Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-07-07
JONI B. BRIsTow, So
CO.N.HU.NTI.fI I'D.
VIEWS OF THE CAMPAIGN.

JoHS B. BRrsTow, Sse'ry.
COMMUNICATED.
VIEWS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
SrAxARDsvILLE, June Is, lelo.
Won have No doubt had a full account Of Mr.. Rivcs $
speech at Stanardsville, and will see in the Wing ex-
auperated accounts Of its effect OH the people; nut you
NAV rest assured, that no efforts the Wings may make,
can chance this Dis,rict-It will 60 for Van by amaJo-
rity of six or seven hundred. Mr.. kives had hothins
new-merely repeated the newspaper s!anGers Of ny
day-the bankrupt Treasury, the ruined country
the Standing Army, the Presidents gold spoons,
&c. &C.; said he lived in an humble shed, WIN
omen door, or if closed, "the string OF the latch
was always hanging out" The Opposition are 90
ing all that can be done with the feoman' iiVes Oh
Harrison, &c, &c; but all will not do-tie people
will no, be deceived-They do not believe that fiarr'-
son is "a secondly Washington, although they hear ire
peated again and again By our ovcr-zeai"us wing or.
tors. SO much has been said ofhls Military career, una.
| have been induced 10 look into 1t as detailed oy hiihseli'
in his official correspondence with the var department
and although he no doubt represents himself as tavora-
Div as truth would Justify, am constrained to believe
he is very improperly styled g 4 second Washington.
One of the orators at the late great convention (Hr'
Sergeant) said, "Eiarrison, in both private ana punl!c
life, as much resembled Washlngton; Tor, says ne,
sWashington, when a young man, was a surveyor
Harrison, when quite a youth, was a pioneer IN the
Wilderness and another, (Alr. Preston) not perceIv-
ing any great likeness, | suppose, notwithstanding this
very sage comparison, TO that great and goou man, saia,
sin aftertime we NAV be able TO say that the country
has a second Washington in the second Harrison. =
He is now nearly threescore and ten, and even with
the aid of his committee viii never be a Washington.
But let us examine his own history of his military ope-
rations. He is called the 'hero Of Tippecanoe, the
battle there being his most brilliant achievement, just
as Wellington is called 'the hero of Waterloo, and
Jackson 1.-THE hero of New Orleans He says, on the
9th of November, 1911, he arrived at the Prophets
town, with about one thousand men, ''drawn up IN ex-
cellent order, and every man eager to decide the con-
test immediately" but the General thought 1t most
prudent 10 postpone operations until next day, and in
formed the Indian Chief that his ''object for the present
is 10 procure a good piece Of ground TO encanp on,
where he could get wood and water The Chef
kindly designated a spot, and the General encamped on
it, though he says himself sit was not altogether such
as / could wish it," that at afforded great facility to the
approach Of savages,' and it does not appear that he
threw up any defence. He was surprised before morn
ing by the whole Indian force, amounting TO four
or five hundred, and lost in killed and wounded
one hundred and eighty.eight! The Indian loss
from ~thirty-six TO forty, found on the field, and
probably some CARRIED off. At daylight, the lndi-
ans having an inferior fsxce, as is their custom, with.
drew from the field. 0Hsthe 9Th, Harrison buried the
dead, and on the 9th destroyed the private baggage
and "left the battle ground" another phrase for re-
treating. Can this be called a splendid victory: one
for which the commander should be made President OF
the U. S, One thousand well-trained troops, 'anxious
to decide the contest Immediately" driven from their
ground by a very inferior force Of savages, with a loss
of 1eSi The General himself seems 10 apprehend
censure. lie says: !" 1t may perhaps be imagined, sir,
that some means might have been adopted to have made
a more earlier discovery of the approach Of the enemy
to our camp the morning of the 9Th inst; but, had |
employed two.thirds Of the army as out-posts, IT would
not have been effectual." And was he not aware of
this before It actually happened: and why did he eX-
pose those brave spirits, who were " anxious to decide
the contest Immediately, to the danger OF surprise on
ground selected by the enemy, and %atiording ''great IA
cility' To his aDnroaph ; Whv did no not g decide the
contest on the 9th, when he found the Indians in a
body manltesting " nothing but hostility, when both
his officers and men were eager for acton: Inc
General concludes his account of this melancholy
affair, where kcntucky's best blood was poured
out, with a singular ?. S.. He says, "Of three scalps
that were taken, two Of them were recovered Poor
consolation TO the family and friends Of the soldier who
fell on that fatal field, especially when the papers OF
the day inform US, that after Harrison 'leit the battle
ground on the 9Th, the Indians disinterred and scalped
all the unfortunate victims who fell on the 9TH. We
all know that the troops who fought in this action did
their duty nobly and that nothing but being surprised
by the enemy on unfavOrable ground could have been
so disastrous to them. So much for "Tippecanoe, as
detailed by Harrison himself in his official account TO
Eustis, the Secretary of War. But VIC are told that
Shelby, Johnson and other good men certify to liar-
rison $ military pretensions. Is 1t not safer to let HIM
speak for himself; 1t is the easiest thing imaginable
to procure certificates, t%estifying in general terms
None Of the gentlemen certify that their General,
III al SNuul iOlCt3 tNtl ICi anu Nuiiulsh1o tS
enemy, and in opposition TO the high authority Of
Shelby and Johnson III behalf of their General, we
have the united testimony of Governor Dcsha, Co
vernon Trimble and some 30 other officers, who served
under Harrison; and, as will presently appear, the tes-
timony of the House of Representatives, expressed by
a vote of 1877 to -. But | will go on with the Gene
rails own official account of his operations. He was
Major General of the Northwestern frontier
in September, lcl2, and on the 3lst Of December, 1913,
six weeks after he had finally quilted the army, the
House Of representatives passed the following rcsolu-
ton by a vote of l37 to Is, (see Niles Register, vol. ),
page 1883 "Reso'red, That the President Of the United
States, be requested 10 cause TO be laid before this House,
any information in his possession, not improper to be
communicated, which may tend 10 illustrate the causes
of the failure of the arms of the U. States, on the
frontier Here was a solemn resolve of 1877
10 Is members, that there was q failure Of our arms
son the Northern frontier" where Harrison command
Let it not be said, that this resolution referred to
surrender-That unfortunate affair, had been
fully investigated in the preceding April, and Hull
to be shot. The President responded 10
this call on the 31st Of January, 1914, in some six
pages of correspondence between Harrison
other officers commanding on the Northern from
tier, from which | make some extracts. Harrison 10
the Secretary, dated Chiicothe, March 18th, 1873, (see
Niles, vol. 9th, page 3lD says: "Among the reasons
which make 1T necessary to employ a large force, | am
sorry to mention the dismay and disinclination TO the
service, which appears to prevail in the Western coun-
try. Numbers must give that confidence which ought
10 be produced by conscious valor and intrepidity."-
' y sThe new drafts from this State are entirely
Of another character, and arc not to be depended upon"
: "Every excrtion shall in the mean time be
used, to forward the recruiting service. For a few
weeks, l think that my sereiccs nouid DC more useful in
hat than any other employment"
The above is in answer to the Secretary's letter Of
he 5th Of March, 1913, communicating the Presidents
and directing the operations against Maiden.