[127] This was Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Campbell, formerly commander of the 95th regiment, who succeeded Major Gladwin in command of Detroit (1764). He is not to be confused with Captain Donald Campbell, the earlier commandant, who was killed by the Indians during Pontiac’s conspiracy.—Ed.
[128] There were present at this treaty about thirty chiefs and five hundred warriors. A list of the tribes is given, and the names of the chiefs. This was the last public transaction in which Pondiac was engaged with the English. The year following, in a council with the Indians on the Illinois, this noted chief was stabbed to the heart, by an Indian who had long followed him for that purpose.—Hildreth.
Comment by Ed.—Hildreth is mistaken in calling this the last public transaction of Pontiac. He was at Oswego and treated with Johnson in the spring of 1766. See New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 854-867.
[129] The Saginaw Indians were a notoriously turbulent band of Chippewas, who had a village on Saginaw Bay. They had assisted in the siege of Detroit; and going to Mackinac to secure recruits to continue their resistance, they attempted to kill the trader Alexander Henry. See Bain (ed.), Henry’s Travels and Adventures (Boston, 1901), pp. 148-152, an admirably-edited work, containing much valuable information.—Ed.
[130] According to Parkman, Le Grand Sauteur was Pontiac’s chief coadjutor among the northern Indians in his attack on the English. His Indian name was Minavavana, and he was considered the author of the plot against Mackinac. This has been since attributed to Match-e-ke-wis, a younger Indian; but Le Grand Sauteur remained an inveterate enemy of the English, and was at length stabbed by an English trader. See Henry, Travels, pp. 42-47.—Ed.
[131] Sir Thomas Stirling, Bart., obtained his company in July, 1757, in the 42d, or Royal Highland, regiment, which accompanied Abercromby in 1758, and Amherst in 1759 in their respective expeditions on Lakes George and Champlain; was afterwards detailed to assist at the siege of Niagara, and accompanied Amherst from Oswego to Montreal in 1760. Knox. Captain Stirling was appointed a Major in 1770, and Lieutenant-colonel of the 42d in September, 1771. He was in command of his regiment in the engagement on Staten Island, and in the battle of Brooklyn Heights, in 1776; was afterwards at the storming of Fort Washington and accompanied the expedition against Philadelphia. He became Colonel in the army in 1779, and was Brigadier, under Sir Henry Clinton, in the expedition against Charleston, S. C., in 1780. Beatson. He succeeded Lieutenant-general Frazer as Colonel of the 71st Highlanders, in February, 1782, and in November following, became Major-general. He went on the retired list in 1783, when his regiment was disbanded. In 1796 he was appointed Lieutenant-general; was created a Baronet some time after, and became a General in the army on the first of January, 1801. He died in 1808. Army Lists.—E. B. O’Callaghan.
[132] The entry for September 26, and the list of tribes following, are taken from the Featherstonhaugh-Butler edition of the journal.—Ed.
[133] This letter is reprinted from New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 787, 788. It was evidently written after Croghan’s return from the West, and accompanied the official version of his journal, which Johnson sent to England November 16, 1765. See New York Colonial Documents, vii, p. 775.—Ed.
[134] Fort Chartres was originally built as a stockade post in 1720; but in 1756 was rebuilt in stone, and became the most important French fortification in the West. It was an irregular quadrangle, with houses, magazines, barracks, etc., defended with cannon.—See Pittman, Settlements on the Mississippi (London, 1770), pp. 45, 46. After its surrender by the French, the English garrisoned the stronghold until 1772, when the river’s erosion made it untenable. For the present state of the ruins, see Mason, Chapters from Illinois History, pp. 241-249.
The French trading post sixty miles above Fort Chartres, on the western bank of the river, was the beginning of the present city of St. Louis, which was founded in April, 1764, by Pierre Laclède. Upon the surrender of the Illinois to the English, St. Ange, with the garrison and many French families, removed to this new post, in the expectation of living under French authority. To their chagrin the place was surrendered to the Spanish the following year.—Ed.