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THE First Newspaper published 
 west of Buffalo was started as a 
 DETROIT , , . ,, Q^^ 
 
 ^^eekly paper ni the year 1017. 
 GAZETTE, , „ ^ H H ^.. , . . . ^ 
 
 In 1819 there was published in the Ga- 
 zette a short history of the territory under the title of 
 Historical Memoranda of the Territory of Michigan, in serial 
 form, beginning May 21, 1819, and continuing through several 
 succeeding numbers. 
 
 The following pages contain a reprint of this little history. 
 
 The chief value of the article lies in the fact that it was 
 written shortly after the conclusion of the War of 1812, and 
 it relates the details of the surrender of Detroit as only could 
 be narrated by one who was an eye-witness or a participant 
 in that inglorious event. 
 
 As the work has never before been printed in book form, it 
 can be considered a rarity well worth preserving, and, as such, 
 I commend it to your notice. 
 
 C. M. BURTON. 
 Detroit, Oct. 30, 1904. 
 
'U^ 
 
 V ^ - 
 
Historical Memoranda 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Territory of Michigan. 
 
 i 
 
 T"^ HE earliest period at which, from authentic 
 -■- data, we are able to fix the first settle- 
 
 ment of any importance by white people 
 in this territory is the year 1683^; ^t this 
 period the French Government in Can- 
 ada, in pursuance of their policy of gain- 
 ing an ascendancy over the Indian tribes, 
 thereby to secure to themselves the benefits of the 
 fur trade, to the exclusion of the colonies of New 
 York and New England, as well as the alliance of 
 the Indians in their wars with these colonies, had 
 extended their settlements to Detroit and Michili- 
 mackinac. From this period, merged in the history 
 of Canada, and possessing no individuality of char- 
 acter, it remained under a colonial military govern- 
 ment until after the capitulation of Quebec, in the 
 year 1759, and of Montreal in the year 1760, when 
 Detroit and Michilimackinac were surrendered by 
 the governor of Canada to his Britannic majesty, 
 
 (i) This part of the country (Detroit) was; visited by white men 
 as early as 1649, and there were a number of Jesuit missions estab- 
 lished m the neighborhood, but not exactly at ih^ location of Detroit, 
 as early as 1655. The post of Detroit was founded' by Antoine de La 
 Mothe Cadillac July 24, 1701. 
 
and were immediately garrisoned by English 
 troops. - 
 
 The civil chief magistracy of the country was 
 then vested in a military commandant, under the 
 governor of Canada. 
 
 Although Great Britain, by the success of her 
 arms, had obtained the whole of the French posses- 
 sions in Canada, the Indians within its limits were 
 by no means satisfied with the change — they still 
 retained that predilection for the French which it 
 had been the policy of that government and of the 
 Jesuit priests to inspire. Consequently, in 1763, a 
 confederation of the Hurons, Miamis, Chippewas, 
 Ottawas, Pottawatomies and the Messaugies, with, 
 perhaps, some other tribes, was formed to act 
 against the British posts. The Indians, under the 
 command of Pontiac, a celebrated chief of the Mi- 
 amis, surprised and took Michilimackinac by one of 
 those stratagems which so peculiarly distinguish the 
 savage character, but, contrary to the custom of the 
 Indians, few, if any, lives were taken on this occa- 
 sion, and the garrison and traders were sent to Mon- 
 treal. 
 
 Emboldened by this success, Pontiac with his 
 army proceeded to Detroit, in force about 3,000 
 strong. Having succeeded so well in his former strat- 
 agem, he determined to capture Detroit by sim- 
 ilar means. He approached the town under pre- 
 tense of trade, and, "to brighten the chain of Peace," 
 proposed a council. He selected a number of the 
 most daring of his followers to accompany him to 
 the fort, in which the pretended council was to be 
 
 (2) Detroit was ^ ^surrendered bv the last French commandant. 
 Picote de P>elestre\- 'to the New England scout and ranger, Major 
 Robert Rogers, in the fall of 1760. 
 
held, having sawed off their guns sufficiently short 
 to be concealed under their blankets. It was ar- 
 ranged that at a given signal they were to fire upon 
 the officers, let in their companions, and commence 
 a general massacre. The execution of this daring 
 plan was, however, prevented by an Indian woman, 
 who communicated it to Major Gladwin, the com- 
 manding officer. The Indians went to the council 
 according to the plan preconcerted, but from the 
 disposition made by the commanding officer to re- 
 ceive them they were diverted from attempting to 
 execute their design, and the commanding officer, 
 having openly charged them with their treachery, 
 permitted them to retire unmolested. Ungrateful 
 for this ill-judged magnanimity, they soon after in- 
 vested the place, and a siege was continued, w^th 
 occasional skirmishes, for more than a year. 
 
 Of these skirmishes, the most disastrous to the 
 British was the defeat of Captain Dalyell, at a place 
 since called Bloody Bridge, about two miles above 
 Detroit. The party of Captain Dalyell consisted of 
 200, of which a great proportion, including himself, 
 fell victims to the savages. Thus reduced, it was 
 with great difficulty the commanding officer con- 
 tinued to maintain the place until he was relieved 
 by a British schooner, with a reinforcement and 
 supplies. This vessel had narrowly escaped cap- 
 ture, having been attacked and boarded by a large 
 number of Indians, Avho surrounded her in canoes 
 opposite the head of an island, since called Fighting 
 Island. Her escape from capture was owing to 
 some one on board calling out to set fire to the mag- 
 azine ; this having been communicated to the Indians 
 
by a Frenchman of their party, they left the vessel 
 with precipitation. 
 
 Soon after this the Indians raised the siege and 
 separated. 
 
 A short time after this period, difficulties be- 
 tween Great Britain and her colonies began to arise, 
 and led to the war which broke out in 1775. Dur- 
 ing this struggle, and before its commencement, 
 strong appeals had been made to the people of Can- 
 ada by the other colonies to induce them to join in 
 the cause of liberty, but without effect. This is 
 probably to be accounted for in the difference of 
 their relative laws and government. The people of 
 the colonies, particularly of New England, having 
 fled from oppression in the old world, were, from 
 their first emigration into the new, particularly jeal- 
 ous of civil liberty, and could not but be disposed 
 to resist with indignation any attempt to tax them 
 without their consent. On the contrary, Canada 
 from its first colonization appears to have been gov- 
 erned by a military commandant — hence, the people 
 knew little of the benefits, and relished still less the- 
 trouble, of self-government. 
 
 From the commencement to the close of the rev- 
 olutionary war, little of interest is presented to the 
 notice of the historian. Remote from the scenes of 
 action, and separated by an immense wilderness, 
 the people of this territory had probably little direct 
 agency in the affairs of the revolutionary war, and 
 from its close, in 1782,^ the British continued to hold 
 the territory, together with several posts on the 
 American side of the lakes, until 1796, when, in pur- 
 suance of Jay's treaty, this country was delivered 
 
 (3) Hostilities ceased under the preliminary treaty of peace in 17S2, 
 but the final treaty was not signed until a year later. 
 
up to the United States. But previous to this, wars 
 had been carried on with the Indian tribes with 
 various success, during which occurred the defeat 
 of Colonel Crawford, at Upper Sandusky, in 1789*; 
 of General Harmar, on the Scioto, in 1791, and of 
 General St. Clair, in the latter part of the same year,"^ 
 near Fort Jefferson. 
 
 The Indians, emboldened by these frequent ad- 
 vantages, began to increase their depredations and 
 incursions upon the frontier settlements on the Ohio, 
 and began to assume so serious an aspect that Con- 
 gress raised a force of five thousand men, and Gen- 
 eral Wayne was appointed commander-in-chief, in 
 room of St. Clair, who had resigned. While prep- 
 arations were making, attempts at negotiation were 
 renewed, and Colonel Harden and Major Freeman 
 were sent into the Indian country with proposals 
 for peace ; they failed, and both were inhumanly 
 murdered by the Indians. At length, on the 8th of 
 August, 1794, General Wayne with his army 
 reached the confluence of the Miami and Auglaize, 
 where he halted and threw up some works of de- 
 fense, being about thirty miles from the British post 
 on the Miami of the lakes, in the vicinity of which 
 the Indians were collected to the number of about 
 2,000. The legion commanded by Wayne was at 
 this time of about equal force, exclusive of 1,100 
 mounted men from Kentucky, under General Scott. 
 From the 14th to the 20th of August, General 
 Wayne cautiously advanced down the Miami, and 
 on the latter day a general and decisive action took 
 
 (4) Col. William Crawford was captured by the Indians and burned 
 to death June ii, 1782. 
 
 (5I Gen. Harmar was defeated near the villages of the Mianiis Oct. 
 19 and 22, 1790, and Gen. St. Clair was defeated Nov. 4, 1791. 
 
place. The Indians were posted behind trees, and 
 the General directed his legion to advance with 
 trailed arms, and with their bayonets to drive the 
 enemy from their shelter, and then deliver their fire. 
 So rapid was the charge and so 'entirely were the 
 enemy broken, that in the course of one hour they 
 were driven more than two miles. The General pur- 
 sued them, burnt their houses, and laid waste their 
 cornfields within pistol shot of the British fort. The 
 victory had so decisive an effect that General Wayne 
 was enabled to conclude a treaty with the hostile 
 Indians at Greenville, on the 3d of August, 1795, 
 and soon after the posts of Detroit and Michilimack- 
 inac** were delivered to the Americans. 
 
 Immediately after the surrender of these posts, 
 in 1796, this territory fell under the government and 
 formed a part of the territory northwest of the Ohio. 
 After the admission of Ohio into the Union as an 
 independent State, this territory and Indiana be- 
 came the North-AVestern Territory," until they were 
 separated and formed two distinct territories, in 
 1805, this by the name and title of the Territory of 
 Michigan, over which AVilliam Hull was appointed 
 governor, and Detroit became the seat of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Nothing of importance occurs in the history of 
 this territory until after the commencement of the 
 war with Great Britain, in June, 181 2. General Hull 
 having been appointed a brigadier-general in May, 
 left the City of Washington for Detroit, with orders 
 from the War Department anticipating the declara- 
 tion of war. He was clothed with discretionarv 
 
 (6) Now called Mackinac. 
 
 (7) Called Indiana Territory. The name "North West Territory" 
 ceased on the admission of Ohio in 1802. 
 
powers to commence operations in Canada as soon 
 as the declaration of war should reach him, if, in 
 his opinion, his force would warrant him. On his 
 route through Ohio he was joined by three regi- 
 ments, who had enrolled themselves under the 
 proclamation of the President; they were com- 
 manded by Colonels AlcArthur, Cass and Finlay. 
 On his arrival with his army at the Miami of the 
 Lake, he dispatched his hospital stores and the bag- 
 gage of the officers on board a schooner for Detroit, 
 but the enemy having had information of the declar- 
 ation of war, the vessel with the property was cap- 
 tured at Maiden.^ 
 
 On the 1 2th of July, General Hull having made 
 the preliminary preparations passed over into Can- 
 ada, and established his headquarters at Sandwich, 
 and on the same day issued his famous proclama- 
 tion, in which he announced his force to be the van- 
 guard of a much greater, and invited the Canadians 
 to join his standard, or remain quiet, assuring them 
 of protection. At this time the enemy's force at 
 Maiden was very diminutive and their works of de- 
 fense in a weak and unfinished state. Had General 
 Hull advanced immediately upon Maiden, it is be- 
 lieved he would have met with very little opposi- 
 tion ; on the contrary, by his vacillating policy and 
 the petit guerre which he carried on, so little com- 
 porting with the high ground he had taken in his 
 proclamation, and so far short of the prompt and de- 
 cisive movements which were expected from so re- 
 spectable a force, that the enemy, after their first 
 alarm had subsided, besfan to gfather confidence. 
 
 C8) This little boat was called the Cuyahoga. 
 
which, as the character of General Hull was grad- 
 ually developed, continued to increase. 
 
 The army lay inactive from the I2th of July to 
 the 8th of August, nothing having been attempted 
 but to send out small detachmeiits to reconnoitre 
 the enemy and secure the passage of the bridge aux 
 Canard, a few miles above Maiden on the road to 
 that place. On one of these expeditions, com- 
 manded by Colonel Cass, the guard at the bridge 
 were surprised, and with difficulty effected their re- 
 treat. The capture of the bridge secured a passage 
 to Maiden. Nothing, however, seems to have been 
 further from the mind of the General than to have 
 availed himself of this opportunity of advancing, 
 and he appeared to be waiting for a plausible pre- 
 text to retreat back to Detroit ; and a pretext was 
 not long wanted. Lieutenant Hanks," a brave and 
 intelligent offi<:er, had been entrusted with the com- 
 mand of Michilimackinac, but, owing to the unpar- 
 donable negligence or treachery of those whose duty 
 it was to have forwarded the information, was not, 
 until the 9th of July, informed that the United 
 States were at war with England; and was then 
 only informed of it by finding himself closely in- 
 vested by a body of British regulars, Canadian mi- 
 litia and Indians, amounting to 1,000 men, under 
 Captain Roberts, who had seized on an eminence 
 and erected a battery in the night, which would have 
 completely raked the parade ground within the fort. 
 Under such circumstances, he found himself com- 
 pelled to capitulate, and the garrison, amounting to 
 57, including officers, surrendered prisoners of war. 
 
 (g) Lieut. Porter Hanks was killed on the morning of Aug. i6, 1812, 
 by the bursting of a shell in the Fort at Detroit just before the sur- 
 render. 
 
On the 8th of August, General Hull determined 
 to return to Detroit. When this was announced to 
 the army it was received with universal surprise and 
 disgust. The volunteers who had so early enrolled 
 themselves under the banner of their country from 
 motives of purest patriotism — who had left their 
 homes (many of them of ease and affluence) to en- 
 counter the toils and privations of a long and tedi- 
 ous march through a wilderness country, supported 
 by the hope that they should immediately be led 
 to meet the enemies of their country, could scarcely 
 restrain their indignant feelings within the limits of 
 subordination. 
 
 Soon after General Hull entered Canada he re- 
 ceived information of the near approach of a quan- 
 tity of provisions under the escort of Captain 
 Brush, ^*^ of Ohio, and that a number of Indians had 
 crossed from Maiden with a design of cutting off 
 the escort. On this he detached Major Vanhorn 
 with 200 men to protect the convoy. This detach- 
 ment was surprised near Brownstown, and having 
 received a severe fire, in which fifteen were killed, 
 retreated back to Detroit. Intelligence of this dis- 
 aster having been communicated to the General, he 
 immediately detached Lieutenant-Colonel Miller, of 
 the Fourth Regiment, with 600 men, consisting of 
 regular infantry, one company of artillery and a 
 detachment of Ohio and Michigan volunteers, with 
 orders to proceed to the River Raisin and meet the 
 provisions and troops, and open communication to 
 Detroit. 
 
 On the 9th of August, about the middle of the 
 afternoon, a few miles above Brownstown, Colonel 
 
 (10) Capt. Henry Brush was a cousin of Elijah Brush, then a prom- 
 inent citizen of Detroit and an officer in the militia. 
 
Miller encountered a large force of British and In- 
 dians, who had posted themselves securely behind 
 a thicket of woods and a breastwork of logs. Cap- 
 tain Snelling, who commanded the vanguard, re- 
 ceived the first fire of the enemy, and, though his 
 command suffered severely, they maintained their 
 ground until supported by Colonel Miller with his 
 whole force. The Colonel having formed his line, 
 advanced to within a few paces of the enemy, gave 
 his fire and then charged with the bayonet; the en- 
 emy gave ground and fled to Brownstown, keeping 
 up a fire on their retreat, but they were pursued 
 until night put an end to the action. The British 
 regular force was about 400, their whole force about 
 1,000. Colonel Miller was compelled to forego the 
 advantages resulting from this victory, in conse- 
 quence of his being destitute of provisions, which 
 General Hull had assured him would be forwarded 
 after and overtake him on his march, but which was 
 neglected, and he returned to Detroit. 
 
 A few days after this Colonels McArthur and 
 Cass were detached on different routes to meet the 
 troops at the River Raisin, which consisted of the 
 companies commanded b}^ Captain Brush and Cap- 
 tain Rowland, a part of Captain Campbell's com- 
 pany of volunteers, commanded by Lieutenant Day, 
 a small detachment of Colonel Cass' regiment un- 
 der Lieutenant Davidson, which had been left at a 
 block house at Miami, and a few regular soldiers of 
 the Fourth Regiment, in all about 250. These troops, 
 with all the ardor which distinguished the times, 
 were burning with impatience to join General Hull's 
 army, and only waited his orders to advance and at- 
 tempt a passage through. 
 
 10 
 
At length, on the 15th of August, the enemy, con- 
 sisting of regulars, Canadians and Indians, amount- 
 ing to about 1,000 men, under the command of Gen- 
 eral Brock, commenced movements which indicated 
 an intention to cross the strait opposite Springwells. 
 At this time General Hull was urged to plant a bat- 
 tery at that commanding eminence, which, from its 
 advantageous situation, would, had it been well sup- 
 ported with infantry, have cut the enemy to pieces 
 before they could have made good their landing. 
 This course, the propriety of which was so obvious 
 to all, was unaccountably neglected by the General, 
 as some vainly persuaded themselves, with a design 
 to let the enemy place themselves more effectually 
 in his power; for, even after the enemy had, unop- 
 posed, effected their landing, they must have been 
 either captured or destroyed had General Hull per- 
 mitted his troops to have fought, for, whilst Gen- 
 eral Brock was marching his column along the road 
 to Detroit, which was narrow, the river running on 
 his right and a line of palisade fence on the left, 
 several field pieces, charged with grape and can- 
 ister, were placed in a position to have completely 
 enfiladed his column in front. The men were ready 
 at the guns with their matches burning, and eagerly 
 waiting the signal to fire ; at the same moment the 
 infantry were out under arms, and could in a mo- 
 ment have wheeled to attack them in flank, whilst 
 the detachment of Colonel Cass, then on its return, 
 would have assailed them in rear. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, it is rational to suppose that nothing 
 less than a miracle could have saved the British 
 army from capture or destruction. At such a mo- 
 ment, when the arm of the patriot was nerved for 
 
contest, when the enemy which he had so long and 
 so eagerl)- sought was before him, under circum- 
 stances so favorable, and he exulted in the hope of 
 a proud triumph for his country, with what agon- 
 ized sensations did ,he behold a white fiag flying over 
 the Star-Spangled Banner. The General, as Colonel 
 Cass observed in his letter to the War Department, 
 must have taken counsel of his own feelings alone, 
 as no one anticipated a surrender : even the women 
 were indignant at so shameful a degradation of the 
 American character. The volunteers were paroled 
 and sent to their homes, and the regulars were sent 
 to Quebec. 
 
 The General in his articles of capitulation in- 
 cluded the troops and public property at River 
 Raisin, and Captain Elliot was despatched with an 
 escort of Indians to that place, bearing a copy of 
 the articles of capitulation. As soon as information 
 was communicated to that garrison that a British 
 officer, accompanied by Indians and bearing a flag, 
 was approaching, a short council was held, the result 
 of which was a conviction in the minds of the offi- 
 cers that it was a stratagem on the part of the In- 
 dians to capture the garrison and get possession of 
 the supplies designed for General Hull. It was be- 
 lieved th-at the Indians were hovering round in force 
 to take advantage of circumstances, and it was not 
 thought advisable to suffer the flag to approach the 
 place. Captain Rowland, therefore, volunteered with 
 a small detachment to meet them some distance 
 from the garrison. On approaching. Captain Elliot, 
 the bearer of the flag presented the articles of 
 capitulation. The circumstances appeared so im- 
 probable that Captain Rowdand was the more con- 
 
firmed in his first impressions that it was a strata- 
 gem. He therefore disarmed the party, and blind- 
 folded and conducted them into the fort. In the 
 evening of the same day, which was the 17th, some 
 stragglers of our army, who had escaped from De- 
 troit, arrived and brought a full confirmation of the 
 painful and disgraceful fact. The same night a coun- 
 cil was held, in which it was determined immedi- 
 ately to commence a retreat to the State of Ohio, 
 which, after encountering innumerable difficulties, 
 was safely effected. 
 
 On hearing the news of the surrender of Detroit, 
 the States of Kentucky and Ohio and the western 
 parts of the States of Virginia and Pennsylvania 
 flew to arms. A considerable force was collected 
 at Urbana, under General Tupper, and in September 
 a brigade of Pennsylvania and one of Virginia mi- 
 litia were on the march to join General Harrison, 
 who had been appointed a major general, and was 
 at Piqua, preparing to march an army to recover 
 the country which had been surrendered. Owing 
 to the delays which attended the transportation of 
 cannon from Pittsburg (in the fall of the season and 
 over newly cut roads), it was the latter part of De- 
 cember before General Harrison was able to concen- 
 trate the right division of his army at Upper San- 
 dusky. The left division, consisting of the Ken- 
 tucky militia and a few regulars, under the com- 
 mand of General Winchester, having learned that 
 there was a quantity of forage at the River Raisin, 
 of which the army, owing to the remoteness of their 
 depots and the difficulties of transportation, were 
 greatly in want, detached Colonel Lewis on the i8th 
 of January, who attacked and defeated a body of 
 
Indians at that place. On the next day the General, 
 with the greater part of his division, which nnited 
 amounted to about i,ooo men, moved on to the 
 River Raisin, where he encamped until the 22d. Tn 
 the interim he was informed that a large body of 
 British and Indians were advancing from Malden^^ 
 and Detroit to attack him. It does not, however, 
 appear that the General placed any reliance on this 
 information, as no measures were taken to fortify 
 his camp or otherwise guard against such an event. 
 His army was encamped in a line parallel with the 
 river, which ran a short distance in his rear. His 
 left, under the command of Major Madison, Avas 
 posted behind a fence of palisades. His right wing 
 w^as unprotected, it would seem, from choice, as the 
 same protection was accessible to it as the left had 
 obtained. At the dawn of day on the 226. the left 
 wing was attacked. The troops of this wing being 
 in a great measure protected from small arms, 
 fought with confidence, and gave their fire with de- 
 liberation and effect, insomuch that the enemy suf- 
 fered severely. The}^ made several charges, and 
 were as often foiled and driven back with loss, and 
 it was with the greatest difficulty the officers of the 
 enemy could induce their men to keep their ground. 
 At length they drew off from the left wing and con- 
 centrated their whole force upon the right, which, 
 being unprotected, soon gave w^ay. It is said that 
 an order was given by the General to retreat, with a 
 vicAv of taking a position under the protection of the 
 bank, in rear. The result, however, was most disas- 
 trous, for the savages, Avho until this moment had 
 kept aloof, noAv pressed upon their retiring steps 
 
 (11") The fort at Amlierstlmrg: was called Fort ^Falden. 
 
 u 
 
with hideous yells and all the terrific accompani- 
 ments of savage war. Under such circumstances, 
 the utmost exertions of the officers to rally the men 
 were in vain. Then commenced a scene the most 
 shocking to humanity, and which beggars all de- 
 scription. The savages having kept a little aloof 
 with a view to separate them the more effectually 
 from their companions on the left, and not too sud- 
 denly to check their hopes of safety in flight, now 
 gradually closed in upon them, and deliberately 
 commenced the work of slaughter. So effectually 
 did this plan succeed that, of the whole number who 
 attempted it, not more than three or four made good 
 their retreat to the Rapids. The left wing still kept 
 their ground and maintained the action, although 
 by the destruction of the right the enemy were en- 
 abled to turn their flank and rear. 
 
 In this critical situation, having been summoned 
 repeatedly to surrender, at length, at the solicita- 
 tion of General Winchester, who had been captured, 
 Major Madison consented to capitulate, on condition 
 of being protected from the savages, of retaining 
 their private property, and the officers their side 
 arms. On these terms this ill-fated division, amount- 
 ing to four hundred and fifty, surrendered to the 
 enemy. General Proctor, on being reminded by Gen- 
 eral Winchester of his engagements, reiterated his 
 assurance that the wounded should the next day be 
 carefully conveyed in sleighs to Maiden. So ill' did 
 he keep his faith that on the next day the wounded 
 who were unable to walk were inhumanly butchered 
 in cold blood by the savages. Amongst the number 
 was Captain Hart, a man highly esteemed as an offi- 
 cer and a gentleman. 
 
 15 
 
General Harrison, soon after this disaster, deter- 
 mined to fortify and take up his winter quarters and 
 await reinforcements. On the ist of May the enemy 
 made an attack, upon his position, which was con- 
 tinued until the 5th, when General" Harrison was in- 
 formed of the near approach of General Clay with 
 reinforcements of Kentucky militia of 1,200 men. 
 He sent orders to General Clay to detach 800 of his 
 men to storm the enemy's batteries on the opposite 
 side and spike the cannon. This service was perform- 
 ed with great gallantry ; but, not content with doing- 
 all they were ordered to do, they pursued the re- 
 treating enemy until they were led into an ambus- 
 cade, and the whole detachment except 150 men 
 were killed or taken. At the same time a sortie was 
 made by Colonel Miller against a battery that had 
 been erected near the Fort on the same side of the 
 river, Avhich from its commanding situation greatly 
 annoyed the troops. Colonel Miller succeeded in 
 driving the enemy from their battery, spiked their 
 cannon and returned with 42 prisoners. 
 
 In August General Harrison, having been rein- 
 forced by the 26th, 27th and 28th Regiments, which 
 in the course of the summer had been raised in Ohio 
 and Kentucky, was encamped at Seneca, waiting 
 the operations on Lake Erie. 
 
 On the loth of September the American fleet 
 found the enemy's, gave battle, and by the gallantry 
 of Commodore Perry and the oflicers and men of 
 his fleet a signal victory was obtained. 
 
 On the 23d of September, 1813, General Harri- 
 son landed his army near Maiden, which he found 
 evacuated by the enemy and their fort and shipyard 
 and other public buildings consumed. General 
 
 t6 
 
Proctor, with such of the inhabitants and Indians as 
 still adhered to him, retreated towards York by the 
 route of the River Thames. Owing to the con- 
 tractor having no means of transportation, few pro- 
 visions could be obtained, and General Harrison, 
 that he might be unencumbered with baggage, 
 which, in consequence of the deficiency of trans- 
 ports, would have delayed the landing of the troops, 
 had directed the tents and knapsacks to be left at 
 Put-in-Bay, so that the troops were not only nearly 
 destitute of provisions, but entirely so of camp 
 equipage. Under these circumstances, a question 
 arose on the expediency of pursuing the enemy, par- 
 ticularly wdien to those difficulties was added the 
 improbability, if not impossibility, of overtaking 
 Proctor, who had left Sandwich on the 26th of Sep- 
 tember. But the zeal of the troops overcame all 
 these difficulties, and on the 26. of October General 
 Harrison took up his line of march in pursuit of 
 the enemy, and on the 5th overtook, routed and cap- 
 tured them near the Moravian town. Before the 
 fate of the day was decided General Proctor with 
 his stafif effected their retreat. 
 
 In this action fell the celebrated chief, Tecum- 
 seh. He is represented to have been no less distin- 
 guished for his humanity and generosity than for 
 his bravery and devotedness to the cause he had es- 
 poused. Though identified with the savages by 
 birth and education, and through life our most de- 
 termined enemy, yet the brave man will hail him 
 as a brother, and shed the tear of sympathy for his 
 fate. Six hundred British regulars were taken in 
 this action, and all their baggage and camp equip- 
 age. General Harrison soon after returned to De- 
 
troit. The result of this campaign was that all the 
 territory surrendered in 1812 was recovered, except 
 the post of Michilimackinac. 
 
 General Harrison having entered into treaties 
 with the neighboring tribes of Indians who came 
 forward and made their submissions, moved with 
 a part of his army to the Niagara frontier, and the 
 command of this division was given to General Cass. 
 The barracks which had been burned by the enemy 
 were partially rebuilt, and Alalden was occupied by 
 a detachment of United States troops. During the 
 succeeding winter little of moment occurred in 
 the quarter. A violent epidemic disease prevail- 
 ed among the troops, and no hostile "operations 
 were carried on against the enemy, except oc- 
 casional reconnoitering parties, the most con- 
 siderable of Avhich was a detachment of 300 men 
 under Major Holmes, who penetrated to within 
 a short distance of Oxford. He was attacked in his 
 encampment, which he had secured by a temporary 
 breastw^ork, by a superior force of British regulars 
 and Canadian militia. Major Holmes obtained a de- 
 cisive victor}^: the regulars w^ere nearly all killed 
 or wounded ; one officer Avas taken, and near fifty 
 men left dead on the ground, while the loss of Major 
 Holmes was only one killed and two wounded. This 
 affair occurred on the 4th of March, at a place called 
 Stony Creek. 
 
 In the month of July, 1814, an expedition was 
 planned and fitted out to Michilimackinac, the com- 
 mand of which was given to Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Croghan, who had distinguished himself by his gal- 
 lant defense of Fort Stephenson, or Sandusky, in 
 1813. The naval force Avas commanded by Capt. 
 
 t8 
 
Sinclair. In this affair Colonel Croghan did not 
 support the reputation he had previously acquired. 
 Instead of sailing directly to the island "of Michili- 
 mackinac, and thereby surprising the enemy before 
 he had time to strengthen himself by fortifying and 
 collecting the Indians from the mainland, the fleet 
 showed itself some days before the island, and sent 
 an expedition up the Sault of St. Mary's. 
 
 In the meantime Colonel McDowell, the British 
 commandant, was vigorously employed in preparing 
 to receive an attack. It is likewise thought that Col- 
 onel Croghan's plan of attack, and particularly the 
 place selected to make his landing, were injudicious- 
 ly chosen ; for, by landing on the back part of the 
 island he had several miles to traverse, over a rocky, 
 rough country, with a thick growth of brushwood, 
 which, being filled with Indians, could from their 
 concealment kill his men at their leisure without ex- 
 posing themselves. It would have been morally im- 
 possible (as it turned out) for him to have reached 
 the fort; and, could he have effected this, he would 
 in all probability have been so crippled and his men 
 so disheartened as to have extinguished all desire 
 for storming the works. On the contrary, it is be- 
 lieved that had he sailed directly to the island, and 
 eff'ected a landing under the guns of the fort, his 
 loss would not have exceeded the actual loss sus- 
 tained in the partial encounter with the Indians, in 
 which nothing was gained but mortification and dis- 
 appointment. In this affair fell :\Iajor Holmes, Cap- 
 tain Vanhorn and Lieutenant Jackson, all highly re- 
 spectable and esteemed officers. Major Holmes 
 added to a courage which no danger could dampen, 
 a fund of talents and skill in his profession which. 
 
 iQ 
 
had he lived to pursue the career which he had com- 
 menced, would have shed a lustre upon his name, 
 and rendered signal service to his country. 
 
 Soon after this period, commenced the civil gov- 
 ernment of this territory, which had in a great de- 
 gree been suspended from 1812, and General Cass 
 was appointed Governor. The return of peace, in 
 181 5, was joyfully hailed by the people of Michigan, 
 who had been long harassed and disturbed by a sav- 
 age border war with all its frightful concomitants, 
 during which the inhabitants of the territory, al- 
 though many of them were strangers to our lan- 
 guage, laws and government, have borne every spe- 
 cies of privation and distress that savage malice 
 could suggest. True to the country of their adop- 
 tion, they have been prodigal of their blood and 
 treasure in defense of its injured rights, alike heed- 
 less of the appalling alarms of plunder, conflagra- 
 tion and death, as deaf to the insidious arts of their 
 neighbors in Canada, they have evinced throughout 
 the trying ordeal a constancy and fortitude in every 
 varying change highly creditable to them as patri- 
 otic citizens, and equally honorable to them as sol- 
 diers. 
 
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