Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1840-05-11

n. BFAsLEY, Major i'''
SoLonoN BENTLEY. Major
uEoh6E MORROW. Major.
w. ". toTGREAyE, Mainr
JAooR FRrDrRroK, Major"
In S. OFT time the British and I,J,sns tssio,o,
fot Meigs with force -four times as la,ge ~ ,I,,
ntdcr The command oC Gen. Harrison-ulicb =.
mounted 10 about 1000 IA" militia, Aud so iucotn-
pl'te were tie works rha the historian saws ..,b.
oaee'S worked IN the bitches, side by side with the
sola'cfs' anG when the font assaiied is an,n,u
nillon' powder and ball. totally INSULT, ent il the
siee" had beenprotracled 10 a great length" Wha,
"ond'r thai he Was "da,s, weeks and months idle
aud Inactive so Gar as military movements are
eoncerned) when in front Of him was foe four
tunes as strong as himself and lis men almost dcs-
ttn'e Of powder and ball Let Mr.. Goode Of O.
h'" Tell the balance Of the story. He says:
3" will moi mention what the character and
conduct Of that volunteer lofee which came 10 his
AID IN IN Ohio aud kentutky. ! will leave this To
hblet hands. There is gentleman ne,f me tpoiut-
Ing 10 Mr.. UNDERWOOD oil kenlucky,1 WHO vas IN
The service with General Harrison he knows. and
IS willing and ready to testify. There others
round me Who were wounded while in tie army
with lllrison. anu now members 81 this House
They know whether ] am telling the truth. when
say that the defence Of Fort Meigs may faitly he
dnary events " hich Distinguish ed the lfe war; that
work ol defence consisting 81 u mud cnibauk meut
and an enclosure Of piqueis, was defended trlnmph-
anti, aud successfully by about Thousand men,
for many days, against rhe attack Of Proctor who
conn auded amy Of British and Indians, nj least
four times the number OF Ilnrsons, and well fur
uished for The siege. Such were the skill the brave
", and the interchangeable Efforts Of General Harrison
such the success Of The repeated salcs
he made, thai he compelled the enemy 10 sban-
don the siege in despair.
Ole incident is worth mentioning, that, the
second day If the attack, Proctor sent officer with
flag TO demand the surrend OF the post, on tie
ground dat the American forces were too weak to
sustain the slege against his ovctwh elning force
aud General Proctor was ANXIOUS to save the eiIu.
sion Of blood. General Harrison promptly replied ::
" II General Proctor knows the usages Of wal, as
! am bound 10 believe he does, he must eilher have
considered me ignorant OF them, or lie must have
intended an insult. It was his duty TO make the de-
maud before lie conn euced iIug The works.
But, sir. said Lc 90 back and tell your General that
ktow my own force and his. and that shall de-
iend the works TO the last extremity. Tell him.
further, that II lie ever possesses the font, he shall
obtain il IN ,cay that arH eite HIM more honor IN the
estimation Of has Gortrnmcht hdn he could reteitc
from thousand SuueHdefS."
Is that the Ian uage, that The conduct Of
~ Coward and Granny !" Bat We forget
Washington had similar epnhets applied TO him by
men who sought 10 poison the minds Of his couu-
trymeu against him, hen tley would have wrcsted
the sword from his strong band, and coafded to
he puoy arm ola Lee ora Gates
3dy. CassiGs points 10 the battles of the
Thames and TiIpccanoe in conjunction, as il they
we've Consecutive engagements, and places the
" anrs FIST if hat the FIST in order oftime
Aud thcn, with marvellous simplicity, lie asks, ais
IL not generally known thai johnson was the MASTER
spirit in hose engagements % Now lie il known to
Cassius that tic batIc Of Tlppeeanoe fought in
ISL before the declaration Of war against Great
Brain, while the battle ofihc Thames did Rot take
place until OttoLet, lsI3--a1d that so far llom Col.
johnson having been ',he master pirI in the first
9TH Sc battles he raS not Hefc at all : We hope
that Cassius will read the history Of those times be
fore he again alleu pts TO detail them for the nfor-
NATION If others. And the baue OF The
Thames, although Col. Johnson uuqursuonaGlv PER
formed his duty a valiant soldier, he had no agen-
cy Whatever all the aids de camp of Gen. Ilarn-
testify, in suggesting the novel and brilliant
uuvrc which RESULT d IN the deiea; Of Proctor and
Tecumseh. The order OF battle was changed on
tie battle ground, in the face of the enemy, by
Gen. HARRISON himself whose fine genius oomrre-
hended at glance the measures necessary 10 secure
the victory. Listen to the history again:
" A more able disposition could not be made I'M
der such Circumstances tlan WAS made BIZ General
HARRISON. lis conduct on this day is distinguish .
ed by mastery device Of his own. purely Original.
aud such none but bold and inventive genius.
peculiarly formed fot the military profession, could
have Int upon, would have hazlrded. II was
not until the 5lh Of October that Proctor over
TAKEN On that day the enemy was discerned in a
position skill. chosen. marrow strip Of dry
land, hlnked by the river Thames the left, anI
by a swamp on the right, occupied BY his reg
uat infantry and artillery. while on the flght flank
lay Tccum,eh with his followers on the eastern
margin ofthe swamp. But Proctor committed an
error in forming his infantry in open order. General
Harrison awaiting himself Of the fact and aware THAI
troops disposed could resist a charge Il
mounted men. he directed Colonel Johnson TO das III
through the enemy 5 line in column, The movcmeLt
was made with brilliant success. The mounted men
CHARGE, with pr mptltude aud vgor, broke thtouc IN
the line Of the enemy. formed IN the rear and aSsail
/ ed the broken line wIJh success unequaed, and
nearly the whole OF the British regulars either
killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. On The left
the Indians tonieuded more severely, but Tecums ell
being killed In the battle. they were soon subdued
Proctor fled in shameful deseltlun Of his tfooI
coited by his hfe-guard. Tie defeat ofthe enemy
was complete All he baggage Of Proctor and milI-
tay stores, together with his official papers, fell in
TO the hands al General Harrison and several field
pieces which had been taken ron the British ii
The Revolutionary v ar at Saratoga and yorktown
but which bad cen shanelully surrendered by Hull
at Detroit. were retaken. The war having beer
thus eorously terminated in his dlsilcl, Gene
raj iarison repaired 10 Erie, aud soon after TO the