Meigs, Fort
When, in 1813,
General Harrison heard of the advance of
Winchester to the
Maumee and the
Raisin, he ordered all of his available force to push forward to reinforce that officer.
The advancing column was soon met by fugitives from
Frenchtown, and thoughts of marching on
Malden were abandoned for the time.
The troops fell back to the rapids of the
Maumee, and there built a fortification which was called Fort Meigs, in honor of the governor of
Ohio.
Harrison's troops there were about 1,800 in number, and were employed under the direction of
Captain Wood,
chief engineer of his army.
The work was about 2,500 yards in circumference, the whole of which, with the exception of several small intervals left for block-houses, was to be picketed with timber 15 feet long and from 10 to 12 inches in diameter, set 3 feet in the ground.
When the fort was finished, March, 1813, the general and engineer left the camp in the care of
Captain Leftwich, who ceased work upon it, utterly neglected the suffering garrison, and actually burned the pickets for fire-wood.
On the return of
Wood, work on the fort was resumed, and pushed towards completion.
Harrison had forwarded
Kentucky troops from
Cincinnati, and on April 12 he himself arrived at Fort Meigs.
He had been informed on the way of the frequent appearance of Indian scouts near the rapids, and little skirmishes with what he supposed to be the advance of a more powerful force.
Expecting to find Fort Meigs invested by the
British and
Indians, he took with him all the troops on the
Auglaize and
St. Mary's Rivers.
He was agreeably disappointed to find, on his arrival, that no enemy was near in force.
They soon appeared, however.
Proctor, at Fort Malden, had formed plans for an early invasion of the
Maumee
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156]
Valley.
Ever since the massacre at
Frenchtown he had been active in concentrating a large Indian force for the purpose at
Amherstburg.
He so fired the zeal of
Tecumseh and the Prophet by promises
 |
|
Looking up the Maumee Valley, from Fort Meigs. |
of future success in the schemes for an Indian confederation that, at the beginning of April, the great
Shawnee warrior was at Fort Malden with 1,500
Indians.
Full 600 of them were drawn from the country between
Lake Michigan and the
Wabash.
On April 23
Proctor, with white and dusky soldiers, more than 2,000 in number, left
Amherstburg on a brig and smaller vessels, and, accompanied by two gunboats and some artillery, arrived at the mouth of the
Maumee, 12 miles from Fort Meigs, on the 26th, where they landed.
One of the royal engineers (
Captain Dixon) was sent up with a party to construct works on the left bank of the
Maumee, opposite Fort Meigs.
On April 28
Harrison was informed of the movement of
Proctor and his forces.
He knew that
Gen. Green Clay was on the march with Kentuckians, and he despatched
Capt. William Oliver with an oral message urging him to press forward by forced marches.
Meanwhile
Proctor and his forces had arrived, and on the morning of May l, 1813, he opened a cannonade and bombardment from the site of
Maumee City upon Fort Meigs, and continued, with slight intermission, for five days, but without much injury to the fort and garrison.
The fire was returned occasionally by 18-pounders.
The
Americans had built a strong traverse athwart the fort, behind which they were sheltered.
Their ammunition was scarce, and it was used sparingly; they had an abundant supply of food and water for a long siege.
Still
Harrison felt anxious.
He looked hourly up the
Maumee for the appearance of
Clay with reinforcements.
The latter had heard the cannonading at the fort, and had pressed forward as rapidly as possible.
Proctor had thrown a force of British and Indians across the river to gain the rear of the fort, and these the vanguard of
Clay encountered.
When the latter officer drew near he received explicit orders from
Harrison to detach 800 men from his brigade, to be landed on the left bank of the river, a mile and a half above Fort Meigs, to attack the
British batteries, spike their guns, destroy their carriages, and then cross the river to the fort; the remainder of
Clay's troops to fight their way to the fort.
These orders met
Clay as he was descending the
Maumee in boats (May 5).
Colonel Dudley was appointed to lead the expedition against the
British batteries.
The work was successfully performed; but a band of riflemen, under
Capt. Leslie Combs, being attacked by some Indians in ambush,
Dudley led reinforcements to them.
The
Indians were soon put to flight, but
Dudley, unmindful of his instructions, pushed on in pursuit, leaving
Col. Isaac Shelby in charge of the batteries.
Both the
British and
Indians were reinforced; the batteries were retaken; and after a sharp fight, in which
Shelby's troops participated,
Dudley's whole command was put to flight, and dispersed in great
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157]
confusion.
A great part of them were killed or captured.
Dudley was slain and scalped, and
Combs and many companions were marched to
Fort Miami below as prisoners.
Of the 800 who landed from the boats only 170 escaped to Fort Meigs.
While these scenes were occurring on the left bank of the
Maumee, there was a desperate struggle on the fort side.
A part of the remainder of
Clay's command, under
Col. W. E. Boswell, having landed a short distance above the fort, were ordered to fight their way in. They were soon attacked by a body of British and Indians, but were joined by a sallying party from the fort; and while a sharp struggle was going on there,
Harrison ordered a helpful sortie from the fort to attack some works cast up by the enemy near a deep ravine.
This was done by 350 men, under
Col. John Miller, of the regulars.
They found a motley force there, 850 strong, but they were soon driven away and their cannon spiked.
The fight was desperate, the
Americans being surrounded at one point by four times their own number.
The victors returned to the fort with forty-three captives.
Boswell in the mean time had utterly routed the force before him at the point of the bayonet.
Fort Meigs was saved.
The result of that day's fighting, and the illsuccess of all efforts to reduce the fort, caused
Proctor's Indian allies to desert him, and the
Canadian militia to turn their faces homeward.
The Prophet had been promised by
Proctor the whole
Territory of Michigan as his trophy, and
Tecumseh was to have the person of
General Harrison, whom he had intensely hated since the
battle of Tippecanoe (q. v.), as his. These promises were unfulfilled, and the Indians left in disgust.
Only
Tecumseh's commission and pay of a brigadier-general in the
British army secured his further services.
