The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-01-28


complaints dtnicGbly :; and he invited them TO
meet nm IN council they promised 10 do SO
me next day, and then returned to their yillage
as soon rs they We're gone, he told his officers
ne h'eW from their language and behaviour that
tney intended to attack them before MORNING.
Comment that this was sthe councils thev
'ne"itnted, he encamped his army in the order
OK battle, and directed his men to lie down win
,lieIr cio!hes on, and their arms at their Sides
HIS predictions soon became history: an hour
attack was made with great fury. The conflict
lasted nearly two hours, and until daylight en-.
ah'ed nm 10 see The position of the Indians,
"nrh a vigorous charge was ordered which ter
minated IN their defeat and dispersion. The
army then marched TO the village and DESTROY.
ca II: we may safely affirm that this was the
hrst instance IN which American troops have
sustained themselves against superior force
o' INDIANS, and in a night attack of two hours
continuance AS frnN of this victory, the
lrea'y was preserved and the pence and safety
OF the irentier secured. 1t was from this bat,
ne, SO important to the Government and ueo
PIE OF Indiana, and so brilliant in the mode OF
IT'S achlevement' against desperate foe thar
General Harrison derived the appeIatIon of
OF the Hero of Tippecanoe.'
Inc savages on the frontier of INDIANA hay.
ing been thus defeated and scattered and Gov.
Harrison hearing that they were taking scalps
ana breaking up the settlements on the from
uer OF ONO, resigned his commission as Gov
erhor, and superintendent OF Indian affairs,
together with their emoIunents, repaired 70
Cincinnati, and volunteered in our defence
In few months lie succeeded in scattering
t savages on our borders a part of them
he drove to the lakes, and the residue, he
compelled to remove to place OF safety with
IN our settlements. By this operation, the set.
tiers on our frontier We're relieved from dang
er and hundreds who had fed to the denser
settlements OF the State for protection, returned
10 their improvements and occupied them in
safety. A person who has not an accurate
knowledge of the condition of The Northwes-
tern portion of Ohio, at the time OF the late
war, when 1t was an unbroken Wilderness with
out inhabitants, other than aborgines-wi,hou,
Loaus' bridges, ferries, or Improvements of any
Kihd, cannot form an idea of the difficulties
Eenaral Harrison encountered in feeding sus.
'aInining and keeping together his army The
difhcuhles and perplcxes which heset him
during all his campa gns are known 10 but few
ana cannot he justly appreciated by any vet
ny unceasng activity and ny the efforts of his
is impossible 10 dwelt on minuta-a voIune
would not contain the half of such detail
Pressed down by all these difficulties he kent
the field he never despaired for moment ).
that their spirits never Tf0ge ed=rnefm noI,es
never sunk. 1t IS not generally known tha,
the fleet built at Erie, Ivy which the command
of the Lakes was obtained was PROJECT he.
commended by General Harrison, and that
it was adopted by Mr. Madison, in conse-
quence of his unbouNded confidence in the
prudence and sound judgment of him WHO
proposed it. Before the period of which l
am now speaking, Gen. Harrison had been
appointed Mao General in the militia of
kentucky, by law of that State, and had
had been appointed General in the army OF
the United States by Mr. Madison.
Passing over Il multitude Of affairs of small
er moment, let me point your attention to the
memorable se.ge Of Fort Meigs that work of
defence consisting OF mud embankment and
an enclosure of piquets, defended riume
phantly and successfully by about 81 thousand
men for many days, (if mistake not, seven
or eighty against the attack Of Proctor, who
commanded an army of British and Indians,
at least four times the n,en,ber of The besieged,
which was furnished with all the materials
necessary for The occasion. Such was the
skilI,s the ! bravery, and the interchangeable ef- 4
forts OF General liarriSon-such was the re-
pealed saes he made, that he compelled the
enemy to abandon the seige in despair 1t is
worthy of remark, that on the second day Of
The attack, Proctor sent an officer with a flag
TO demand the surrender OF the post. Tie
grounds of this demand were, that the Amer
lean force was too weak to defend the works,
against the overwhelming force Of the 'besieg-
ers, and that General Proctor was anxious to save
the eiusion of blood. Tic intrepid Harrison
promptly replied "Ir General Proctor knows the
he must either have considered me ignorant of
them, or he must have intended an insult 1t was
his duty to make TIE demand before he commence
ed firing on the works. But, sir, said he, go back
and tell your General that know my own force,
and his, and that ! shall defend the works to the
last extremity. Tell him further, that If he eDer
rossesse: The Fort, he shut obtain a. in aoay that
loW gire him more honor In The estimation IF his
Government than he could deriue from thousand
surrenders - Another incident is also worthy Of
notice After the enemy had retired, number
IL, h.l l,l ,Lo.. hn
fort and stated, that contract had been entered
into between Proctor and Tecumseh, that as soon
as the fort surrendered, which they considered m
evitabe Harrison should be given up 10 me III
dams, to be disposed Of as they might see proper
Harrison replied ''Then General Proctor can pc
neither a soldier nor n man, OUT II II
shall be his fate to surrender to me, his ne sail De
nrotectod but will dress him in a pctlcoat and
deIivcr him over to the squaws as being unworthy
TO associate with men. On this story sir, WAS
GnnnJed an infamous SANDER on General HARRISON,
and bnse insult to the ladies' Of Chlicolhe. fdbri-
Gated by person whose name will no s'oop to
mention, and published by The administration
q.