In the meantime Harrison’s force had reached Piqua on September 1. Here he found the whole “country in dreadful alarm on account of the fall of Detroit and Chicago and the supposed investiture of Fort Wayne by the Indians.”[15] A body of 700 volunteers for the relief of Fort Wayne was unwilling to go beyond Shane’s Crossing on the St. Mary’s without reinforcements. On September 4, Harrison received information that a British and Indian force was advancing toward Fort Wayne from Malden. Actually, the British detachment under Major Muir did not leave Malden until September 16, four days after the siege was abandoned by the Indians. This delay by the British was occasioned by the temporary armistice arranged between General George Prevost and General Dearborn. Had the British sent support to the besieging Indians sooner, or had not Harrison been so prompt in bringing relief, the outcome of the siege of Fort Wayne might have been far different. As it was the garrison being well supplied with provisions was able to withstand the attacks made by the Indians.
Nevertheless, the situation at Fort Wayne was fairly critical from September 3, to September 12. On September 3, Captain Rhea published his final garrison order, saying, “It is earnestly hoped by the Commanding Officer that for this night every man will be at his post,—relief is at hand but means may be taken to cut us off from that relief. Should any man be found inattentive to his duty, punishment ensues; For on this night, our fame, our honor and every thing that is near & dear depends. —be therefore Cautious and brave—“[16] For the following twenty-seven days no entry was placed in the Orderly Book. The next morning, despite his dramatic order, Captain Rhea, inwardly disheartened and apprehensive of the doom of the garrison and its occupants, took to drink to bolster his despairing nature.
On the same day the chiefs again approached the fort with a flag of truce, and being asked whether they wished war or peace, Winemac replied, “You know that Mackinaw is taken, Detroit is in the hands of the British, and Chicago has fallen; and you must expect to fall next, and that in a short time! Immediately”, Lt. Curtis continues, “our great captain invited the savage over to his headquarters and after drinking three glasses of wine with him rose from his seat and observed: ‘My good friend, I love you; I will fight for you; I will die by your side. You must save me!’ and then gave him a half dollar as a token of friendship, inviting him at the same time to come and breakfast with him the next morning.”[17]
Winamac failed to accept the Captain’s invitation to breakfast, but instead sent five warriors who secreted themselves behind a small building and shot two members of the garrison. From then on the siege became active. That night the Indians made a general attack, but were driven off by the four howitzers of the fort. Almost continuous firing was kept up day and night until September 10; several times the buildings were set on fire by flaming arrows, but the vigilance of the garrison prevented a conflagration.
During this time, Captain Rhea continued “drunk as a fool, and perfectly incapable of exercising rationality on any subject whatsoever, but was constantly abusing and illtreating everyone that came in his presence.”[18] The disorder and confusion he created among the men was one of the greatest dangers of the siege. At one time Lieutenants Curtis and Ostrander considered placing him under arrest in order to silence his clamor. The captain would frequently talk of surrendering if the Indian attacks grew stronger and particularly if they or the British would bring up the cannon they had captured at Chicago. When Captain Rhea was told by Lt. Ostrander that the largest piece at Chicago was a three-pounder and that the first person in the garrison who should offer to surrender at the approach of no heavier piece than a three-pounder should instantly be shot, he remained silent on the subject.
Meanwhile, instead of waiting at Piqua for the arrival of General James Winchester, who had been assigned to the command of the northwestern army, Harrison issued the following call:
Mounted Volunteers! I requested you, in my late address to rendezvous at Dayton on the 15th instant. I have now a more pressing call for your services! The British and Indians have invaded our country and are now besieging (perhaps have taken) Fort Wayne. Every friend to his country, who is able to do so, will join me as soon as possible, well mounted, with a good rifle and twenty or thirty days provisions.[19]
Although Harrison was eager to press forward, the army was detained at Piqua for lack of flints and did not move until September 6. Two days later it reached Girty’s Town, now St. Mary’s, Ohio. By that time the army numbered 2,200 men, and the scouts sent out by the Indians returned to their camp with the report that “Kentuck is coming as numerous as the trees.”[20]
At Fort Wayne comparative calm had set in, according to Lt. Curtis’ account. “After the 10th we rested in tranquility, but could see large bodies of Indians between that time and the 12th running in great haste across the prairies and many without arms.”[21] On the night of the 11th, while still seventeen miles from Fort Wayne, Harrison wrote to the Secretary of War that he fully expected a major engagement the following day. The Indians were prepared to give battle at a swamp five miles southeast of the fort, but finding Harrison’s army too strong to attack, they kindled extensive fires to create the impression within the fort that a battle had occurred. They hoped thereby to draw the troops out of the fort, but his final ruse failed, and the Indians withdrew, some only a few minutes before the arrival of Harrison’s advance guard.
The arrival of the army around three o’clock that afternoon was an occasion of great joy to the troops and people who had taken refuge within the fort. Harrison’s men encamped outside the walls of the fort where, McAfee relates, “a few days previous there had been a handsome little village; but it was now in ruins.”[22] The government factory had been burned by the Indians as well as the large council house. Captain Wells’ farm had been overrun and laid waste, while all the outlying homes were destroyed. The corn which had been cultivated by the villagers was nearly all gone and the remainder served as forage for Harrison’s cavalry.