Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1813-05-24
BY the Last Mails.
GOOD NEWS
FROM THE NORTH WESTERN ARMY.
THE ENEMY REFUSED.

I THE ENEMY REFUSED.
| A dispatch ofprior date TO the following, sup
| posed To contain the eariicr frsnssctions of the
siege, has not Yet reached the Department of War
as viii appear Rom passages OF General Hrrison's
c . NJ %R
II; HARnIsSH TO the Secretary at War. da-
liead Quarters, Is,Ser s,nd,sky,
May f6th, 1918.
Oh" Having asccst,ined that Sc eoemr rr05;,s, >,
well as British Nd enairelyi sbando.,ed the leigh
borhooh Of the RsRids, l left DC command efCanp
Aleigs with Gen. Clay and came here last Night
Il is with the greatest satisfactep 4 ihforn you,
s., o sssi have ,La. The
si,lc Of the river does eSeesd Atty. On the 10Th
and 18th inst. caused the ground W eh was the
scene OF the action and its enyio'ssto be carefully
examined, and after the most diliecnt search IS
bodies only of our meu discevered-amongst
them the leader of the detach ncpt Col Dudley.
No otaes officer OF note tell in tie action. 1 have
stroaa reason TO believe that cosideebi~ number
OF the kentuekans effected thci reireat up the RI
yer 10 Fort Winehestcr CD. Proctor did not
furnish me witt, return of he pr.sdners in his
possession, although repeatedly proIuiscls His re-
treat was as precipitate il could PROPERLY be,
leaving number OF eannoIfbsll, II new elegant
sling carriage for cannon, an other valuable arti
cies. The night before his departure two persons
that were employed IN the British Gun Bouts A.
merieans by birth deSc,tc,sto us. The informant
on they gave mc WAS very sintcpesting--they say
that the Indians, OF which there wcrs from 16OJ
to 5000, lett the British the day before their dc-
ture in high state of dissatisfaction from The great
loss which they had sustained in the several. engage
mcnts OF the 5ili, and tie failure of the British in
plis!iing their promise of taking the post 40
the Rapids From the account given by these men,
my opinion is confirmed of the great superiority of
the enemy which were, Get, atcd by our troops in
the two sal!ics made on the 5th inst. That led by
al.
fifty men, and itis very certain that they defeated
two hundred British Regulars, Que hundred aud
lGfy miitia, and fadr or ffc hundred Indians
ri'at Amerisnn Regulars although they were raw
recruits and SUCH men compose the Pntsburg,
Penn. and Petefsburs, Va. Volunteers, should be-
have well, is not to be wondered at---but that
| company of militia should maintain its ground a,
ganst four times ats numbers, did Capt. Scbres
OF the Kentucky, is truly astonishing These brave
fellows wcte at length however entirely surround
ed by lrdiaos, aud would have been entirely cut off
but for the gsltantry o It, Gwynne of the 18th
gifaent Who, with part of Capt Elott's company,
charged the enemy and released the Kentuckians-
inclose You list OF the killed aud wounded during
| the whole siege. 1t IS considerably larger than
had supposed it wouldbe when |, st wrote 20 you
but itis satisfactory 10 knowtst they did not
bleed useiessyDut IN the course OF successful
exertions. The return d0eshot en- brace those who
| fell on the n. W. side OF he Miami
You will also receive here Sth smonthly return
ofthe troops at Camp MesS fir the last month
the communicating with ti,spther pos,s being cut
! of, the returns were not rec eyed A couy of Gen
Clay report M OF the maIiper of his EXCEEDING
my order for the rtaok the enemies batteries is
likewise forwarded, BY which it will be seen that
my intentio's we're Pesfertiy understood, snd the
great facility With which they nigh tIye bee ex-
ecuteds apparent to every individual who Switnes-
ed the scene. lndeest the cannon might have been
spiked, the carriages cut To pieees the magazine
| destroyed and the retreatSefected to the boats
without the loss of man., as none were killed in
Ia.
An extensive open PLAN interyencs between the
river and tue hill upon which the batteries of the
enemy were placed This plain raked by four
ofeur eighteen Founders, a twelve and six The
enemy, even before their guns were spiked, could
not have brought to bear upon u.s. So perfectly
secured was their retreat that the one hundred s.
hty men who came off effected it without loss and
brought off some of the wounded, one of them up
on tile backs oil his comrades. The Indians follow
ed them To the woods but dared not enter into the
| plain.
| lam unable to form correct estimate of the en-
cmy's force. The prisoners varied much in their
accounts; those who made them least stated the
regulars at five hundred aud fifty aud militia ut eight
hundred but the numbers Of Indians were beyond
comparison greater trin have ever been brought
INTO the held before numbers arrived after tho
siege commenced. l have caused their camps on
the south side OF the river To be particularly
examined and the general opinion is, that there
eou'd not have been fewer that side than one
thousand or oDc thousand two huGdrcd ; they were
Indeed the efficient iorec OF the enemy.
1 have the h0aor TO acknowledge the receipt of
your fAsors OF the I4h, 9th, and 2Sth ult and 5tl,
inst.
i am sorry to inform you that Major Stodhard
died the night before left te Rapids, of a lock
jaw, produced by slight wouuti from fragment OF
a shell wiach struck him OF, the thigh Several
have dicdin tlissway from their great and unayod-
able exposure TO the cold but perhaps there
were SO many instances ofdesperate wounds being
| likely To 30 we'll 49,
| The gallant Captain BradfordwiI rccayer-e
shall go from here to Upper Sandusky anl SHALL
| lake my station at Delaware or Frankilnton until
| the troops assembled. Cen. Clay, who com
mauds ut the Rapids, is man Of capacity and en-
tirely 10 be relied on.
| / have The honor to be, with great respect Sir,
| your humble servant, .
| VIII HENRY HARRISON.
| The hon. JOHN ARMsTRoNG,
| Secretary at War
Retura of the killed and wounded in the