Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters Page 4

  CHAPTER IV.

  The greater part of the next day was spent by our friends in a farewellvisit to the Fair; but the sun had not yet set when again they allgathered upon the _Dolphin's_ deck, and she weighed anchor andproceeded on her course up the lake.

  "What a wonderful city it is to be so young!" remarked Mr. Dinsmorewhen they reached Chicago.

  "Yes, sir," said Rosie. "Mamma was giving us a little sketch of itsearly history, last evening; and we found it very interesting; but Ican't say that the events here, or anywhere else, for that matter, ofthe war of 1812-14 have increased my love for the British. Think ofthem hiring the Indians to kill men, women, and children, paying justthe bounty for them that they would for so many wolf-scalps!"

  "Yes, it was barbarous indeed; but do not forget that even in thedays of the Revolution there were Britons who viewed such doingswith horror. In 1777 there was a debate in the English Parliamentconcerning the employment of Indians against the American colonists,when a member of the House of Lords spoke in approval of it, sayingit was right to use the means given them by God and Nature. 'Godand Nature!' repeated the Earl of Chatham in scornful tones. 'Thoseabominable principles and this most abominable avowal of them demandmost decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend bench(pointing to the bishops), those holy ministers of the Gospel and piouspastors of the Church--I conjure them to join in the holy work, and tovindicate the religion of their God.' That showed that he (Chatham)was strongly opposed to such barbarity, but his appeal to the bishopswas vain. Every man of them voted for the employment of the savagesin a war against their brethren, who were fighting for their freedomafter years of patient endurance of oppression--years of patient butunsuccessful effort to gain it by peaceful means."

  "Yes, I have always admired William Pitt!" said Rosie. "But did any ofthe British people disapprove of the employment of the Indians in thewar of 1812, grandpa?"

  "I presume a great many did, though I do not just now remember anyhistorical mention of the fact," replied Mr. Dinsmore, "except amongthose whose business interests were sure or likely to suffer," he addedmusingly.

  "Those Sand Hills from behind which the Pottawatomies fired upon thewhites are quite gone now, are they not, papa?" asked Grace.

  "Yes," replied Captain Raymond, "the city now covers the entire theatreof the events of that dreadful day. It has been a rapid and wonderfultransformation."

  "Don't you think, papa, it might have been saved--I mean FortDearborn--if Captain Heald had not been so obstinately determined to doas he thought best, regardless of the opinions of his officers and Mr.Kinzie, and the warnings of friendly Indians?" asked Grace.

  "I do, indeed," was the emphatic reply. "And that Mackinack, which fellinto the hands of the British about a month earlier, might have beensaved to our country but for the criminal neglect of the then Secretaryof War. Hancks, who was in command, did not know, had not heard of thedeclaration of war, though he might have been informed of it nearlya week earlier than the news reached the British commander of FortSt. Joseph, who led the attack, and by reason of the ignorance of thegarrison and its commander of the true state of affairs came upon themso unexpectedly that they had no opportunity to defend the fortress."

  "Oh, tell us the story of it, papa, please!" pleaded little Elsie, anddrawing her to a seat upon his knee, he complied at once.

  "The fort was built in the first place by the French," he said, "andtaken from them by the English when they conquered Canada. The Indianswere not pleased with the change and said to the English, 'You haveconquered the French, but you have not conquered us.' Perhaps you mayremember what I told you some weeks ago about the attack of the Indiansupon the people in the fort. The Indians were playing ball outside thewalls of the fortress, and, pretending to be very friendly, invited thegarrison to view the game. It was a gay and exciting scene, and theunsuspicious members of the garrison were looking on with interest,forgetting to be on their guard against treachery, when a ball went upin a lofty curve and fell near the pickets of the fort.

  "It was a preconcerted signal; the warriors instantly rushed toward thefort, armed with hatchets which their squaws had concealed under theirblankets, and the whites being taken by surprise, a dreadful massacrefollowed.

  "The following year the fort was again garrisoned by the English, theIndians fleeing at their approach. After the Revolutionary War--in1796--the island with its fort came into possession of the UnitedStates, the western military posts being surrendered to the Americansby the British, and in 1812 the fortress, then called Fort Holmes, wasgarrisoned by fifty-seven men under the command of Lieutenant Hancksof the United States Artillery. As a defence of the fur-traders andthe scattered settlements of the Northwest, it was a very importantpost. You doubtless remember that it stands on a bluff overlooking theharbor."

  "It is a beautiful place in the summer," remarked Grace, "but must bedreary enough through the long winters."

  "It is," said her father, "yet by no means so dreary now as it was inthose days, surrounded by hordes of savages ever ready to raise thehatchet in the pay of those who seemed to be the stronger party.

  "Lieutenant Hancks and his garrison knew that in the event of warthey must be prepared to defend themselves, but as you have just beentold, they were left in uncertainty for nearly a week after the newsshould have reached them. There had been rumors of expected hostilitiesbrought by traders, but the first intimation that there had been anactual declaration of war was given by the arrival of the EnglishCaptain Roberts, on the morning of the 17th of July, with his garrisonof British regulars--46, including 4 officers--260 Canadian militia,and 715 Indians--Ottawas, Chippewas, Sioux, Winnebagoes.

  "They came in boats, bateaux, canoes, convoyed by the brig _Caledonia_,which belonged to the Northwest Fur Company and was laden withprovisions and stores.

  "On the morning of the day before, the Indian interpreter had toldHancks he had reliable information that the Indians were assembling inlarge numbers at St. Joseph and were about to attack Fort Holmes.

  "Hancks had no sooner heard that than he summoned the Americangentlemen on the island to a conference on the matter, at which it wasdecided to send a messenger to St. Joseph to learn, if possible, thetemper of the commandant, and to watch the movements of the Indians.

  "Captain Darman was the man chosen, and he set off upon his errandabout sunset that same evening."

  "All by himself, papa, when it was just getting dark, too?" askedElsie. "How could he see to row his boat?"

  "A full moon shone in the sky, daughter, and lighted him on his way,"replied the captain. "But he had gone only fifteen miles when he metthe boats carrying the British and Indians, and was taken prisoner bythem."

  "And did they kill him and scalp him, papa?"

  "No; they let him go on condition that he would return to the islandin advance of them, call the people together to the west side ofit to receive the protection of a British guard for themselves andtheir property, and not give Lieutenant Hancks any information of theapproach of the enemy. Also he was to warn the people that if any ofthem carried the news to the fort there would be a general massacre.Darman was landed at dawn, and did exactly as he had promised."

  "Oh, papa! and didn't anybody warn the poor fellows in the fort?"

  "Yes; a Dr. Day, braver than any of the rest, hurried to the fort andgave the alarm while the others were fleeing from the village to escapefrom the bloodthirsty savages. But it was too late; the enemy hadalready landed and taken one of their two heavy guns to the top of thehill at the back of the fort, placing it so as to command the Americanworks at their weakest point. By nine o'clock Roberts had possession ofthe heights, and hideously painted savages were swarming everywhere.

  "At half-past eleven the Americans were summoned to surrender thefortress to the forces of his 'Britannic Majesty.' Hancks then helda consultation with his officers and the American gentlemen in thefort, and all agreeing in the opinion that it would be impossible todefend it against such overwhelmi
ng numbers--over a thousand, while thegarrison could boast but fifty-seven men rank and file--he decided thatit was expedient to surrender.

  "Honorable terms were granted and at noon the American colors weretaken down and those of Great Britain substituted in their stead. Theprisoners were all paroled, and those who desired to leave the islandwere sent in a British vessel to Detroit."

  "I should hardly have supposed any American would want to stay hereunder British rule," remarked Grace.

  "An order was presently issued that all upon the island who would nottake the oath of allegiance to the British government must leave therewithin a month," said Captain Raymond.

  "And they didn't let the Indians kill anybody, papa?" asked Elsie.

  "No," replied her father, "but it is altogether likely that if therehad been any resistance many, if not all, would have fallen victims tothe bloodthirsty savages, for one of the British, who had command of280 of the Indians, said in a letter to Colonel Claus at Fort George,'It was a fortunate circumstance that the fort surrendered withoutfiring a single gun, for had they done so, I firmly believe not a soulwould have been saved.'"

  "The capture of Mackinaw was a great loss to our country, was it not,father?" asked Lucilla.

  "Yes, it was indeed," responded the captain, "a loss to the fur-tradeof the West and a terrible calamity to the people of Detroit and otherWestern pioneers. It gave the enemy command of the upper lakes with allthe advantages connected with it, and exposed Detroit to fearful raidsby the hostile Indians."

  "And all that dreadful state of affairs was the result of theunpardonable negligence of the Secretary of War!" she exclaimed."Really, I don't see how he could ever forgive himself."

  "No, nor do I," said Rosie, "especially when afterward Detroit too fellinto the hands of the British; for its fall was a great assistance tothe British cause."

  "Yes," said Walter, "in more ways than one; for they got arms,ammunition, and stores; also it was months before another invadingarmy of Americans could be raised and furnished with arms and othernecessaries; and in the meantime the British made their preparationsfor further attacks upon us. They got valuable stores at Mackinaw, too;among them seven hundred packages of costly furs. By the way, BrotherLevis, was there not an attempt made by our troops, later on in thewar, to repossess Mackinaw?"

  "Yes; Mackinaw was the key to the traffic in furs of the Northwest;therefore the Americans were determined to recapture it, and theBritish fully as determined to keep possession of it; for whichpurpose they sent there a considerable body of troops consisting ofregulars, Canadian militia, and seamen. They took with them twenty-fourbateaux loaded with ordnance, and found on the island a large body ofIndians waiting to join them as allies. That was in April, 1814, andabout the same time Commander Arthur St. Clair with a little squadronconsisting of the _Caledonia_, _St. Lawrence_, _Niagara_, _Tigress_,and _Scorpion_, started on a land and naval expedition to the upperlakes. The land force, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Croghan,the gallant defender of Fort Stephenson, was attacked by the Britishand Indians August 1, 1813."

  "Oh, yes, I remember!" exclaimed Walter. "What splendid work he didthere, though he was but twenty-one years old!"

  "The expedition left Detroit early in July," continued the captain. "Iwill not go into the whole story of its action at present; sufficientto say they arrived at Mackinaw on the 26th of July. They soon learnedthat the enemy was very strong in position and numbers, and it was aquestion between St. Clair and Croghan whether it would be wise to makean immediate attack. The guns of the vessels could not damage the worksbecause they were so elevated, and they could not carry the place bystorm.

  "Finally it was decided that Croghan should land on the western sideof the island, under cover of the guns of the vessels, and try toattack the works in the rear. He did so on the 4th of August, landingwithout much molestation, but was presently met by the garrison, whowere strongly supported by the Indians in the thickets; also a stormof shot and shell was poured upon them from a battery of guns. Therewas a sharp fight and Croghan was compelled to fall back and return tothe ship; 1 officer and 12 privates had been killed, 52 wounded, and 2others were missing.

  "The attempt to recover Mackinaw at that time had to be given up, andmost of the little squadron sailed for Detroit. The _Scorpion_ andthe _Tigress_ were left behind to blockade the only route by whichprovisions and other supplies could reach Mackinaw. The two vesselscruised about for some time till the garrison was threatened withstarvation or surrender in order to avert it; but early in Septemberthey were both captured by British and Indians sent out from the fort.They came in five boats and surprised the _Tigress_ first, when the_Scorpion_ was said to be fifteen miles away. She was at anchor nearthe shore, it was about nine o'clock in the evening, intensely dark,and the enemy was within fifty yards of the vessel when discovered.

  "The Americans made a gallant defence, but were overpowered by numbers,there being but thirty of them beside the officers, and about onehundred of the assailants. Lieutenant Bulger, the British commander ofthe expedition, said in his report of the affair that the defence ofthe vessel did credit to her officers, who were all severely wounded.They and the crew were all sent prisoners of war to Mackinaw, whileBulger and his men remained on board the _Tigress_. They kept herposition unchanged and her pennant flying, and when, on the 5th, the_Scorpion_ was seen approaching, Bulger ordered his men to hide.

  "All this deceived the men on the _Scorpion_; they thought the_Tigress_ was still in the hands of their comrades, and when withintwo miles anchored for the night. At dawn the next morning the Britishran the _Tigress_ down alongside of her, the concealed soldiers ran outfrom their hiding-places, rushed on board the _Scorpion_, and in a fewminutes the British flag was floating over her."

  "And the British were very jubilant over the capture, as I rememberreading," remarked Violet.

  "And not very truthful in their report of it," added Walter. "Lossingsays Adjutant-General Baynes actually reported in a general order thatthe vessels had crews of 300 each; only exaggerating 570 in stating theaggregate of the crews of the two schooners."

  But just here the talk was interrupted by the not unwelcome summons totheir evening meal.