily from time to time; and when the reading of the address was concluded, they were renewed and prolonged without restraint. Previous to delivering the closing sentences of the address, the oath of office, tendered by the Chief Jus- tice, was taken by the Presidknt, in tones loud, dis- tinct, and solemn, manifesting a due and deep impression of the importance of the act ; after which, the Prksidlnt pronounced the remaining passage of his address. The pealing cannon then announced to the country that it had a new Chikf Magistrate. The procession was again formed, and, setting out from the c;\j)itol, pro- ceeded along Pennsylvania avenue to the mansion of the president, cheered throughout the whole route as (ien. Harrison passed, by the immense crowds on foot which lined the avenue, and the hardly less numerous assembly of females who filled the doors and windows along tlie whole route. Nearly the whole throng of visitors accompanied the President to his new abode, and as many as possible entered and paid their personal respects to hin>. The whole building, however, could hardly conUiin a fortieth part of them, so that very many were unable to obtain admission at all. A popular president will, on such an 180 SKETCHES OF occasion, always be surrounded by more friends tban it is possible for him to receive and recognize otherwise than in masses. The close of the day was marked by the repetition of salutes of artillery, the whole city being yet alive with a population of strangers and residents, whom the mild- ness of the season invited into the open air. In the evening the several ball rooms and places of amusement were filled with crowds of gentlemen and ladies, attracted to the city by the novelty and interest of the great occasion. In the course of the evening, the president of the United States paid a short visit to each of the assemblies held in honor of the inauguration, and was received with the warmest demonstrations of attach- ment and respect. The end of the day was marked, as its progress from the earl)' morning hour had been, by quiet and order, not only remarkable, but astonishing, considering the vast crowd of persons, the excitement of the occasion, vind the temptations which it offered to undue exhilaration. No accident or incident whatever occurred, it is believed, to leave a pain or pang behind it, or to mar the gratifi- cation of the multitude of those who rejoiced in their hearts that they had lived long enough to see that day. GENERAL HARRISON. 181 PRESIDKXT HARRISON'S INAUGURAL SPEECH, March 4, 1811, On entering upon the duties qfthe office of President of the United States. Called from a retirement which I had supposed was to continue for the residue of my life, to fill the Chief Executive office of this orreat and free nation, I appear before you, fellow-citizens, to take the oath which the Constitution prescribes as a necessary (lualificaiion for the performance of its duties. And in obedience to a custom coeval with our Government, and what 1 believe to be your expectations, I proceed to presi'nt to you a summary of the principles which will govern me in the discharge of the duties which I shall be called upon to perform. It was the remark of a Roman Consul, in an early period of that celebrated Republic, that a most striking contrast was observable in the conduct of candidates for offices of power and trust, before and afti r obuiining them — they seldom carrying out in the latter case the pledges and promises made in the former. However much the world may have improved, in many respects, in the lapse of upwards of two thousand years since the remark was made by the virtuous and indignant Roman, I fear that a strict examination of the annals of some of the modern elective Ciovernments, would develope simi- lar instances of violated confidence. Although the fiat of the People has gone forth, pro- claiming me the Chief Malic;\ns<)f ilit? thiy wero abinufid at the extent of tlw- power which had hci'ii irraninl to the Federal Governineui, and more p.irlicnhirly of that portion whieh had beenassiiriu'd to the liXerutive branch. There were in it features which appo.irtid not to hf in h.ir- mony with their ideas o( a siinph' representative Dinno- craey, or Repuhlic. And kuowin|r the t^^idenry of power to increase itself, particularly when exercised by a sincrle individual, predictions were made that, at no very remote period, the liovernment woulil li^rminale in virtual monarchy. It would not become nw to say thai the fears of these patriots have been already realised. Hut, as I sincerely believe that the tendency of nieasures, and of men's opinions, for some y<"ars past, has been in that direction, it is, I conceive, strictly |)rop(>r that 1 should take this occasion to repeat the assurances I have here- tofore criven of my determination to arrest the proirress of that" tendency, "if it really exists, annumeraU! the evils of which, in the opinion of many of our fellow-cilizens» this error of the sajres who frame»l the Constitution may have been the source, and the l)itter fruits whi.-h we are still to gather from it, if it continues U) disfiiruro our system. It may be observed, however, as a general ro- 186 SKETCHES OF mark, that Republics can commit no greater error than to adopt or continue any feature in their systems of go- vernment which may be calculated to create or increase the love of power, in the bosoms of those to whom ne- cessity obliges them to commit the management of their affairs. And, surely, nothing is more likely to produce such a state of mind than the lonof continuance of an of- fice of high trust. Nothing can be more corrupting, nothing more destructive of all those noble feelings which belong to the character of a devoted republican patriot. When this corrupting passion once takes pos- session of the human mind, like the love of gold, it be- comes insatiable. It is the never-dying worm in his bosom, grows with his growth, and strengthens with the declining years of its victim. If this is true, it is the part of wisdom for a republic to limit ihe service of that officer, at least, to whom she has intrusted the manage- ment of her foreign relations, the execution of her laws, and the command of her armies and navies, to a period so short as to prevent his forgetting that he is the account- able agent, not the principal — the servant not the master. Until an amendment of the Constitution can be effected, public opinion may secure the desired object. I give my aid to it by renewing the pledge heretofore given, that, under no circumstances, will I consent to serve a second term. But if there is danger to public liberty from the ac- knowledgred defects of the Constitution, in the want of limit to the continuance of the executive power in the same hands, there is, I apprehend, not much less from a misconstruction of that instrument, as it regards the powers actually given. I cannot conceive that, by a fair construction, any or either of its provisions would be found to constitute the President a part of the legislative power. It cannot be claimed from the power to recom- mend, since, although enjoined as a duty upon him, it is a privilege which he holds in common with every other citizen. And although there may be something more of confidence in the propriety of the measures recommended in the one case than in the other, in the obligations of ultimate decision there can be no difference. In the GENERAL HARRISON. 187 lans^iaore of the Constitution, *' all Irijislativo nowrrs" which it ay be productive of great good, and be found one of the best safe-guards to the Union. At the period of the formation of the Constitution, the principle does not appear to have en- joyed much favor in the State Governments. It existed but in two, and in one of these there was a plural Exec- utive. If we would search for the motives which operated upon the purely patriotic and enli«rhtened assembly which framed the Constitution, for the adoption of a provision so apparently repugnant to the lea.ling democratic i)rin- ciple, that the majority should hief Magisiratu to stamp a monarchical character on our Government, but the con- trol of the public fin;iuces. And to me it appears strange indeed, that anyone should doubt that the entire control which the President possesses over th«; olhccrs who have the custody of the public money, by the power of removal with or without cause, does, for all mischievous purposes at least, virtually subject tho treasure also to his disposal. The first Roman Emperor, in his attempt to seize the sacred treasure, silen(;fl in the necessary employment of the Government, should never be used " to clear the truihy, or to varnish rrjinr-s," A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Go- vernment, should he not only tolerated, but encf)ura«red. Upon another occasion I have rriven my opinion, at some length, upon the impropriety of Executive inter- ference in the lerrisjalion of Con/ their subjects in the District of Columbia ' iSuch dreams can never he realized by any aaency of mine. The people of the District of Columbia are not the subjects of the people of the States, but free AmcricBn citizens. Being in the latter condition when liie Con- stitution was formed, no words used in thai iiotriunrnt could have been intended to deprivt- them of that char- acter. If there is any thing in the gn-al prinriplts of unalienable rights, so emphatically insisU'd upon in our Declaration of Independence, they could iu\'\h't make, nor the United Slates accept a surrender ol their liber- ties, and become the subjects, in other words the slaves, of their former fellow citizens. If this be true, and it will scarcely be denifd by any one who has a correrl idra of his own rights as an American citizen, the yranl to Congress of exclusive jurisdiction in the District of Co- lumbia, can be interpreted, so far as respects iho aifgre- gate people of the United States, as nxMnint^ n ' more than to allow to Congress the controlling j •-. . necessary to afford a free and safe exercise of the func- tions assigned to the General Government by iho Con- stitution. In all other respects, the I ' of Con- gress should be adapted to their p« , .-.ition and wants, and be conformable w ith their deliberate opinions ofjtheir own interests. I have spoken of the necessity of k • ' the rr««prr- tive Departments of the (iovemnu;.;. .. will a** the other authorities of our country, within their appropriate orbits. This is a matter of dilliculty in some casM, as 196 SKETCHES OF the powers which they respectively claim are often not defined by very distinct lines. Mischievous, however, in their tendencies, as collisions of this kind may be, those which arise between the respective communities, which for certain purposes compose one nation, are much more so ; for no such nation can long exist with- out the careful culture of those feelinss of confidence and affection which arc the eti'ective bonds of union be- tween free and confederated States. Stroujr as is the tie of interest, it has been often found ineffectual. Men, blinded by their passions, have been known to adopt measures ibr their country in direct opposition to all the suggestions of policy. The alternative then, is, to de- stroy or keep down a bad passion, by creating and fos- tering a good one ; and this seems to be the corner stone upon which our American political architects have reared the fabric of our Government. The cement which was to bind it, and perpetuate its existence, was the affec- tionate attachment between all its members. To insure the continuance of this feeling, produced at first by a community of dangers, of sufferings and of interests, the advantages of each were made accessible to all. No participation in any good, possessed by any member of an extensive confederacy, except in domestic govern- ment, was withheld from the citizen of any other mem- ber. By a process attended with no dif^culty, no delay, no expense but that of removal, the citizen of one might become the citizen of any other, and successively of the whole. The lines, too, separating powers to be exer- cised by the citizens of one State from those of another, seem to be so distinctly drawn as to leave no room for misunderstanding. The citizens of each State unite in their persons all the privileges which that character con- fers, and all that they may claim as citizens of the United States ; but in no case can the same person, at the same time, act, as the citizen of two separate States, and he is therefore positively precluded from any interference with the reserved powers of any State but that of which he is^ for the time being, a citizen. He may indeed offer to the citizens of other States his advice as to their management, UKNERAL HAUKISOV. 1 U7 and the form in which it is t.'nlic'at(>r every injury wliieh our inHiituiioM may receive. On the ci»nirary, no carp thai can Im« ua«d in the construction of our (Jovtrnnicnl ; no diviiiiun of powers, no disirihution of checks in its several ilepart- mcnts will prove etlretual to keep us a free IN-opI**, if this spirit is sulVertd to decay: and dtn-ay it \»ill with- out constant nurture. To the neulecl of thia duly, the best historians agree in attrihuliinj the ruin of all the Ki»- puhlics with whose exist.nce and fall llieir writiiiijH have made us aciiuaini»'d. The same causen will ever pro- duce the same effects : and as loinj a8 the lore of pi>wer is a dominant passion of the human hosmn, and an lone as the understand intrs of men can !)«• warp«d and their af- fections changed by operations on their passions and pre- judices, so lo^ng will the liberty of a people depend upon their own constant attention to its pres«rvation. 'iTje danger to all well-established free gc.vern '-^ ari»i« from the unwillingness of the l*.'o|)le u> in iu existence, or from the influence of designing men, divert- ing their attention from the quarU^r wh«-nce it a; "le^ to^a source fron\ which it can never come, 'i ; ihe old trick of those who would usurp the government of their country. In the name .-f Democracy ihoy «peak. warning the People against the influence of wealth and the danger of aristocracy. History, ancient and '- ■'•rn, is full ol'such examples. Ca-sar b.'came ihf 1 -if the Roman people and the Senate under the prt-iefUK" of supporting the democratic claims of the I • the aristocracy of the latter; Cromwell, in i... of protector of the liberties of the IVopIr, h. ihe dictator of KnjTland ; and Holivar possessed liimiiel! of unlimited power, with the title of his country's l.ib- There is, on the contrary, no single ii.^' - " an extensive and well-esiablisht-d r.-p' into an aristocracy. The tendencies ol all such l-otern- ments in their decline, is to monarchy ; and the antafO- 200 SKETCHES OF nist principle to liberty there is the spirit of faction — a spirit which assumes the character, and, in times of great excitement, imposes itself upon the People as the genuine spirit of freedom, and like the false Christs whose coming was foretold by the Saviour, seeks to, and were it possible would impose upon the true and most faithful disciples of liberty. It is in periods like this that it behooves the People to be most watchful of those to whom they have intrusted power. And although there is at times much difficulty in distinguishing the false from the true spirit, a calm and dispassionate investigation will detect the counterfeit as well, by the character of its operations, as tiie results which are pro- duced. The true spirit of liberty, although devoted, persevering, bold, and uncompromising in principle, that secured, is mild and tolerant and scrupulous as to the means it employs ; whilst the spirit of party, assuming to be that of liberty, is harsh, vindictive and intolerant, and totally reckless as to the character of the allies which it brings to the aid of its cause. When the genuine spirit of liberty animates the body of a people to a tho- rough examination of their affairs, it leads to the excision of every excrescence which may have fastened itself upon any of the Departments of the Government, and restores the system to its pristine health and beauty. But the reign of an intolerant spirit of party amongst a free peo- ple, seldom fails to result in a dangerous accession to the Executive power introduced and established amidst unusual professions of devotion to democracy. The foregoing remarks relate almost exclusively to matters connected with our domestic concerns. It may be proper, however, that I should give some indications to my fellow citizens of my proposed course of conduct in the management of our foreign relations. I assure them, therefore, that it is my intention to use every means in my power to preserve the friendly intercourse which now so happily subsists with every foreign na- tion; and that, although, of course, not well informed as to the state of any pending negociations with any of them, I see in the personal characters of the Sovereigns, as well as in the mutual interest of our own and of the GENERAL HARRISON. 201 Governments with which our relations are in(»st intimate, a pleasing cruaranty that the harmony vo important to the interests of their suhjects, as wt-ll as our citi/fns, will not be interriijited by the advancement of any claim, or pretension upon their part, to which our honor would not permit us to yield. Lonir the defender of my country's rio^hts in the field, I trust that my fellow-citi- zens will not see in my earnest desire to preserve peace with foreig'n Powers any indication that their rights will ever be sacrificed, or the honor nf the nation tarnished by any adnnssion on the ])arl of their (.'hief Maj^isirate unworthy of their former glory. In our intt^rcourse with our Abori'^inal neijrhhfjrs, the same liberality and justice which marked liie course pro- scribed to me by two of my illustrious |)redecessor!*, when acting under their direction in the discharge of the duties of Superintendent and Commissioner, shall be strictly observed. I can conceive of no more sublime spectacle — none more likely to propitiate an impartial and common Creator, than a rigid ailherence tolheprii>- ciples of justice on the part of a powerful nation in its transactions with a weaker and uncivilized people, whom circumstances have placed at its disposal. Before concluding, fellow-citizens, I must say some- thing to you on the subject of the parties at this time exist- ing "in our country. To me it appears perfectlv clear, that the interest of that country recpiires that the viidence of the spirit by which those parties are at this time go- verned, must be greatly miticrated, if not entirely fxtin- guished, or consequences will ensiie which are appalling to be thought of. If parties in a Republic are necessary to secure a degree of vigilance surticient to kef p the public functionaries within the bounds of law and «luty, at that point their usefulness ends. Beyond that, they become destructive of public virtue, the parents of a spirit antagonist to that of liberty, and, eventually, its inevitable conqueror. We have examples of HepubliCB, where the love of country and of liberty, at one lime, were the dominant passions of the wh(de mass of citi- zens. And yet, Mith the continuance of the name and forms of free Government, not a vestige of these quali- 202 SKETCHES OF ties remaining' in the bosom of any one of its citizens. It was the beautiful remark of a disting-uished English writer, that " in the Roman Senate, Octavius had a party, and Anthony a party, but the Commonwealth had none." Yet the Senate continued to meet in the Temple of Liberty, to talk of the sacredness and beauty of the Commonwealth, and gaze at the statues of the elder Brutus and of the Curtii and Decii. And the people as- sembled in the forum, not as in the days of Camillus and the Scipios, to cast their free votes for annual Magis- trates, or pass upon the acts of the Senate, but to receive from the hands of the leaders of the respective parties their share of the spoils, and to shout for one or the other, as those collected in Gaul, or Egypt, and the Lesser Asia, would furnish the larger dividend. The spirit of liberty had fled, and, avoiding the abodes of civilized man, had sought protection in the wilds of Scythiaor Scandinavia; and so, under the operation of the same causes and influen- ces, it will fly from our Capital and our forums. A calamity so awful, not only to our country, but to the world, must be deprecated by every patriot ; and every tendency to a state of things likely to produce it, immediately checked. Such a tendency has existed — does exist. Always the friend of my countrymen, never their flatterer, it becomes my duty to say to them from this high place, to which their partiality has exalted me, that there exists in the land a spirit hostile to their best interests — hostile to liberty itself. It is a spirit contracted in its views, sel- fish in its object. It looks to the aggrandizement of a few, even to the destruction of the interest of the whole. The entire remedy is with the People. Something, how- ever,may be effected by the means which they have placed in my hands. It is union that we want, not of a party for the sake of that party, but a union of the whole country for the sake of the whole country — for the defence of its inter- ests and its honor against foreign aggression — for the de- fence of those principles for which our ancestors so glori- ously contended. As far as it depends upon me, it shall be accomplished. All the influence that I possess, shall be exerted to prevent the formation at least of an Executive party in the halls of the Legislative body. I wish for GENERAL HARRISON. the support of no ineinl)fr of that hody to any of mine tlr.it does not satisfy his judt^rnu-nt ami ht"-f-r'm of duty to those from whom he liohls his appun ; nor any contidence in advance from llie People, but thai asked for by Mr. JolFfrson, "to trivr firmness and etTvcl to the Ipofal administration of their atfairs." I deem the present occasion suHicienily importintand solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellpini«)n shall also be free among the ofliccrs and a^tnts of the ^roveru- raent. The President wishes it furllur to be annoiinrod and distinctly understood, that from all collcriinir aiid disbursing otlicers promptitude in renderinnr arcounl«, and entire punctuality in payinir balances, will be rig- orously exacted. In his opinion it is tiim; to return, in this respect, to the early j)raclicc of the fjovcrnni ni, and to hold any dejrree of delinquency on the part of those entrusted with the ])ublic money, just causo for immediate removal. He deems the severe observance of this rule to be es- sential to the public service, as every dollar lost to the treasury by the unfaithfulness in ollicers, creates a neces- sity tor a new chartre upon the people. I have the honor to be, sir, Your obedient servant, DAMEI. WKIlSTKIi.* Nor was it alone to the o-reat national evil ^f ofTice- holding that Harrison directed his attention. He knew that in the cit}' of W asliini^ton there was cause to fear a needless and thriftless expenditure of th»' public funds, and in order to ascertain the facts and correct the abuse, if any existed, addressed the following letter to the fjcn- tlemen therein named : Departmcixt <>f Slate, March 27th, 1811. To AI. St. Clair Clark, William S Mlrfhkv, and Hudson M. Garland, Esys : Gentlemen: — It is the desire of the President to be fully acquainted with the sUitt^ of procjress in which tho public works in this city now are, and with tlu' decree of skill, fidelity, and economy with which iln'se works are carried on. For this purpose he has appointed you a conmiittee of examination and inquiry, aiv! he wishes you to direct your attention to the foilowing points : * Similar Icucrs were al«o addressed to olher hcods of depart- ments. 206 SKETCHES OF 1st. What is the number of persons employed on the public buildings now in progress in the city, exclusive of laborers ] This is the more necessary, as many of these persons hold offices not created by specific pro- visions of the law. 2d. What is the respective duty of each of these persons ? 3d. What prices are paid to them for their services; whether in any case the compensation is unreasonably large ] 4th. Whether there has been, or is, any just ground for complaint against those persons, or any of them, either in regard to their own diligence and skill, or in regard to their treatment of laborers employed by them? If you have any reason to suppose that any have been guilty of misconduct, you will state the charge to him, and give him an opportunity to answer it; and will report no evidence, if the party shall not have had notice. You vi'ill inquire into no man's political opinions or preferences; but if it be alleged that any person, having the power of employing and dismissing laborers, has used that power, either in employing or dismissing, "with any reference to the political opinions of those who may have been employed or dismissed, or for any po- litical party or object whatever, or in any way violated his duty for party or election purposes, you will inquire into the truth of such suggestion ; and if you have reason to think it well founded, in any case, you will state the particular facts and circumstances on which your opinion is formed. It is not intended that this commission should be of long continuance, nor be attended with any considerable, expense. You will use as much dispatch, therefore, as the nature of the case may allow, and make report to this department. A reasonable sum will be allowed to you for your time and service out of the appropriate fund. By the President's order. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State. \ GENERAL HARRISON. 207 Such were the first proofs given to the puhlic of Harrison's wishes and intentions. Meantime lie was overwhehned by the visits of interested and disinterestod persons, office-seekers and friends, iiarpies and whole- souled patriots. Never wouKJ lie refuse any one. N.iy, he went abroad early every morning-, and generally picked up somebody to breakfast with iiim, in a homely, friendly way, as with "the fanner of North Rend.'* One morning, in the last week of .March, the very week in which the commission we have just (juoted was is- sued, the President, during his usual walk, was over- taken by a shower violent enough to give him a thorough wetting, which was followed by a slight cold. This he paid no attention to, and although upon Thursday, the 25th of Marcii, he felt decidedly sick, he would not re- fuse a single visitor, or postpone a single duty. On the 2Gth, meeting an old s!iii)-m;itp, and finding he was in reduced circunistances, the General took him home, gave him his bre/akfast, and then wrote for him tht^ fol- lowing letter, the last Idler which he wrute, so far as is known : lV(ishingio7u ^Gfh March, IS 11. Dear Sir: — The bearer hereof, Mr. Thomas Tucker, a veteran seaman, came with me from Carthagena, as the mate of the brig Monti. I ia, in the year 18-2I>. In an association of several weeks, I formed a high opinion of his character — so much so that (expressing a desire to leave the sea) I invited him to come to North IJend and spend the remaind(>r of his days with me. Subsequent misfortunes prevented his doing so, as he was desirous to bring some money with him to com- mence farming operations. His bad fortune still con- tinues, having been scv(>ral times shipwrecked within a few years. He says that himself and family are now in such a situation that the humlilest employnient would be acceptable to him. I write this to recommend him to your favorable notice. I am persuaded that no one possesses, in a higher degree, the virtues of fidelity, hon- esty, and indefatigable industry, and I might add in- 208 SKETCHES OF domitable bravery, if that was a quality necessary for the kind of employment he seeks. Yours very truly, W. H. HARRISON. Edward Curtis, Esq., Collector of New York. On the afternoon of Saturday, the 27th, however, the very day on which the commission to Messrs. Clarke, Murphy, and Garland is dated, the malady of the Chief Magistrate assumed an aspect too serious to be trifled with. A chill, accompanied by fever, and soon fol- lowed by symptoms of violent internal inflammation, forced the unwilling- invalid to seek his bed ; the bed from which he was never to rise again I What subse- quently occurred is best told in the language of his physicians. To THK Hon. D. Webster, Secretary of Slate : On Saturday, March 27, 1841, President Harrison, after several days' previous indisposition, was seized with a chill and other symptoms of fever. The next day pneumonia, with congestion of the liver and de- rangement of the stomach and bowels, was ascertained to exist. The age and debility of the patient, with im- mediate prostration, forbade a resort to general blood letting. Topical depletion, blistering and appropriate internal remedies, subdued, in a great measure, the dis- ease of the lungs and liver, but the stomach and intes- tines did not regain a healthy condition. Finally, on the 3d of April, at 3 o'clock, P. M., pro- fuse diarrhoea came on, under which he sank, at 30 minutes to 1 o'clock, on the morning of the 4th. The last words uttered by the President, as heard by Dr. Worthington, were these : "Sir, I wish you to un- derstand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." THOMAS MILLER, M. D. Mt ending Physician, FRED. MAY, M. D. N. W. WORTHINGTON, M. D. J. C. HALL, M. D. ASHTON ALEXANDER, M. D. Consulting Physicians, \ GENERAL HARRISON. 209 This sad event, feared, dreaded, and looked forward to by many, — though to most, we think, strange and unlooked for, — was at once made public by the follow- ing document: Washington, .flpril \th, 1811. An all-wise Providence having suddenly removed from this life William Henry Harrison, late Presi- dent of the United States, we have thought it our duty, in the recess of Conjjress, and in the absence of the Vice Presidknt from the seat of oovernment, to make this afflicting bereavement known to the country, by this declaration under our hands. He died at the President's bouse, in this city, tiiis 4th day of April, Anno Domini 1811, at thirty minutes be- fore one o'clock in the morning. The people of the United Slates, overwhelmed, like ourselves, by an event so unexpected and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that hi.s death was calm and resigned, as his life has been patriotic, useful and distincruished ; and that the last utterance from his lips exjiressed a fervent desire for t'l'' perpt!tu- ity of the constitution, and the preservation of its true principles. In death, as in life, the happiness of his country was uppermost in his tlioughts. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State, THOMAS EVVING, Sec. of ike^Trtasury. JOHN BELL, Sec. of War. J. J. CIUT'I'EXDEN, .Utnrnty General, FRANCIS CJHANGEK, Po&i Master General, Thus were the hopes of a majority of the American people dashed to the dust, and the morning of Commer- cial and Political prosperity was clouded. For a time, however, men did not think of the personal and pecu- niary evils that were likely to follow the death of Har- rison, but thought only of the public loss, the national bereavement. The evidences, both at Washington and elsewhere, of the strong feeling of confidence and love which the hero of the West had excited, were too marked to be forgotten : our limits will allow us to men- tion only the proceedings at the Capital. 14 210 SKETCHES OF " Wednesday having been set apart for the solemni- ties of the funeral of the late President, some anxiety was felt, in the early part of the morning, as to the weather, for the sky was overcast, and fears were en- tertained lest it should come on to rain ; but as the day advanced, these apprehensions were dissipated, and though it continued rather cool, this did but favor the march of the troops and of the other numerous collec- tions of persons who formed portions of the funeral procession. At sunrise, the sound of cannon from the several mili- tary stations in the vicinity of the city, heralded th«- rnelancholy occasion which was to assemble the citizens of the district and its neighborhood, and minute guns were fired during the morning. In entire consonance with those mournful sounds was the whole aspect of the city, as well its dwellings as its population. 'J'he buildings on each side of the entire hingth of the Pennsylvania Avenue, with scarcely an exception, and many houses on the contiguous streets, were liung witli festoons and streamers of black, not only about the signs and en- trances, but in many cases from all the upper stories. Almost every private dwelling had crape \ipon the knocker and bell-handle of its door, and many of the very humblest abodes hung out some spontaneous signal of the general sorrow. The stores and places of busi- ness, even such as are too frequently seen open on the Sabbath, were all closed. Everything like business seemed to have been forgotten, and all minds to be oc- cupied with the purpose of the day. The rail-road cars approaching the city were crowded to excess, although the trains were doubled, and a large portion of the passengers stood up from necessity, the entire way from Baltimore hither. 'J'he steamboats brought crowds of people from Alexandria, and the in- dividuals entering the city from the adjacent country on horseback and in vehicles of every description seemed to be more nurner<)us than even on the occasion of the late inaufjn ration. The great point of attraction was the President's mansion. Towards that all steps and all thoughts were GENERAL HARBISON. 211 tending. There lay the IJody, closed in its leaden hearse, and covered wilh its solemn pall, sealed in that deep repose which nolliinir shall hreak but the Arch- angers trump. It lay on a hier in the «'ast room (an oc- cupation how dillerenl trom its wonl I) and ladies weru admitted all the njorning, who heaped upon the colFin offerings ot' the most beautiful flowers. The northern portico of the mansion was hung with long hamurs of black, extending from column to cidumn. The iron gates of the enclosure in front were closed, save w hen the carriages of the Foreign ministers, members of the Cabinet, the attending Physicians, the Clergy, and some other privileged |)ersons were admitted, j)repara- tory to their taking the places assigned them in the fu- neral procession. The military portion of it, constituting the funeral es- cort, bpiran to form the line on the Niw York Avenue, immediately north of the President's house, and a most noble and imposing appearance it presented. Without undertaking to give the exact order or all the details of the military part of the procession, it must suffice us for the present to state that of volunteers, besides the LiiTht Infantry, National Ulues, and Columbia Artillery of this city, and squadron of Potomac Dragoons from Georgetown, there were present the Eagle ArtilU-risls, Eutaw Infantry, Invincibles, Independent Cirays, Na- tional Cuards, .Maryland Cadets, and Military Association of Baltimore, the Annapolis Cirays, from the city of Annapolis, and a part of the York PitlfMnrn and Wash- ington Plues from York, Pennsylvania. Then there was a battalion of United JSUUes' Marines, and a divi- sion of the United States' Artillrry, commanded by Captain Ringgold, from fort Mc'Umry. Hut one of the most impressive porticms of the military part ot the procession consisted of the dismounted and mounU'd officers of the army, navy, militia and volunteers. Seldom has there been exhibited within a space so limited, so many distintiuisheil military nun: the sight of whose will known fiirures led back our thoughts to many a bloody field and many an ensanguined sea* on which the national honor has been well and nobly main- 212 SKETCHES OF tained. The civic part of the procession was not less striking than the military. It embraced the municipal officers of the District, the clergy of all denominations, the judiciary, and executive officers of the government, including the President of the United States and the heads of departments, the ex-members of the late cab- inet now in the city, the comptrollers, auditors and com- missioners, treasurer, register, etc, with a numerous column of clerks in the several departments. Such mem- bers of both houses of Congress as are now in the city also attended, and ex-President Adams in his place. Next followed the officers and soldiers who had served under General Harrison in the late war. Another division of the procession consisted of public societies and associations, preceded by their banners and wearing their respective badges — among whom we noticed the society of Odd-Fellows, very richly attired, the Wash- ington Catholic Temperance Association, with their white banner displaying the cross which is the symbol of their faith, the Typographical society, several schools and lyceums, and to close all, the different fire compa- nies of the District, in their showy and picturesque uniforms, cloaks, hats, and accoutrements, and with ap- propriate ensigns. The music was excellent; several fine bands playing mournful airs, giving place, from time to time, to the muffled drums of the military, beating slow marches. But the object of chief interest, and one which, as it passed, hushed every other sound, and caused many a tear to fall, was the funeral car containing the body of the deceased President. It was of large dimensions, in form an oblong platform, on which was a raised dais, the whole covered with black velvet. From the cornice of the platform fell a black velvet curtain outside of the wheels to within a few inches of the ground. From the corners of the car a black crape festoon was formed on all sides, looped in the center by a funeral wreath. On the coffin lay the sword of Justice and the sword of State, surmounted by the scroll of the Constitution, bound together by a funeral wreath, formed of the yew and the cypress. The car was drawn by six white GENERAL HARRISON. 213 horses, havinpr at the head of each a colored proom, dressed in white, with white turhan and sash, and 8up- porled by pall bearers in black. The enVc-t wus very fine. The contrast of this slowly movin^r body of white and black, so opposite to the strong colors of the military around it, struck the eye even from the trreat- est distance, and gave a chilling warning before hand that the corpse was drawing nigh. The entire procession occupied two full miles in length, and was marshaled on its way by officers on horseback, carrying white batons with black tassels. The utmost order prevailed throughout ; and, consider- ing the very great concourse of people collected, the silence preserved during the whole course of the march was very impressive. Before the body was removed from the Presidential mansion, religious services were conducted in presence of the Presidknt of the United States and ex-President Adams, the members of the late and present cabinets, the foreign ministers, and the mourning household, by the Rev. Mr. Hawley. The reverend gentleman de- clined making any address upon the occasion, but, pointing to a Bible and Episcopal prayer-book which lay upon the table, stated that they had been purchased by the deceased President immediately after his arrival in the city, and had been in daily use by him since then; that the late President had declared to him (Mr. Hawley,) personally, his full belief in the truth of the Christian religion, and his purpose, had not disease in- tervened to prevent it, to have united himself to the church on the succeeding Sabbath. On the firing of the signal grun at the appointed hour, the procession, having received into its ranks the funeral car and the family mourners who followed the remains of their relative to the tomb, moved along the Pennsyl- vania Avenue, under the tire of minute guns near the President's house, repeated at the city hall on the head of the column arriving opposite to it, and at the capitol on its reaching the western gate of the enclosure. Hav- ing reached the capitol square, passing on the south side of it, the procession advanced over the plains east- 214 SKETCHES OF ward, till it reached the space in front of the Cong-res- sional hurying ground. Here the car halted, while the line was formed by the military as they arrived, and then passed slowly on, being saluted as it passed with colors lowered, the troops presenting- arms, and the offi- cers saluting it in military form. Having reached the main entrance, the car was again halted ; the coffin was taken down and placed on the shoulders of the bearers ; the clergy advanced, and the Rev. Mr. Hawley, recit- ing the solemn funeral service of the Episcopal liturgy, the procession advanced down the principal avenue of the cemetery until it reached the receiving vault, where a space had been kept open by sentries under arms, and where, a hollow square being formed, the coffin was lowered into the vault. A signal being given to the troops outside, the battalion of Light Artillery, who were placed on an adjoining eminence, fired a salute, which was immediately followed by the several military bodies in line, who commenced firing from the left to the right, and continued the salute till it had thrice gone up the whole line. The procession then resumed its march, and returned by the same route to the city, where the troops were dismissed, and the citizens retired to their several abodes. By five o'clock, nothing remained but empty streets and the emblems of mourning upon the houses, and the still deeper gloom, which oppressed the general mind with renewed power after ail was over, and the sense of the public bereavement alone was left to fill the thoug-hts." O The feelings manifested throughout the Union in re- lation to the death of Gti'neral Harrison, were of a char- acter to afford gratification to his friends and family. City vied with city and state w^ilh state in doing honor to his memory. The land, for a time, was truly clothed in mourning, and party differences were almost forgotten in the general wish to do justice to one so suddenly struck down from his high place. But although these proofs of regard were given at the East equally with the West, it was felt that the remains of one who had GENERAL HARRISON. 215 given his life to the interests of the great internal valley ought to repose within its bosom; ought to rest on the banks of the river near which his long and useful ca- reer had been passed. Measures were accordingly taken by the friends and family of the deceased Presi- dent, to remove his body from the District of Columbia to North Bend ; and a committee was appointed to pro- ceed to Washington and superintend the removal. This committee on the 16th of June addressed to the acting President the following letter : Washington, June lOlk, 1841. To THE President of the Unmted States: Dear Sir : — The undersigned were appointed by the citizens and City Council of Cincinnati, and by many of the surviving soldiers of the late war, to apply to the widow and family of our distinguished fellow-citizen, the late President of the United States, for permission to remove his remains from the City of Washington to the State of Ohio for interment. They have made the appl.cation directed, and have received permission to perform the sacred trust. They have novy ih.e honor of repor.ing to you their arrival in this city, and of asking your approbation of the measure contemplated, and your co-operation in carrying it into efiect. We are fully aware of the high estimate you placed on the talents and virtues of our lamented friend and fellow-citizen, the late Chief Magistrate of the Union, whose friendship and co. fldence you possessed many years. We saw the tear fall from your eye, and mingle with the tears of the nation, when the inscrutable will of Heaven removed him from us. Knowing these things, we approach you with confi- dence, well assured that you will justly appreciate our motives for undertaking the mournful duty we have been deputed to perform, and that the same kind feeling which has marked your course through life will prompt you on this occasion to afford us your countenance, and if necessary your co-operation. If it meet your approbation, the committee will do themselves the honor of waiting upon you at the Pre- sident's house, at any hour you may please to designate. i\ 216 SKETCHES OF With high respect, we are your friends and fellow- citizens, J BURNET, L. AVHITEMAN, J. C WRIGHT, A. DUDLEY, TH. D. CARNEAL. D. A. POWELL, CHA8. S. CLARKSON. A. INI'ALPIN, EDWARD WOODRUFF, JOHN REEVES. RUFUS HODGES, To this Mr. Tyler returned the following reply : Washington, June 11 Ih, 1841. Gentlemen: — Your letter of the 16th was duly handed me, and I lose no time in responding to the feel- ings and sentiments which you have expressed for your- selves and those you represent, and which you have correctly ascribed to me in regard to the lamented death of the late President. As a citizen I respected him, as a patriot I honored him, as a friend he was near and dear to me : that the people of Cincinnati should desire to keep watch over his remains by entombing them near the city, is both natural and becoming ; that the entire West, where so many evidences of his public usefulness are to be found, should unite in the same wish, was to have been expected ; and that the surviving soldiers of his many battles, led on by him to victory and to glory, should sigh to perform the last melancholy duties to the remains of their old commander, is fully in consonance with the promptings of a noble and generous sympathy. I could not, if I was authorized to do so, oppose my- self to their wishes. I raigrht find somethincr to urgre on behalf of his native State, in my knowledge of his continued attachment to her through the whole period of his useful life — in the claims of his relatives there, whose desire it would be that the mortal remains of the illustrious son should sleep under the same turf with those of his distinguished father, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence — in the wish of the citizens of his native county to claim all that is now left of him for whom they so lately cast their almost unanimous suffrage — to say nothing of my own feel- ings, allied as J am by blood to many of his near rela^ tives, and with our names so closely associated and much connected with the late exciting political contest -^these considerations might present some reasonably GENERAL HARRISON. 217 grounds for opposing your wishes. But the assent which has been given by his respected widow ^nd near- est relatives to the request of the people of Cincinnati, admits of no opposition on my part, neither in my indi- vidual nor official character. I shall feel it to be my duty, however, to submit our correspondence to the two houses of Congress now in session ; but anticipating no effort from that quarter to thwart the wishes expressed by yourselves in conso- nance with those of the widow and nearest relatives of the late President, I readily promise you my co-opera- tion towards enabling you to fulfil the sacred trust which brought you to this city. I tender to each of you, gentlemen, my cordial salu- tation. .lOHN TYLER. To J. Burnet, J. C.Wright, and others of the committee. Congress, which had met in extra session upon the 31st day of May, in accordance with the proclamation of General Harrison, made March 17th, and to which Mr. Tyler communicated the above correspondence, ap- pointed a committee, which on the 25th of June offered the foUowinor resolutions : Resolved, That on Saturday next the remains of Wil- liam Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, be removed, under the superintendence of a committee of both houses of Congress, from the Con- gressional burial ground, and accompanied by such committee and the delegation from Ohio to the line of the District of Columbia. Resolved, That when the two houses adjourn, they adjourn to Monday next. The committees thus appointed consisted of five Sen- ators and twenty-six Representatives, who upon Satur- day, the 26th of June, fulfilled their melancholy duty. The Cincinnati committee, after passing Sunday in Baltimore, resumed their march westward, and early on the morning of the 5lh of July reached the Queen of the West, and bore the corpse of the favorite of Ohio to the house of Col. W. H. H. Taylor, the son-in-law of the deceased. Meantime preparations had been made ^t Cincinnati to convey the remains to North Bend, ac- 218 SKETCHES OF companied by a full representation of his friends. This was done upon the 7th ; after a procession in the city, the body of Harrison was placed upon a steam-boat and carried to the spot agreed on, a mound overlooking- the Ohio, and near the residence of the General's family. There, in a simple vault, he was interred in the presence of a great concourse of people, which had gathered from the country around to witness the last ceremonies. Dr, Joshua L. Wilson, who, of all the clergymen in Cincin- nati, had been longest in the west, and Dr. John T. Brooke, whose church General Harrison had usually attended, performed the last offices to the illustrious dead. And there the soldier and patriot still sleeps, remembered by all ; and though no monument as yet marks his grave, within a few years, beyond question, one will rise above his ashes, reminding all who journey upon the Belle Riviere, of the " Farmer of North Bend." Congress met, as we have said, upon the 31st of May, and on the 4th of June passed these resolutions in rela- tion to the national loss : The melancholy event of the death of William Hen- ry Harrison, late President of the United States, having occurred during the recess of Congress, and the two houses sharing in the general grief, and desiring to manifest their sensibilities upon the occasion of that public bereavement, therefore : Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States nf America in Congress assembled^ That the chairs of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives be shrouded in black during the residue of the session ; and that the Pre- sident pro tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the members and officers of both houses, wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs. Harrison, and to assure her of the profound respect of the two houses of Congress for her person and character, and of their sincere condolence with the late dispensation of Providence. . It was felt, however, that mere resolutions were not enough, and that something was actually due the family GENERAL HARRISON 219 of the departed Chief Magistrate. Mr. Adams, in the House of Representatives, on the 9th of June, reported a bill in favor of a grant of money to the widow of the late President. This was in accordance witli a sugges- tion made by Mr. Tyler, in his message at the opening of the session, which was in these w'ords : "The preparations necessary for his removal to the seat of Government, in view^ of a residence of four years, must have devolved upon the late President heavy expendi- tures, which, if permitted to burthen the limited resour- ces of his private fortune, may tend to the serious embarrassment of his surviving family ; and it is there- fore respectfully submitted to Congress, whether the ordinary principles of justice would not dictate the propriety of its legislative interposition." Representations from various quarters were also made to Congress in favor of the proposed grant; but it was not tilfthe 18th of .Tune that the House, by a vote of 122 to 66, nor till the 25th of June that the Senate, by a vote of 28 to 16, agreed to an appropriation of $25,000 for Mrs. Harrison. CHAPTER XV. General Tlarrison's civil and military qualifications considered — Parallel between him and AVashin{j:ton.— His iiiteprrity and disinter- estedness, illustrated by several anecdotes. — llis social and literary character.— His enjoyment of a green old ago in body and mind. Our narrative of the civil and military services of Harririon, is now closed. Brief and imperfect as it may appear, it is suffi- cient to establish his claim to a high rank as a civilian and a general. He had been thoroughly tried in the council and the field, and in every situation had proved himself equal to the cir- cumstances by which he was surrounded. No citizen of the United States, it is l)e!ipved, had ever filled so many civil and military offices, as the subject of this memoir ; and certainly no one had ever been more uniformly successful in discharging the trusts confided to him. If it be true, that to plan and carry on a successful campaign "requires an almost intuitive sagacity, great powers of combi- nation, with prudence, caution, promptness, and energy, com- bined with perfect self-reliance, and self-control," it may be as- sumed that general Harrison, who was admitted to possess these attributes, was an accompUshed civil ruler ; inasmuch as these 220 SKETCHES OF are precisely the qualities which fit an individual for acting effi- ciently upon men and things as they exist around him. But there are other and more practical evidences of his capacity as a statesman. More than twenty years of his life were spent in various important civil offices, many of them requiring inflexi- ble integrity, firmness, intelligence, and wisdom. To prove that he possessed these virtues, in a high degree, it is only necessary to recur to his acts as governor of Indiana, as Indian commis- sioner, and as a member of the national legislature. The mes- sages, letters, and speeches, called forth by these ditferent situa- tions, are not only fine specimens of composition, but exhibit great accuracy of information, consistency of political principle, and maturity of judgment. Rising above all sectarian or party influence, his views were at once national and deeply imbued with the love of liberty ; his voice and influence were always exerted in sustnining the cause of freedom in this, as well as in other kindred lands. In his military capacity, general Harrison was not less distin- guished. As commander-in-chief of the north-western army, ho was entrusted with more extensive and responsible powers, than have been confided to any officer in our country, Wash- ington alone excepted. The command assigned to him, em- braced an immense extent of territory, with a frontier of several hundred miles in length, stretching along the lakes (then in pos- session of the enemy) with harbors, inlets, and rivers, admirably suited to favor their attacks upon our scattered border settle- ments. To defend this extended line of frontier the comman- der's forces were chiefly undisciplined militia — entirely wanting experience in the field — engaged for short terms of service, and held in obedience more by personal influence than the force of authority. But it was not to thcdcfence alone of this district, that general Harrison's duties were confined. He was directed by his government, to act offensively against the enemy, by retak- ing Detroit, and capturing the uppermost Canada, defended, as it was, by experienced British officers and soldiers, aided by a large body of north-western Indians. Detroit and Canada were separated from general Harrison's source of troops, munitions of war and provisions, by a trackless and swampy wilderness, without roads, and presenting almost insuperable obstacles to the transportation of array supplies : while at the same time, it was precisely the region of country best adapted to the peculiar mode of warfare practised by the bold and ferocious Indians. Notwithstanding these manifold difficulties, in about one year, from the time he was invested with the chief command of the GENERAL HARRISON. 221 north-western army, general Harrison drove the enemy from his extended military district, retook Detroit, defeated the combined army of Proctor and Tecumthe, on the 'J^hames, conquered the uppermost Canada, and passed, as a victorious chieftain, down to the scat of war, on ihe Niagara frontier. In many points, the miUtary career of Harrison bears a strong analogy to that of Washington. The same extent of discre- tionary powers and responsibilities — the same difficulties in pro- curing supplies of troops and provisions ; and in part, the same obstacles in the nature of the country to be traversed, marked the history of both. They never hazarded the grand result, by a minor enterprise, however tempting — they sought no laurels by the wanton sacrifice of their soldiers, hut regulated all their movements with a single aim to the public good. Both exercised the extensive powers with which they were invested, without any invasion of the laws or the rights of the citizen ; and, both retired to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, when the objects which called to the field, had been effected ; finally to both may be justly awarded the valor of Marcellus, the caution of Fabius, and the disinterestedness of Cincinnatus. Inflexible integrity and a self-sacrificing patriotism, may he considered the crowning virtues of general Harrison's character. These virtues marked his career in the council and the field — in youth and in age. When asked by what means he was en- abled so successfully to gain the love and obedience of the militia, who followed his banner during the late war, he replied : " By treating them with affection and kindness — by always recollect- ing that they were my fellow-citizens, whose feelings I was bound to respect, and by sharing with them, on every occasion, the hard- shipswhich they were obliged to undergo." Throughout the whole of his military campaigns, he shared with his soldiers in all their fatigues, dangers, and privations. We were lately assured, by a member of his military family in the campaign of 1813, that the table of the commander-in-chief was often not as well supplied with provisions, as those of the common soldiers ; and that he has frequently seen the general sitting by the fire, roasting a piece of beef, and then eating it without salt or bread. On one occasion, after marching all day, through a beoch bottom, cov- ered with mud and water, without their baggage, or any provis- ions, the general, by way of preventing his troops from being dis- couraged, sat down on a log, wrapped in his cloak, — the rain falling fast, and the gloom of a night in the wilderness, only broken by a few glimmering camp-fires, — and then gaily calling upon the officers to sing songs, he spread content and cheerful- 222 SKETCHES OF ness throughout the whole detachment. By examples such as these, he gained the confidence and affection of the crowds of volunteer militia, who were attracted to his standard, not less by their patriotism, than the distinguished reputation of the com- mander-in-chief. After his retirement from the army, he was the chief repre- sentative of the military class of our citizens, in the region in which he lived. Those who served under him in the late war made frequent pilgrimages to JNorth Bend ; while the old sol- diers who fought under Harmar, and St. Clair, and Wayne, not only thronged his hospitable fire-side, but looked to general Harrison above all other men, to present their claims to con- gress, for land or pensions, on the score of past services and sac- rifices. While governor of Indiana, and superintendant of Indian af- fairs, during a period of twelve years, he disbursed at his dis- cretion, and with but few, if any checks, very large sums of money ; and in the course of the late war, he drew on the trea- sury for more than six hundred thousand dollars for military purposes. Yet general Harrison retired from public service poorer than he entered it ; and never was he a defaulter to his government. There are but two instances, it is believed, in which even a whisper of suspicion, against the purity of his of- ficial conduct, has been heard. One of these, made by an army contractor, was investigated in congress, and the charge trium- phantly refuted. The other occurred while governor of Indiana. A foreigner, residing in that territory, by the name of Mc Intosh, and possessing very considerable wealth, having taken some of- fence, charged governor Harrison with having defrauded the In- dians in the treaty of Fort Wayne, made in the year 1809. The accused very properly concluded that it was due to his own re- putation, not less than to the interests of the general government, that a charge of this kind, should be fully investigated in a court of justice. He therefore instituted a suit in the supreme court of the territory, and after a full and fair trial, before a judge and a jury of admitted impartiality between the parties, a verdict was rendered against the defendant for four thousand dollars. The evidence was so conclusive in favor of governor Harrison, that Mcintosh did not attempt to press the truth of the charge upon the jury, but only sought to lessen the amount of damages, by pleading some matters in extenuation of his conduct. When the property of the defendant was levied upon, to satisfy the judgment, it was bought-in by an agent of the governor, who immediately distributed one-third of it among the orphan chil- GENERAL HARRISON. 223 dren of his fellow-i-itlzms that hail dinl in battle, and then re- stored the riMnaindcr to Mcintosh hinisfU', It has hcvu wt-ll oIh gerved, that " no languat^e of praise ran add to the truth and force of the sijnple heauty of such an example of magnanimity, disinterestetlness, and gniorosity." Some years since, it was discovered that a large tract of land, adjoining Cincimiati, which had been sold long previously, for a very small sum, under an execution against the original proprie- tor of the Miami country, could not be held under this sale, in consequence of some defective proceedings in court. The legal title to this tract, now immensely valuable, was vested in Mrs. Harrison and another individual, as the heirs-at-law. Immedi- ately upon being informed of the situation of this property, gen- eral Harrison procured the consent of the co-heir, and joined him in releasing to the purchasers the whole of this land, without claiming any other consideration, than the few hundred dollars, which constituted the dillerence between the actual value at the time when sold, and the amount paid at the sherilFs sale. In 1801, the governor of Indiana was, upon the suggestion of president Jefferson, made ex-^ijficio governor of " Upper Louisiana." Under the impression that it was sound jwlicy to convince the inhabitants of the newly acquired territory, that they had lost nothing by the change, governor Harrison declined receiving the fees he was entitled to by law, although those for Indian licenses alone would have brought him several thousand dollars. At the same time the proprietor of St. Louis, offered him for a mere nominal sum, an undivided moiety of three- fourths of the town of SL Louis, and the adjoining lands, if he would assist in building up that place. Such, however, was his nice sense of hi)nor, that he declined the offer, fearing it might be said, that he had used his otHcial station to promote his pri- vate interest. The property thus voluntarily refused, and which might have been accepted without any violation of principle, is probably worth at this time a million of dollars. While acting as commander-in-chief of the north-western army, general Harrison's expenses, owing to the extent of his command, and the amount of company he was obliged to enter- tain at heail-quarters, so far exceeded his pay, that he was com- pelled before the close of the war, to sell a valuable tract of land to meet the current demantls upon his purse. Soon after his resignation in the army, while the claims of a large family were pressing upon him, general Harrison had made up his mind to ask an appointment for one of his sons at West Point. Before the application was made, however, a poor 224 SKETCHES OF GENERAL HARRISON. boy, the child of a neighbor, who had not the means of obtaining an education, made a personal appeal to the general, to procure him a place in this institution. He immediately waived the claims of his own son, and obtained a warrant for this poor lad, who was educated at the academy, and is now a distinguished citizen of Indiana, and takes great pleasure in bearing testimony to the noble disinterestedness of his patron. Similar instances of integrity and generosity might be multi- plied, had we further space to narrate the incidents in the life of the veteran, whose patriotic policy founded, and whose skillful valor defended the vast north-west. The literary talent and attainment of general Harrison, were uncommonly good. He was a sound scholar, not only familiar with the passing literature of the day, but possessing a familiar acquaintance with ancient history, especially with the classic annals of Greece and Koine. His own writings and conversa- tion were forcibly illustrated by allusions to these works, and frequently bore evidence of a mind richly imbued with the philosophy of history. The productions of his pen, which were thrown off without an effort, were at once smooth, strong and perspicuous, and written with remarkal)le simplicity and beauty of style. As a speaker, be was animated, fluent, and forcible, correct in his language, and peculiarly ready in bringing the re- sources of a cultivated understanding to bear upon any given subject. Both in body and in mind, general Harrison enjoyed a "green old age." His step was firtn, his spirits buoyant, his conversa- tion sprightly, instructive, and rich in anecdote. His counten- ance was expressive of kindness and genuine philanthropy ; and his dark piercing eye, had lost little, if any of the fire and viva- city of his more youthful days. The strength of his memory and the accuracy of his judgment, remained unimpaired. Among the last productions of his pen were many which were strongly characterized by the force, raciness, and nice discrimination which belonged to the meridian of his life. In temperament, warm and impulsive — in manners, plain and unassuming — in his habits, generous and hospitable, general Harrison combined in an eminent degree, the manly frankness of a soldier, with the sturdy independence of a farmer. THE END i ^. ^<^. > s '^ ' A<^^ c 0^ < /. V » n <^ "^..0^ ^ " (I *- ^AO^ A^ .f' v'S^ ^. '. . V ^-ft > • ex -/.,.. * .^^^ * \'^' "-O,. ' w • X \ C' *^ \- ' '^ o- 5 o. % \^^ c Q. ' , X * \^ 9? ' \ \^ ^i^ e^o^ <. :^^ ^ >. » • / V' .0"^ \ » o ^: .4 o. c^- 9? "^ ^ " ,\< *• .^^ '"-• 9>. t • o , /^ \ ^o. ':>.^ ^0^ rO- ^ .c^ ^ cv 95.. ^ " " / •'/p^ y . . ^ ^^ O « V .^f^ ^^. V V* (^1 '^r