"An attack was made on the 30th of June by the Indians, on three hundred pack-horses returning to Fort Grenville, from whence they came the day before with provisions. All of these, with the pack-horsemen, were either taken or killed close by Fort Recovery, together with thirty bullocks. Captain Gibson, the officer commanding, on perceiving the attack made on his horses, ordered a troop of dragoons, or light-horse, to charge the Indians, and at the same time he drew up his garrison in front of the fort, as if with a design to sustain his cavalry. But they were all beaten back in a few minutes, and pursued to the gate of the fort, with the loss of about fifty men and upward of twenty-five horses. The loss of the Indians commenced from this period; for they kept up a useless attack upon the fort, while the troops within were firing at them through loop-holes. Seventeen were killed, and as many wounded.
"The Mountain Leader was killed two days before the action, by a scouting party of the Hurons. He was the chief of the Chickasaws. Wells, (a scout from Wayne's army,) was killed in the engagement; and May is reported to be so by one of three prisoners who were taken, together with two more Chickasaws. Captain Gibson and two other officers are also among the killed.
"My information states that these prisoners report there are sixty Chickasaws with their army, twenty of whom are at Fort Recovery and forty at Fort Grenville. They also say that the horses which are now taken and killed, were the only means General Wayne had of transporting provisions—that he was to commence his campaign about the middle of next month—waiting for an augmentation of his force of three thousand militia from Kentucky—and that he is to build a fort at the Glaize, and proceed from thence to Detroit.
"The Chiefs of several nations are now in council at the Glaize, adopting measures to re-unite their force if possible."
Taught by the unfortunate experience of Harmar and St. Clair, General Wayne moved not but with the utmost caution, and all the preparation which a prudent forecast required. He had not therefore advanced beyond Fort Recovery until sufficient strength had been concentrated, and such other dispositions made as would enable him not only to strike a decisive blow, but retain possession of the country he might conquer. The delays incident to these preparations carried the active prosecution of the campaign into midsummer. The richest and most extensive towns of the hostile Indians lay about the confluence of the Au Glaize and the Miamis of the Lakes. At this place General Wayne arrived on the 8th of August, where some works of defence were thrown up for the protection of the magazines. It was thirty miles thence to the Rapids, where, as has been already seen, Governor Simcoe had recently erected a strong fortress, fifty miles within the stipulated and understood boundary, as between the British possessions and those of the United States. At this latter place, in the immediate neighborhood of the fort, the Indian forces were collected to the number of nearly two thousand. The Continental legion under General Wayne was of about equal strength, exclusive of eleven hundred mounted Kentuckians under General Scott. Here the Black Snake had intended to surprise the neighboring villages of the enemy; and the more effectually to ensure the success of his coup de main, he had not only advanced thus far by an obscure and very difficult route, but taken pains to clear out two roads from Greenville in that direction, in order to attract and divert the attention of the Indians while he marched upon neither. But his generalship proved of no avail. The Little Turtle was too wary a leader to be taken by surprise—to say nothing of the desertion of a villain named Newman, an officer in the Quarter-master General's department, who gave the Indians warning of Wayne's advance. Little Turtle thereupon retired to the Rapids; and having been apprized by the deserter of the strength of the Americans, determined to give battle, and made dispositions for that object.
Having learned on the 12th, from Indian prisoners who were brought in, the position of the enemy, in close proximity to the British garrison at the Rapids, and being yet desirous of bringing the Indians to terms, if possible, without the farther effusion of blood, the American commander despatched another messenger of peace. The name of the envoy selected for the occasion was Miller—a man who had been so long a captive among the Indians as to have acquired their language. He was exceedingly reluctant to undertake the hazardous enterprise. But being strongly urged upon the service, with an assurance from the General that eight of the Indian warriors, who were prisoners, should be held as pledges of his safety, he at last assented—taking two of the prisoners, a warrior and a squaw, along with him. He was received in a very hostile mood, and his life threatened. But addressing them in their own language, displaying a flag, and explaining the object of his visit, the menacing blow was suspended, and he was placed in confinement while the Chiefs deliberated in council upon the letter from the General, of which he was the bearer. Assuring them that every prisoner in the American camp would be put to death unless he should be sent back in safety before the 16th, he was liberated on the preceding day—with a message to Wayne, that if he waited where he was ten days, they would then treat with him, but if he advanced at an earlier day they would fight. Impatient of delay, however, Wayne had taken up his line of march on the 15th—the day of Miller's release. The message which he met did not check his advance, and the General arrived in the vicinity of the Rapids on the 18th. The 19th was occupied in reconnoitering the positions of the enemy, and throwing up a slight fortification for the protection of the stores, which was appropriately named Fort Deposite.
The enemy had taken post behind a thick wood, rendered almost inaccessible by a dense growth of under-brush and fallen timber, marking the track of a tornado, and almost under the guns of the fort that had been erected by Simcoe. Their left was secured by the rocky bank of the river. The Americans advanced for the attack early on the morning of the 20th. At about ten o'clock, having proceeded nearly five miles, the advance guard, commanded by Major Price, received so brisk a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and the tall grass, as to compel it to fall back. The ground was most happily chosen by the enemy for their mode of warfare, so obstructed and difficult of access as to render it almost impossible for the cavalry to act. Immediately on the attack upon the corps of Major Price, the legion was formed in two lines and moved rapidly forward. The thick forest and old broken wood already described, extended to the left of the army several miles—the right resting on the river. The Indians were formed in three lines within supporting distance of each other, and extending for about two miles at right angles with the river. The American commander soon discovered, from the weight of his fire, and the extent of his lines, that it was the design of the enemy to turn his left flank. The second line was thereupon ordered to advance in support of the first, while, by a circuitous route, Scott was directed with his Kentuckians to turn the enemy's right. In concert with this movement, the front line ordered by General Wayne to charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians from their covert at the point of the bayonet. Having started them up, the Americans were directed to fire, and charge them so closely as to allow no time for re-loading. The open ground by the river permitted the movements of cavalry, with which the right flank of the enemy was gained and turned. Indeed, such were the promptness of movement on the part of the Americans, and the impetuosity of the charge of the first line of infantry, that the Indians, together with the Detroit militia and volunteers, were driven from all their coverts in so brief a space of time that the mounted men, though making every possible exertion to press forward, were many of them unable to gain their proper positions to participate in the action. In the course of an hour, the enemy, notwithstanding all the embarrassments of the ground already enumerated, were driven more than two miles, by a force of less than half their numbers actually engaged. The victory was complete and decisive, both Indians and their allies, composed of the "mixed multitude" already more than once referred to, abandoning themselves to flight in terror and dismay,—leaving the field of battle in the quiet possession of the Americans. The commanding General stated in his official report of the action, that "it was terminated under the influence of the guns of the British garrison,"—the pursuit having continued until they were within reach of those guns. The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded, including officers, was one hundred and seven. Among the slain was Captain Campbell, commanding the cavalry, who fell in the first charge. [FN]
[FN] It was in this memorable action that Captain Solomon (now General Van Rensselaer) of Albany, an officer of dragoons, received a wound in the commencement of the battle, by being shot through the lungs. General Wilkinson, who was also in the battle, states, in his Memoirs, that Van Rensselaer kept his horse, and continued fighting until the blood spurted from his month and nostrils. General Van Rensselaer was afterward dreadfully wounded in half a dozen places, at the daring assault upon Queenston Heights in 1812. He yet lives, and, after having served the State of New-York several years as Adjutant General, and been repeatedly elected to Congress, has for the last fifteen years held the office of Post-master in Albany.
The loss of the Indians is not known. It must, however, have been very severe. Seven Nations were engaged in the action, viz: the Miamis, Wyandots, the Pottawattamies, Delawares, Shawanese, Chippewas, Ottawas, and a portion of the Senecas. All the Chiefs of the Wyandots engaged in the battle, being nine in number, were killed. [FN-1] Great slaughter was made by the legionary cavalry in the pursuit, so many of the savages being cut down with the sabre, that the title of "Long Knives," years before given to the Americans, was brought again into general use among the Indians. [FN-2] It was believed by many that the Indians would not have incurred this signal disaster had the advice of the Little Turtle been heeded. He was opposed to the policy of a general engagement at that time, and it has even been asserted that he was rather inclined to peace. During the night preceding the engagement, the Chiefs of the several tribes were in council, and a proposition was submitted to make a night attack upon the Americans in their encampment. The proposal was overruled, and a general engagement on the following morning was determined upon. Little Turtle alone was opposed to the plan, while Blue Jacket, a Shawanese warrior of high character and influence, strenuously supported the course adopted by the council. Colonel McKee was in the council, and is believed to have urged the Indians to fight. Little Turtle was inspired with a presentiment that they could not successfully encounter the Black Snake. "We have beaten the enemy," said the Turtle, "twice, under separate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him; and during all the time that he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." For holding language like this, he was reproached by some of the Chiefs with cowardice, and that ended the conference. Stung to the quick by an imputation which he was conscious he had never merited, he would have laid the reviler dead at his feet; but his was not the bravery of an assassin. Suppressing his resentment, he took part in the battle, and performed his duty with his wonted bravery. The event proved that he had not formed an erroneous estimate of the character of Wayne; and that his rival, Blue Jacket, though equally brave, was less of a prophet than himself. [FN-3]