OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - HISTORY: Chapter 34 (Abbott, John S. C., 1875)
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			Chapter XXXIV
	   The Siege of Forts Meigs and Stevenson

   Colonel Dudley, the senior officer, was entrusted with the command of the
troops who were to attack the British batteries. General Clay landed his men
on the left bank of the river, and after a very severe conflict, succeeded, 
by aid of the sortie from the garrison, in fighting his way into the fort.
Colonel Dudley effected his landing at the appointed place without difficulty.
He drove the British from their guns and spiked them. Then his soldiers, raw
militia, unaccustomed to obey orders, were so elated with their easy victory
that, notwithstanding all the efforts of their commander, they persisted in
pursuing a band of sagacious Indians who were drawing them into an ambush.
   General Harrison stood upon the ramparts of the fort in full view of the
scene. The cheers of these brave but infatuated men fell upon his ears like
the wail of death. He and his officers shouted frantically to them, beckoning
them to return; but the thoughtless soldiers deemed these shouts but the 
applause of the garrison in view of their heroic achievement, and more 
impetuously the tumultuous throng rushed on to destruction. Harrison exclaimed,
in tones of anguish, "They are lost, they are lost! Can I never get men to
obey my orders!"
   On, on they rushed, till they came into a defile, when suddenly, twice
their numbers rose up around them. Their retreat was cut off, and a scene of
terrific slaughter ensued. The Indians, pouring in a murderous fire, with 
horrid yells and gleaming tomahawks, rushed upon their victims. All the 
troops were now huddled together in utter confusion, unable to make any
resistance. The British officers and the Indians were commingled in the
assaults, while the British did all that they dared to do to arrest the
ferocity of their savage allies. The white flag of surrender was raised, and
gradually those who had survived the slaughter were regarded as captives.
   The British and the Indians commenced leading the prisoners back to the
British encampment. But the savages were so numerous that they scorned 
obedience to their civilized comrades. They deemed, and with some plausibility,
the victory due to their own prowess. On the march, they began to rob their
prisoners, stripping them even of every article of clothing. As they drew
near the encampment, the Indians formed a long line, before which they
compelled their captives to run, while they whipped, shot and tomahawked 
them. One of the Americans, who had a bullet first buried in his back, and
who ran this terrible gauntlet, writes:
   "When I reached the starting place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, 
and ran near the muzzles of their guns, knowing that they would have to shoot
me while I was immediately in front, or let me pass; for to have turned their
guns up or down the lines, to shoot me, would have endangered themselves, as
there was a curve in their line. In this way I passed without injury, except
some strokes over the shoulder with their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch
which surrounded the encampment, the man before me was shot, and fell, and I
fell over him. The passage, for a while, was stopped by those who fell over
the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost at this place I cannot
tell; probably between twenty and forty.
   "When we got within the walls we were ordered to sit down. A new scene
commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated wall, and shot
one of the prisoners next to him. He reloaded and shot a second, the ball
passing through him into the hip of another, who afterwards died of the
wound. The savage then laid down his gun and took his tomahawk, with which
he killed two others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the
men, they endeavored to escape from him, by leaping over the heads of each
other. Thus they were heaped, one upon another; and they trampled upon me so
that I could see nothing that was going on. The confusion and uproar at this
moment can not be adequately described. There was an excitement and fierceness
manifested among the Indians which betokened a strong disposition, among 
some of them, to massacre the whole of us."
   Mr. William G. Ewing, who was present on this occasion, writes: "While
this bloodthirsty carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the
rear in the Indian tongue, when turning around, I saw Tecumseh coming with
all the rapidity with which his horse could carry him, until he drew near to
where two Indians had an American and were in the act of killing him. He
sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast,
and threw them both to the ground. Drawing his tomahawk and knife, he ran in 
between the Indians and the Americans, brandishing his weapons with the fury
of a madman, daring any one of the hundreds of Indians who surrounded him to 
attempt to murder another American. They all appeared confounded, and 
immediately desisted. His mind appeared rent with passion, and with tears in
his eyes, he exclaimed: 'Oh! what will become of my Indians!'"
   He then demanded, in an authoritative tone, "Where is General Proctor?"
He was pointed out to him in the rear. The chief rode up to the general, and
sternly inquired, "Why did you not put a stop to this inhumane carnage?"
Proctor replied, "Your Indians cannot be controlled." "Begone," exclaimed
the indignant Indian chieftain, to the British general, "You are unfit to
command. Go put on petticoats."
   All accounts agree in speaking in praise of Tecumseh's conduct on this
occasion. "After the surrender," another one writes, "and all resistance had
ceased, the Indians, finding five hundred prisoners at their mercy, began
the work of massacre with the most savage delight. Tecumseh sternly forbade
it, and buried his tomahawk in the head of one of his chiefs who refused
obedience. This order, accompanied with this decisive manner of enforcing it,
put an end to the massacre."
   Another writes, describing Tecumseh's appearance, as he rode upon the field.
"This celebrated chief was a noble and a dignified personage. He wore an
elegant broadsword, and was dressed in the Indian costume. His face was finely
proportioned, his nose inclined to be aquiline, and his eyes displayed none
of that savage and ferocious triumph common to the other Indians on this
occasion. He seemed to regard us with unmoved composure, and I thought a
beam of mercy shone in his countenance, tempering the spirit of vengeanance
inherent in his race against the American people. I saw him only on horseback."
   A British officer, who took part in this conflict, wrote, in the London
New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826:
   "Our reaching our encampment the prisoners were met by a band of cowardly
and treacherous Indians, who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, 
guided by the savage instinct of their nature, approached the column, and
selecting their victims, commenced the work of blood. In vain did the harassed
and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their destroyers.
The frenzy of these wretches knew no bounds. An old and excellent soldier, 
named Russell, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest a victim
from the grasp of his murderer.
   "Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen beneath the steel of these
infuriated savages, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was going on, rode up at
full speed, and raising his tomahawk, threatened to destroy the first man
who refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of
coercion had hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasperated
chieftain, produced an instantaneous effect; and they retired, at once
humiliated and confounded.
   "The survivors of this melacholy catastrophe were immediately conveyed on
board the gunboats, which were moored in the river, and every precaution
having been taken to prevent a renewal of the scene, the escorting party
proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom the rites of sepulture
were afforded even before those of our own men who had fallen in the action.
Colonel Dudley was among the number of the slain.
   "On the evening of the second day after this event I accompanied Major
Muir in a ramble through the encampment of the Indians, which was distant a
few hundred yards from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view was
at once of the most ludicrous and the most revolting nature. In various
directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken in the boats of the American
division; and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their riches,
carefully examining each article and attempting to divine its use. Several
were decked out in the uniform of officers. And although embarrassed to the
last degree in their movements, and dragging with great difficulty the heavy
military boots with which their legs were for the first time covered, they
strutted forth, much to the admiration of their less fortunate comrades. Some
were habited in plain clothes. Others had their bodies clad with clean white
shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner with the swarthiness of their skins.
All wore some articles of decoration. Their tents were ornamented with saddles,
bridles, rifles, daggers, swords, and pistols, many of which were handsomely
mounted and of curious workmanship. Such was the ridiculous part of the picture.
   "But mingled with these, and in various directions, were to be seen the
scalps of the slain drying in the sun. They were stained on the fleshy side
with vermillion dyes, and were dangling in the air as they hung suspended
from the poles to which they were attached. Scattered along the ground were
to be seen the members of the body from which they had been separated, 
serving as nutriment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accomplished.
   "As we continued to advance into the heart of the encampment, a scene of
a still more disgusting nature arrested our attention. Stopping at the 
entrance of a tent occupied by the Minoumini tribe, we observed the Indians
seated around a large fire, over which was suspended a kettle containing
their meal. Each warrior had a string hanging over the edge of the vessel. 
To this was suspended food, of which it will be presumed we did not hear 
without loathing. It consisted of the flesh of an American. Any expression 
of our feelings, as we declined the invitation which they gave us to join in
their repast, would have been resented by them without ceremony. We had
therefore the prudence to excuse ourselves under the plea that we had already
taken our food; and we hastened to remove from a sight so revolting to 
humanity.
   "Since the affair of the fifth the Americans continued to keep themselves
shut up within their works. The bombardments, though carried on with vigor,
had effected no practicable breach. From the account given by the officers
captured during the sortie, it appeared that the Americans, with a perserverance
and toil peculiar to themselves, had constructed subterranean passages to 
protect them from our shells, which, sinking into the clay, softened by the
incessant rains, instead of exploding were speedily extinguished.
   "Members of the militia, impatient of privations, and anxious to return 
to their families, withdrew themselves in small bodies under cover of the
night. The majority of the Indians, enriched by plunder, and languishing
under a mode of warfare so different from their own, with less ceremony left
us to prosecute the siege as we could. Tecumseh, at the head of about four
hundred of his tribe, the Shawanese, remained.
   "The British troops also were wore down with constant fatigue; for here, 
as in every other expedition against the Americans, few, even of the officers,
had tents to shield them from the weather. A few pieces of bark stripped from
the trees, and covering the skeleton of a hut, constituted their only habitation.
They were merely separated from the damp earth on which they lay, by a few
scattered leaves, upon which were spread a blanket by the men, and a cloak
by the officers. Hence frequently arose all those various sicknesses to which
an army encamped on the wet ground is invariably subject. Fortunate was he 
who possessed the skin of a bear of buffalo, on which he could repose his
weary limbs, after a period of suffering and privation which those who have
never served in the wilds of America can with difficulty comprehend.
   "Such was the condition of the contending parties towards the middle of
May, when General Proctor, despairing to effect the reduction of the fort, 
caused preparations to be made for raising the siege. Accordingly the gunboats
ascended the river and anchored under the batteries, the guns of which were
conveyed on board under a heavy fire from the enemy. The whole being secured,
the expedition returned to Malden. The Americans remained tranquil within
their works, and suffered us to depart unmolested."
   Of the eight hundred men who composed Colonel Dudley's division, only one
hundred and fifty escaped. All the rest were either killed or captured. Many
of the prisoners the Indians claimed and carried off with them to their 
towns to treat them there as they pleased. The loss of the garrison during
the siege amounted to one hundred and eighty-nine men. And now the question
must arise in every thoughtful mind. What was the cause of this horrid war
between England and America, which, destroying all the happiness and peace,
created such suffering, slaughter and misery?
   On the part of the British it was because their government demanded the
privilege, whenever one of their men of war met any American vessel at sea, 
to send a lieutenant on board, summon the whole crew before him, and to take
from that crew whoever he was disposed to declare to be a British subject, 
and to impress him as a sailor beneath the British flag. In this way more
than a thousand American citizens had been kidnapped. The American government
deemed this an outrage which no nation which respected itself could tolerate.
Hence the war.
   On the part of the Indians, they joined the British because the United
States government claimed the privilege of purchasing immense extents of
territory of an individual tribe, without consulting other tribes. The Indians
were forbidden to unite for mutual protection, as Tecumseh and his party
wished to unite them, following the example of the United States. The immediate
occasion of the war which this question created was the treaty of Fort Wayne.
By this treaty a few chiefs surrendered to the white men and the whole of a
vast and very attractive territory between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, with 
three hundred miles front on the Ohio, and one hundred and fifty on the 
Wabash. Tecumseh claimed that these few chiefs had no sufficient authority
to cede these immense hunting grounds which belonged, as he maintained, alike
to many other tribes. Are these questions again to come up for final decision
before God's tribunal.
   General Harrison having repaired, as far as possible, the damage which the
fort had received during the siege, repaired to the interior and southern
portions of the State to organize and forward reinforcements. General Proctor
made vigorous preparations at Malden to send out another and more formidable
force for the capture of Fort Meigs. General Green Clay, who was left in 
command of the works, during the absence of General Harrison, discovered
through his scouts, on the 20th day of July, that the enemy in great force, 
in crowded boats, were ascending the Maumee. The army of British and Indians,
under Proctor and Tecumseh, amounted to five thousand. The number of Indians
was greater than had ever before been assembled during any period of the war.
It is said that they counted four thousand. There were but a few hundred 
men left to defend the fort.
   General Clay immediately dispatched a courier across the country, through
the forest, to Sandusky, to inform General Harrison of the peril of the fort.
the general sent back word that he would hasten to his relief as soon as 
possible, with a detachment of four hundred men. In the meantime he urged
General Clay to practice the utmost caution to guard against surprise. It was
General Harrison's plan to take a select number of four hundred men, and, 
approaching the fort at midnight, by a secret route, to cut their way at
every hazard, through the investing lines into the fort. The courier, Captain
McCune, of Ohio, reached the fort on his return, just at the break of day, 
on the 25th of July. He had one companion, James Devlan, a French Canadian.
In the night they lost their way, and consequently reached the fort at a later
hour than they had intended.
   Around the fort there was a space two or three hundred yards in width, 
which was cleared of trees. Just as McCune and his companions entered the 
cleared ground, well mounted, but with exhausted steeds, a band of Indians
caught sight of them, and came rushing upon them on horseback, with hideous
yells. The following account has been given of their escape:
   "They immediately took to the high bank with their horses, and retreated
at a full gallup up the river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also
mounted, until they came to a deep ravine; putting up from the river, in a
southerly direction, when they turned upon the river bottom, and continued a
short distance, until they found their further progress in that direction
stopped by an impassible swamp. The Indians perceiving their dilemma, from
their knowledge of the country, and expecting that they would naturally 
follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. McCune guessed their
intention, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the
fort, gaining by this manoeuver several hundred yards upon their pursuers. 
The Indians gave a yell of chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just
as they neared the fort, McCune dashed into a thicket across his course, on
the opposite side of which, other Indians had huddled, awaiting their prey.
When this body of Indians had thought them all but in their possession, again
was the presence of mind of McCune signally displayed. He wheeled his horse, 
followed by Devlan, made his was out of the thicket, by the passage he had
entered, and galloped around into the open space between them and the river, 
where the pursuers were checked by fire from the block-house, at the western
angle of the fort. In a few minutes after their arrival their horses dropped
dead from fatigue. The Indians had orders to take them alive, as they had not
fired until just as they entered the fort; but in the chase McCune had great
difficulty in pursuading Devlan to reserve his fire until the last extremity,
and they therefore brought in their pieces loaded."
   The Indians could not be relied upon in the least in any attempt to storm
a fort. They would fight very valiantly from behind a tree, stump or rock.
But nothing could induce them to come out into the open field, and expose
their unprotected persons to the bullets of their foes. For three days many
stratagems were resorted to draw out the garrison, but they were all in vain.
One very ingeniously devised stratagem of Tecumseh came very near involving
the garrison in destruction. He knew that General Clay was hourly expecting
the arrival of reinforcements, who would endeavor to cut their way through
the investing lines, and thus greatly strengthen the defenders of the fortress.
   He therefore caused a strong party of British infantry to be stationed
secretly in a ravine, and at a little distance from them, in a dense grove, 
a squadron of well mounted cavalry. A large body of Indians were then posted
in the forest at a little distance from the fort, on both sides of the 
Sandusky road, from which direction the reenforcements must come.
   About an hour before dark the Indians commenced among themselves a sham
fight. They raised hideous yells, and the battle was apparently very hotly
contested. The design was to deceive the Americans into the belief that a
deadly struggle was going on between them and a reenforcement endeavoring
to gain an entrance to the fort. Thus it was hoped that the garrison might be
enticed to sally out to the aid of their friends, who, while rushing to 
their assistance were in danger of being cut off. Should they do so, they 
would be instantly surrounded and cut to pieces by overwhelming numbers.
   The measures was managed with so much skill, that the garrison instantly
flew to arms. The roar of musketry and the resounding war whoops convinced 
them that a fierce battle was raging. Such a battle could only be between the
British forces and their approaching friends. The soldiers clamored to be 
led forth to the aid of their comrades, who, without such aid, might all
perish. Many of the officers of the highest grade were of that opinion, and
almost demanded to be led out, as the uproar of the advancing and receding
conflict fell upon their ears. There was almost a revolt in the garrison, in
consequence of General Clay's refusal to suffer them to march out to the
rescue of their friends.
   The situation of General Clay was embarrassed in the extreme. Should it
prove to be true that a reenforcement was struggling to enter the fort, and
that they were left unaided to be tomahawked by the savages, the whole community,
in its blind indignation would demand that General Clay should be shot as a
coward and a traitor. And perhaps every officer and soldier in the garrison
would join in that demand.
   On the contrary, should it be a ruse to draw the garrison into an ambuscade,
every man engaged in the sortie would be inevitably cut down, and the fort, 
with all its contents would fall into the hands of the enemy. This would be
a loss second only to the loss of Detroit. These must have been moments of
anguish with the brave and heroic general. It was the fortunate arrival of
McCune which alone saved the garrison. The intelligence he brought from 
General Harrison, on the Sandusky, led General Clay to deem it impossible that
General Harrison with reenforcements could even have left Sandusky so soon.
And he was certain that no reenforcements could come from any other quarter.
Therefore, while he could not account for the firing, he did not deem it 
possible that any friends were approaching the fort. The common soldiers would
listen to no such reasoning. They were indignant and almost mutinous in their
demand to be led forth.
   It was a very narrow escape for the garrison. But for the firmness of General
Clay, all must have perished. It is said that during this siege, when five
thousand men surrounded the little band within the fortress, General Clay and 
his men resolved that they would not fall into the hands of General Proctor, 
who would hand them over to be tomahawked, scalped, and burned at the stake
by the savages. Preparations were therefore made to fire the magazine, in 
case the enemy should succeed in taking the fort by storm. The terrific
explosion would involve all, friend and foe, in common destruction. This
alternative was deemed preferable to perishing at the disposal of the savages.
   The soldiers in the garrison often beguiled the hours in singing patriotic
songs. A verse from one of them will show their general character:

		"Freemen! no longer bear such slaughter;
		   Avenge your country's cruel woe,
		Arouse and save your wives and daughters;
		   Arouse and expel the faithless foe.
			Chorus - Scalps are bought at stated prices,
				 Malden pays the price in gold."

   General Proctor, finding it impossible to draw the garrison out from the
fort, and not deeming it safe to attempt to carry it by storm, on the 28th 
of July embarked his British troops on board his boats, and sailing down the 
Maumee, directed his course along the southern shore of the lake to the mouth
of the Sandusky. His immense bands of Indians, under Tecumseh, filled the 
woods with their parties, as they traversed the swampy wilderness which spread
out between the two posts.
   General Harrison was then at Lower Sandusky. It is said that the meaning
of the Indian word Sandusky is, 'At the Cold Water.' This valley was in past
ages a favorite residence of the Indians. It was occupied by a powerful tribe
of Wyandots who were call "The Neutral Nation." They had erected not far from
each other two strongly-fortified towns, which were called cities of refuge.
All who met there laid aside for the time their animosities and met as 
friends. "The ground," writes Hon. Lewis Cass, "on which they stood was holy.
It was a beautiful institution, a calm and peaceful island, looking out upon
a world of waves and tempests."
   When the French missionaries reached the lake two centuries ago, the Neutral
Nation was still in existance. Major Stickney writes, in a lecture delivered
at Toledo in 1845: "The remains of extensive works of defense are now to be
seen near Lower Sandusky. The Wyandots have given me this account of them.
At a period of two centuries and a half ago, all the Indians west of this 
point were at war with all the Indians east of it. Two walled towns were 
built near other, and each were inhabited by those of Wyandot origin. They
assumed a neutral character, and the Indians at war recognized that character.
All at the west might enter the western city, and all of the east the eastern.
The inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other that war parties
were there; but who they were, or whence they came, or anything more, must
not be mentioned. The war parties might remain there in security, taking
their own time for departure. At the western town they suffered the warriors
to burn their prisoners near it. But the eastern would not permit this. An
old Wyandot informed me that he recollected seeing, when a boy, the remains
of a cedar post or stake at which they used to burn prisoners. The French
historians tell us that these neutral cities were inhabited, and their neutral
character respected when they first came here. At length a quarrel arose 
between the two cities, and one destroyed the inhabitants of the other. This
put an end to all neutrality.
   Where the town of Lower Sandusky now stands there was a picketed fortification,
embracing about an acre of land, called Fort Stevenson. It was both a garrison
and a trading house. The works were not sufficiently capacious to accomodated
more than about two hundred men. The defense of this fort was entrusted to a
heroic young man, Major George Crogan, but twenty-one years of age. There were
one hundred and sixty privates in the garrison. The officers were bold, vigorous, 
enthusiastic young men. The fort was on the west bank of the river, about 
twenty miles from its mouth. The only piece of artillery in the fort was one
six-pounder.
   About twelve miles above Fort Stevenson there was another stockade called
Fort Seneca. It was garrisoned by one hundred and forty men. General Harrison
had selected this position as the best at which to rendezvous the troops 
which he was daily expecting from the interior. From that point he could 
dispatch his forces either up or down the river, to protect the large amount
of propery which was collected in the Valley of the Sandusky.
   General Clay immediately sent word to General Harrison that the enemy had
left Fort Meigs, and had directed his course towards the Sandusky. A council
of war decided that Fort Stevenson was not tenable against a force approaching
it with heavy artillery. General Harrison sent an order by Mr. Connor and two
Indians, to Major Crogan to abandon Stevenson, set fire to the fort, destroy
all the property he could not bring away with him, and retreat to Seneca. But
in the night the messenger became lost in the forest and did not reach the
fort until 11 o'clock the next day. But then it was too late retreat, as 
Indian bands were already hovering around the fort in considerable force.
General Harrison had previously said to him:
   "Should the British troops approach you in force with cannon and you can
discover them in time to effect a retreat, you will do so immediately, 
destroying all the public stores. You must be aware that the attempt to 
retreat in the face of an Indian force would be vain. Against the Indians you
would be safe in garrison, however great the numbers."
   Major Crogan, finding that he could not retreat, sent back the following
answer, which he worded in reference to the great probability that it would
fall into the hands of the enemy. He wished to deceive the enemy into the 
conviction that he had ample force to repel any of his attacks:
   "SIR - I have just received yours of yesterday, 10 o'clock P.M. ordering
me to destroy this place, and make good my retreat. It came too late to be
carried into execution. We have determined to maintain this place, and by
heavens we can."
   General Harrison not understanding the motive which dictated this response, 
was much displeased. He immediately sent another order by General Wells and 
Ball, supported by a corps of dragoons. The spicy order, signed by the 
adjutant general, was as follows:
   						
						"July 30, 1813.
   "SIR - The general has received your letter of this date informing him 
that you had thought proper to disobey the order issued from this office, 
and delivered to you this morning. It appears that the information which 
dictated the order was incorrect; and as you did not receive it in the night,
as was expected, it might have been proper that you should have reported the
circumstance and your situation, before you proceeded to its execution. This
might have been passed over. But I am directed to say to you that an officer
who presumes to aver that he has made his resolution, and that he will act 
in direct opposition to the orders of his general, can no longer be entrusted
with a separate command. Colonel Wells is sent to relieve you. You will 
deliver the command to him, and repair with Colonel Bell's squadron to this
place.
   "By command of General Harrison.
			"A. H. Holmes, Adjutant General."
   The dispatch reached the fort in safety. Crogan was arrested and carried
to head-quarters by the dragoons. On their return to Fort Seneca they 
encountered a party of twelve Indians and shot eleven of them. General Harrison
was perfectly satisfied with the explanation which Major Crogan gave him. He
kept him for the night, treating him with the utmost kindness, and the next
morning restored him to his command. Upon his return to Fort Stevenson Major
Crogan immediately dispatched a reconnoitering party down the river. The 
troops returned with the report that the boats of the enemy were just entering
the stream. The Indians also began to show themselves in force on the opposite
side of the river. A few discharges from the six-pounder compelled them to
retire out of sight.
   Soon the British gun-boats came in sight, and landed their troops about
a mile below the fort; and the Indians, four thousand in number, began to
display themselves in all directions. The troops effected a landing unopposed,
and they soon placed in position a five and a half inch howitzer to open fire
upon the fort. General Proctor then sent Major Chambers forward with a flag
of truce to summon a surrender. Major Crogan dispatched Ensign Shipp out of 
the gates to meet him. After the usual ceremonies, the British officer
communicated the following message to be borne to Major Crogan:
   "General Proctor demands the surrender of the fort, as he is anxious to
spare the effusion of blood. He can easily reduce the fort with the powerful
force of artillery, British regulars and Indians he has under his command.
But in that case he cannot possibly restrain his Indian allies. All the
garrison will inevitably be massacred."
   He then of his own accord, as if appalled by the horrible scenes he had
already witnessed, added:
   "It is a great pity that such a fine young man as you are should fall into
the hands of the savages. I intreat you, sir, for God's sake, to surrender, 
and prevent the dreadful massacre which will be caused by your resistance.
We are amply prepared to take the fort, and it cannot possibly hold out against
us."
   Ensign Shipp replied: "The commandant of the fort and his garrison are
determined to defend it to the last extremity. No force, however great, can 
induce them to surrender. They are resolved to maintain their post or bury
themselves in its ruins. The fort will not be given up while there is a man
to resist. When taken, there will be none left to massacre."
   The enemy now opened fire from their six pounders in the gun boats and 
from the howitzer on shore. The bombardment was continued almost without
intermission through the night, though it produced but little effect upon the
works. The fire was directed against the northwest angle. This led Major
Crogan to suppose that the attempt to storm the works would be made at that
point. He withheld his own fire, as it could effect but little, and he
wished to save his ammunition. He, however, occasionally fired, moving his
gun from place to place, to lead the foe to believe that he had many pieces
in the fort.
   The fort was surrounded by a dry notch, nine feet wide, and six feet deep.
On the middle of the north line of the fort there was a block-house, from
which this ditch could be raked, in either direction, by artillery. Major
Crogan placed his one cannon in this bastion, and had it loaded almost to
the muzzle, with slugs and grape-shot. During the night General Proctor landed
three of his six pounders, and placed them in battery at a distance of but
about two hundred and fifty yards from the fort. From this battery and the
howitzer he concentrated an intense fire upon the northwestern angle of the
fort. Major Crogan strengthened the point, thus assailed, as much as possible
with bags of sand.
   Late in the evening of that day, when the smoke of the firing had completely
enveloped the fort, General Proctor pushed forward a strong column of British
regulars to the assault. They had arrived within twenty paces of the fort
before they were discerned through the smoke and the darkness. A galling fire
of musketry, from the fort, was instantly poured in upon them. But with
bravery characteristic of British soldiers, they pressed forward and leaped
into the ditch, led by their commander, Colonel Short.
   The masked port-hole was instantly opened. The muzzle of the six-pounder
was thrust out. There was a thunderous explosion; and a terrific storm of
grape-shot and slugs, tore through the crashing bones and quivering nerves of
more than three hundred men, at the distance of but a few feet from the deadly
weapon. The carnage was terrible. It was supposed that nearly fifty were
struck down by that one discharge. A precipitate and tumultuous retreat ensued.
All the efforts of the officers to rally the men for another assault were in
vain. Two other columns attacked the fort as feints. They were both easily
repelled by a shower of lead, thrown with the unerring aim of the riflemen.
   Colonel Short, who commanded the regulars composing the forlorn hope, was
ordering his men to leap the ditch, cut down the pickets and give the Americans
no quarters, when he fell mortally wounded into the ditch. He hoisted his
white handkerchief on the end of his sword, and begged for that mercy which
he had, a moment before, ordered to be denied to his enemy.
   During the assault, which lasted about half an hour, the enemy kept up the
incessant fire from their howitzer, and from their battery of five-pounders.
In this short time the total loss of the enemy was not less than one hundred
and fifty. The garrison reported but one killed and seven slightly wounded.
The routed foe fled into the adjoining woods, beyond the reach of the fire-arms
of the garrison. The wounded, in the ditch, were in a dreadful situation, 
hour after hour. The garrison could not rally to their relief, for Indian
sharp-shooters were prowling all around, watching for their prey. Neither
side could, with safety, afford them any refuge, Major Crogan passed some water 
over the picketing, in buckets, for the poor mutilated, bleeding, dying
creatures, who were but the victims of the crimes of their superiors. A hole
was also cut under the pickets, through which all who were able, were urged
to crawl into the fort, where they were cared for with the utmost tenderness.
Others crept away to a distance where they were rescued by their friends.
   It was known by the British commander, that General Harrison was up the
river, but a few miles, with a rapidly accumulating force. He had supposed 
that he could easily take Fort Stevenson, and that then, within its 
intrenchments, he could bid defiance to any force which could march upon him
from up the river. But having utterly failed in his attack, and receiving
exaggerated reports of the forces accumulated in the fort above, he was quite
terror stricken. He could place but little reliance upon the Indians, who 
would never meet their foes in the open field. He had with him but a thousand
British troops.
   At any moment he might see the solid columns of the Americans sweeping
down upon him with artillery and infantry. They would line the shores of the
river, and protected by the trees, would pour in upon his crowded barges in
a murderous fire. Thus the danger was imminent that his whole detachment
might be cut off, being either killed or captured. Consequently, with the
utmost precipitation, the British regulars fled to their boats in the gloom
of midnight. So great was their haste that they left one boat behind containing
some clothing and a considerable quantity of military storms. Seventy stand
of arms, and also several brace of pistols, were the next day picked up by 
the garrison around the fort.
   General Harrison, when the assault commenced, learned by the firing that 
the enemy had only light artillery. He was confident that they could not 
thus make any serious impression upon the fort. He knew that any attempt to 
storm it without having first made an effective breach would prove unavailing.
As he was expecting the arrival of two hundred and fifty mounted volunteers
every hour, the advance-guard of seven hundred infantry, he decided not to
move upon Proctor until they should reach him. He sent several scouts through
the woods to spy out the condition on the fort and the foe. But they found
the forest so swarming with Indians that they could make no important discovery.
   Major Crogan, however, sent a courier who, in the darkness of the night, 
succeeded in eluding the Indian bands and conveyed to General Harrison the
intelligence that the enemy was preparing to retreat. General Harrison now
decided to wait no longer for the infantry. The dragoons reached Fort Seneca
early in the morning. The general immediately set out for Fort Stevenson, 
leaving orders for the infantry to follow immediately upon their arrival. But
the enemy had all disappeared. The British had descended the river in their
boats, and the Indians had fled across the country in the direction of Fort
Meigs. In General Harrison's official report of this affair he writes:
   "It will not be among the least of General Proctor's mortifications that
he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty-first year.
He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, General George R. Clarke."