CHAPTER VI.
WAR FEELING OF 1811.
Mr. James Madison seems to have been one of the many great Americanscapable of changing his political views without losing public favor. Mr.Madison, as a delegate to the constitutional convention held atPhiladelphia in May, 1787, was beyond question a Federalist. Of theconvention, a writer of the highest authority says:
"Mr. Madison was prominent in advocating the constitution, and took aleading part in the debates, of which he kept private notes, sincepublished by order of congress. His views in regard to the federalgovernment are set forth at length in a paper still extant in thehandwriting of Gen. Washington. This paper contains the substance of aletter written to Washington by Mr. Madison before the meeting of theconvention, and proposes a scheme of thorough centralization. The writerdeclares that he is equally opposed to the individual independence ofthe States and to 'the consolidation of the whole in one simplerepublic.' He is nevertheless in favor of investing congress with powerto exercise a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts ofthe States, as heretofore exercised by the kingly prerogative. He saysfurther that the right of coercion should be expressly declared; but thedifficulty and awkwardness of operating by force on the collective willof a State render it particularly desirable that the necessity of itshould be precluded. From these extreme views, Mr. Madison afterwardconscientiously departed; but in the convention he supported them withzeal and vigor."
It was feared at first that Madison would perpetuate the policy ofJefferson; but the tone and temper of his inaugural address, deliveredMarch 4th, 1809, fell like oil on troubled waters. His most implacableenemies could not refrain from uttering words of approbation; and thewhole nation entertained hopes that his measures might change the gloomyaspect of public affairs.
Madison's administration was now sustained by a larger majority of theAmerican people than that of Jefferson had ever been, and theFederalists, or the opposition, were in a hopeless minority. Thecontinued aggressions of the British were increasing the Democraticstrength every day; and in 1811, circumstances seemed to make war withGreat Britain an imperative necessity for the vindication of the honor,rights and independence of the United States.
The Indian tribes on the northwestern frontiers of the United Statesbecame very uneasy, and the machinations of British traders andgovernment emissaries had stimulated the growth of that discontent intoa decidedly hostile feeling toward the nation of Republicans, thenpressing upon the domain of the savages. The suspension of the world'scommerce had diminished the amount of their traffic in furs, and therapid extension of American settlements northward of Ohio was narrowingtheir hunting grounds and producing a rapid diminution of game. Theintroduction of intoxicating liquors among the savages by white tradersand speculators had widely spread demoralization, with consequentdisease and death.
English emissaries made the savages to believe that all these evils hadbeen brought upon them by the encroachments of the Americans; and in thespring of 1811, it became evident that a league was forming among thetribes for the extermination of the frontier settlers.
Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, shrewd, crafty and intrepid, endeavored toemulate Pontiac, the great Ottowa chief, in the formation of an Indianconfederacy in the Northwest, for making war upon the United States. Hehad a shrewd twin brother, called the prophet, whose mysteriousincantation and predictions and pretended visions and spiritualintercourse had inspired the savage mind with great veneration for himas a wonderful "medicine man." He and Tecumseh possessed almostunbounded influence over the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis,Kickapoos, Winnebagoes and Chippewas.
The celebrated Shawnee chief Tecumseh, according to Drake, was born afew years before the Revolution, at the Indian village of Piqua, on MadRiver, about six miles below the site of Springfield, Clark County,Ohio. His tribe removed from Florida about the middle of the lastcentury. His father, who was a chief, fell at the bloody battle of PointPleasant, in 1774. From his youth, he showed a passion for war. He earlyacquired an unbounded influence over his tribe for his bravery, hissense of justice and his commanding eloquence. Like his great prototype,Pontiac, humanity was a prominent trait in his character. He not onlywas never known to ill-treat or murder a prisoner, but indignantlydenounced those who did, employing all his authority and eloquence inbehalf of the helpless. In 1798, Tecumseh removed with his followers tothe vicinity of White River, Indiana, among the Delawares, where heremained for a number of years. In 1805, through the influence ofLaulewasikaw, the brother of Tecumseh, a large number of Shawneesestablished themselves at Greeneville. Very soon after, Laulewasikawassumed the office of a _prophet_; and forthwith commenced that careerof cunning and pretended sorcery, which always enables the shrewdhypocrite to sway the ignorant, superstitious mind. Throughout the yearof 1806, the brothers remained at Greeneville and were visited by manyIndians from different tribes, not a few of whom became their followers.The prophet dreamed many wonderful dreams and claimed to have had manysupernatural revelations made him. The great eclipse of the sun thatoccurred in the summer of this year, a knowledge of which he had by somemeans attained, enabled him to carry conviction to the minds of many ofhis ignorant followers, that he was really the earthly agent of theGreat Spirit. He boldly announced to the unbelievers, that, on a certainday, he would give them proof of his supernatural powers by bringingdarkness over the sun. When the day and hour of the eclipse arrived, andthe earth, even at midday, was shrouded in the gloom of twilight, theprophet, standing in the midst of his party, significantly pointed tothe heavens and cried out:
"Did I not prophesy truly? Behold! darkness has shrouded the sun!"
It may readily be supposed that this striking phenomenon, thus adroitlyused, produced a strong impression on the Indians, and greatly increasedtheir belief in the sacred character of their prophet.
In the spring of 1808, Tecumseh and the prophet removed to a tract ofland on the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Wabash, where the lattercontinued his efforts to induce the Indians to forsake their vicioushabits, while Tecumseh was visiting the neighboring tribes and quietlystrengthening his own and the prophet's influence over them. The eventsof the early part of the year 1810 were such as to leave but littledoubt of the hostile intentions of the brothers. The prophet wasapparently the most prominent actor, while Tecumseh was in reality themainspring of all the movements, backed, it is supposed, by theinsidious influence of British agents, who supplied the Indians gratiswith powder and ball, in anticipation, perhaps, of hostilities betweenthe two countries, in which event a union of all the tribes against theAmericans was desirable. Tecumseh had opposed the sale and cession oflands to the United States, and he declared it to be his unalterableresolution to take a stand against the further intrusion of the whitesupon the soil of his people.
So menacing had the Indians become in the Spring of 1810, that GeneralW.H. Harrison, a son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of theDeclaration of Independence, and then governor of the Territory ofIndiana, invited the brothers to a council at Vincennes, in August.Tecumseh appeared with four hundred well-armed warriors. The inhabitantswere greatly alarmed at this demonstration of savage military power.Harrison was cool and cautious, while the bearing of the chief was boldand haughty. He refused to enter the place appointed for holding thecouncil saying:
"Houses were built for you to hold councils in; Indians hold theirs inthe open air." He then took a position under some trees in front of thehouse, and, unabashed by the large concourse of white people before him,he opened the business with a speech marked by great dignity and nativeeloquence. When he had concluded, one of the governor's aids said tohim, through an interpreter, as he pointed to a chair by the side ofGeneral Harrison:
"Your father requests you to take a seat by his side."
The chief drew his blanket around him and, standing erect, said, with ascornful tone:
"My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother; on herbosom I will recline;" and he seated himself on t
he ground.
The chief declared it his intention to form a confederacy for thepurpose of preventing any further cessions of lands to the whitepeople, and to recover what had been ceded.
"Return those lands," he said, "and Tecumseh will be the friend of theAmericans. He likes not the English, who are continually setting theIndians on the Americans." The governor replied that the lands had beenreceived from other tribes, and that the Shawnees had no business tointerfere. Tecumseh sprang to his feet, cast off his blanket and, withviolent gestures, pronounced the governor's words false. He accused theUnited States of cheating and imposing upon the Indians; and then,giving a sign to his warriors near him, they sprang to their feet,seized their war clubs and brandished their tomahawks. The governorstarted from his seat and drew his sword, while the citizens seized anyweapons or missiles they could find. It was a moment of great peril tothe white people. A military guard of twelve men, under some trees ashort distance off, was ordered up. A friendly Indian, who had secretlyloaded his pistol while Tecumseh was speaking, now cocked it to shootthe chief. The guards were also about to fire when Harrison restrainedthem and prevented a bloody encounter. The interpreter, whom all theIndians respected, told Tecumseh that he was a bad man. The council wasbroken up. Tecumseh expressed regret that his violent temper had gottenthe better of him; but prudent men knew from his conduct that war wasinevitable.
In the spring of 1811, the hostile savages began to roam over the Wabashregion, in small parties, plundering the white settlers andfriendly Indians.
Soon after the council at Vincennes, Tecumseh went South among theCreeks to extend the confederacy of the people of Indiana among them.There is a tradition among the Tuckabachees that Tecumseh, failing toenlist them in his enterprise, in his wrath said:
"When I return to the North, I will stamp on the earth and make ittremble." When the effects of the earthquake of New Madrid were felt,the Tuckabachees said:
"Tecumseh has reached the North."
The hostile demonstrations on the part of the Indians in Indiana alarmedthe people of that territory, and General Harrison therefore tookmeasures to increase his regular force. He warned the Indians to obeythe treaty at Greeneville; but at the same time he prepared to break upthe prophet's establishment if necessary. In September, the prophet sentassurances to the governor that his intentions were pacific. About thesame time, he dispatched a message to the Delawares, who were friendly,asking them to join him in a war against the United States, stating thathe had taken up the tomahawk and would not lay it down but with hislife, unless their wrongs were redressed. The Delaware chiefsimmediately visited the prophet to dissuade him from commencinghostilities and were grossly insulted. On the 6th of November, 1811,Governor Harrison, with about nine hundred and fifty effective troops,composed of two hundred and fifty of the 4th Regiment U. S. Infantry,one hundred and thirty volunteers and a body of militia, being within amile and a half of the prophet's town, was urged to make an immediateassault upon the village; but this he declined, as his instructions fromthe president were positive not to attack the Indians as long as therewas a probability of their complying with the demands of the government.The Indians, in the course of the day, endeavored to cut off hismessengers and evinced other hostile symptoms, which determined Harrisonto at once march upon the town, when he was met by three Indians, one ofthem a principal counselor of the prophet, who avowed that the prophet'sdesigns were pacific. Accordingly a suspension of hostilities was agreedupon, and the terms of peace were to be settled on the following morningby the governor and the prophet's chief. At night the army encampedabout three fourths of a mile from the prophet's town.
The governor was well convinced of the hostility of the prophet. Hebelieved that after attempting to lull his suspicions he intended tomake a treacherous attack on the Americans. Little anticipation of anight attack was indulged, yet every precaution was taken to resist oneif made. All the guards that could be used in such a situation, and allsuch as were used by Wayne, were employed on this occasion. That is,camp guards, furnishing a chain of sentinels around the whole camp atsuch a distance as to give notice of the approach of an enemy in timefor the troops to take their position, and yet not far enough to preventthe sentinels from retreating to the main body if overpowered. The usualmode of stationing picket guards at a considerable distance in advanceof the army or camp, would be useless in Indian warfare, as they do notrequire roads to march upon, and such guards would be inevitably cutoff. Orders were given in the event of a night attack, for each corps tomaintain its position at all hazards until relieved or further orderswere given to it. The whole army was kept during the night in themilitary position called lying on their arms. The regular troops lay intheir tents with their accoutrements on, and their guns at their sides.The militia had no tents, but slept with their clothes and bulletpouches on, and their guns under them, to keep them dry. The order ofthe encampment was a line of battle to resist a night attack; and so,as every man slept opposite to his post in the line, there was nothingfor the troops to do, in case of an assault, but to rise and take theirposition a few steps in the rear of the fires around which they hadreposed. The guard of the night consisted of two captains' commands offorty-two men and of four non-commissioned officers each and twosubalterns' guards of twenty men and non-commissioned officers each--thewhole amounting to about one hundred and thirty men, under command of afield officer of the day. The night was dark and cloudy, and aftermidnight there was a drizzling rain.
At four o'clock in the morning of Nov. 7, 1811, Governor Harrison,according to practice, had risen, preparatory to the calling up of thetroops, and was engaged, while drawing on his boots by the fire, inconversation with General Wells, Colonel Owens, and Majors Taylor andHurst. The orderly drum had been roused to sound the reveille for thetroops to turn out, when there came the report of a sentry's rifle onthe left flank, followed by a score of shots, and the morning air rangloud with the wild war-whoops of savages.
In an instant the army was in line, the campfires were extinguished, andthe governor mounted his horse and proceeded to the point of attack.Several companies had taken their places in the line within fortyseconds after the report of the first gun, and in two minutes the wholearmy was ready for action; a fact as creditable to their own activityand bravery, as to the skill and energy of their officers. The battlesoon became general, and was maintained on both sides with signal andeven desperate valor. The Indians advanced or retreated by the aid of arattling noise, made with deer hoofs, and persevered in theirtreacherous attack with an apparent determination to conquer or die onthe spot. The battle raged with unabated fury and mutual slaughter untildaylight, when a gallant and successful charge by the troops drove theenemy into the swamp, and put an end to the conflict.
Prior to the assault, the prophet had given his followers assurance,that, in the coming contest, the Great Spirit would render the arms ofthe Americans unavailing; that their bullets would fall harmless at thefeet of the Indians; that the latter should have light in abundance,while the former would be involved in thick darkness. Availing himselfof the privilege conferred by his peculiar office, and, perhaps,unwilling in his own person to test the rival powers of a sham prophecyand a real American bullet, he prudently took a position on an adjacenteminence; and, when the action began, he entered upon the performanceof certain mystic rites, at the same time singing a war song. Soon afterthe engagement commenced, he was informed that his men were falling. Hetold them to fight on, it would soon be as he predicted; and then in,wilder and louder strains, his inspiring battle song was heardcommingling with the sharp crack of the rifle and the shrill war-whoopof his brave but deluded followers. Some of the Indians who were in theconflict, subsequently informed the agent at Fort Wayne, that there weremore than a thousand warriors in the battle, and that the number ofwounded was unusually great. In the precipitation of their retreat, theyleft thirty-eight on the field. Some were buried during the engagementin their town. Others no doubt subsequently died of their wou
nds. Drakeplaces their number in killed at not less than fifty.
Of the whites, thirty-five were killed in the action, and twenty-fivedied subsequently. The total number of killed and wounded was onehundred and eighty-eight,--probably as great and possibly greater thanthe loss of the Indians. Among the slain were Colonel Abraham Owen andMajor Joseph Hamilton Davies of Kentucky.
Though the battle of Tippecanoe, considered as a conflict from thelosses on each side, would to-day be regarded only as a skirmish, yet ithad a great moral influence in restraining the savages in thenorthwest, and, but for the meddling of the British agents, a permanentpeace with the Indians could have been established.
Harrison burned the prophet's town. The prophet lost caste with hispeople. When reproached for his falsehoods, he cunningly told them thathis predictions had failed of fulfilment, because, during hisincantations, his wife touched the sacred vessels and broke the charm.His followers, superstitious as they were, would not accept such aflimsy excuse and deserted him, flying to secure hiding-places where thewhite man could not find them. After his town was burned, the prophettook shelter among the Wyandots.
The events in the northwest aroused a war spirit among the patrioticAmericans, which could not be suppressed. Not only did Britishemissaries incite the Indians to make war, but British orders in councilcontinued to be vigorously enforced. Insult was offered to the Americanflag by British cruisers, and the press of Great Britain insolentlydeclared that the Americans "could not be kicked into a war."
Forbearance ceased to be a virtue; it became cowardice. PresidentMadison found himself the standard-bearer of his party, surrounded byirrepressible young warriors eager for fight. Like a cautiouscommander, he sounded a careful war note in his annual message tocongress at the beginning of November, 1811. The young and ardentmembers of the house of representatives, who had elected Henry Clay,then thirty-four years of age, speaker, determined that indecisionshould no longer mark the councils of the nation. The committee onforeign relations, of which Peter B. Porter was chairman, intensifiedthat feeling by an energetic report submitted on the 29th of November,in which, in glowing sentences, the British government was arraigned oncharges of injustice, cruelty, and wrong. They said:
"To sum up, in a word, the great cause of complaint against GreatBritain, your committee need only say, that the United States, as asovereign and independent power, claims the right to use the ocean,which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations, for thepurposes of transporting, in their own vessels, the products of theirown soils and the acquisition of their own industry to any market in theports of friendly nations, and to bring home, in return, such articlesas their necessities or convenience may require, always regarding therights of belligerents as defined by the established laws of nations.Great Britain, in defiance of this incontestable right, captures everyAmerican vessel bound to or returning from a port where her commerce isnot favored; enslaves our seamen, and, in spite of our remonstrances,perseveres in these aggressions. To wrongs so daring in character and sodisgraceful in their execution, it is impossible that the people of theUnited States should remain indifferent. We must now tamely and quietlysubmit, or we must resist by those means which God has placed within ourreach.... The sovereignty and independence of these States, purchasedand sanctified by the blood of our fathers, from whom we received them,not for ourselves only, but as the inheritance of our posterity, aredeliberately and systematically violated. And the period has arrivedwhen, in the opinion of your committee, it is the sacred duty ofcongress to call forth the patriotism and the resources of the country.By the aid of these and with the blessing of God, we confidently trustwe shall be able to procure that redress which has been sought for byjustice, by remonstrance and forbearance, in vain."
The report went over the land as fast as the mails in that day of stagecoaches could carry it, and made a profound impression on the minds ofthe people. Resolutions, drawn in accordance with the spirit of thereport, were appended to it, and these led to earnest debates. In thesedebates, the brilliant John C. Calhoun, then less than thirty years ofage, engaged. It marked the beginning of his long and illustriouscareer. He made his maiden speech in favor of war, and charmed hislisteners. John Randolph, always happy when in opposition to everybody,spoke vehemently against the report and resolutions.
The Federalists, having always advocated a policy of being prepared forwar, could not from principle oppose these resolutions as theyrecommended only such preparations. The resolutions were adopted andbills prepared for augmenting the military force of the country.
The regular army was increased to twenty-five thousand men; also twomajor-generals and live brigadier-generals, in addition to those then inoffice were authorized. A million dollars were appropriated for thepurchase of arms, ammunition and stores for the army, and four hundredthousand dollars for powder, cannon and small arms for the navy.
War was not yet declared, and, with a proper course of treatment fromGreat Britain, it would not have been; yet the war feeling of 1811 wasstrong. It needed but a breath to fan the flame to a terribleconflagration.