Maumee City express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1838-184?, 1840-05-16

The following letter from Col. ChainDers
gentleman that fought the battles of his
country under Harrison, and who is known
by many on this river as the very personIf-
cation of honor and bravery, will make the
ears of any "scurvy politician" tingIe who
has been fool-hardy enough to call Gene
raj Harrison coward. 1t is to be hoped,
however, that in this region, made classic
by the heroic conduct of the patriot chief,
no such "scurUy politician will be found
WARRINGTON, 29th February, 1910.
! Dear Sir:-Snce writing to you, in an
swer to your letter of the 18th inst, it has
occurred to me that principal object of the
faIsehoods, relative 10 General Harrison,
which have found propagation on the floor
of the Ohio House OF Representatives, must
be to make the impression that he is cotD-
ard! and though you do not state in your
letter the cause assigned by his sIanderers
for his alleged absence from the command
| of his army at the battle Of the Thames, |
presume no motive for it less charitable than
sheer cowardice would have been imputed
| by one capable Of such Misrepresentation of
| his conduct. But whatever may be the al
legged inducement for the conduct attrlbu-
ted to him, the relation in which then
stood to him, and my knowledge of what
his actual conduct was, imposes upon me
the duty nave performed, of pronouncing
the charge false; and | trust you will PAR
don me for suggesting the propriety, (if an
appropriate occasion presents ITSELF or can
be made in open session,) of demanding of
the member of your House, who made the
charge, the authority upon which it was
made; whether from his own knowledge or
observation, or upon the information of 9TH
ers; and if upon the representation Of 9TH
ers, their names and residence. The origi-
nal inventors o! the fasehood ought to have
had the advantage of all the celebrity i. is
calculated to give them.
On the subject Of Gen. IIarrison's per-
sonal bravery, is it not very remarkable, it
he is a coward, that none OF his gallant Off
GERS ur soldiers who served with him under
Gen. Wayne, OF those who fought under
his command at Tippecanoe, at Fort Meigs,
and the Thames, discovered his cowardicel
and that the discovery should have remain
ed to be made by some scurvy politician of
the present day! for | will venture to pre-
dict that no officer or soldier of respectable
ty, who served with him, or under his COM
mand, can be found to stake the response
bIlty" of charging him with cowardice.--
In conneXion with this subject, permit me
to relate fact which occurred in my pre-
sence, and which is calculated to give some
idea of the character of Gen. Harrson's
prctensions to frmnoss and disregard of
personal danger. On the day preceding the
battle of the Thames, when his army ap-
preached the last right-hand fork of the RI
yer, (called, | think, McGregor's fork y
General Harrison, accompanied by Commo-
dore Perry and his aids-de-camp, rode for
ward to examine the bridge which crossed
the mouth Of the stream, and which the ene-
my had partially destroyed; and while
viewing it, several hundred Indians, (under
the command of Tecumseh, as we learned
alterwards,) who were concealed at some
cabins called Chatham, and in the bushes
on the opposite side of the stream, COM
menced brisk fire upon the little party in
the midst of which General Harrison was.
At that moment dsmounted company of
Col. Johnson's Regiment, commanded by
Capt. Benjamin Warfeld, who now resides
in the neighborhood of Lexington, in this
State, came up: the fire of the Indians was
so severe as to induce the gallant Perry to
cxpostulate earnestly with Gen. Harrison
against the exposure of his person to such
fire, when no good could result from it;
but the General coolly replied that he could
not set the example of retiring from the fire
of the enemy. The artillery came up in n
few minutes, and opened fire upon the
cabins, abont which the Indians were con-
cealed; and Capt. Warfield crossing with
his company upon the timbers of the bridge
to charge them, they ran off.
Respectfully, your obedent servant,
JOHN CHAMBERS.
MosEs B. CoRwIN, Esq. Columbus, o.