The Irish War

by David Burr; Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County

Because of mutual fears and for safety the laborers had so hired out to the contractors that they had about equally divided the line between the parties; the Corkmen worked on the upper part, and the Fardowns on the lower part of the line. The beatings of such persons who were caught away from their friends increased to such a degree, and the parties became so exasperated, that about the first of July a determination became general that one or the other should leave the line. The worthless amongst them, by carrying threats of burnings and murders which were to be committed by falling on the defenseless in the night, so excited their fears that they left their houses and cabins and hid out in the woods without light or fire to betray their hiding places. The whole line, armed in military array, worked generally in the daytime until some idle report would get in circulation that one party was marching to fight the other. Then they would leave their work and hasten with great rapidity to the supposed point of danger.

From the fourth to the tenth of July, these alarms were constant and were aggravated by the threats and outrages of the worthless. The length of line occupied by these belligerent parties was nearly fifty miles. On the tenth of July the parties hastily collected; or rather, they left their work and commenced a march towards the center of the line for a general battle.

Two days before this, I reached that part of the line, heard there was to be a turnout, but supposed it only rumor without foundation. I saw several persons and tried to convince them that no such thing would take place. On the tenth, however, one of the engineers reported that all the workmen on the lower end of the line were armed and were marching to the reputed battlefield. I met them about half a mile from my residence. They were in very orderly array and well armed; not a noisy or a drunken man was amongst them. They were forced, so they considered, to fight in order to protect themselves and to avoid being slain and to keep their property from being burned at night. They stated that the civil authority did not, or could not, protect them; that their families could not stay in their shanties but had to sleep in the woods; and that they had no resource left but a battle. They further stated that the weaker party should leave the line; that they wished to work and remain peaceable but could not; and that they would rather fight fairly in open day than be subject to these depredations at night. With the assurance that order would be restored and that I would negotiate a suspension of hostilities with the other party, I prevailed on them to wait until I could see their belligerent friends.

I then went to the reputed battlefield with three or four persons whom I supposed had influence with them. I found them fully prepared, well disposed in a strong military position, and exceedingly exasperated; and I had some difficulty in saving those who went with me from being killed. They expressed the same fears as the others but, after some persuasion, consented to appoint persons to agree on terms of peace with the Fardowns. They also agreed to suspend hostile operations until the result of the meetings between the persons deputed to negotiate the peace could be known.

In the meantime, the citizens at Huntington had become exceedingly alarmed at seeing this hostile array; three or four hundred armed men on each side had the avowed intention of meeting in battle; the civil authority was completely powerless. Fearing their persons and property would not be safe, they sent to Fort Wayne for aid of the militia. A company immediately was collected and in a few hours was sent to their relief. Meanwhile, the citizens of Huntington had collected and organized a company also.

By this time, the citizens of Lagro became alarmed; they sent to Huntington for the troops to come and protect them and aid the civil authority. As soon as I learned that the militia had turned out from sixty to one hundred in number, I thought the force altogether too small to do any good against seven or eight hundred armed men. Therefore, I sent to Logansport and requested assistance, which was promptly rendered. The militia at Lagro, at my request, marched to Miamisport and met the two volunteer companies from Logansport; and all marched back to Lagro.

Two magistrates, an associate judge, the sheriffs of Huntington and Wabash counties, and the militia arrested and committed eight of the ringleaders. There was no safe jail on the canal line. Therefore, in order to remove the cause of contention, these men were sent under a strong guard to Indianapolis for safekeeping. Here they were confined until they were liberated by a writ of habeas corpus because of some informality in the proceedings.

There were more than six hundred armed Irishmen, and I am satisfied that no course other than the one pursued would have been sufficient to restore order. The commissioning of justices of the peace and the organizing of militia companies at Wabash, Lagro, and Huntington have restored, and I trust will preserve, order.