An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky Under Col
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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES i^T'L . TJUiKM JTOUNt.' """!' gun' jw»» I' i»i »i"» yyv 3RI6-. GELT. WILLIAM IRVINE AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT Expedition against Sandusky COL. WILLIAM CRAWFORD IN 1782 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, PERSONAL REMINISCENCES, AND DESCRIPTIONS OF INTERESTING LOCALITIES INCLUDING, ALSO, DETAILS OF THE DISASTROUS RETREAT, THE BARBARITIES OF THE SAVAGES, AND THE AWFUL DEATH OF CRAWFORD BY TORTURE C. W. BUTTERFIELD L'Bfy DOF mtwm &W. CINCINNATI ROBERT CLARKE & CO 1873 1 heeked Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1873, By C. W. BUTTERFIELD, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ; Prefatory. Crawford's campaign was one of the most notable of the distinct military enterprises of the Western Border War of the Revolution. Nevertheless, it has heretofore found but little space upon the page of American History. This, however, is not surprising, when we consider that its most striking incidents occurred within a brief space of time, and beyond the bounds of western civilization. On account of the paucity of authoritative published statements relating to the expedition, I have been com- pelled, from the commencement, to depend, to a consider- able extent, upon authorities in manuscript. Nor can this be regretted, as it has caused the pushing of investigations, whenever practicable, to fountain sources. I have relied upon traditions, only when better testimony was wanting and not even then, without careful consideration and the closest scrutiny. It is believed, therefore, as much relia- bility has been attained as could well be, concerning events transpiring mostly beyond the extreme western frontier of our country during the turbulent period of its struggle for independence. The melancholy fate of Crawford caused a profound sensation throughout the United States. Washington was greatly affected by it. He made it the subject of a special iv Prefatory. communication to Congress. So prominent a soldier and citizen had not, during the Revolution, met such a cruel death. It took a strong and lasting hold upon the sympathies of the people. Pennsylvania and Ohio—each, in naming a county in honor of him—have done signal justice to his memory. "The fate of this unfortunate officer has ex- cited, and will continue to excite, so long as the history of the West shall be read, the most painful interest and the liveliest sympathy." I have attempted faithfully to record the leading incidents of his life, and to narrate, with par- ticularity, the circumstances attending its close. To James Veech, Esq., of Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Hon. William Walker, of Wyandotte City, Kansas.; Dr. William A. Irvine, of Irvine, Warren county, Pennsyl- vania ; John D. Sears, Esq., of Upper Sandusky, Ohio; and Robert A. Sherrard, Esq., of Steubenville, Ohio, I beg to express my sincere acknowledgments for their un- remitting endeavors to aid me. To the many friends who have in various ways kindly assisted me, I take pleasure in tendering my warmest thanks. The custodians of the public archives at Washington and Harrisburg have fur- nished valuable materials ; as also have the officers of the Western Reserve Historical Society at Cleveland, and the Librarian of the State Library at Columbus. In the preparation of this work I have sought to give the real motives which actuated the patriotic borderers in marching into the wilderness ; and have endeavored, by Prefatory. v untiring effort, to bring before the public such particulars of the campaign as seemed worthy of perpetuation. It will be seen that it was not an unauthorized expedition—a sud- the den and wild maraud ; but was set on foot by proper authority, and carefully and considerately planned ; that, instead of unfurling the black flag and marching with an intention to massacre inoffensive Indians, as has been so frequently charged, it moved under the banner of the United States, and for the sole purpose of destroying en- emies, not only of the western frontier, but of our common country, thereby to give ease and security to the border. C. W. B. Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, May, 1873. PORTRAIT OF IRVINE AND THE IRVINE PAPERS. The portrait of Brigadier-General William Irvine, facing the title-page of this work, is from an oil painting by B. after Otis, a celebrated portrait painter of Philadelphia, one by Robert Edge Pine, an eminent English artist, who taken in New came to America in 1784. The original was York, when Irvine was a member of Congress,—aged forty-eight. pages, Extracts from letters of Irvine, in the following handwriting are from originals, or from copies in his own with few or that of Lieut. John Rose, his aid-de-camp— to exceptions, which are noted. Quotations from letters Most Irvine are from originals, unless otherwise stated. Dr. William A. of these letters are in the collection of Irvine, grandson of the General. — CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.—War upon the Western Border of Pennsylvania and l Virginia. 1777— 1781, CHAPTER II.—Brigadier-General William Irvine in Command at Department. October, 1781 Fort Pitt—Affairs in the Western ^ l6 April, 1782, ' CHAPTER III.—An Expedition Projected in Western Pennsylvania against Sandusky. April 4—May 7, 1782, . -49 CHAPTER IV.—Rendezvousing and Organization of the Sandusky 62 Expedition. 15-24^ May, 1782, CHAPTER V.—Biographical Sketch of William Crawford. 1732— 8l 1782, 121 CHAPTER VI.— Sketches of the Officers under Crawford, . CHAPTER VII.—March of the Army from Mingo Bottom to San- T 6 dusky. 25th May—4th June, 1782, 3 CHAPTER VIII.—Preparations by the Enemy to Repel the Ameri- . 157 cans, D ' CHAPTER IX— Sketch. of Simon Girty, the White Savage, . .182 CHAPTER X.—Battle of Sandusky—June 4, 1782, . .202 CHAPTER XL—Retreat of the American Army. June 5-6, 1782, 214 CHAPTER XII.—Battle of Olentangy—Return of the Americans. 2 June 6-14, 1782, 33 CHAPTER XIII.—Alarm of the Border—Determined Spirit of the 258 Bordermen, , x Contents. CHAPTER XIV.—Personal Incidents and Sketches, . .281 CHAPTER XV.— Stragglers Captured by the Savages, . .311 CHAPTER XVI.— Captives in the Wilderness—Indian Barbarities, 327 CHAPTER XVII.—James Paull—His Escape from Death—His Sub- sequent Career, . ........ 362 CHAPTER XVIII.—Dr. John Knight's Escape through the Ohio Wil- derness. 13th June—4th July, 1782, 369 CHAPTER XIX.—A Race for Life—Escape of John Slover from Mac-a-Chack, . 375 CHAPTER XX.—Awful Death of Crawford by Torture, nth June, 1782, 379 COL. CRAWFORD'S Expedition against Sandusky. IN 1782. CHAPTER I. AND VIR- WAR UPON THE WESTERN BORDER OF PENNSYLVANIA GINIA. 1777— 17S1. of the Amer- the commencement of the struggle AT scattered set- ican colonies for independence, the had little to tlements west of the Allegheny mountains Great Britain. Their fear from the hostile armies of were their dread was of a more merciless foe. Nor of the Northwest, in- fears groundless; for the Indians machinations of En- fluenced by British gold and the gave evidence of hostile glish traders and emissaries, soon Americans that the intentions. Explanations by the their interests, were questions in dispute could not affect purpose that they were made in vain. It was to no Painted and exhorted to take part on neither side. war-path, carrying plumed warriors were early upon the borderers—the death and destruction to the dismayed policy inaugurated by direct result of a most ferocious ; Crawford' s Expedition England—" letting loose," in the language of Chatham, " the horrible hell-hounds of savage war," upon the exposed settlements. The warfare thus begun was made up, on the side of the savages, of predatory incursions of scalping parties ; the tomahawk and scalping-knife sparing neither age nor sex, while the torch laid waste the homes of the unfortunate bordermen. As a natural consequence, re- taliatory expeditions followed. These were not always successful. At times, they were highly disastrous. Occasionally, however, the foe received a merited chas- tisement. At this day, it is difficult fully to appreciate the appalling dangers which then beset the frontiers for, to the natural ferocity of the savages, was added the powerful support of a civilized nation, great in her resources, whose western agents, especially at the begin- ning of the war, were noted for their brutality. The center of British power and influence, in the Northwest, was at Detroit, where Henry Hamilton, "a vulgar ruffian," was in command; succeeded, however, be- fore the close of the war, by Arentz Schuyler de Peyster, who, although carrying out the policy of the British gov- ernment, did so in the spirit of a " high-toned gentle- man." Indian depredations received their inspiration and direction from this point. It was here the Wyan- dots from the Sandusky—a river flowing north through Sandusky Bay into Lake Erie—were enlisted in the in- terests of Great Britain. It was here these Indians and — Against Sandusky, 1782. the Shawanese from the Scioto and Miami rivers northern tributaries of the Ohio—received aid to mur- der, pillage, and destroy on the border settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It was here other tribes were made close allies of Great Britain, for the express purpose of turning them loose upon peaceable set- tlers—upon unarmed men, and helpless women and children. The important post, however, of Fort Pitt— Pitts- burg—was, from the commencement of hostilities, in the possession of the Americans, and the center of gov- ernment influence and interest west of the Alleghenies. At the very beginning of the war of the Revolution, John Neville—afterward famous as a victim of the "• Whisky Insurrection"—took possession of the di- lapidated fort, at the head of a body of Virginia militia, and held it until superseded by a Continental com- mand.