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Ohio Militia — 3 privates12 Months Volunteers—1 sergeant, 1 private.Total killed—77.WOUNDED.Artillery—1 Major, (Stoddard, since dead.)Infantry—2 captains, one 2d lieutenant. 6 sergeants, 6 corporals, 75 privates—Total 90.Light Dragoons—1 sergeant, 1 coporal, 15 privates—Total 17.Kentucky Militia—1 ensign, 41 privates . —Total 42.Ohio Militia—1 Ensign, 3 serjeants, 4 privates-—Total 8.12 Months Volunteers—5 sergeants, 3 .corporals, 2 Musicians, 19 privates—.Tonal 29.I Total wounded 187—Total killed and wouuded 264.Camp at I'ort Meigs,May 9. 1813.Sir—On the 5th inst. about 8 o’clock A. M. descending the Miami of the Lake.,: about midway the Rapids, with 1200 of ijthe Kentucky troops in eighteen flat bottomed boats, I was met bv capt. Hamil-; ton 'Snd a subaltern, who delivered me, as ;|he said, the orders of Major GeneralHar-| rison. to the following effect.I “ You must detach about 800 men frrm your brigade who will land at a point I will| shew, about one or one and a half miles a-, bove the fort, and I will conduct them to ;.the British batteries on the left bank of .! the river Thev must take possession of . the enemy’s cannon, spike them, cut down the carriages, and return to their boats.” .; —Observing that the British force at . i their large batteries was inconsiderable,II but their main force was at the old garri--' son, about one and one half miles below, on -'the same side of the river That the Indi-- an forces were chiefly on the right bank of ' the river around Fort Meigs.“The balance of the men under your 1 command most land on rhe righi bank opposite the first lardng. and will fight j their wai through the Indians to the Fort.” Observing that the route thus to be taken ’ would be shown bv a subaltern officer then t in company with capt. Hamilton who u mild . land his perogue at the point, on the right „ bank at which the boats could land, t The order of descending the river in ; boats was the same as the order of march i on line of battle in solid columns; each lt;f- ficer taking position according to his rank. . Col. Dudley the oldest colonel led the van, -| and in this order the river had been des- ] cended.'; As soon as capt. Hamilton had delivered M these orders, being in the 13tb boat from 51 the front, I diiected him to proceed imme-'Idiately to col. Dudley, and order him to ’! take the men in the 13 front boats, and ex ‘ | ecute gen. Harrison’s orders on the left ’ \ bank of the river; and post his (capt. Ham-jj ilton’s) subaltern on the right bank of the river, to conduct myself with the men in n the six rear boats to the fort I ordered e the five boats in cfae rear of me to fall in a . line and follow me.High wind and the rapidity of the cur- rent drove four of the rear boats ashore in y the attempt to follow on, according to or-- der, where they remained a short time,I sufficient however to detain them half or '» three quarters of a mile in the rearJ To land according to order, I kept close along the right bank until opposite to c l j Dudley’s landing. There 1 found no guideII left to conduct me to the fort, as captah s j Hamilton had promised I then made ai s attempt to cross the river and join c lone) j, Dudley, but from the rapid current in i'J falls, I was unable to land on the point witn 1 him.1 Being nearly half way across the river f| and the waves running too high to risk the ; | boats, then driving down the current side- wise, steered about and rowed the best wav j we could to save our boats. My attempt-11 to cross the river to col. Dndlev. occasion-. |ed. I presume, all the boats in the rear of • me (and which were then out of hailing . distance) to cross over and land with colo-[ | nel Dudlev.'j Having been defeated in a landing on the , left, we then endeavored to effect it on 'he | right, even without a guide : But be! re a I landing could be effected, we received a , j brisk fire from the enemy on shore, which , j was returned and kept up on both sides and ; I was in this unavoidable situation compell-. , ed to make to fort Meigs with no other .j force than about 50 men on board (the other : boats being still in the rear) and to receive : the enemy’s fire until we arrived under protection of the fort., Col. Boswell’s command (except the men in my boat) having landed to join col. Dudley was,-(as I have been informed) ordered by capt, Hamilton immediatelv to embark and land on the right hand shore about a mile above the fort, and prepare 1 to fight his way into the garrison. The colonel embarked and landed as he conceived at the proper point pursuant to capt Hamilton's order, and was forming his men in order of battle, when be was met by capt. Shaw and ordered to march into the garrison in open order the safest route.When my own boat landed we were met by two men, who took charge of the boat as we understood to bring her under the protection of the fort batteries.Believing our bagage to be thus made safe we forbid our servants to carry any portion of it, but loaded them with cannon ball, which they bore to the fort. Our bagage was. however, taken by the Indians in a very short time after we left the boat.Upon receiving the orders of capt. Ham ilton, I asked if he had brought spikes to spike the enemy’s cannon, to which he replied he had plenty.I am. Sir, respectfullyYour mosi obedient servant, GREEN CLAY, Brig. Gen. His Excellency, Major Generalwm h Harrison.P. S. Captain Hamilton in delivering the orders of Gen. Harrison observed, that the object of landing and marching a portion „f the troops on the right bank, was to draw the at-tent mil ot the Indians, and by thus engaging them, aflbrd an opportunity to the garrison to make a sally, and bv a circuitous rout, surprise and carry the batteries and cannon of the enc-my below the fort on the right bankO ‘GAY, Brig. Gen.THE LATE TATTLE.On Sunday last, a number lt;.' Kentucky troops taken in the action of the 4th inst. pas-ised through this town on their way home. They were takerTby the British to Cleveland, at the mouth of Huron, whence they were permitted to return home on condition of not serving against the British or their allies until regularly exchanged. The following particulars of the late action have been related to us by one of the Kentucky troops attached ./ Col. liudlev’s regiment ; and we have every reason to believe that his statement is entitled to full credit. Our informant states, that the detachment ordered to atlack the enemy’s batteries on the other side of the river, consisting of Col. Dudley’s regiment, and a company from Boswell’s landed about two miles or two miles and a half above the batteries ; that they were formed in three lines ; the first line at the disa tance of half a mile from the river—the secondj a quarter of a mile beyond the first—and the third a quarter of a mile beyond the second; that their orders were to proceed as silently as possible, in the order in which thev were formed, until they should come opposite the: fortifications, when the first line were to attack and carry the batteries, and spike the cannon— the second line were to support the first—and the third were to act as a corps de reserve, and keep the Indians at bay. The batteries being carried, and the cannon spiked, the detachment were to retreat immediately to their boats,' embark and cross over towards Fort Meigs, when Gen. Harrison was to make a sally, in order to cover their landing, and enable them to enter the Fort. Unfortunately, when the detachment began its march towards the batteries, the orders to keep a profound silence were not strictly obeyed. Several guns were fired, and the enemy were tliys apprized of their approach. A large body of Indians immediately raised the yell, and attacked our troops, but were met with firmness and driven-back. The first line of our troops then attacked the batteries, carried diem, and spiked the' cannon, the enemy making but a slight resistance; but the second line, instead of support* ing the first:, fell a considerable distance oiS their left, and. as well as the third line, were amused by the Indians, and drawn into tha woods. Meanwhile, some boats were seen by those of our men who were on the beach, coming up the river, and, supposing them to be reinforcements scut by general Harrison to ihcr assistance, they received them witfr “ Huzza for Harrison /” and did not perceive that they were British troops until they were landed and began to fire on them. The Indians,, by tli is time, haring been considerably reinforced, began to harass our troops, who soon perceived the danger of their situation, and commenced liitir retreat towards the place where they were first formed, the Indians following close at their heels, and killing or taking those who lagged behind, as well as the wounded. It appears that the retreat was made in considerable confusion, the troops being scattered in different directions when the order was given. Upon the arrival of lt;ur troops at the place where ihty were first formed, they found the ground occupied by the British, who were arrayed in two lines, in an angular form. The British being concealed by the thick foliage, were not perceived by our troops until they had reached the middle of the angle, when the enemv advanced upon them with fixed bay onets. Finding it impossible to make good their retreat, or escape the fury- of the Indians, who were harassing their rear, our little band surrendered to the British, who had formed a circle round them, in order to protect them against the vengeance ol the savages, who were highly exaspr- n'ed on account of the loss they had sustained.— Oui informant further states, that, after the surrender, several of our men were murdered, and a great number wounded by the Indians, notwiinstanding the British did all in their power to prevent them. Among those thus barbarously murdered, we are sorry to mention captain Lewis, a very meritorious officer, ■ind brother to the gallant colonel Lewis, who so eminently distinguished himself in the action of the I8th January. One of the barbarians, hearing a man belonging to captain Lewis’s company address the latter with the appellation of “ Captain Lewis,” immediately exclaimed, “Ha! Colonel Lewis come again!** and, drawing a pistol from llis b-isovn, instantly shot that valuable officer through the head. The Indians were very numerous, and the British appeared to possess little or no con-troul over them, if we except colonel F.lhott, under whose immediate direction they appeared to be. They .killed two British soldiers for attempting to prevent ihem from murdering [ our men after the surrender There were two-tribes of Indians, one of which were pam'edT red, and the o-her bl^ck; the latter treated our troops with the greatest barbarity, wantonly murdering, maiming, and stripling; them, and showing- their hatred bv every aat of malevolence in theii-power; the former, lt;wu the contrary, treated them with kindness and humanity. Our troops behaved well or. this occasion; and out loss, both during and nflrt-the action, does not exceed 150 killed am* missing, and about 20 wounded. Among-the officers killed, we are sorry to announce C'oL Dudley, ami Capts. Lewis, Morrison, and Irvine, and eiisi; n Dooley; and amr.. * the wounded Major Shelby, lieutenant Underwood (of Morrison s companV), and lieutenant Hamilton, of the Ohio troops. We understand that the loss ot the British is as great, if not greater, than ours —Fredonian.Cim,ucoTHE, May 20; PRISONERS OF WAR.About two hundred and fifty of general' Clay’s brigade of Kentucky militia haver this week passed through Chillicothe—1 he forlorn situation of these brave rne.T awakened the sympathy of our citizens,11 and that liberality which is their charac-teristic, was not withheld from the poor soldier.These men report, that after they were made prisoners, they were conducted to the ruins of the old British fort Miami, to which they give the appellation of « slaughter pen,” and there ordered to sit down. The Indians now commenced their barbarities in presence of the British officers. Several of the officers and men were shot by the Indians who sur-rounded them, while others were selected ?nd dragged out, with tomahaVks buried in their skulls—About fortv persons were butchered in this way, when an end was put to savage cruelty, by the interference of Col. Elliott, who it appears had complete contronl over Proctoi’s allies.—Gaz.itrmv Blanks«/For S,i/r fit t/}\ Ciftin/*
Newspaper Details
Lexington Kentucky Gazette
Lexington, Kentucky, US
Tue, May 25, 1813
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
National G.
USA 21 Jan 2024
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