Sustained honor: The Age of Liberty Established

  CHAPTER XV.

  ON LAND.

  Shortly after the gallant and successful defence of Fort Stephenson,Fernando, with a detached squad of twenty riflemen, joined GeneralHarrison, and was subsequently assigned to the regiment of ColonelRichard M. Johnson, whose Kentuckians won the battle of the Thames.

  After his signal defeat at Fort Stephenson, Proctor with his Britishtroops returned to Malden by water, while Tecumseh with his followerspassed over by land, round the head of Lake Erie, and joined him at thatpoint. Discouraged by want of success, and having lost all confidence inGeneral Proctor, Tecumseh seriously meditated a withdrawal from thecontest, but was induced by Proctor to remain.

  From a distant shore, Tecumseh witnessed Perry's wonderful naval battle;but of course could not determine which had been victorious. Proctor, toreconcile the chief, said:

  "My fleet has whipped the Americans; but the vessels being muchinjured, have gone into Put-in Bay to refit and will be here in afew days."

  TECUMSEH.]

  This base falsehood did not deceive the wily Indian. The sagacious eyeof Tecumseh soon perceived indications of a retreat. He finallydemanded, in the name of the Indians under his command, to be heard, andon September 18, 1813, delivered to Proctor, as the representative oftheir great father, the king, the following speech:

  "Father, listen to your children. You have them now all before you. Thewar before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his redchildren, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that warour father was thrown on his back by the Americans, and our father tookthem by the hand without our knowledge, and we are afraid that ourfather will do so again at this time. Summer before last, when I cameforward with my red brethren and was ready to take up the hatchet infavor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that hehad not yet determined to fight the Americans. Listen! when war wasdeclared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and told us thathe was ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance,and that he would certainly get our lands back which the Americans hadtaken from us. Listen! you told us at that time, to bring forward ourfamilies to this place, and we did so; and you promised to take care ofthem, and they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fightthe enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemies'garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father wouldattend to that part of the business. You also told your red childrenthat you should take good care of your garrison here, which made ourhearts glad. Listen! when we were last at the rapids, it is true, wegave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live likeground-hogs. Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they havefought; we have heard their great guns; but we know nothing of what hashappened to our father (Commodore Barclay) with one arm.

  "Our ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see ourfather tying up everything and preparing to run away the other, withoutletting his red children know what his intentions are. You always toldus to remain here and take care of our lands; it made our hearts glad tohear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, andyou represent him. You always told us you would never draw your foot offBritish ground; but now, father, we see that you are drawing back, andwe are sorry to see our father doing so without seeing the enemy. Wemust compare your conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail on itsback, but when affrighted, drops it between its legs and runs off.Father, listen! the Americans have not yet defeated us by land, neitherare we sure that they have done so by water; we, therefore, wish toremain here and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. Ifthey defeat us, we will then retreat with our father. At the battle ofthe rapids, the Americans certainly defeated us, and when we returned toour father's fort at that place, the gates were shut against us. We wereafraid that it would now be the case; but instead of that, we now seeour British father preparing to march out of his garrison. Father, youhave got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his redchildren. If you have any idea of going away, give them to us, and youmay go and welcome, for us. Our lives are in the hands of the GreatSpirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and, if it be his will,we wish to leave our bones upon them."

  Unless the unscrupulous Proctor was utterly lost to shame, his cheekmust have burned as he listened to the stinging reproof of the nobleIndian Chief. Ever since the white men began their political strugglesfor power on the American continent, the unfortunate Indian has beentheir tool, and their scapegoat. Cheated, deceived by falsehoods andfalse friends, he was ever thrust forward as a sacrifice to the hatredof contending white men. Spanish, English and French were all alikeequally guilty.

  Proctor and Tecumseh fled from Malden at the approach of the Americans.They had been gone scarce an hour, when the head of the American columnappeared playing Yankee Doodle.

  Fernando Stevens was with Colonel Johnson's riflemen, when, on the 29thof September, they reached Detroit, while Harrison was encamped atSandwich. Informed that Proctor and Tecumseh were flying eastward towardthe Moravian town on the river Thames, or La Tranche, as the Frenchcalled the stream, eighty miles from Detroit, the American forces, aboutthirty-five hundred strong, on October 2, 1813, began pursuit. Johnson'smounted riflemen led the van, while General Selby, a hero of King'sMountain, followed with his Kentuckians, eager to avenge the slaughterof their friends at River Raisin. For three days the pursuit continued.At last, on the morning of the 5th of October, the army came up withProctor. Fernando was with the advance guard when they came on a smallparty of Indians. The sharp crack of their rifles warned the armies toprepare for action, and both began to form.

  The victory which followed properly belonged to Johnson and his mountedKentuckians, though, as historians seldom know any one save the heads ofarmies, it has been accorded to Harrison.

  Fernando galloped back to Colonel Johnson and informed him that theenemy was posted on a narrow strip of dry land, with the river Thames onthe left, and a swamp on the right. Tecumseh, with about twelve hundredsavages, occupied the extreme right on the eastern margin of the swamp.The infantry, eight hundred in number, were posted between the river andswamp, the men drawn up in open order. They waited for Harrison's ordersto attack. The general at first designed to attack with infantry; but,perceiving the position of the British regulars to be favorable for acharge, he turned to Johnson and asked:

  "Will you undertake it?"

  "I have accustomed my men to it from the first," he answered.

  "Then charge!"

  Galloping to the head of his regiment, Johnson said:

  "My brave Kentucky lads, to us is accorded the honor of winning thisbattle. Forward!" The whole cavalcade, more than a thousand strong,went thundering over the solid plain. In the whole range of modernwarfare, perhaps there has never been a charge which, for reckless,romantic courage, could compare to this. The Kentuckians were armed onlywith long-barrelled rifles, hatchets and knives. None had sabres, soessential to cavalry; few had pistols, and there was not a carbine amongthem; but, as Johnson had said, they were accustomed to those charges onhorseback, and could load and fire those long rifles with marvellousrapidity even while in the saddle. Their hatchets and knives were asdeadly as the sabre. As they thundered down on the enemy, leaving theinfantry and General Harrison a mile behind, Johnson discovered that theground on which the British were drawn was too narrow for his wholeregiment to charge abreast, so he divided his force, sending his brotherLieutenant-Colonel James Johnson with one division, against theregulars, while he with the other turned off into the swamp, and felllike a tornado upon the Indians under Tecumseh.

  Fernando went with the division against the British; but he heard thesplashing of mud and water, the cracking of rifles and wild shouts ofcombatants, as, through smoke, spray, mud and low bushes, theKentuckians under Colonel Johnson charged the ambushed Indians. His owndivision continued galloping forward, until they were close on theBritish, who opened a heavy fire. The fire checked them; butJohnson shouted:


  "Forward, Kentuckians!"

  Ashamed of their momentary hesitation, the men shook their bridles and,with wild huzzahs, dashed right through the enemy, shooting right andleft. Wheeling rapidly about, as soon as the British line was passed theKentuckians poured in a destructive volley on their rear, and they fled,or threw down their guns and cried for quarter, which was granted.Proctor, with a part of his command, escaped, leaving his carriageand papers.

  Fernando's horse had been wounded in the shoulder, and as he dismountedto try to alleviate the suffering of the poor beast, he heard theconflict still raging on his right. Colonel Johnson with his half of theKentuckians had struck Tecumseh and was routing his entire force. TheIndians fought stubbornly until Tecumseh fell, and hearing his voice nolonger they fled in confusion. A complete victory was gained beforeGeneral Harrison reached the field.

  Some historians of good authority state that Johnson shot Tecumseh withhis pistol, just as his own horse fell dead under him;--that as thecolonel's horse was sinking under innumerable wounds, he discovered alarge Indian, whose regal feathers denoted his rank, coming toward himwith uplifted tomahawk. He drew a pistol and shot him through theheart. This has been denied. [Footnote: Seventeen years ago an aged man,who was in the conflict, informed the author that he saw Tecumseh fall,that he was shot through the head by a private soldier; "a bigKentuckian."]

  Fernando accompanied the army of General Harrison to Niagara to join thearmy of the centre; but Harrison, becoming offended at GeneralArmstrong, secretary of war, resigned and quit the service. Fernandowith his detached party, seven only of Captain Rose's original company,joined the army under Gen. Boyd on November 10th, 1813, was with them onthe next day, the 11th, when they fought the enemy five hours atChrysler's farm in Canada. The Americans were driven from the field witha loss of three hundred and thirty-nine.

  The writer must pause a moment to mention some of the stirring incidentsin which Fernando did not participate. On March 4th, 1813, Mr. Madisonwas inaugurated for his second term. Terrence, who chanced to be inWashington, greeted the president with: "Now Misther Prisident, we'llwhip the British sure."

  The Emperor of Russia having offered his services as mediator betweenthe United States and Great Britain, the president, on March 8th, 1813,appointed commissioners to treat for peace. On the 10th of April, theBritish attacked Lewiston, Delaware, but after several days bombardmentabandoned the siege. On April 27, the Americans under General Pikebesieged upper York under General Sheaffe. The British, deserted bytheir Indian allies, who fled before the roar of artillery, took postwith the garrison near the governor's house and opened a fire of grapeand round-shot on the invader. The battery was silenced and all thoughtthe British had surrendered. General Pike was sitting on the stump of atree talking with a captive British officer, when a tremor of the earthwas felt, 'immediately followed by a tremendous explosion near by. TheBritish, unable to hold the fort had fired a magazine of gunpowder onthe edge of the lake. The effect was terrible. Fragments of timber andhuge stones, of which the magazine walls were built, were scattered inevery direction over a space of several hundred feet. When the smokefloated away, the scene was appalling. Fifty-two Americans lay dead, andone hundred and eighty others were wounded. Forty of the British werealso slain. General Pike, two of his aides and the captive officer weremortally hurt. The dying general was taken to one of Chauncey's vessels.His benumbed ears heard the shout of victory, when the British ensignwas pulled down at York. Just before he died, the captured British flagwas brought to him. He smiled and made a sign for it to be placed underhis head. This was done, and he expired. Though Sheaffe and the largerpart of his force escaped, the civil authorities and a larger part ofthe militia formally surrendered York. The American loss in killed andwounded was two hundred and eighty-six; the British lost one hundred andforty besides prisoners.

  On May 27, General Scott and Commodore Perry captured Fort George atNiagara, and at the same time Sir George Prevost was repulsed atSackett's Harbor, New York, by General Brown. On June 6th, GeneralsChandler and Winder were surprised and captured, though their troopsretired. On the 23d, Colonel Boerstler with six hundred men was capturedat Beaver Dam by a superior force of British.

  While Perry was defeating the enemy on Lake Erie, and the Johnsonbrothers were defeating Proctor and slaying Tecumseh, the discontentwhich that redoubtable chief had stirred up in the South was beginningto have its effect among the Creeks. On August 30, 1813, they attackedFort Mimms, which they set on fire and captured, massacring all buttwenty out of four hundred men, women and children. The British agent atPensacola, it is said, had offered five dollars each for scalps, andmany of the savages carried the scalps of women and children there toclaim their reward.

  A cry for help went northward and the brave Tennesseeans flew to therelief of their neighbors. General Andrew Jackson, military commander ofthat region, was disabled by a wound received from a brilliant butbrutal ruffian named Thomas H. Benton, who was afterward United StatesSenator from Missouri.

  Late in September, Colonel John Coffee, at the head of five hundredcavalry, hurried to the Creek frontier. He rendezvoused at Fayetteville,where Jackson joined him early in October. On the 3d, Coffee attackedthe Indians at Tallahatchee (near Jacksonville, Benton county, Alabama)and killed two hundred warriors;--not a warrior escaped. On the 8th ofNovember, Jackson defeated the Indians with great slaughter atTalladega. Late in November, General Floyd with nine hundred Georgiansand four hundred friendly Indians attacked the hostile savages atAutossee and drove them from the holy ground.

  Weatherford, the Tecumseh of the South, was attacked, on the 23d ofNovember, at Econachaca. Weatherford was defeated and escaped by leapinghis horse from a precipice into the river and swimming to theother side.

  On January 21, 1814, General Jackson was fiercely attacked by theCreeks at Emucfau on the west bank of the Tallapoosa River. Though herepulsed the Indians, he thought it best to retire from the field.

  The Creeks were gathered in great numbers at the "Horse-shoe Bend" of theTallapoosa. A strong breastwork, composed mostly of hickory logs, wasbuilt across the neck of the peninsula. The Indians had great stores ofprovisions and supplies at this place.

  On the 27th of March, the Americans, led by Sam Houston, stormed thisfort and routed the Indians, whom they shot down like wild beasts. Thepower and spirit of the Creeks was broken, and even the haughtyWeatherford sued for peace. Save the trouble caused by the Spanish andBritish, the war in the South was practically ended.

  Fernando, who was still with the northern army, had been shifted aboutso much, that he had received but one or two letters from home. He hadparticipated in the affair at Black Rock, had seen Buffalo burned, andwhile lying in camp near the ruins, learned of the ravages of the enemyon the Delaware and Chesapeake bays. As yet the British, perhaps out ofrespect for the Peace Party, had done little damage to the coast of NewEngland. Fernando often thought of the Maryland Coast, of Baltimore andMariana, and wondered if she were there yet, in the great, white stonehouse on the hill.

  One day, about March 1st, 1813, he received a letter from his mother. Itwas the first news from home for nearly a year, for the facilities forfast mails were not so good then as now.

  "I have glorious news to tell you, Fernando." she said, among otherthings. "Your friend Sukey is at home. His ship the _Macedonia_ wascaptured by the frigate _United States_. He says if he can learn whereyou are, he is coming to you."

  There was a slip of paper in his mother's letter on which was written ina well-known hand,

  "Fernando, I am coming soon, for I am in the game now. SUKEY."

  Fernando answered the letter, saying that he was soon to march underGeneral Wilkinson into Canada. A few days later, the Americans underWilkinson invaded Canada and, on March 30th, were repulsed at La Colle.Fernando returned with others to the American side. He was near Oswego,New York, when the British captured and destroyed it. He was assigned toBrown's command and was with it in the capture of Fort Erie
, on July 3d.Fort Erie was the chief impediment to the invasion of Canada.

  Prompt measures were taken to secure the advantages gained by thisvictory; for it was known that General Riall, who was then the chiefcommander of the British on the frontier, was moving on Fort Erie. Earlyon the morning of the 3d, learning of the peril of the fort, he sentforward some royal Scots to reinforce the garrison. At Chippewa theyheard of the fall of the fort, and Riall determined to attack theAmericans next day. To meet this force, General Brown sent General Scottforward with Towsen's artillery.

  At noon on the 5th, Scott was joined by Porter with his volunteers andIndians. The British also were reinforced. Nearly half the day was spentby the two armies feeling of each other. Skirmishers were deployed andan occasional shot fired; but it was not until afternoon that they cametogether in an earnest struggle. The fight was long and desperate; butthe Americans triumphed and defeated Riall and the veterans ofWellington. They lost one hundred and thirty-three killed and forty-sixmissing, while the Americans' loss was sixty killed and two hundred andsixty-eight wounded and missing.

  The English troops in that portion of Canada hastened to concentrate. Onthe 25th of July, General Brown, being informed that a detachment of theenemy had invaded American soil, hurried General Scott forward toattack the party at the mouth of the Niagara, hoping by this division torecall the foe. General Scott at the head of thirteen hundred men camesuddenly across a superior force at Lundy's Lane, under GeneralsDrummond and Riall. A desperate conflict ensued, during which GeneralBrown arrived at dark, and, withdrawing Scott's brigade, the fight wasresumed. On a height at the head of the lane the enemy had posted abattery. General Brown asked Colonel Miller if he could take it.

  "I will try," he answered.

  Amid a storm of grape, canister and leaden balls, the battery was takenand victory won. Several unsuccessful efforts were made by the foe toregain this elevation. The combat, which had begun before dark, rageduntil midnight. By this time, both Generals Brown and Scott were woundedand forced to retire from the field. The command now devolved on GeneralRipley. The enemy being repulsed, Ripley concluded to retire to camp,whence, after refreshing his men, he was directed to march by daylightand engage the foe; but, finding the enemy's force had been muchincreased during the night, Ripley thought it advisable to retreat, andaccordingly retired to Fort Erie, destroying the bridges as he went. Theloss of the British at Lundy's Lane was eighty-five killed, fivehundred and fifty-five wounded and two hundred and fifty-four missing.The American loss in killed, wounded and missing was eight hundredand sixty.

  General Ripley used every exertion to strengthen Fort Erie before theenemy should arrive.

  At midnight during the battle of Lundy's Lane, Fernando Stevens andabout fifty sharpshooters became separated from the American army in thedarkness, and at dawn, when the retreat began to Fort Erie, they foundthemselves cut off by the enemy. Three or four hundred Britishgrenadiers were sent in pursuit of them, and they continued to retreatskirmishing along the way for three days, until they fell in with someNew York militia hurrying to the southern part of the State. There wasnothing better than to go with them. Fernando was chosen captain of thecompany, and recruits soon swelled his numbers to a hundred. On reachingNew York he reported to Brown, for being a detached company, he had nocolonel to whom he could report. Brown had received orders by this timeto send all forces available to Washington, which was being threatenedby General Boss, and Fernando's riflemen were ordered South. TheAmericans under Ripley were besieged at Fort Erie on August 4th. On the15th, they repulsed the enemy with a heavy loss (962 men). On the 11thof September, Commodore McDonough of the American navy captured theBritish fleet under Commodore Downie. A simultaneous attack onPlattsburgh by Provost miscarried by failure of the fleet and panic ofthe soldiers. On the 17th, a sortie was made from Fort Erie, and theBritish works were surprised and taken with a loss of one thousand tothe enemy.

  The New England coast, which had, in the early part of the war, beenexempt from the ravages of the English, was now threatened. England cameto the conclusion that the New Englanders were blinding them withprofessions of friendship, in order to preserve their own peace andprosperity. Despite their professed objections to the war, New Englandcontinually sent volunteers to the aid of the country's cause. TheBritish attacked various points on the New England coast. At Stonington,on August 9, 1814, they were repulsed. Though Boston was threatened, itwas not bombarded.

  Fernando Stevens with over one hundred men reached Philadelphia, wherehe found two regiments of regulars marching to Washington. Heaccompanied them. The second day's march from Philadelphia, they wereovertaken by two mounted men dressed in citizen's clothes, who inquiredfor Captain Stevens. They proved to be Sukey and Terrence.

  "I've been runnin' all over creation looking for you," Sukey declared."How can you skip from one side o' the earth to the other as easily as aflea can cross a hammock? I went within sixty miles of Fort Erie the dayafter the fight,--lost you;--heard you were in New York,--went afteryou,--lost you; heard you were in Philadelphia,--went there,--lost youand found Terrence. We supposed you were with the soldiers and cameafter you."

  Terrence had just returned from a cruise; and his ship _Privateer Tom_had been so badly damaged in a gale, that it would take weeks to repairher, so he came with Sukey.

  Sukey had a terrible story to tell of captivity and service on the_Macedonian_, which we reserve for the next chapter.