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Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost on the Wabash, 1787-1816 Florence G. Watts*

The history of Fort Knox, Vincennes, , coincides in time with the territorial period of that part of the country in which it was situated. First built in 1787, the year Con- gress established the , Fort Knox re- mained in operation until 1816, the year Indiana became a state. It occupied three locations: the first, from 1787 to 1803, on the northwest edge of the old town; the second, from 1803 to 1813, about three miles above, on the river; the third, from 1813 to 1816, back in Vincennes on the site of the former Fort Sackville. These three separate locations, called for convenience I, 11, and 111, and the obliteration of obvious physical remains led to great confusion in the minds of early local historians. Lacking documentary evidence, they depended upon tradition for their descriptions of Fort Knox. Now a connected story, pieced together from scattered evidence, can be told. The succession of forts at Vincennes begins with one erected about 1731 by Franqois Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes. This initial structure was probably located ad- jacent to the river, immediately south of the present Lincoln Memorial Bridge, where the George Rogers Clark Memorial now stands. Vincennes spoke of it in a letter of March 21, 1733, as “fort de Uabache.” In 1735 Jean Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville, governor of , called it the fort of the Peanguichias. Another name, mentioned in 1746, was “les petits ouyas,” named for the Indians of whom the Piankashaw were considered a part. An English form of this was Little Wiautanon, abbreviated to “L. Wiaut.”l The Bellin map of 1755 located the fort at the junction of the Wabash with the Ohio; and the name given was “Fort St. Ange,

*Mrs. Florence G. Watts is a resident of Vincennes, Indiana, and a member and former president of the Indiana Historical Society. 1 Frances Krauskopf, “The French in Indiana, 1700-1760, A Politi- cal History” (Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of History, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1963), 158; , The Mission to the Oua- boxhe (Indiana Histomcal Society Publieations, Vol. 111, No. 4; Indian- apolis, 1902), 306, 307, 309, 326, 327. 62 Indiana Magazine of Histoyl formerly fort Vincennes or the Fort of the Pianguichias.”2 However, the name “Vincennes,” in its many renditions, is the one that most often appears.8 Following the death of Vincennes in an expedition against the Chickasaw in April, 1736, Louis de Bellerive de St. Ange was appointed to command the post. His task was to keep the Wabash Indians, whom Vincennes had led into the vicinity, nearby and friendly to the French as the habitants depended on the fur trade for their livelihood. During the twenty-eight years of his administration the community be- came more agricultural in character, increasing to about eighty habitants. St. Ange also took steps to strengthen Vincennes’ little fort which had fallen into decay. When the British obtained possession of the French territory by the , 1763, St. Ange was sent to Fort de Chartres on the Mississippi. He appointed Major Joseph-Antoine Drouet, Sieur de Richardville, to succeed him as administrator; and on Richardville’s death the British appointed first Nicholas Chappart and then Jean Baptiste Racine dit St. Marie to the office.* Later, on May 19, 1777, as a part of the British re- organization of the Old Northwest under the of 1774, Lieutenant Governor Edward Abbott arrived to take command at Vincennes. He found nothing left in the way of fortification. Assisted by the French he stockaded his cabin, which was probably located on the site of the original fort built by Vincennes, and received four cannons sent by Phillippe Franqois Rastel, Sieur de Rocheblave, commandant at . He named his fortification Fort Sackville after George Sackville, Lord George Germaine, secretary of

2 Sara Jones Tucker (comp.), Indian Villages of the Coun- tqt (Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers, Vol. 11, Part 1; Spring- field, 1942), Plate XXIV. 8A list of the various spellings of Vincennes includes Vinsenne, Vincennes or St. Vincennes, Vincene, Vincenne, or Vincesne, all some- times given the final “s” or preceded by “St.” The words “Post,” “au Poste,” or “Fort” often preceded the name; and fre uently “au Post” alone was used. The English corrupted the latter p%rase to “Opost.” The prefix “St.” is accounted for by Bishop J. H. Schlarman who states that the British and Americans seemed to take it for granted that every French post bore the name of a saint. Joseph H. Schlarman, From Quebec to (Belleville, Ill., 1909), 606n. 4 Joseph Henry Vanderburgh Somes, Old Vincennes: The History of a Famous Old Town and Its Glo~iousPast (New , 1962), 33-49, 64, 55; Krauskopf, “French in Indiana,” 345-46. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 53 state for the American colonies.s Abbott left Vincennes February 3, 1778, giving as his reason lack of presents for the 1ndians.O The British commander's departure from Vincennes left Fort Sackville unprotected. Emissaries of George Rogers Clark easily occupied the Wabash town in July, 1778, as a part of the American invasion of the Old Northwest during the Revolutionary War. Governor Henry Hamilton, sent to recapture Vincennes for the British, arrived at the fort on December 17, 1778, and immediately began strengthening it. He constructed a powder magazine, guardhouse, barracks, and blockhouse and had a well dug; but he had not completed his improvements by the time Clark made his second suc- cessful attack, February 25,1779.' After capturing Fort Sackville, Clark renamed it Fort .* No further change of name is recorded although the fort is usually referred to as Fort Sackville, its name at the time of the most important event in its history. On the site now stands the magnificent George Rogers Clark Memorial, built with federal, state, and county funds and dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sunday, June 14, 1936. Fort Knox soon succeeded Fort Patrick Henry as the defense of Vincennes. Concerning the former fortification historians have been decidedly confused. The difficulty seems to lie with the three locations previously mentioned. Judge John Law, one of the earliest local historians, does not men- tion Fort Knox at all in his history of Vincennes.s The 1886 History of K%ox and Daviess Counties, relying on the testi- mony of several prominent residents, is thoroughly confused

5H. W. Beckwith (ed.), Collsctions of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield, Ill., 1903), I, 310-11, 313. Louise Phelps Kellogg, The British Regime in Wisconsin and the Northwest (Madison, Wis., 1935) , 129-31. eBeckwith, Collections, 317; John D. Baeart (ed.), Hen. Hamilton and George Rogers Clcwk in the Ameman Revolutzon, unx the Unpublished Journal of Lieutenant Governor Henry Hmilton (Crawfordsville, Ind., 1951), 14-16. ?Barnhart, Henm Hamilton and George Rogers Clark, 38, 63-64; Kellogg, British Regime, 151. SJames A. James, The Life of George Rogers Clark (, 1928), 145. SJudge John Law, The Colonid History of Vincennes under the Fwnch, British, and American Governments . . . (Vincennes, Ind., 1868). 54 Indiana Magazine of History as to dates and The 1880 Lake atlas barely mentions the fort, and the Hardacre atlas of 1903 describes Fort Knox I1 at the site up the river but says that Harrison probably erected this fort during the .11 Henry S. Cauthorn, in 1892, is correct in his location of Fort Sack- ville; but, entirely ignorant of Fort Knox I, he insists that there was no fort at Buntin Street and the . He mentions blockhouses built after 1800 within the town limits for protection from Indian attacks and locates one “midway between Park Place [presumably the Parke resi- dence which was near the present Park and First streets] and the Harrison Mansion.” In 1901 he reiterates his convic- tion that Fort Sackville was the only fort in Hubbard Madison Smith in his history published in 1902 gives con- siderable attention to the question of forts. He correctly states that the name Fort Knox was given to defenses built in more than one location and concludes that the name was applied to Fort Patrick Henry in town. He further asserts, however, that the location up the river was never fortified but was a garrison occupied by troops. He calls this garrison Camp &ox, the name given to a camp in Civil War days in an entirely different spot.ls George E. Green, another local historian, in 1911 cor- rectly applies the name Fort Knox to Fort Sackville but gives no date. He also mentions the other two locations but with no authority other than tradition.” A short anonymous notice in the Indiana Magazine of History of 1914 cites a map drawn by John Mellish in 1818 which shows the fort located up the river. This notice also mentions a letter of Captain George Rogers Clark Floyd on the subject. Original- ly quoted in James B. Finley’s Life Among the Indians, this letter locates Fort Knox “three miles above Vincennes.” The

10 History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana . . . (Chicago, 1886), 238-40. 11An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Knox County, Indiana (Chica- go, 1880), 38-39; F. C. Hardacre (comp.), Historical Atlas of Knox County, Indiana (Vincennes, Ind., 1903), 38. 12 Henry S. Cauthorn, St. Francis Xavier cathedral, Vincennes, Indiana (n.p., 1892), 39; Henry S. Cauthorn, Histom of the City of Vincennes, Indiana from 1701 to 1901 (Terre Haute, Ind., 1902), 32-39. 18 Hubbard Madison Smith, Histoea1 Sketches of Old Vincennes . .. (Vincennes, Ind., 1903), 67-73. 14George E. Green, Histoyl of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana (2 vols., Chicago, 1911), I, 269-60n. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 55 magazine article further says-incorrectly-that this fort was built by John F. Hamtramck in 1787 under orders from General Josiah Harmer.15 The foregoing resume of the work of historians, who might be expected to know the facts, points to the unre- liability of tradition as a source of information. The then undiscovered and unpublished records of the period were inaccessible to these local historians; and the better- remembered events of Harrison’s administration as governor tended to emphasize the out-of-town fort, especially as all observable traces of the town structures had presumably dis- appeared. The up-river location is the only one known to the majority of the present residents of Vincennes and to many historians as well. A source definitely locating Fort Knox I within Vincennes is Robert Buntin’s, “A Plan of the Borough of Vincennes in the , as established by an Ordinance of the Trustees of the said Borough on the 18th November, 1816.” Buntin came to Vincennes in 1793 and, as a surveyor and holder of many public offices, knew the town well. On his map at a spot on the northeast side of the present Buntin Street is a lightly sketched plan and the notation “Fort Knox in 1790.” Buntin’s map also shows Fort Sackville, 1778-1782, and indicates another structure parallel to and the same shape as Fort Sackville, but nearer the river. This might be Fort Knox I11 which was no doubt known to him. His forts are parallelograms longer and nar- rower than the usual shape of forts.18 Historians have learned little concerning the location of Fort Knox from the contemporary travel accounts as references to the fort by early travelers are few. John Hecke- welder in 1792 does refer to a fort that could have been located only in town. He writes, “about 1% mile from the city there are several round hills called Sugar-loaves. From them the city and fortress (Fort Knox) present a very pretty

15 “Fort Knox,” Indiana Magazine of Histm, X (September, 1914), 321; James B. Finley, Life Among the Indians . . . (Cincinnati, 1860), 188. 18Robert Buntin, “A Plan of the Borough of Vincennes in the Indiana Territory, as Established by an Ordinance of the Trustees of the Said Borough on the 18th November, 1816,” photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, ; Clarence E. Carter (ed.) , Tewitorial Papers of the United States (26 vols., Washington, 1934), 111, 416. MAP OF VINCENNES, INDIANA, ADAPTED FROMTHE BUNTINMAP OF 1816 (p. 55). “A” locates both the original French fort and Fort Sackville; “B” is probably Fort Knox 111; “C” is Fort box I; .and “D” indicates the direction of Fort Knox I1 from the city. Map drawn by Herman J. Viola. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 57

aspect.” Since Fort Knox I1 could not possibly have been seen from these hills, now known to be Indian mounds, Heckewelder must have referred to a fort within Vincennes. This traveler further states that as he and his company were starting to Philadelphia, the first stage of the journey being to the Falls of the Ohio, they passed Fort Knox from which seven cannon shots were fired. Since Fort Knox I1 was several miles distant from the road to the Falls, this, too, indicates that there must have been a fort in town.’? Says Constantin FranCois Chasseboent Volney, who was in Vincennes in 1796, “Adjoining the village and river is a space, enclosed by a ditch eight feet wide, and by sharp stakes six feet high. This is called the fort, and is a sufficient safeguard against surprises from Indians.”18 This reference seems to be to Fort Knox I as there was probably little left of Fort Sackville by this time. The journal of Dr. George Hunter, who also visited Vincennes in 1796, further reinforces the existence and location of Fort Knox I. Hunter says, “The U. States have on the river at the upper end of the village a Square Fort which has a blockhouse at each Angle and the intermediate space pi~keted.”~~ Moses Austin, who arrived in Vincennes on January 1, 1797, reported, “the Garrison at this place is C0mmand.d by Capt. Pursters [Pasteur]. it [sic] Consists of 50 men. the [Sic] fort or Citadel Commands the Town and River Wabash, in which is four six pounders.”20 Since the fort up the river hardly commanded the town, Austin’s statement is further proof that an earlier fortification existed within Vincennes. The papers of General provide further authoritative material on the history and location of Fort

1T“Narrative of John Heckewelder’s Journey to the Wabash in 1792,” Magazine of History and Biography, XI1 (1888), 170, 173; Eli Lilly, Prehkth Antiquities of Indiana . , . (Indianapolis, 1837), 76-80. 18 Constantin Frangois Chasseboenf Volney, A View of the Soil and Climate of the United States of America (Philadelphia, 1804), 332. 19 John Francis McDermott (ed.), The Western JournaZs of Dr. George Hunter, 1796-1805 (Transactions of the American Philosophicd Society, N. S., Vol. LIII, Part 4; Philadelphia, 1963), 27x1. 20Moses Austin, 44AMemorandum of Moses Austin’s Journey from the Lead Mines in the Country of Wythe, in the State of , to the Lead Mines in the Province of Louisiana West of the Mississippi, 1796, 1797,” Amm-can Historical Review, V (April, 1900), 629. 58 Indiana Magazine of History

Knox I.z1 At the end of the Revolution when settlers began crossing the mountains in ever increasing numbers, Congress established the First American Regiment for the protection of this region and placed Lieutenant Colonel Josiah Harmar, a Revolutionary officer, in command with his headquarters at . Since Harmar’s primary duty was to protect the frontier, he established a series of fortifications down the Ohio from Fort Pitt.22 There was in 1785 and 1786 continuing trouble with the Indians who did not view with equanimity the invasion of their hunting grounds by the white settlers. The people of Vincennes were greatly alarmed and requested George Rogers Clark, then at Louisville, to come to their aid. settlers were also concerned; and, with authority from Virginia, the field officers of the District of Kentucky ap- pointed Clark commander-in-chief of an expedition against the northwestern tribes. Provision for the troops was un- certain; and, with the usual unreliability of , many of the men mutinied and turned back, forcing Clark to abandon the attempt to subdue the enemy.28 As a result of some highhanded actions during the march, Clark was ordered to return to Virginia to account for his deeds. A garrison under Captain Valentine Thomas Dalton was left in Vincennes. Without adequate supplies, Dalton’s troops preyed upon the inhabitants; and a state of disorder prevailed. Taking cognizance of the situation, Con- gress on April 21, 1787, resolved that the commanding officer of the First Regiment of the United States should proceed

21 The Harmar Papers are located in the William L. Clements Li- brary, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Materials in the papers rela- tive to Fort Knox include entries in his diary dating from 1793 to 1798, letters to and from Secretary at War , the long series of letters written by Hamtramck to Harmar while the former was in com- mand at Fort Knox, 1787-1791, Harmar’s replies, copied into his letter books, and letters to and from other persons connected with the military posts in the Northwest Territory. The Lyman Draper Collection, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, contains copies of por- tions of the Harmar Papers. A few of Harmar’s letters are in William Henry Smith (ed.) The St. Clair Papers: Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Cluir . . . (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1882). The Fort Knox ma- terial has been published in Gayle Thornbrough, Outpost on the Fabash, 1787-1791 (Indium Historical Society Publications, Vol. XIX ; Indiana- polis, 1950). 22 Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wubash, 12-13. 28 This expedition was, of course, conducted without authority from the national government and in defiance of the government’s an- nounced policy of peaceful negotiation with the Indians. Zbid., 13-16. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 59

to St. Vincent and take measures to dispossess the lawless garrison. Accordingly Harmar and his forces left for Vincennes on July 6, approximately two weeks before Con- gress passed a second resolution directing the lieutenant colonel to proceed to Post St. Vincent and hold a treaty with the and Wabash Indians.24 Upon his arrival in Vincennes on July 17 Harmar en- camped “near a small stockade erected by General Clark on the banks of the Wabash.” This was no doubt Fort Patrick Henry. Apparently the fort’s condition was such that troops could not occupy it, for on the same day Harmar moved “about a quarter of a mile higher up the Wabash and en- camped near its banks.”26 Major recorded in his journal on July 11 that the move was for the sake of good water.2e Fort Knox I was evidently built on this spot as there is no further mention in Harmar’s diary or Ham- tramck’s letters of a change of location. In a letter to his wife on August 8 Harmar wrote con- cerning Vincennes, “This is a considerable village near 400 houses, the people are poor and generally Canadians.” He described a “genteel entertainment” given on July 21 for all the officers; a social event given by the officers for Colonel Jean Marie Philippe Le Gras, the magistrate, Father Gibault, the priest, and others on August 2; and dinner, “a very splendid entertainment,” probably for the officers at the home of Monsieur on August 4.2T While he remained at Vincennes, Harmar issued a proc- lamation relative to settlers on the public lands and received addresses from both the French and American inhabitants, accompanied by a petition to Congress, which he forwarded to the War Office. These documents were chiefly on the subject of land titles. Harmar told of the trip and his first

24 Smith, St. Clair Papers, 11, 20-21; Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 16-16; Carter, Territorial Papers, 11, 27-50. 26 Diary of Josiah Hamar, July 17, 18, 1787, Harmar Papers. 26 Military Journal of Ebenexev Denny (Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. VII; Philadelphia, 1860), 304-306. Denny was one of two soldiers who accompanied Harmar and left diary ac- counts which have been published. The second soldier was Joseph Buell whose journal is located in Samuel P. Hildreth, Pioneer History: Beipg an Account of the First Ezaminations of the Ohio Valley . . . (Cincin- nati, 1848), 164-68. 27 Harmar to wife, Aug. 8,1787, Harmar Papers. 60 Indiana Magazine of History days in Vincennes in a letter to Secretary at War Henry Knox, August 7, 1787.28 On August 9 Harmar with Ensign Nathan McDowell and a party consisting of a sergeant captain and twenty-eight privates departed for Kaskaskia. He visited the other French towns on the Mississippi and also St. Louis and St. Genevieve on the Spanish side. In these two towns he was handsomely entertained by the commandants, Francisco Cruzat and Manuel Perez, respecti~ely.~~ He returned to Vincennes September 3, and two days later one hundred ten Piankashaw Indians arrived for a conference. They remained several days and expressed satisfaction at the prospect of peace and friendship with the Americans.80 Harmar remained in Vincennes until October 1 when he returned overland to the Falls of the Ohio. He chronicles nothing further of importance in his diary for this time, the entries being almost entirely about the weather. Upon Harmar’s departure from Vincennes Major John Francis Hamtramck, a Canadian who had fought with the Americans during the Revolutionary War, took command of the ninety-five men remaining at the post. The construction of a fort was Hamtramck’s first consideration. On Novem- ber 3 he wrote Harmar, “The building of our garrison comes on but very slow, owing to the great scarcity and difficulties of obtaining the timber.”81 Since Vincennes was situated on “an irregular savannah, eight miles in length by three in breadth, skirted by an eternal forest,”*a timber for the fort had to be brought from a considerable distance with no very good means of transportation. By April 13, 1788, however, Hamtramck wrote, that if war occurred, “I am now in a state of deffence [sic]. My piquets are up and the block houses are to their second story.” He reported that he had been obliged to hire ten Canadians at a dollar a day as he could not spare a man to bring in the piquets from the great distance from the fort. Vigo, helpful as usual to the American cause, paid the men as Hamtramck did not have enough provisions to

28 Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 24-26, 34-41; Carter, Territok.2 Papers, 11, 68-63, 66, 66-67. 29 Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 47-61. 30 Ibid., 61-62. 31 Ibid., 44, 63. 8PVolney, View of the Soil and Climate of the United States, 69. PLAN OF POST VINCENNES (FORTKNOX I), 1788.

Original in McHenrp Pawn, Indiana Hlrrtorical Society Library. 62 Indiana Magazine of History pay them with food. In this same letter the commandant stated that he had established new courts which would dis- pense justice at a reasonable cost, an advantage hitherto not available to the inhabitants of the town.ss Hamtramck also mentioned a lack of ground around the fort and asked for authority to trade some of the public land for ground adjacent to the garrison. At the previously established forts on the Ohio the soldiers supplemented their rations of bread and meat by raising vegetables, and this is probably one reason for the commandant’s reque~t.~’ Hamtramck requested a flag as “a piece of forniture [sic] that the Indians much estime and they have asked me a number times wy [sic] I had not one.” Bunting was sent, but Harmar said that more ground must await the arrival of the judges. There is no record of further allotment to the gar- ri~on.~~ Francis Vigo, undaunted by his inability to collect from the government the sums advanced to supply Clark’s expedi- tion against Vincennes in 1779, furnished the new garrison with various items during its first winter. These included two houses for hospital purposes, 136 bushels of corn, the use of a horse and a “perouge,” and cash advanced to pay ten men employed in bringing provisions from the mouth of the Wabash. This account, 1635, 2s, 6d, dragged along, Vigo himself presenting it at the War Office in October. After much correspondence back and forth and various technical objections from the United States accountant’s office, he was finally reimbursed by the contractor in July, 1789.s6 Hamtramck’s first year at the post was completed with- out any incident of great importance. The soldiers did not relish life in the West. Captain Ferguson wrote Harmar that he expected difficulty in reenlisting the men of his company, remarking that the soldiers did not like the place and were ill fed and supplied. Hamtramck had previously written in the same vein, “Not a man has reinlisted [sic] yet and imagine very few will; the soldiers dont [sic] like the place. It is too dear for them.”s7

8s Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 67-73. 84 Zbid., 72-73. 85 Zbid., 73. SeZbid., 90, 92, 96, 148-60,166, 169. SIZbid., 77, 104. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 63

Living conditions for the soldiers were not pleasant. Their fare was poor, and sometimes near famine conditions prevailed. Transportation difficulties and local crop failures were contributing factors. The post surgeon, John Elliott, requisitioned vinegar as necessary for the troops who were living entirely on salt provisions. There were constantly many persons on the sick list, largely owing to the prevalence of malaria. For the sick Elliott further requisitioned a few delicacies, including “200 pounds Brown Sugar 12 pounds Bohea Tea 20 Bounds Chocolate 1 Kegg Rice 1 Quarter Cask Port Wine 1 Barrel1 Vinegar” The pharmacopoeia seems to have consisted of bark (quinine) and tartar emetic, both, at times, of poor quality or entirely lacking.s8 Pay was poor for all grades. A lieutenant received $20.00 per month, an ensign $18.00, a sergeant $5.00, a corporal $4.00, and the humble private $3.00. Payment was frequently late. Prices on the contrary were high. A list of those current April 4, 1788, included the following: Dolls “Corn pr bushell 20 Flour pr Hundred 7 00 porke pr lb 30 Beef pr lb 15 Burdea wine pr bottle 20 Spirits pr Gallon 12 0 Whiskey pr Gal 80 Butter pr lb 10 Eggs pr Dowzen 10 Loaf sugar pr lb 10 Brown do pr lb 60 Coffee pr lb 1 45 A [illeg.] foul 10 Potatoes pr Bushel1 20 Onions do 50 Cabbage pr head 15 Turnips pr bushel1 1 O”3S

88 Ibid., 76, and passim. 3s Zbid., 73-74. 64 Indiana Magazine of History

Clothing was also expensive. Hamtramck on March, 1790, requested Harmar to procure a suit for his private servant as one would cost forty or fifty dollars in Vin~ennes.~~In view of these facts and the severe discipline under which the troops lived it is remarkable that any of them remained in the army when their terms of enlistment expired, but the com- plement of troops at Vincennes seems to have remained about stationary. The year 1788 opened with the excitement of an Indian attack. In a letter of August 12 Hamtramck reported that on July 27 Indians had surprised a convoy of stores coming up the Wabash. Ten men had been killed and sixteen wounded in the ensuing attack. He suspected treachery on the part of some of the inhabitants in passing to the Indians information obtained from the “express.” Most of the supplies were cap- tured; and the garrison was placed in a bad situation as the troops had no drugs, no flour, only two months pork, no bark, and no emetic. The misfortune was greater since soldiers and villagers were as usual full of malaria. In the letter of August 12 Hamtramck also enclosed a plan of the garrison and asked Harmar to give it a name.4l In August a party of Kentuckians under Patrick Brown arrived at Post Vincennes and reported that they had killed some Indians. The French inhabitants were disturbed by the incident as it threatened their usual peaceful relations with the tribes. Hamtramck was forced to give Brown six horses, but the villagers would not permit the Kentuckians to pass through the town. According to Hamtramck the party was greatly exasperated and would have made an expedition against the town but for the protection of the troops.42 According to Moses Henry, a prominent citizen of Vin- cennes who had close contact with the Indians, the Shawnee in the area were indifferent toward a treaty with the Ameri- cans perhaps because the British had told them that the Kentuckians would not honor it. The Potawatomi, on the contrary, had sent word that they wished to come under

40 IbX, 225. 4lIW., 106-108, 126-36. Hamtramck later appointed a board of officers to inquire how a group of Frenchmen had acquired part of the provisions. Nothing was proved against the alleged culprits, but the inhabitants of Vincennes hastened to assure Hamtramck of their fidelity and innocence. He promptly accepted their assurance. 42 Ibid., 114-17. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 65

the protection of the Americans in the hope of assistance in their war with the Wea. Hamtramck indicated he would promise protection but awaited orders as to backing their war.43 In a letter of October 13,1788, Hamtramck acknowledged the receipt of a flag and asked approval of his quartermaster and Indian accounts against the United States. In regard to the latter he stated, “I think without flatering [sic] myself that the United States will have no reason to complain of my generosity. On the contrary I am of the opinion that I have not been sufficiently liberal, but gou can well judge of the reason.”44 Hamtramck complimented Captain Ferguson on the appearance and discipline of his company and also upon his efforts in building the garrison. How he achieved so much with his company is hard to understand since the men of Captain Smith’s company were “not able to do duty for the want of shirts and shoes.” In a letter of the same date Harmar directed Hamtramck to name the fort Fort Kn~x.~~ Occasional Indian murders, rumors of a concerted attack, difficulties of the settlers in the because of lack of a government, George Morgan’s settlement in the Spanish territory to which many were attracted, illness of the troops, and uncertainty of supplies were the chief items reported in 1789 and early 1790.46 Winthrop Sargent, secretary of the Northwest Territory, of which the Indiana area was then a part, arrived in Vin- cennes on June 20, 1790, accompanied by Judges John Cleves Symmes and George Turner. The long awaited visit of the group was for the purpose of setting up civil government, organizing the militia, and settling land claims. The citizens of Vincennes presented an address of welcome and highly commended Hamtramck on his conduct of affairs in the village. Sargent in a letter to Hamtramck on July 16, 1790, expressed complete approbation of the commandant of Fort Kn~x.’~

43 Zbid., 119; Hamtramck to Harmar, Oct. 13, 1788, Harmar Papers. 44Hamtramck to Harmar, Oct. 13, 1788, Harmar Papers; see also Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 121, 123. 45Hamtramck to Harmar, Oct. 13, 1788, Harmar Papers; see also Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 126. 46 Harmar Papers, passim; Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, passam. 47 Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 16 ; Carter, Territorial Papers, 11, 291-92, 293; 111, 821. 66 Indium Magazine of History

In the spring of 1790 Hamtramck forwarded Governor Arthur St. Clair’s offer of peace to the Wabash and Miami Indians. The missions of his emissaries, Pierre and Antoine Gamelin, were unsuccessful. As the situation was very precarious, Hamtramck was glad to receive in August news of Harmar’s proposed expedition against the tribes. In this connection Hamtramck was ordered to proceed up the Wabash to prevent the Wabash Indians from joining the Miami.4s Delayed by the late arrival of quartermaster’s stores and the Kentucky militia, Hamtramck marched north on September 30, 1790, with about 330 men. At the Vermilion he found only empty houses. Lacking sufficient provisions he returned to Vincennes and wrote to Harmar on November 2: I could not proceed on full allowance to the Weeya where I had an anxious desire to go. . . . I had in a moment a number of very chagrining reflections to surmount-the first to have gone so far without seeing an enimy, the small state of my supplys, so small a body of troops and in whom (from a number of information) I had so little confidence of their keeping with me, the regulars exepted [sic]. A number of militia had deserted on our march. . . .49 Hamtramck had ordered half rations, but the militia refused to accept them. The commandant observed, “Had I only to deal with regular troops I should order them to live on the barks of the trees if I though it necessary.” Major , commander of the Kentucky militia who had ac- companied Hamtramck, reported that his men would not continue the march; thus, the commandant gave up the idea of proceeding. He explained to Harmar that if the Indians had not been there he could only have burned the town. If they had been there, he feared a “severe Drubbing.” Thirty of his men were sick with fever or measles, and he believed the Indians numbered about six hundred. Hamtramck ex- pressed the hope that he had diverted the Wabash Indians from joining the Miami.6o In a letter of November 28 Hamtramck mentioned hear- ing of Harmar’s defeat and also reported that six hundred Wabash Indians had been waiting for him, none of whom had

‘*For the background to Harmar’s offer and Hamtramck’s sub- sequent actions see Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 212n, 22411, 233, 237; Smith, St. Claiv Papers, 11, 125-26, 135, 136; American State Papers, Indian Affaivs (2 vols., Washington, 1832-1834), I, 92-94. 49 Thornbrough, Outpost on the Wabash, 260. 60 Zbid., 260-61. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 67

gone against the general. He also described the fort as being in dire straits: no meat or flour, no money, no credit, and living on corn and meat from a hunter.61 Routine matters were covered in the remainder of Hamtramck’s letters to Harmar, who was removed from his command on March 4, 1791, but absolved of any negligen~e.~~ Hamtramck remained in command of Fort Knox until the fall of 1791 when he was ordered to join St. Clair, who, as commander of the army in the Northwest Territory, was preparing an expedition against the Indians. At the time of St. Clair’s defeat in what is now northwest Ohio on Novem- ber 4, 1791, Hamtramck, who had been convoying the provi- sion train, was not with the main force. Informed of the rout by the fleeing militia, he deemed it best to return to protect Fort Jefferson. Later, when joined by the remnants of St. Clair’s army, Hamtramck proceeded to Fort Wa~hington.~~ Logan Esarey in his has suggested that the Indians attacked St. Clair because they knew Hamtramck and his experienced Indian fighters were not with the army.54 Hamtramck was later arrested by Colonel William Darke and accused of cowardice in retreating but was at once acquitted by a court martial and sent back to Fort Knox. Lieutenant Abner Prior had commanded the fort in Hamtramck’s absence.5s Harmar and St. Clair having failed to subdue the Miami Indians, General was ordered to the West to prepare an army for action. Hamtramck, now promoted to lieutenant colonel, joined Wayne in February, 1793, as com- mander of the First Sub-Legion. (This was a division of the newly named army, the Legion of the United States.) Captain Thomas Pasteur relieved him as commandant at Fort Knox and arrived at Vincennes in June with a detachment to OC- cupy the fort.66 Hamtramck’s tour of duty at Fort Knox shows him to have been a man of intelligence, , and tact. He

51Ibid., 266-67. 52 Ibid., 18. 68 Ibid., 284n; Smith, St. Clair Papers, 11, 262-71. 54 Logan Esarey, A Histm of Indiana from Its Exploration to 1850 (2 vols., Indianapolis, 1916), I, 118. 65 Smith, St. Clair Papers, 11, 171, 270. 56Dietioncm-y of American Biography (20 vols., New York, 1928; 1937), IV, 216-16; F. Clever Bald, “Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, Indiana Magazine of History, XLIV (December, 1948), 336-64. 68 Indiana Magazine of History seems to have risen above his rather unusual physical ap- pearance-he was called “The Frog on Horseback”-and to have inspired respect and affection while maintaining a reputation as an excellent disciplinarian. As an administrator of civil affairs he was admirable under great difficulties. He merits remembrance by the town which he protected at a critical time. The administration of Captain Pasteur who succeeded Hamtramck is reflected in his orderly book, dated June 24, 1793 through May 16, 1797. The entries, which deal mainly with infractions of discipline and punishments theref or, give some idea of the life of the soldiers at the fort. Several in- fractions occurred during Pasteur’s first two months of com- mand, but prompt punishment soon reduced the number sub- stantially. Sleeping while on guard, drunkenness, going to the village without permission, and riotous conduct were chief offenses. A court martial of non-commissioned officers tried the cases and prescribed the punishment, generally lashes. The number varied from thirty-five, fifty, or seventy- five up to the legal limit of one hundred, usually inflicted at evening roll call. Several times the commandant forgave the culprit because of previous good conduct. The only unusual “crimes,” for which certain privates were brought to trial, were imposing on and cheating a Mr. Reed of Post Vincennes, the killing of a hog belonging to an unspecified person, and an attempt to defame the character of a young lady of the village. Financial restitution was made to the owner of the hog and the usual lashes administered for the other offenses. These are the only indications of relations with the i ill age?^ Considering the restricted life at the fort, it is surprising that insubordination was not more frequent. Nothing in the way of amusement, not even card playing, was allowed. Visits to the town were only by permission and only to specified places “where there [sic] business calls them.” The soldiers celebrated the Fourth of July and the victory of Fort Re- covery in 1794 with an exemption from fatigue duty and an extra allotment of whiskey. On St. Patrick’s Day the Irish- men in the corps were accorded the same rewards in honor of their patron saint. Despite these restrictions Pasteur’s

57 Milo M. Quaife (ed.), “Fort Knox Order1 Book, 1793-97,” Zn- diana Magazine of History, XXXII (June, 19367, 146, 164, 162, and passim. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 69

orderly book mentions desertion only once.58 Probably distance from other settlements served as a deterrent. Definite bounds for the troops were set up near the garrison. According to tradition the townspeople objected to the presence of the troops-perhaps due to the riotous con- duct described in the orderly book. Certainly there was drunkenness on the part of the soldiers with no doubt the usual consequences. Sentiment for moving the garrison was evidently developing; and this as well as the lack of ground for raising food and the difficulty of obtaining firewood, were reasons for the later move to the up-river 10cation.~~ During the winter of 1793-1794 , brother of George Rogers Clark and later of Lewis and Clark ex- pedition fame, was stationed at Fort Knox in charge of a small detachment. He was a lientenant in the Fourth Sub- Legion, serving under Wayne. While on an expedition up the Wabash Clark was frozen in for twenty days and had to depend on his rifle for subsistence. From Vincennes he moved to Cincinnati and was with Wayne at Fallen TimbersPo According to John B. Dillon’s history of Indiana Captain Robert Buntin succeeded Pasteur as commandant at Fort Knox. Buntin was a captain of militia in Hamilton County, Ohio, when he removed to Vincennes in 1793. Shortly after his arrival he was made a militia captain and appointed to the civil office of gentleman register and notary public and in subsequent years to numerous other offices. His chief occupation seems to have been that of surveyor. He was also authorized, along with Henry Vanderburgh and Francis Vigo, to sell liquor to the Indians. As it was assumed that the Indians would get liquor from some quarter, these men were to furnish such quantities as “shall seem meet.” Half the profit was to be theirs, and the other half was to be given “to the benefit of Knox County.”61 Buntin’s son, Robert Buntin, Jr., a lieutenant in the army of the United States, commanded at Fort Knox in 1811.6a This fact probably confused Dillon since no record indicating that the elder Buntin succeeded Pasteur has been found.

68 Ibid., 139, 146, 168, and passim. 59 Ibid., passim. 60 Dictionary of American Biographg, 11, 142. 61 John B. Dillon, A History of Indiana, from Its Emliest Explora- tion by Europeans to the Close of the Terktorial Government in 1816 . . . (Indianapolis, 1869), 397; Carter, Territorial Papers, 111, 412-14. 62 American State Papers, Public Lands (8 vols., Washington, 1832- 1861), IV, 919. 70 Indkm Magazine of History

William Henry Harrison, who came to Vincennes in January, 1801, as governor of Indiana Territory, wrote to his friend James Findlay of Cincinnati in October of that year, “We have a Company of troops commanded by Honest F. Johnston of the 4th. We generally spend half the day together making war upon the partridges, grouse and fish- the latter we take in great numbers in a seine.” Harrison did not indicate just when Johnston arrived in Vincennes, but he became a captain in the Fourth Infantry November 5, 1800. The man who immediately succeeded Pasteur in 1798, unless it was Johnston, who was then a lieutenant in the Fourth, is By September 17, 1802, Captain Cornelius Lyman was at Fort Knox as commandant. Transferred to the First Infantry April 1, 1802, he witnessed on September 17 the minutes of an Indian conference concerning lands in the vicinity of Vincennes and ceding four square miles at the salt lick on the Saline River to the United States.e* The following year, 1803, the United States government decided to move the Fort Knox garrison. On February 21, 1803, Secretary of War Henry Dearborn wrote to Governor Harrison desiring to know what expense would be necessary for repairing the barracks and officer’s quarters and for what sum land could be procured. On April 13 Dearborn wrote to Lyman, “When you have consulted with Govr. Harrison and decided on the most suitable Scite [sic] for a military post at Vincennes where the land can be obtained on reasonable terms, you will please to inform me accordingly, noting price pr. acre from ten to one hundred acres.” Ap- parently either Lyman or Harrison wrote to Dearborn con- cerning the availability of land, and the Secretary ordered the purchase because sometime later the commandant was told to arrange to spend the hot season near the old barracks as the new post could not be commenced until autumn.E6 The land selected was at the Little Rock or Petit Rocher, a well-known outcrop, about three miles up the river. At an earlier date Pierre Gamelin had assigned to Toussaint Dubois

OaLogan Esarey (ed.), Messages and Letters of (2 vols., Indiana Historical Collections, Vol. VII ; Indianapolis, 1922), I, 35; Francis B. Heitman, Histokal Register and Dictionary of the United States Amy . . . (Washington, 1903), 374. 64 Heitman, Historical Register, 422; Esarey, Messages and Letters, I, 57. 66 Carter, Termtoriat Papers, VII, 88; U.S.,Office of the Secretary of War, Letters Books, I, 411-12, National Archives, Washington. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 71

a considerable tract of land running back from the Wabash. On June 11, 1796, Dubois in turn had sold one hundred acres to Jeremiah Buckley for one hundred forty dollars. Buckley returned to Pennsylvania and there died. Dubois then sold the same land, this time one hundred arpents-about eighty- five acres-to the United States. The deed, executed Novem- ber 7, 1803, indicates that Buckley was presumed to have died without heirs and that the United States through the application of William Henry Harrison, esq., governor of the Indiana Territory, and Cornelius Lyman, esq., captain in the first regiment of infantry, and commanding at Fort Knox, applied to the said Toussaint Dubois, by the direction of the Secretary of War, to convey to the said United States, for the purpose of building and establishing a garrison thereon, the said one hundred arpents of land so by him agreed to be sold to the said Jeremiah Buckley, which he, the said Toussaint Dubois has consented to do on their paying him the said sum of one hundred and twenty-six dollars so, as aforesaid due by the said Jeremiah Buckley to him, and on condition of the said United States satisfying and compensating . . . the said Jeremiah Buckley, or his heirs or assigns, for his or their estate, right, title, or interest of and in the said tract of one hundred arpents. . . .06 This tract was probably the most advantageous one near the town, being well-timbered land at the top of a considerable slope back from the river with a good view up and down the stream. Part way down the slope was (and still is) an ex- cellent spring, and the Petit Rocher furnished a good place to tie up boats. The easiest approach to the tract would have been by water as it is unlikely that there was much of a road through the woods. On August 4, 1803, Dearborn wrote to Lyman instructing him to commence the necessary arrangements for erecting a stockade as soon as the purchase of land was completed. The stockade should encompass a blockhouse and accommodations for the garrison, including a small store and a small magazine or powder house which should be of brick. The necessary glass, iron, nails, and tools were to be sent from to a Mr. Bullitt at the Falls, who would be requested to have the whole forwarded up the Wabash to Lyman or the as- sistant military agent. On August 5, J. Wingate, Jr. of the War Department sent a list of the articles to be forwarded: bar iron, window glass, nails, four broadaxes, ten common axes, and an assortment of other necessary tools. In 1803 the United States spent $358.50 for fortifications, of which

66 American State Papers, Public Lands, IV, 16-20. 72 Indiana Magazine of History

$200.00 was allotted to Fort Knox. No such expenses were listed for 1804. Exactly when construction began cannot be determined, but it probably depended upon the receipt of the tools and supplies. On October 1, 1804, warrant number 7842 paid Lyman “for drawing the deeds of a tract of land whereon the fort near Vincennes is erected, $25.00.”67 Fort Knox had on November 30, 1804, a sizeable working force consisting of one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one ensign, four sergeants, three corporals, three musicians, thirty-nine privates, and one surgeon’s mate, a total of fifty-four. Lyman had been told on November 3, 1803, to “make use of any or all of the old buildings at Vin- cennes that the materials thereof can be used to advantage in erecting the New Works.” Since it was easier to cut new logs on the tract than to transport the old materials from Fort Knox I1 up the river, the commandant probably salvaged only minor items. Living quarters being the first requisite, the stockade had apparently not been erected as late as 1809. Governor Harrison wrote the Secretary of War on April 18 of that year that the garrison consisted of a range of open barracks and a blockhouse not connected with any pickets.6s On December 8, 1803, Dearborn wrote Lyman that he had received the plan of buildings and works near Vincennes. They were tentatively approved, and terms for paying the men who had worked or should work on the buildings were set forth. Each should be allowed ten cents per day and one gill of extra spirits for each day’s labor actually performed, an exact record to be kept for each man constantly employed. Two hundred dollars would be forwarded to the assistant military agent for the purpose of paying the extra allow- ance~.~~ Lyman probably remained as commandant of Fort Knox until his death on March 25, 1806, as there is no record of his transfer to any other unit. His successor is unknown

67 Amel-ican State Papers, Militmy AffuiTs (7 vols., Washington, 1832-1834), I, 178, 180, 184; U.S., Office of the Secretary of War, Letter Books, 11, 47, 49-50. 68Amel-ican State Papers, Militcvry Affah,I, 176; US., Office of the Secretary of War, Letter Books, 11, 103; Esarey, Messages and Letters, I, 341. When Grouseland, the home of William Henry Harrison, was being repaired in 1949-1950, carpenters discovered that the joists which were uncovered had been used elsewhere. Since Harrison was building his house in 1803 and 1804 and since securing timber in Vin- cennes was difficult, the Governor possibly requisitioned some material from Fort Knox, then being abandoned. The walls of Grouseland are of stone, said to have been brought down the river from the site of Fort Knox 11, certainly the most advantageous place to get it. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 73 although it may have been Lieutenant Ambrose Whitlock who had been assistant military agent and who was district pay- master from June 15, 1805. At any rate Harrison reported on April 18, 1809, that Fort Knox was garrisoned by a Lieutenant Whitlock and fourteen or fifteen men, a garrison much reduced from that of 1804.70 Perhaps because the Indian situation appeared more se- rious as a result of the Treaty of of September 30, 1809, reinforcements were ordered to Fort Knox in 1810. Captain Thornton Posey’s company, which had been in Ken- tucky awaiting orders, arrived in Vincennes on July 5 of that year; and Harrison immediately had him commence a block- house and lines of pickets at the fort. Captain George Rogers Clark Floyd reached Vincennes on July 31, and additional troops from Fort Knox under the command of Lieutenant Jesse Jennings were present at the celebrated interview be- tween Harrison and on August 20, 1810.71 Apparently Floyd and not Posey was commandant at Fort Knox in late 1810. Each week in December of that year the Vincennes Western Sun ran notices of rewards for two deserters signed by Floyd as “captain commanding.” Posey probably commanded only a company.72 On October 3 a detachment of 120 men under Captain Joseph Cross arrived and encamped near the fort, “the bar- racks not being sufficient to receive them.” On October 26 the Secretary of War wrote Harrison that it was inexpedient to establish a new post up the Wabash, one reason being the disturbed state of affairs in Florida. Posey’s company and Cross’ detachment should therefore be quartered for the winter near Vincennes, either in huts or other temporary accomodations as the country afforded; and they should hold themselves in readiness to descend the Missis~ippi.~~ By the summer of 1811 Posey was in command of Fort Knox; and on June 23, 1811, he shot and killed Lieutenant Jesse Jennings as a result of a personal feud. Posey made his escape and seemingly was never brought to trial, but Fort Knox was left without an effective commanding officer. Floyd, stationed in Louisville at the time, directed Zachary Taylor to proceed to Vincennes to take command. Taylor

69U.S., Office of the Secretary of War, Letter Books, 11, 127. 70 Esarey, Messages and Letters, I, 341. 71 Ibid., 446, 464, 461. 72 Vincennes Western Sun, Dec. 8, 16, 22, 1810. 73 Esarey, Messages and Letters, I, 476, 482. 74 Indiana Magazine of History arrived on July 9 and immediately began to improve condi- tion~.?~Harrison reported to the Secretary of War on August 6, “In the short time he has been a commander he has rendered the Garrison defensible-before his arrival it resembled any- thing but a place of defence [sic].” The Governor wanted Taylor to continue in command at Fort Knox, but authorities in Washington ordered him to Maryland as a witness in the trial of General . Since Harrison was mobilizing his forces for the march on Tippecanoe at this time, Taylor, by his enforced departure, lost his first op- portunity to fight Indians in open battle.’5 Having decided upon an expedition against the Prophet and his village on the Tippecanoe River, Harrison began his arrangements. He planned to have 1,200 troops under his command, including the Fourth United States Regiment on its way to Vincennes from Kentucky and commanded by Colonel John P. Boyd. Captain Posey’s company, then in garrison at Fort Knox, would furnish not more than forty effectives. Approximately 450 regular troops, from which a small number would be deducted to remain to garrison Fort Knox, would accompany the The Fourth Regiment was quartered in town, probably in tents, prior to the march; and Colonel Boyd was directed to aid in the preparations for the expedition. Lieutenant Josiah Bacon of the Fourth, who had been injured by a powder explosion and who had not recovered sufficiently to proceed with the troops, was left in charge of Fort Knox. He and his wife established their residence at the garrison.“ The took place on November 7, 1811. Many casualties resulted, and the task of returning the wounded to Vincennes was formidable. Wagons were used as far as the blockhouse which had been built on the Vermillion, and the most severely wounded were put on boats. On arrival at Vincennes the regular troops were quartered at Fort Knox and placed under the command of Surgeon’s Mate Dr. Jacob Kuykendall and a sergeant. A few days later some

74 Zbid., 525, 627-28; Holman Hamilton, Zachaw Taylor: Soldier of the Republic (Indianapolis, 1941), 37-38. 7BEsarey, Messages and Letters, I, 648, 652; Hamilton, Zachary Taylor, 39. 76 Esarey, Messages and Letters, I, 571. “Zbid., 586; Mary Carter (ed.), “Mrs. Lydia B. Bacon’s Journal, 1811-1812,” Indiana Magazine of Histow, XI (December, 1944), 380. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 75

companies were cantoned in Vincennes where the general hospital had been establi~hed.~~ A violent controversy raged for some time as to the conduct of the militia during the battle. Colonel Boyd, who was very much disliked for his part in the controversy, left Vincennes on April 12, 1812. The regiment remained until May 14, when it departed to join General William Hull at Detroit.T9 Vincennes was the base for a minor military engagement during the War of 1812. Colonel William Russell with a company of United States infantry and another of Rangers was on his way to join Ninian Edwards, governor of , when he heard of an Indian attack on Fort Har- rison. Russell marched to the aid of the fort which was being successfully defended by Zachary Taylor and a broken com- pany of the Seventh Regiment. Subsequently he continued his march to join Edwards.80 Major General Samuel Hopkins of the Kentucky militia arrived at Vincennes with two thousand men on September 24, 1812. His orders were to clear out the Indians along the Wabash and Illinois rivers, but little was accomplished except for the destruction of some Indian villages due to insubordina- tion of the troops. Many of the Indians had gone to join the British near Malden.81 In 1813 Fort Knox was moved again, this time back to Vincennes, perhaps because, as Taylor wrote, it was feared the Indians would make an attack on the town. On March 10, 1813, John Gibson, acting governor, informed Secretary of War William Armstrong that in pursuance of the authority given by former Secretary Eustis he had a considerable part of the necessary timber brought down the river and the men quartered in town. On March 31, however, he reported op- position on the part of certain officers concerning the loca- tion of the new fort. In spite of the authorization to Gibson, Lieutenant Thomas H. Richardson had commenced the build- ing “upon the most disadvantageous and useless place ad- jacent to the whole town.” On March 4 Posey reported that upwards of one hundred regulars were engaged in erecting

78 Esarey, Messages and Letters, I, 682, 618, 634. 79 Crawford, “Mrs. Lydia B. Bacon’s Journal,” 60. 80 Hamilton, Zachary Taylor, 39; Esarey, Messages and Letters, 11, 126-28; Esarey, History of Indiana, I, 220-22. *lEsarey, Hiatorg of Indiana, I, 222. 76 Indiana Magazine of History a fortification in Vincennes since Fort Knox [11] had been dismantled.82 During recent decades the exact location of Fort Knox I11 has been unknown; indeed, no one remembered this fort at all. In 1956 a letter dated Bruceville, Indiana, December 12, 1878, and signed by Andrew Dunn was found. Dunn wrote: 1st. Fort Knox was first built on the Wabash River about 3 miles above Vincennes. [Like others of that time he did not know of Fort Knox I.] In the fall of 1812 or the spring of 1813, they took it down and rafted it down the river and put it up on the river bank opposite the Catholic Church. 2nd. The fort was about 80 yards from the old Cathedral Church that was there at that time. 3rd. It was still called Fort Knox the same as before it was moved. 4th. I always understood that when Fort Knox was removed to Vincennes that it was put up on the same site that the old fort stood on that George Clark captured from the British in February, 1779. 6th. I think the fort was about five rods wide and ten rods long. 6th. It was built of hughed [sic] logs for pickets set in the ground and 12 or 16 feet high. 7th. There was a gate in the uper [sic] end of the fort and I think there was one in the lower end-there was gates in the sides. 8th. I seen the fort in the fall of 1813 & in 1814 & 1816. 9th. The fort was there in the spring of 1815 when we moved from Vincennes. I don’t know exactly when it was torn down, but I think it was some time between 1816 and 1820.88 This seems to be authoritative information as to the location of Fort Knox 111. Lieutenant Richardson was prob- ably in command of the third fort since he evidently headed the opposition to Gibson. Ambrose Whitlock was also men- tioned, but he was still district paymaster and frequently absent. Zachary Taylor came to Vincennes again in April, 1813, in charge of recruiting in the district. He considered this an impossible task due to the small number of inhabitants and the number of companies of Rangers that were authorized, service in the Rangers being perferred to that in the regular army. Pay for privates was thirty dollars per month in the Rangers as against eight dollars in the regular army; and active duty was negligible, while the army private was obliged to do much hard work as well as drill. Taylor mentioned the building of the fort by about fifty regulars. The work

** Esarey, Message and Letters, 11, 82, 378, 381, 406-407. 83Letter presented to Francis Vigo Chapter, Daughters of the , by Miss Lucy Jo Hunter, Bloomington, Ind. For a sketch of Andrew Dunn’s life see Vincennes Western Sun, Sept. 12, 1873. Fort Knox: Frontier Outpost 77

proceeded very slowly, as part of the men fit for duty were employed on command “while a number of those gentleman soldiers or rangers idle away whole months at taverns with- out performing one single part of a soldier’s Taylor became commandant of the reerected Fort Knox during 1813-1814. He brought his family to Vincennes; and here his second daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor, was born, March 6, 1814. The Taylors resided in a cottage owned by Judge Benjamin Parke at present First and Hart streets.s5 On May 10, 1815, Judge Parke wrote to Govenor Posey suggesting that the fort at Vincennes might very well be abandoned but the garrison at Fort Harrison should be maintained. Governor Posey evidently agreed for in the Western Sun, January 6 to February 10, 1816, advertisements appeared requesting all holders of public arms to deliver them to Brevet-Major John T. Chunn, commandant at Fort Knox. The arms were to be boxed and sent to Newport, Kentucky. From February 17 to March 23, the arms were to be delivered to William Johns in Vincennes who would receipt for them. The garrison had no doubt left for Fort Harrison by that time. The notices were still signed by J. T. Chunn, Brevet- Major, Third Infantry. On February 8, 1817, notice was given that Robert Richardson, ordnance storekeeper of the United States arsenal at Newport, Kentucky, was in Vin- cennes to collect arms belonging to the United States govern- ment. Thus the week of February 10, 1816, seems to mark the end of a military garrison at Vincennes.86 Fort &ox 11, however, has continued to play an important role in Indiana history. In 1815 a traveler, David Thomas, noted that its site could be located only by excavations, rem- nants of old chimneys, and hewn timber scattered over the ground. Still later the heirs of James Buckley, three daughters and a son, appeared and asked for a retrocession of one hun- dred acres of land which Toussaint Dubois had sold their father. They also asked for compensation in the amount of eight hundred dollars for the destruction of timber. They pre- sented Dubois’ receipt for the full amount of the purchase money and his deed to the United States, requiring the govern- ment to compensate the heirs of Buckley and to keep harmless Dubois and his heirs and assignees. A deposition from

84 Holman Hamilton, “The Vincennes of Zachary Taylor,” Indiana Mugazine of History, XXX (March, 1941), 69-70. 86 Ibid. 86Esarey, Messa ea and Letters, 11, 690; Vincennes Western Sun, Jan. 6, 13, 20, 27, Fd. 3, 10, 17, 24, Mar. 2, 9, 16, 28, 1816. 78 Indiana Magazine of Historg Robert Buntin, Jr., was submitted which stated that he was commandant at Fort Knox in the year 1812, that all the timber of any value was cut off and used for building the fort, for firewood, and for rails used to fence ground to raise corn, vegetables, and other food for the officers and soldiers, and that the buildings and timber were rafted down the river and used to build another fort in 1813. A second deposition concerned the value of the timber, said to have been worth about four hundred dollars.s7 Finally, on July 14, 1832, Congress passed an act for the relief of the heirs of Jeremiah Buckley, confirming them to their title to one hundred arpents of land and requiring the Secretary of Treasury to pay the heirs the sum of two hundred eighty dollars in compensation for the use of timber and land. The Buckley’s in turn must relinquish all claims against Dubois or the United States. This relinquish- ment was dated February 27, 1833. The other heirs conveyed their title to John Smith, husband of one of the daughters?* In 1835 Smith and his wife sold one hundred arpents of land to Henry M. Shaw, an Episcopal clergyman and a color- ful character of the time. His widow had possession for some years but finally sold the land to W. B. Purcell in 1894. It was farmed by Purcell and his heirs until 1932, when it was conveyed to the Public Service Company of Indiana, which corporation contemplated the building of a power plant on the site. While the area was farmed, ploughing turned up various military items: buttons, a small cannon ball, a gun barrel, and flints, as well as numerous Indian artifacts. In- terest in the site never flagged, and in 1963 the Indiana His- torical Society sponsored an excavation to discover, if pos- sible, the exact location of the fort. A considerable part of its outline was discovered that summer, and the next summer gave more information. On March 16, 1964, the Public Serv- ice Company deeded to the Indiana Historical Society 41.5 acres of land valued at forty thousand dollars, thus insuring the preservation of the fort site and making possible the erection of a reproduction on the original location.

87 David Thomas, “Travels Through the Western Country in the Summer of 1816,” ed. Harlow Lindley, Indiana as Seen by Early Trav- elem (Indianapolis, 1916), 68; American State Papers, Public Lands, IV, 16-20. 88 This information is taken from the official abstract of the land on which Fort Knox I1 was located. The Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, holds a Xerox copy of this abstract.