How Did they Celebrate July 4th at Fort Amanda

 

 

                Celebrating the 4th at Fort Meigs          Celebrating the 4th at Fort Amanda

How did they celebrate the fourth of July 4th at Fort Amanda in 1813; short answer, they didn't. and entries from Ensign William Schillinger's  journal entries from June 27 - July  tells us why.

 First of all, If you had been at Fort Amanda 212 years ago on July 4th, when you walked through the southwest gate, the first thing you probably would have noticed is the smell.  Today the area around the monument today looks like a well groomed lawn but in 1813 it's doubtful there was much if any grass inside the fort walls.  The foot, animal and wagon traffic would likely have reduced the grounds to a muddy mess particularly on rainy days.  Despite efforts to keep the grounds clean, the mud, and stench eminating from the animal pens and butchering areas to southeast of the fort as well as from the latrines would have made your visit very unpleasant.   

Adding to the misery of life at Fort Amanda was the everchanging Ohio weather.  During the time  Schillinger's company was stationed there, (March through August 1813), 80 percent of the time, the weather was either cold, cool or rainey.  Such was the case at the end of June 1813 when the first cases of the dreaded measles appeared at the fort .

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. Seriously ill soldiers at Amanda were placed in darkened cabins to protect their eyes from the sunlight..

The following are Schillinger's journal during the measels outbreat at the fort.  They are shown exactly as written.  No spelling or grammar errors have been corrected. 

Sunday June 27 - Clear and warm,  nothing particular xcept, one of our Men who was sick started to go home,  (Peter Westerfield, a private in our company).

Monday June the 28^th 1813 - Warm & Dry,  Some of our men sick with the meazels, nothing particular to Day

                                            Schillinger's Sense of Humor?

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.

The journal entry reads “found A Bee Tree or swarm of bees in a tree.” In today’s vernacular what he may have been saying was “we found a swarm of bees 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.

Tuesday the 29^{th  -} Continued warm,   Order from General wingate to the Captn & myself to attend A court martial as members, immediately at St. Marys - took A walk out with Sergant Bradbury this afternoon  to get some root to make Eye water,  Got some,  found A Bee Tree or swarm of bees in a tree.-  A number of our men sickening. for the meazels,  The Cap,t complaining A little this evening,  1st sergt quite unwell

 Wednesday the 30^{th -} Started early this morning in company with Capt Hosbrook for St. Marys, to attend court martial  arrivd at St. Marys formed our Court etc. as follows.

Thursday the 1^st July 1813 - Heavy Showers this morning 10 oclock A.M. Left St. Mary for fort Amanda.  arrivd at 3 P.M.  found A number of our Company sick some with the meazels.   

Friday the 2^{nd -} Rainy,  Captn Sick  the meazelss out on A number of our company & others sickening,  Major Miligin & Major Ludwick went to St Marys.  Clouds Broke away in the evening.

Saturday the 3^{rd -} This morning Clear & pleasant,  we got A good Mess of fish out of the fish Pot,  Thunder Showers in the afternoon   4 men from fort Jennings arrivd, on their way homeSunday the 4^th July 1813

Our men many of them sick prevented us from Celebrating the Day in the usual way,  Capt G. R. Benagh went to Fort St. Mary to join in Celebrating the memorable Day.  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

Monday the 5^{th -} This morning Cool & Pleasant  Our men some of them on the mend & some sickening for the meazels,   11 A.M.  Mr. Kerchard arrivd at fort from the rappids  Informed us that the coast was clear of the enemy.  that there was none of them about fort meigs,  Dr. Lewis came to fort with Mr. Benagh.

The Outbreak Ends

The only recorded death was that of a young soldier named Charles Murry.  He died the first of June 1813 and is buried inside the fenced area near the ravine.  What he died of remains a mystery but the question will always remain; "Was he the first casualty of the Measels Outbreak of 1813?"

"If a man did wrong they sent him across the Ohio!"

 

This Blog Is Not For the Faint Of Heart

How dangerous was the Ohio/Kentucky frontier?  An interview with an early Kentucky pionee woman, Mrs. General Webb said it best;,  

"In early times the people were honest to each other. If a man did wrong, they sent him across the Ohio.

In previous blogs I've purposely avoided writing too many gruesome details of what life was like on the frontier, particularly in the Ohio and Kentucky territories thinking it really served no purpose. That all changed after reading a book called "Frontier Memories II," a collection of interviews by Rev. John Dabney Shane as compiled from the Draper manuscripts. Through his interviews with early settlers Shane helps dispel the perception that life was like a typical romanticized Daniel Boone movie, when in fact it was anything but. It was a brutal existence where life was cheap and death waited just outside the cabin door. So for those who still believe the frontier was a wilderness utopia with occasional problems with Indians, buckle up because here's a dose of reality as the interviewers would say, "straight from the horses mouth."

How Dangerous Was the Southern Ohio Frontier?

  

Scalping didn't kill the victim but it did give him/her and awful haircut

The Inventory

During the 10 year period 1780 to 1789, Indians, with the help of their British allies had murdered over 1500 settlers in Kentucky and along the north side of the Ohio River. In a letter dated, May 7, 1782, a British officer sent a letter and eight packages to Sir Federick  Haldimand, British Governor of Canada containing the scalps of 983 men, women and children the Indians had murdered on the frontier.
 

May it please your excellency,

At the request of the Seneca Chief, I hereby send your Excellency, under the care of James Hoyd, eight packages of scalps, cured, dried, hooped and painted with all the triumphal marks of which the following is the invoice and explanation:

No. 1. Containing forty-three scalps of Congress soldiers, killed in different skirmishes. These are stretched on black hoops, four inches in diameter. The inside of the skin is painted red with a small black spot to denote their being killed with bullets; the hoops painted red, the skin painted brown, and marked with a hoe’ a black circle all around to denote their being surprised in the night; and a black hatchet in the middle, signifying their being killed with that weapon.

No. 2. Containing ninety-eight farmers killed in their houses; hoops red, figure of a hoe, to mark their profession; great white circle and sun, to show they were surprised in the day time; a little red foot to show that they stood upon their defense and died fighting for their lives and families.

No. 3. Containing ninety-seven of farmers; hoops green to show they were killed in the fields; a large white circle with a little round mark on it , for a sun to show it was in the daytime; black bullet mark on some, a hatchet mark on others.

No. 4. Containing one hundred and two of farmers, mixture of several of the marks above; only eighteen marked with a little yellow flame, to denote their being prisoners burnt alive, after being scalped; their nails pulled out by the roots and other torments. One of these latter being supposed to be an American clergyman, his hand being fixed to the hook of his scalp. Most of the farmers appear, by their hair, to have been young or middle aged men, their being but sixty-seven very gray heads among them all, which makes the service more essential.

No. 5. Containing eight-eight scalps of women; hair long, braided in Indian fashion, to show they were mothers; hoops blue, skin yellow ground, with little red tadpoles, to represent by way of triumph the tears of grief occasioned to their relatives; a black scalping knife or hatched at the bottom to mark their being killed by those instruments. Seventeen others, hair very gray, black hoops, plain brown colors, no marks but the short club or castete to show they were knocked down dead, or had their brains beat out

No. 6. Containing one hundred and ninety-three boys scalps of various ages. Small green hoops, whitish ground on the skin, with red tears in the middle and black marks, knife, hatchet or clubs as their death happened.

No. 7. Containing two hundred and eleven girls, scalps big and little, small yellow hoops, white ground tears, hatchet and scalping knife

No. 8. This package is a mixture of all the varieties above mentioned to the number of one hundred and twenty-two, with a box of birch bark, containing twenty-nine little infants scalps of various sizes; small white hoops with white ground.”

While Indians did on occasion kidnap children and raise them as their own, as the list shows, that wasn’t always the case, and because a scalp meant bounty money, if it had hair it was scalped regardless of age.

Frontier Trophies

During the 10 year period 1780 to 1789, Indians, with the help of their British allies had murdered over 1500 settlers in southern Ohio and across the Ohio River in northern Kentucky.  In a letter dated, May 7, 1782, a British officer sent a letter and eight packages  to Col. Haldiman, the British Governor of Canada, containing the scalps of 983 men, women and children the Indians had murdered on the frontier. 

 

Note: While the interviews were conducted with white people, it should be remembered that while the brutality and savagery of the Indians mentioned in the interviews below, actions perpetrated by whites on the Indians were often equally savage and in some cases, far more horrendous.  For and example click on this link: 

Gnadenhutten Massacre - Ohio History Central

Family Murdered

"It was the morning just after breakfast. The Indians were at the door before we seen them. The dog baked and I went to the door with the child in my arms, and as soon as I came out, one Indian took hold of me and another pulled the child from me and took it by the legs and knocked it's brains against the wall and then went into the house killed my mother and two other little children and after taking all out of the house they wanted to carry with them, and they stripping all the clothes off my mother and the children they killed, they then drew the dead bodies out of the house and set it on fire and it was burnt."

A Captive

"Washington County, Ohio. Mrs. Cunningham who was taken captive, when her house was raided by Indians, and several family members killed and scalped, stated upon her return from captivity that for ten days all she had to eat was the head of a wild turkey and three paw paws. That the skin on her feet was scalded by the frequent wading of the streams and upon arrival at a Delaware village, when she removed her stockings and shoes her skin and nails came off with them."

Dog Food

"In 1778 Nicholas Dyfert was made a prisoner and given to an old squaw to replace a son that had been killed. He suffered severely from hunger on his way to Canada. One day when almost famished, he observed his new mother make several attempts to eat a hot dumpling, which she could not master for the want of teeth. After rolling it around her mouth for some time, she cast it to her dog; but hardly had the animal seized it in his teeth, when Dyfert caught him by the ears and after a long shake he forced the dainty morsel from his jaws and transferred it to his own. The inference of her son with her will displeased the old woman and seizing him by his ears, which freedom he dared not resist, she shook him until he restored the dog with his dinner."

Using the Child As Bait

• 

"Miss Noaks went out to her brother's cabin, all within a few yards of each other, she went into her brother's cabin, her brother had gone to bed, his wife and child with him. She sat down on the bedside and was relating something that had happened in the other cabin. When she came in she had neglected to, as was customary, to bar the door.  An Indian slipped up and put his gun through, leaning against the chink of the door Miss Noak's turned her eye and seeing it screamed. Her brother raised up to get his gun, just over where he lay, and the Indian fired. The ball passing through his sisters arm, and killing the brother. They then rushed into the house and scalped the brother, jerking his head upon a chest that set there. The sister scuffled under the bed and while they were trying to get her out (she clinging to the bed stock behind as they tried to drag her out, the bed would still drag). the old man came out and fired and they ran out. The child lay all the while in the bed. How the wife escaped we know not. There were 1/2 dozen Indians. When the gun fired they thought there was an alarm and they did not know the real strength of the Indians. A man, George Trumbo and wife (they were not man and wife, he was under age and his father wouldn't let him marry, they had a child however and when he got of age he married her) ran out of their cabin. The man couldn't run the fastest, 2 Indians saw them and took after them by moonlight. She saw they were gaining on her and dropped her child which was about 6 months old, and she hid in the bough of a tree that had fallen. The Indians stopped and tried to make the child cry, to get her to come back and then they killed it and passed on. They were followed the next day about 30 miles but were not overtaken, they were Cherokees and this was at Hartgrove's Station a a collection of farms."

Young Boys Out For A Ride

"Bob & Nathan MC Clure & John McClure and John Ping and three others, seven in all pursued seven Indians that had killed a boy. Two boys were going to English Station, probably from Hartgrove's and were on a horse. The Indians had waylaid the trace they were on and shot. The horse was shot and killed and when it fell confined the leg of the foremost boy. The Indians ran up, killed and scalped him. The one behind was loose and made his escape. They were cousins neither had been touched by the shot. In the pursuit the Indians passed on and turned back and way laid the trail and fired. They fought three hours with the scouting party, trying to get the advantage over each other. Nathan McClure was wounded as were two of the Indians. Both mutually withdrew. That night they left Nathan MC Clure in a sink and were to return the next morning with a horse. In they morning they found his gun and a dead wolf, but his body was torn all to pieces. They pursued further but never met with the Indians any more."

A Nasty Indian Game

His captors had tied his wrists together and drawn them over his knees after which a stick was passed under his knees and over the wrists and a rope tied to it between them then thrown over a limb of a tree. His tormentors then drew him up a distance and let him fall by slacking the rope; continuing their hellish sport until the concussion extinguished the vital spark.

 In other words, they pulled him up by the legs and kept letting him fall on his head until he finally died.

 A Rather Grotesque Kid's Game

The carcass of the Indian, a remarkably large fellow was left unburied for a time and the boys about the fort took turns in playing Indian, so they termed it, and with the tomahawk of it's former possessor; each running up and giving the head a hack with a tiny war-whoop.  

EPILOGUE

In the period 1788 - 1789, almost 1,500 men, women and children were murdered by Indians along the Ohio River, and 2 years later (1791) one-forth of the entire United States army (650 soldiers) along with 150 women and 50 children were massacred at Fort Recovery, 30 miles southwest of Lima, Ohio, and I'll bet this was never taught in your Ohio or even American History class. The stories you' just read were from actual interviews with people who experienced life on the frontier in Ohio.

The most disastrous defeat of a United States Army took place 30 miles southwest of Lima, Ohio.  Of the 932 soldiers who arrived at the battle site only 23 returned to Cincinnati unharmed.  Most of the 250 women and 50 children were either murdered or taken captive.

If you'd like to see what  the battle looked like, click on this link. St. Clair's Defeat  If youi get a chance this summer take a drive to Fort Recovery.  They have a great museum there.  

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If you would like learn more about Fort Amanda and the patriots who served there, these books can be purchased locally, on the net or by contacting me at djohnson43@att.net

     

                 $20                                                              $15

Available at;   

Amazon.com

If you'd like a signed copy email me at djohnson43@att.net and I'll send you the details.

 

The Big Freeze - Locating Camp Ellen (orAllen)

         

  

     

On December 4, 1812,  a large flat bottom boat along with16 large canoes loaded with barrels of flour  left Fort Barbee (St. Marys, Oh) and started northwest on the St. Marys River toward Fort Wayne.  The group was commanded by Capt.  Peter Jordan and assisted by  (Joseph ?) McCloskey, Asst. Quartmaster at Ft. Barbee, both men  experienced river pilots.  Three days later (Dec.  7) a second group consisting of two larger boats,  commanded by Mr. Allen, left Fort Barbee for the same destination; Fort Wayne.  The larger crafts carried the following:

 

·       398 barrels of flour

·       32 barrels whiskey

·       72 barrels salt

·       20 kegs of powder

·       10 kegs lead,

·       1 box of cannister shot

·       several boxes clothing

·       150 cannon balls 

·       10 bushels oats  

·       several boxes of hospital stores. 

·       Iron bars

·       Bars of steel 

·       Coils of rope 

The trip would not be an easy one because of the tremendous number of bends and turns of the St. Marys River.

Bad News For General Harrison

The weather December 4, 1812 was balmy and cold but the St. Marys River was still navigable at that point but that was about to change.  Ten days later  Dec. 14th, Major Thomas Bodley wrote General Harrison with the bad news the St. Marys River  was so blocked with ice, driftwood and other debris, the first group of boats were forced to halt at Shane's Crossing, 18 miles from Ft. Barbee (St. Barbee).  The second group of boats met the same fate and were stopped near General Wayne's old Ft, Adams (1794).  

Because the St. Marys River is so crooked the blockage had cause the water to damn up and overflow its banks for miles, making even the nearby roads impassable.  

Course of Action

It was decided the best course of action was to unload the supplies and store them until the St. Marys River opened.   Captain Jordan and his company at Shane's Crossing secured their boats and cargo while the commander of the second fleet sent word to Gen. Barbee at St. Marys that he needed help. 

Back at Fort Barbee, Capt. David D. McNair and a group of men were ordered to advance to the site of the second group  of boats and help them unload their cargo and build sheds to get the materials undercover.  Because the roads were basically of no use, the assumption is McNair and his men likely used pack horses and sleds to move tarps, lumber and tools to the site. 

Meanwhile at Fort Amanda

In the meantime, Major Bodley suggested to  Gen. Harrison that until the St. Marys River opened up, all supplies being shipped be sent to Fort Amanda because, as he pointed out, 

"The Auglaise is much straighter, has more water, and will not freeze up so soon as the St. Mary's" 

Because of the rapid rise in water Pogue hadn't had time to build more pirogues so the men at Fort Amanda loaded barrels of flour, whiskey, salt and clothing onto rafts and sent them north on the Auglaize to Fort Winchester.   The assumption is the rafts from Amanda and their cargo reached Fort Winchester without incident.

   

Beyond the Call of Duty

One can only imagine how difficult it would have been working in waist high frigid water unloading the boats.  As Major Bodley pointed out in his letter to Harrison, the men were all volunteers and ofen risked their lives to unload and store all the mateirals. 

" no set of men ever exerted themselves more than these have done on this occasion. Mr. McClosky is an experienced water-man, him and many of the crew were often in the water and sometimes risqued their lives. He got in here last night very much fatigued and almost exhausted. 

How Long Were the Boats Frozen In?

While we don't know exactly when the river opened up what we do know is that the men working at the site east of old Fort Adams were still on site on December 19th and they named the site "Camp Ellen. " On December 19th Captain McNair sent the following to Lt. Col. Robert Pogue, Commander at Fort Amanda. 

 Camp Ellen   19^th   December 1812

(Authors note:  I don't remember where I found this document or who transcribed it but becasue the commander of the boats that froze in here was a "Mr. Allen" it seems more probsbler that the it was camp Allen, not Ellen.   

Col Pogue                                                                     

Dear Sir, I have delivered to ­­­_____ Toby, twenty barrels of flour in     good order for which his receipt has been taken.I hope it will arrive safe.  

I   wish you by the next waggons to send an order for the loading they now  carry and for what they may be able to carry next time.  I have understood   verbally that the provisions were to be carried to Ft. Amanda but of this I   have not been officially notified.  But ­­_____ your order will be sufficient.  I am sir with due respect, your obedient servant        Capt. D. D. McNair

 No records exist telling us what Camp Ellen looked like, but my guess is it was an assortment of makeshift shelters hurridly constructed to protect the materials from the winter conditions.  Because the trip to Ft. Wayne took several days the men either slept on the boats or possibly in tents onshore each night. 

Locating Camp Ellen (or Allen)

Years ago, during a conversation with a friend, I mentioned that I was doing research on Wayne's old Fort Adams in Mercer County. During the conversation he mentioned that he owned property east of Fort Adams and that he had found what looked like a small cannon ball there. Out of curiosity I re-read Bodley's letter to Harrison and saw that they calculated the mileage from Ft. Barbee to where the two groups of boats froze in. The mileage he gave from Ft. Barbee to Shane's Crossing was spot on and to my amazement, the mileage he gave for the site where the second group froze in was on the property belonging to the man who found what looked like a cannister shot. The exact location of Camp Ellen/Allen is on private property so for the sake of privacy I will not note it here

How Did This Cannister Shot End Up there?

 Simple! When you take into consideration the weather conditions, working conditions and the large number of materials unloaded from the boats at Camp Ellen/Allen, I think is safe say, "Someone simply dropped it." 

,  398 barrels of flour
· 32 barrels whiskey
· 72 barrels salt
· 20 kegs of powder
· 10 kegs lead,
· 1 box of cannister shot
· several boxes clothing
· 150 cannon balls
· 10 bushels oats
· several boxes of hospital stores.
· Iron bars
· Bars of steel
· Coils of rope

Conclusion

While locating Camp Ellen/Allen is of historical interest, hopefully the most notable part of this story is recognizing the sacrifices made and the hardships endured by those young soldiers in December 1812.  Heroism in wartime is found in many places, and not always on the battlefield.