Lincoln telegraph. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1836-1846, 1840-04-23
Original Correspondence.
WILLIAM II. HARRISON.
N U NJ Err We.

ted the plan, so strenousy recommended by Gen
eral Harrison, of securing the command of Lake
Erie by means of fleet, and Captain Oliver II
Perry had been ordered to Pressure Isle, now Erie,
! to superintend its construction. It was intended
that it should be completed by the middle of May
But this step of building fleet seemed to impress.
the department with the idea that the land forces
might be greatly reduced; for we find that the
whole Northwestern army was TO be composed
nearly of the oath regiment of regular troops.
from Tennessee, the 18th and 10Th regiments.
then being raised, and of three regiments Of vol
unteers, to be raised in Kentucky and Ohio
| With this force General Harrison was to main
tain the forts with the provisions and stores col
lected in them, to protect the frontier from the
attacks of the Indians, and keep the British in
check. The General however, before receiving
these instructions had called upon Ohio and Ken
lucky for Reinforcement which furnished
From the middle of March until the 10th of
I April, Harrison was busily employed in the int
rioi, fastening on the march of troops to fort
/ Meigs. General Lcftwtch, with his brigade
from Virginia had left the place, their term of
enlistment having expired, and il was occupied
only by few regulars and small detachment OF
Pennsylv,nians, who had volunteered to remain
until the reinforcement should arrive. On the
10th, General Harrison reached the fort, and the
most dlligeEt Efforts made to complete its
defcnces; this vas hardly done on the 29th OF
April, on whichday large body ofBritish made
their appearance and invested the font They e.
rectea batteries on the north and south sides of
the Maumee and kept up constant and heavy
canonade upon the Americans, who were, how
ever, ettectually protected by the judicons ar
engagements of Harrison. This continued until
the 4th of May when information reached Har,
rison, that General Clay, with the expected
Inducements, would arrive in the course of few
hours. He Immediately determined upon yig-
orous attack on the enemy, and sent orders to
| General Clay to despatch six or eight hundred Of
his men against the batteries the south side
Of the river, while the troops from the fost would
assall those on the opposite bank. Clay detach-
ed Colonel Dudley on this service, who landed
about mile from the batteries, and carried them
without great difficulty Meanwhile Clay with
the rest of his troops entered the fort, from which
a sortle made against the batteries on the
other bank, which, after sharp contest, were all
| taken.
| Had Colonel Dudley, after having succeeded
in carrying the batteries the south side, obey
ed the orders he had received to recross mmed-
ately to the fort, all would haye been well. But
unfortunately he suffered his men to be drawn
into a skirmish with the Indians concealed in the
bushes, and entirely neglected the movements OF
the main body of the British amile and half be-
low, who sent strong detachment against him.
He was taken unawares and three fourths of his
men either made eaptives or slain. And here
again were the British arms eternally dlshonored
by the massacre of the prisoners, Under the eye
of Proctor himself the Indians were suffered to
select their victims from among the Americans,
and to kill them without moesatlon. 1t was not
until Tecumseh came up from the batteries ana
Indignantly denounced these proceedings as I'M
worthy of men, that the slaughter was stopped.
Notwithstanding the success of the British
against Colonel Dudley, Proctor was convinced
that it would be useless to continue the seige, and
he resolved to retreat Before doing he sent
flag of truce to the fort demanding its snrren-
der. which demand Harrison treated with the con-
tempt it deserved Proctor thereupon broke up
his camp and retired in confusion to Maiden
Some short time afterwards, the British again
appeared in great force before fort Meigs, but re-
NAMED there only few days, making no attack
upon it. On the 28th, they again broke up ana
sailed for Sandusky bay apparently to make de-
scent upon Lower Sandusky. Harrison had en-
trusted the command of fort Stephenson, at this
place, to Major Croghan, and was then with
body of troops at fort Seneca, about nine miles
distant: on the 29th, he was informed of the de-
parture of the enemy for fort Stephenson, and
sent orders to Major Croghan to set fire to 1t and
ioin him at fort Seneca. But these orders were
not received by the latter, until the fort was sur
rounded by the enemy and a retreat rendered I'M
practicable. Croghan consequently could not
obey his instructions, and the only thing re-
naming for him to do was to defend the fort as
long as possible. This he accomplished so sue
cessfully, that after having been repulsed with
much loss in an assault upon it, the enemy hasti-
Nv retreated This brilliant defence while it earn
ned for Major Croghan high degree of reputa-
ton. has been made use ofby the enemies of Cen
eral Harrison to asperse his military character,
But Crorhan himself bears unequivocal testimo-
nv to the prudence and wisdom OF the General 8
orders. and has ever refused his sanction to the
derogatory statements respecting him, which, py
some have been industriousy circulated
The constructions f the feet upon lake Erie
was completed toward the latter part of July, and
1T Cav duel