This Place Stinks

 

Authors note:  When one visits historic sites, particularly those where the only thing remaining is a marker, it’s often easy to get lost in the beauty and serenity of the place and lose sight of what the place actually looked like at the time of the event.  In the case of Fort Amanda, it’s easy to stand at the obelisk and visualize a John Wayne western fort and all the Hollywood hoopla that goes with that but the truth is, Fort Amanda was not the quiet picturesque site we see today but was in fact a noisy, ugly and smelly place.  That said, let’s go back in time to and see what Fort Amanda may have looked like.

It's Saturday morning May 1st 1813 and it’s a cold and damp day having rained for several days prior.  The first thing you notice is the unpleasant smell, a combination of smoke from the chimneys and campfires   and manure from the corrals and animal pens southwest of the fort, not to mention a latrine that was not properly closed.  The next thing you notice is the noise.  Ft. Amanda is a busy place so the air is filled with the sounds of men barking orders, singing, yelling and cursing at one another.  Add to this the sounds of blacksmith shop, the boat building area across the river and the animal sounds emanating from the animal pens on the outside of the walls.

 There is very little grass remaining inside the enclosure the result of the high foot traffic and construction work and with all the recent rains, the dirt has turned into a muddy quagmire with potholes everywhere filled with water.

The trail from St. Marys rising up from the southwest  and leading to the new gate opening is also a muddy mess and slippery because of all the wagon traffic and one has to be especially careful walking down the ramp to the river.      

The blockhouses have been repaired and are now functional.  Unlike the perfectly round logs like those seen in movies, they’re rough hewn timbers stacked upon each other with horsehair and mud stuck in between the logs to prevent draft and keep out the weather, bugs, squirrels rats and other creepy crawlers.  They’re built for functionality not beauty.  There are several sheds lining the walls where materials are stored, some open and some with sides to protect them from the weather.  There is also a woodpile inside the walls for the men to gather and use for heating and cooking.

             Walking out the gate to the southeast, the first thing you see are the corrals and building where the butchering is done.  There is absolutely no grass in this area either and the smell is overpowering.  This is a large corral area as hundreds of animals are kept there at any given time.  It’s almost spring so there are fewer hogs waiting to be slaughtered now that the summer months are approaching and beef will be the main meat source. The animals are brought to Amanda “on the hoof” because it’s cheaper than paying a contractor to transport the meat.  You are surprised to see chickens and ducks running loose and men are already staking out areas they will use to plant a garden once the weather breaks. 

            No, Fort Amanda is not the most pleasant place to live but it is home for the time being.  And if you think life at Ft. Amanda is less than desirable, think about the 700 Kentuckians who have been on the move the past few days floating down the Auglaize, in the dark, sleeping on the floor of the flatboats trying to stay warm and dry and at the same time not knowing what lay ahead.   

             So if you want to get the most out of your next visit to Fort Amanda I suggest trying this.  Stand at the obelisk and take a couple minutes to look around and visualize what it looked like.  Then sit down on the bench at the base of the obelisk and spend a few moments reflecting not on things, but on the people who walked by the spot where you're sitting 200 years ago' a future United States president, lawyers, teachers, politicians preachers, farmer and ordinary citizens.  You see the story of Fort Amanda isn’t about buildings, it’s about people.  

Saturday May the 1^st 1813                 This morning clear and Pleasant 

If you recall the day before, Commissary Picket had come to Amanda to do an inventory.  As he was preparing to leave Schillinger approached him and gave him two letters for his wife and asked him to drop them off at the first mail pickup point on his way south.

 Around 2 o’clock that afternoon, Capt. Oliver, one of Harrison’s couriers from Ft. Meigs, along with two soldiers and an Indian arrived at the fort with news that 2000 British and 1000 Indians were within sight of Ft. Meigs.   He said Harrison had sent him to intercept General Clay to be aware of the situation and to advance with all speed. He said that when he was approaching the rapids about 3 miles west of Meigs, he heard the distinct sound of cannon fire and assumed that General Harrison and his 2000 troops at Ft. Meigs were under attack. 

   The British gun emplacements were still under construction when Oliver left Meigs so the artillery shelling he heard was actually the American artillery shelling the British positions.  Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, having rested and fed their horses, Oliver and his companions started back north toward Ft. Defiance.

Mystery;  On this day (May 1^st) Schillinger wrote; “(Oliver) Left here at 4 P.M. for Ft. Defiance to warn the Kentucky troops of the approach of the enemy to beware of them in descending the river.”   This entry implies that Oliver hadn’t yet warned Clay about the British at Meigs which raises an interesting question. By this date, Clays force was somewhere between Ft. Amanda and Ft. Defiance so how did Oliver not intercept them on his way to Ft. Amanda?  One explanation might be that he first went to Ft. Findlay to warn them then to Amanda with the same purpose.  He would then have to rush to catch up with Clays force along the way.  Because of the seriousness of the situation, the more likely scenario is that Schillinger misunderstood Oliver’s intentions and that Oliver had already warned Clay and came to Amanda to give them some advance warning that they might soon be called to assist.

A Shot for a Shot

The British finished building their artillery positions and around 10 o’clock Saturday morning, the British began shelling Ft. Meigs with 12 and 24 pound shot.  A 12 pound shot is similar to a school shot-put and the 24 pound would be larger than a steel bowling ball.  The British had no shortage of ammunition so firing was continuous.  The enemy was lobbing between 5 – 600 shells a day into Ft. Meigs.  The Americans on the other hand were using only 12 pound shot but their ammunition supply was very limited.  In a stroke of genius, Harrison offered rewards of whiskey to any men brave enough to gather up the spent 12 pound balls. One can imagine soldiers scurrying around the compound gathering up cannon balls as fast as they came in.   The “prizes” were turned in and the American artillery fired the same balls back at the British. By the end of the siege, nearly 1000 rounds had been returned to their “sender.”   If each man received 1 cup of whiskey or rum for collecting a cannon ball, Harrison would have dispensed almost 63 gallons of whiskey for their efforts.

Sunday May the 2^nd 1813                   This morning Pleasant 

            Ft. Amanda was quiet and peaceful that morning while 100 miles to the north, Ft. Meigs was under constant bombardment, Schillinger only comments that day were that Mr. Benagh, the forage master who had been at Ft. McArthur for some time returned to Amanda that day.

Monday May the 3  This morning Pleasant light showers through the Day but Clear at evening

Once again, the fluctuations in the weather were beginning to take its toll as several more men at Amanda were reported for sick call that morning.  Capt. Hosbrook, Lt. Davis and Sgt. Swing along with several soldiers went to Ft. Logan to bring back a boat that was being built there.  

Tuesday the 4^th                                    Light Showers

During the night it began to rain again and it continued throughout most of the day so the men at Ft. Amanda worked indoors making cartridges.  Doctor Jacob Lewis came to the fort during the day to treat some of the sick men.  Around 7:00 that night Capt. Hosbrook and his men returned to Amanda with the boat they brought back from Ft. Logan. 

Wednesday May the 5^th 1813              This morning Drizly weather 

The light rain continued for a second day at Ft. Amanda so the men once again spent the majority of their time making cartridges and doing camp chores.   At morning roll call it was discovered that a private in the company named John Burris[1] had deserted. A quick investigation showed that Burris had approached two of the contractors working on boats across the river, paid them for their horses then started for home.   Meanwhile across the river from Ft. Meigs a major massacre was underway.

Dudley’s Massacre

By now the British now had constructed artillery emplacements across the river from Ft. Meigs and were shelling it.   The night before, May 4^th, General Clay’s 1200 man force had loaded onto 18 flatboats and had now arrived at the Grand Rapids.[2]   The river current was very fast that night and it was dark owing to very little moonlight so the river pilot refused to try to float across the shallow rapids unless he was ordered to.  The decision was made to tie up to shore and wait until morning. Around 2 or 3 in the morning, Capt. Hamilton arrived at the spot and told Clay and Dudley that Harrison wanted them to move to within 1 ½ miles of Meigs, unload 800 men on the north side of the river then advance to and attack the British gun emplacements across from the fort and spike their cannons[3].  The remainder of the force would land on the south bank and fight its way into the fort.  

A Disaster

Shortly after sunrise[4] the Clays force moved on toward Ft. Meigs.  Col. Dudley was in the lead boat and General Clay in the 13^th.  Instead of landing a 1 ½ miles from Ft. Meigs as instructed by Harrison, for some reason they landed 5 miles east of Meigs at a place called “Hamilton’s Station.”[5]   Dudley, the ranking Col. and 866 men went shore and quickly advanced to the British guns batteries.  By the time they reached the batteries they were exhausted, having marched through swamp and high grasses, but that changed to exuberance when they saw that the batteries were abandoned. After spiking the cannons, the men, mostly raw recruits looking for a fight, charged off into the woods looking for the enemy.  By that point, the officers had lost all control.  In their excitement, they failed to see the Indians circling in behind essentially cutting off from their escape route to the boats.  The Indians then attacked with ferocity.  Many of the soldiers their weapons wet and/or out of ammunition were quickly surrounded and killed on the spot.  The 46 year old Col. Dudley described as a “heavy and fleshy man,”[6] was shot through the body then again through the thigh.   Disabled and exhausted, he sat down on a stump and was immediately surrounded by a large number of Indians who on converged on him, killing him then scalping and mutilating his body.

The Worse Was Yet To Come

Those men not killed or left to dying on the battlefield were rounded up and marched along the north side of the river 2 miles to old Ft. Miami. As the prisoners were herded back into the British fort, the Indians, formed lines and arbitrarily stabbed, shot or clubbed men to death as they passed by. Enraged by Proctors failure to stop the carnage, Tecumseh screamed at him calling him a “woman” for not stopping it.  Proctor finally ordered a stop to the killing. The survivors were taken to Detroit with many dying on the way.  Those who survived were either exchanged or paroled to return to their homes. 

Harrison’s final report showed that of the 866 man force that landed, Only 150 men were able to wade back across the river to the safety of the fort.  Of the remaining, 80 had been killed on the battlefield, 100 had been wounded and taken prisoners, 530 were not wounded but taken prisoner and 6 were missing. In other words, of the original 866 man landing party 82% of them were either dead, prisoner or missing.  Indians killed; 19.  This day had been a total disaster in the worst of terms.    

Thursday the 6^th                            Clear weather this morning

Around 2:00 that afternoon, Capt. Perry along with 3 soldiers and a servant returned to Amanda from Ft. Winchester.   They reported that 2 of the men in Capt. Leslie Combs Company of spies had been killed near Ft. Meigs.[7]     

Two Less Unknown Soldiers

 For years writers have written only that 2 men in Combs company were killed; their identities unknown.  Looking through pay records for Captain Combs company, I came across  the names  of two of Combs spies who had been killed during the same time period and 2 who he reported as “missing.”  The two missing men were Thomas Law and 45 year old Shadrach Pilcher,[8] neighbors from Jassmine County, Kentucky.    

The two men killed were Privates John Johnson one of Combs spies who was killed on Sunday May 2^nd and John Doughert killed 3 days later on Wednesday May 5^th. Finally after 200 years, the identity of the two men, previously known only to God are now known to man. Their bodies remain in unmarked graves in Ohio soil somewhere along the Maumee River.  While their gravesites are long forgotten, what better way to honor the men who gave the lives for their coutries than to simply remember their names. 

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[1] Correction, man was 50 year old John Burris.  See biography

[2] The rapids begin at Buttonwood Island, at Providence, Ohio (Grand Rapids, Oh).

[3] Spiking a cannon was done by shoving a bayonet tip or metal pin down into the touch hole of the piece than snapping it off so it plugged the hole making it impossible to insert a fuse.

[4] About 5 am.

[5] Hamilton’s station was near Wayne’s old Camp Deposit and Roche de Bout at Waterville, Ohio.

[6] http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing2/Chap23.html

[7] The fight took place very near Hull-Prairie and W. River road (SR 65) approx. ½ mile east of the point where Rt. 23 (I475) crosses the Maumee River west of Perrysburg.

[8] Biography