Too Sick to Celebrate & Murder Near Ft. Amanda

 

Sunday the 4^th July 18  This being Cool & pleasant with A fine Breeze of wind at about, W. made our situation quite comfortable to what it had been for some days past.

Normally the men at Ft. Amanda would have been celebrating this special day with patriotic speeches, the firing a cannon and muskets, and an extra ration of rum.  Such was not the case.  There were so many sick with measles and other ailments that Schillinger wrote; “Our men many of them sick prevented us from Celebrating the Day in the usual way,”

Journal Entry July 4, 1813

 Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, Capt. Benaugh, decided to St. Marys to join in on the festivities there.  

Authors note:

Captain Benaugh was George R. Benaugh wagon master for the company.  As wagon master it was his job to oversee the transportation of supplies between Ft. Amanda and the other posts.  This was his second tour of duty.  He had previously served as a Lieutenant under Captain Thompson Ward during construction Phase I.   

 Monday the 5^th                                                   This morning Cool & Pleasant

While some of the men were recovering from things like the flu, colds, etc., Schillinger noted that several were still quite ill with the measles.   Around 11 o’clock that morning, an Army courier named Kerchard arrived at the fort with word that the siege of Ft. Meigs was over and all the British and the Indians had left the area.  This proved to be wishful thinking as while the British and their allies had indeed abandoned the siege, they weren’t finished yet. 

Capt. Benaugh left St. Marys that morning in company with 46 year old Dr. Jacob Lewis who was on his way to Amanda to tend to the sick there.

Tuesday the 6^th July                                 Fine Pleasant weather

Early that morning, the cook of Schillinger’s mess group went out hunting and killed a fawn.  He brought it back to the fort and shared it with some of the other men in the company.  Around noon, General Wingate and his staff came to the fort.  Doctor Lewis, his work done, left Amanda a short time later.

Be More Careful!

Wednesday the 7^th                                                  Pleasant weather

At 9 o’clock that morning, General Wingate and his staff left Amanda to return to St. Marys. 

Shortly before noon, 6 ox teams pulling carts arrived at the Amanda on their way to Ft. Jennings to pick up Indian goods.  As one of the teams was passing through the new southwest gate, one of the wheels on the cart hit the gates framework and broke an axle.   Schillinger assigned a carpenter to repair the damage. 

Capt. Hosbrook was feeling somewhat better that day but as several of the other men were still very sick so very little work was done around the fort.

Thursday the 8^th 1813                                Clear & warm

With the axle on the ox cart repaired Sgt. Bradbury, Isaac Covalt and 12 other men were sent along to escort the ox teams 17 miles to Ft. Jennings. They drew provisions and ammunition and left around 2 o’clock that afternoon.  If they traveled an average of 3 mph, the trip would have taken them approximately 6 hours meaning they would have arrived at Ft. Jennings around sunset which on the 8^th of July 1813 was 8:30 pm.

Murders

Friday the 9^th                                                                                   Fine weather

Private Leo Tiberghein finally returned to Amanda.  He had been home on leave for nearly four months.  He brought a letter from Schillinger’s wife informing him that tall was well at home.

A soldier in the company who’d been at St. Marys returned to the fort bringing news that a white man had been “tomahawked & scalped” two miles from St. Mary’s.  As it turns out, the story was only partially true.  The murder had indeed taken place near St. Marys but the incident happened in the fall the year before and the victim was the Indian, not the white man. 

Unbeknownst to anyone, a second murder had just taken place between Ft. Amanda and Wapakoneta involving a white man and an Indian and this time the victim was the white man, the same white man who murdered the Indian near St. Marys the year before.

Authors note:
Scalping was done by using a knife and cutting a through the top of the scalp. Grabbing the hair and pulling with a quick jerk created a "popping noise."
As you can see by the pictures above, scalping didn't necessarily kill an individual as seen in the pictures of two of 2 survivors of a scalping.  It was not uncommon for survivors to live a full life after being scalped.  And before anyone is quick to judge the Native Americans for the practice, first criticize the Dutch as they were the first to introduce scalping to the natives.  The purpose was to provide physical evidence that they were "on the job." 

Demands were made of the Indian leaders in Wapakoneta that the murderer be turned over to authorities at Fort Amanda.  When they refused, the incident set off a firestorm of threats and challenges that soon became a very serious situation.

 

Measels, Desertions and Executions

Authors note:
While measles today can be treated very easily by a family physician; during the War of 1812 it was the cause of large numbers of deaths. In fact, of the nearly 20,000 soldiers and Native Americans who died during the War of 1812, nearly three fourths (15,000) died from disease, i.e., typhoid, smallpox, pneumonia, dysentery and measles.

At Ft. Amanda the first cases began to show up around the middle of June 1813 and at its peak less than a dozen men in the entire company were fit for duty.

Sunday June 27 Clear and warm
Peter Westerfield[1], a private in the company had been sick for some time and wasn’t recovering so he was given permission to go home. Schillinger didn’t specify what Westerfield’s ailment was however, judging from his journal entry the following day, he like several others was probably suffering from the measles. Private Joseph South was still recovering from his.

The Measles Hits With a Vengeance

Monday June the 28th 1813 Warm & Dry
Schillinger didn’t make any particular note about the measles being a problem at Ft. Amanda until this day when he wrote that a number of men had reported sick for roll call that morning. In fact, this was the first day he even used the word, “measles”.

Tuesday the 29th Continued warm
Capt. Hosbrook and Ensign Schillinger received orders from General Wingate that morning to report to St. Marys the following day to attend a court martial. This was not good news for the Captain Hosbrook who was not feeling well and was showing the first signs of the measles. First Sergeant David Van Winkle was already very ill.

Authors note:Measles can affect the eyes causing them to become red and swollen creating an extreme sensitivity to light. In 1812 the common treatment was a potion called “eye water.” In the field, soldiers made eye water by taking the scrapings from a Turmeric root, mixing it with water and dropping it into the eyes several times a day. To help ease the cough that goes along with the ailment, they mixed water with lemon and honey which helped relax airways, loosen mucus.

That afternoon Schillinger and Sgt. Bradbury went into the woods looking for some turmeric roots and honey. They found the roots and while they were able to find a source for some honey, apparently it wasn’t as easy to gather.

Schillinger's Sense of Humor?

Schllinger wrote in his journal that day, “found A Bee Tree or swarm of bees in a tree.” Stated in today’s vernacular what he may have been saying was “we found a bee tree, or rather we found a swarm of bees that happened to be in a tree.”

The two men brought their root scrapings and their honey back to the fort and made up a batch of eye water for the men in the company.


Wednesday the 30th
Despite being ill, Capt. Hosbrook and Ensign Schillinger went to St. Marys to attend the court marshal. Two men were standing trial that day, privates Henry Bristow and Charles Nugent,[2] both of Capt. David Hendricks[3] Company from Preble County. The proceedings were recorded as written by Schillinger:

 Proceedings of A Garrison court martial held at Fort St. Marys in the State of Ohio, by virtue of the following order Garrison Orders
Fort St. Mary June the 29th A Garrison court martial will assemble on Wednesday the 30 Inst, at the room of Capt D. E. Hendricks at 10, o’clock A.M. for the trial of such prisoners as may be brought before it.

Capt Danl Hosbrook, Prest.
Ensign Schillinger } members
Ensign Markland
John Wingate, Brig. Gen. Commandant
June 30th 1813
The court met pursuant to the above order - Present
Capt Hosbrook Prest.
Ensign Schillinger } members
Ensign Markland

The court being duly sworn in Presence of the Prisoners, Proceed to the trial of Henry Bristow 3rd Corp of Capt David E. Hendricks Company of the 1st Reg of 3rd Det. O. M. who being previously if he had any objections to the members named in the general order, & replying in the negative, was arraigned on the following charge prepared against him by Capt. D. E. Hendrick Charge - For deserting from his post on guard on the 19th Inst to which the Prisoner pleaded not guilty Lieut. Richard L. Leason a witness for the prosecution on being duly sworn, says that the Prisoner did leave his post on the 19th Inst. & further that He the prisoner did on the 28th Inst return to his Company voluntarily & appeared willing to do his Duty in any situation as far as he was capable The evidence for the prosecution being closed, and the prisoner having no witness on his part, the court being ordered to be cleared the whole of the proceedings being read over to the court by the recorder (Judge Advocate) the following sentence was pronounced sentence The court after mature Deliberation on the testimony addressed, found the Prisoner Henry Bristo guilty of the charge against him, & sentence him to be reduced to the station of A private sentinel, & to undergo such monthly stoppages of half his pay will amount to one months’ pay
The Court proceeded to the trial of Charles Neugent A private in Capt D. E. Hendricks Company of the 1st Reg. 3rd Det O. M. on the following Charge being prepared against him by Capt D.E. Hendricks. Charge - Deserting from detachment from s’d Company (stationed at fort Loramies in the state of Ohio) on the 20th of June 1813. To which the prisoner pleaded not guilty - No evidence being adduc,d for the prosecution The prisoner was acquitted - The court adjourn,d

{Daniel Hosbrook, Capt.1st Reg. 3rd Det O. M.
Ensign Wm. Schillinger
Recorder
I approve of the foregoing sentences and order them to be carried into effect - The Garrison court martial of which Capt. Daniel Hosbrook was president is hereby adjourn,d
John Wingate Brig. Gen.Comdt.
St. Marys the 30th of June 1813

2 Very Lucky Fellas

Bristow and Nugent were neighbors back home in Dixon Township, Preble County. Bristow left his post on the 19th of June and voluntarily returned 9 days later. His plea was “not guilty.” What his excuse for leaving was is unknown however he told the court that he would do whatever to just be able to return to duty. The court found him guilty, reduced him to the rank of a private soldier and to forfeit ½ months pay for 2 months.
Charles Nugent was charged with deserting his company while at Fort Loramie on June 20th. He pleaded not guilty and since there were no witnesses against him, he was acquitted.

Not So Lucky

With the War of 1812 going badly and thousands of British troops and their Indian allies advancing in northwestern Ohio during the spring of 1813, desertion was a capital offense along the frontier
An example of this is see in the following from the book “Citizen Soldiers in the War of 1812” by C. Edward Skeen.


One unfortunate Ohio Soldier, William Fish was executed for desertion and for threatening the life of his commander. Three other privates were condemned to death by the same court-martial, but they were pardoned by Gen. William Henry Harrison. One soldier however, was placed beside his coffin with a cap over his head. He remained there while Fish was shot and then heard his reprieve announced. Such affairs obviously had a sobering effect on the assembled troops.”

Eye Witness Account

On June 11, 1813, two men convicted of desertion were marched to a field just west of the Franklinton graveyard on Sandusky Street and ordered to set in their coffins.

All the soldiers in Franklinton stood nearby, ordered to watch the execution as an example. But what the soldiers and other witnesses would see turned out to have a surprise ending.

One witness, Charles Grooms, later told son James that six armed soldiers stood in front of each condemned man as he was blindfolded.

As was the custom, three of the guns in each execution squad were loaded with powder and ball and three with just powder. All the muskets were picked from a stack so that no one would know who actually fired the fatal shot.
The Freeman’s Chronicle, the first paper in what is now Coumbus, reported on the “Awful Scene” a few days later.
“A man named William Fish, a private in Captain Hopkins’s company of U.S. Light Dragoons, was SHOT at this place on Saturday last for the crime of desertion and threatening the life of his captain. Wee never before witnessed so horrid a spectacle; and cannot, in justice to our feelings, attempt a description of it.”
The newspaper then went on to say what happened to the other man: He was “conducted to his coffin, and the cap placed over his eyes, in which situation he remained until Fish was shot; his reprieve was then read.”
Grooms said that six muskets were fired at the survivor but none was loaded with shot. Grooms told his son that the survivor was terribly frightened.[1]

[1] Authors note:
Next time you’re driving east on I70, as you’re approaching I71, look to your right and you’ll see a large cemetery. That’s the old Franklinton Cemetery and the place where Private Fish was shot by firing squad on Friday, June 11, 1813.


[1]

Thursday the 1st July 1813 Heavy Showers this morning…Rainey afternoon
Their responsibilities over at St. Marys, Schillinger and Hosbrook started back to Amanda around 10 o’clock that morning. They arrived back at Amanda at 3 o’clock in the afternoon quickly discovered that several more men were sick with the measles. Later that afternoon Major Milligan’s and Major Lodwick along with several others came to the fort and because it was getting late they decided to stay the night despite the large numbers of cases of measles.

Friday the 2nd Rainy…Clouds Broke away in the evening.
Major Milligan’s and Major Lodwick left for St. Marys early that morning. Capt. Hosbrook was still very ill so he stayed in bed in his cabin most of the day. The day had started off rainy but the clouds had cleared by evening.

Saturday the 3rd This morning Clear & Pleasant
Schillinger was apparently having very good luck with his fish pot. That morning he went down to the river and found that he had caught “a good mess.” Later that afternoon, four men from Ft. Jennings came to the fort on their way home.
The measles wasn’t confined just to Ft. Amanda. Soldiers at Ft. Jennings and Ft. Winchester were feeling the same effects. That day, four men from McHenry’s company at Ft. Jennings stopped by Amanda on their way to St. Marys. Their discharge date was only a month away, so it’s probably safe to assume that they were all suffering from the measles. While the disease normally runs its course in 10 days to 2 weeks, the fact that they were being sent home versus recuperating at Jennings attests to the fact that they must have been very ill. Measles can evolve into pneumonia so that could also have been factor in their being released from duty.









[1] Biography

[2] Biography

[3] Biography

[4] Columbus Dispatch June 12, 2012