“Two or more guns firing in succession will constitute an alarm, at which the whole army will parade in the order of encampment (that is, in a hollow square), unless otherwise directed. When a sentinel discharges his gun in the night the officer of the guard to whom he belongs will immediately ascertain the cause, and should he have sufficient reason to believe, on an examination, that an enemy is near, he will cause two guns to be fired in quick succession. Should the firing of a sentinel appear to have proceeded from a cause not sufficient to give an alarm, the officer of the guard will immediately call out ‘all is well,’ which will be repeated through the army. The same thing will take place upon an accidental fire made in the day.
“The order of battle for rear attack will be so far attended with regard to the rear line; the rear battalions of Colonel Lewis’s regiment and Colonel Allen’s only are to turn upon their centre, while the heads of the front battalions are to close up the front lines, then, facing from the centre, march out until they respectively gain the flanks of the front line. Should the attack be in front, the senior officer nearest the flank battalion will judge of the propriety of bringing up that battalion to form on the flank of the front line. The second battalion of Colonel Lewis’s and Colonel Allen’s regiments will, in all cases, close up as the leading battalions shall advance, and make room for them. Captain Garrard’s troop, forming the rear guard, will also close up and act as circumstances may require.
“Wm. H. Harrison,
“Major-General Commanding.�
10th. The order of march for the infantry was as follows: the first and fifth regiments formed one line in single file on the left, two hundred yards from the road, the 17th United States and the rifle regiments on the right in the same manner. The baggage in the road. The order of march for the horse troops: One of Colonel Adams’s battalions of Ohio volunteers was placed at the distance of half a mile in front of the columns of infantry, and marched in columns of companies in files, and in such open order as to cover the whole front of the army. The other battalion of Ohio volunteers formed the right flank guard of the army, at the distance of three hundred yards from the column of infantry, and parallel to it. The Kentucky mounted riflemen on the left, the same distance from the left column of infantry for the left flank guard; Captain Garrard’s troop formed the rear guard. We marched twelve miles.
11th. The spies wounded an Indian and got his gun and blanket; our day’s march was eleven miles; we stopped earlier than usual in order to make breastworks, and because it was a convenient place for water. We fortified this place very strongly with timber. At 11 o’clock the camp was alarmed by the firing of many guns by the sentinels. The whole army was formed in quick time, the horse troops being in the centre ready to assist any line or to obey any order which might be given. One half of the men were dismissed and retired to their tents for one hour, then they relieved the first half. At 3 o’clock another alarm took place from the sentinels, a general parade was again made. We stood in order of battle for some time. The watchword was “fight on,� after which this place was called “Fort Fight On.�
12th. We continued our march towards Fort Wayne with as much caution as the nature of our hurrying would admit; we expected to meet with the enemy before we reached the fort. In a certain well-known swamp, through which we had to pass, we thought probably the enemy would harbor. We passed the swamp unmolested for a mile, we were then alarmed. The rear battalions formed in order of battle, but saw no enemy to fight; we immediately resumed our march. This alarm and the one the night preceding seemed to shake the boasted valor of some of our bravest heroes.
This day’s march was twenty miles to Fort Wayne, through a great deal of first-rate land, rich, level, and well timbered, but badly watered near the road; we suffered extremely for water these three days. Our arrival at this fort gave great joy to the inhabitants, who were one company of regular troops and a few families. The Indians had closely invested the fort for several days, and burned the United States factory and all the other valuable houses which were not inside of the stockading. Three of our men who were caught out of the fort were killed by the Indians. The Indians encamped about the fort two weeks before they made the attack on it, and were admitted in by Captain Ray, the commanding officer of the garrison, who would have surrendered to the savages, had it not been for his lieutenant, who defended the fort with great bravery. Three Indians were killed and a few wounded. Captain Ray was arrested and would have been broken had he not resigned. The fort was well provided for a siege, having in it one hundred men, plenty of provisions, ammunition, four small pieces of cannon, and a good well of water.
Fort Wayne is one of the most elegant situations I ever saw, and must be an important place to the United States. Three weeks ago the neighborhood around the fort would have exhibited a pleasing prospect to those who had seen nothing for several days but a dreary wilderness of one hundred miles. A number of well-cultivated farms, with neat houses, in view of the fort, would have excited emotions of pleasure. I suppose there were four hundred acres of land in cultivation. All the houses were reduced to ashes, together with a large quantity of small grain and hay, by the savages; they were principally Pottowatomies; they also destroyed all the stock of every kind about these farms, which was very considerable. Fort Wayne is situated on the south side of the River Maumee, opposite the junction of the River St. Mary’s and St. Joseph, which are considerable navigable streams in lat. 41° 4′, N. long. 11° 5′ west from the meridian of Philadelphia.
We were alarmed by the report of some guns which were fired by the sentinels; we formed in order of battle for half an hour, during which time it rained very hard, and rendered many of our guns unfit to do execution, except the bayonets. The alarm must have proceeded from the timidity of the sentinels.
14th. The whole force was divided and placed under the command of General Payne and Colonel Wells. General Payne’s command was composed of Colonel Lewis’s regiment, Colonel Allen’s and Captain Garrard’s troop. Colonel Wells’s command was composed of Colonel Scott’s regiment, the regulars and the mounted riflemen. General Payne was instructed to destroy the Miami towns at the forks of the Wabash. Colonel Wells was directed against the Pottowatomies’s village at Elkheart. General Harrison thought proper to go with General Payne; so we proceeded on to the waters of the Wabash; five miles from Fort Wayne we encamped. Next morning we came to an Indian hut and a small cornfield, two miles from our encampment; here all the wagons and baggage were left, and Captain Langhorne’s company as a guard; from this place we marched twenty-three miles to an Indian town at the forks of the Wabash; we found the town evacuated; we pulled down some of their houses and built up fires and encamped; we had plenty of roasting ears of the best kind. It is a small kind of corn, shallow grain, and very suitable for roasting ears, which answered us a very good purpose, as we had only a little provision with us.