port the army over the lake.

These boat builders were com

manded by major, now general Jesup of the United States army. Cleveland, too, at that time, had in its hospital seventy-five wounded soldiers. A company of volunteers from Chillicothe, was there, and acted as boat builders and nurses to Dudley's wounded men. Harrison, while here, interchanged communications with Perry at Erie, and received orders from the secretary of war to call out the militia. He returned on to the Sandusky river, and learned that Proctor was on the point of landing on our coast, a force of five thousand men. July 20th, the enemy ascended Maumee bay in a large number of boats and landed on our shore. That night Captain McCune of the Ohio militia, (and from Muskingum county, we believe,) was despatched by Clay to Harrison, informing him of Proctor's landing. Harrison was at Lower Sandusky at this time.

Where this town now stands, there was an old picketing on a piece of land, secured to us for a garrison and Indian trading house, by General Wayne's treaty of 1795. It was a small work, large enough for two hundred men, not more. This little stockade was called fort Stevenson, at the time, Harrison lay there. The defence of this little stockade was committed to major George Croghan, a youth of twenty-one years of age, and to Captain Hunter, lieutenants Baylor, Johnson and Meeks; ensigns Ship and Duncan, and one hundred and sixty privates. They were all young, athletic, bold and intrepid men. The remainder of Harrison's force were marched to the Seneca old town, some miles, on the river above fort Stevenson. The latter force consisted of only one hundred and forty men. Harrison's own positition, was chosen as the best, about which, to collect the troops, momentarily expected from the interior. It was a good point from whence reinforcements might be despatched, either down the river, or up it, and to protect the vast amount of property collected at Upper Sandusky. Captain McCune was ordered to inform General Clay, that in case, his garrison was seriously invested by the enemy, every effort would be made to relieve him; but, to beware of being taken by

surprise. Captain McCune returned on the 25th. He arrived near the garrison towards day, after encountering many Indian encampments. By good management, address, and the fleetness of his horse, he reached the fort in safety. During the next three days, the enemy resorted to all sorts of stratagems to draw out our garrison. Not succeeding in any of these, and remembering his former discomfiture, while investing this post, on the 28th of July, he embarked on board his vessels, and sailed out of the Maumee, for Sandusky bay. While the British sailed down the lake, Tecumseh and his warriors, went across the swamp in the direction of Sandusky river. They numbered four thousand, and filled the woods with their parties, between the Maumee and Sandusky rivers. On the 29th the Indians swarmed like bees in the woods, about Harrison's camp, and all along the Sandusky river. At night he received intelligence from Clay, that the enemy had left him. Calling a council of war, general Harrison, propounded to it this question, "is fort Stephenson tenable?" The council decided, "it was not tenable." In pursuance of this decision, Harrison sent orders to major Croghan to abandon the fort, destroy the public property and retreat to Seneca, provided the enemy were about to invest his fort with heavy cannon. This order was carried by a Mr. Connor and two Indians, who lost their way, and did not reach the fort until the next day at 11 o'clock in the forenoon. Croghan was of the opinion that he could not retreat with his force, without the total destruction of his ommand, and in his answer, which he expected the enemy would take from the bearer, he informed the General, that he had determined to maintain his position. This despatch reached the General in safety. Not perfectly understanding all the motives which dictated such an answer, refusing to obey a positive order of the commanding general, Harrison sent an escort under colonel Ball of the dragoons, to arrest and bring to head quarters, major Croghan. In the meantime colonel Wells was put in command of Fort Stephenson. This detachment of dragoons, sent on this errand, near Sandusky, fell in

with twelve Indians, and killed eleven out of the twelve. Captain James Ryan, now of Chillicothe, then a subaltern officer of the Pittsburgh volunteers, killed one of these savages, by one blow of his heavy broadsword. The savage had his tomahawk upraised and was just about to throw it at Ryan, when himself was laid low, never to rise again.

Colonel Wells assumed the command for a very short time, inasmuch as Croghan, on his reaching head quarters, instantly removed every shade of suspicion that he had intended to disobey the General. Tarrying, therefore, all night with Harrison, who treated him with the greatest kindness; next morning he was escorted back in safety, and placed in command as before.

CROGHAN'S DEFENCE OF FORT STEPHENSON.

On the 31st of July a reconoitering party from the lake, twenty miles distant, saw the enemy enter Sandusky bay. August 1st, at noon, this party passed Croghan, on its way to Seneca, and informed him that the enemy had entered Sandusky bay, and was then ascending it with his gun boats.

Within three hours after the reception of this intelligence, Croghan and his troops saw the enemy with his gun boats, cannon, and all his means of annoyance, on the spot, ready to commence the storming of their little stockade. The enemy had come to invest this post, with one thousand British and as many Indians. The former were commanded by general Proctor himself; the latter by Dixon. Out of the most pure regard for our troops in Fort Stevenson, (if Proctor could be believed) he sent on his arrival, major Chambers of the regulars, and Dixon of the Indian department, to summons the garrison to surrender. Croghan sent ensign Ship, with a flag to meet these gentlemen. Chambers and Dixon, "besought Ship, to spare the effusion of blood-what a pity, said they, that you and Croghan, such fine young men, should be butchered by savages." Ship replied, that "when they took the garrison, none would be left to be butchered by an enemy." At

that moment, an Indian came forward in his most hostile array, pretending to wish to tomahawk Ship, when Dixon shaking with pretended terrors, urged the ensign "to get into his garrison as soon as possible, unless he would consent to a surrender, and thereby save the lives of the troops in the garrison."

The enemy now opened his fire upon the fort, from his guns in the boats and his mortar on the shore. He continued to fire all night, with little intermission and with still less effect. His guns were sixpounders. Croghan had one sixpounder and that was all the artillery he had in the fort. He contrived to move his gun from one part of his works to another, so as to induce a belief that he had many guns. So the night passed off. Tecumseh with two thousand warriors lay beside the road leading to Seneca, and Upper Sandusky, expecting a reinforcement from that quarter to save the garrison. To intercept such a force, and destroy it, was his grand object. In this, he was sorely disappointed, as no such force was sent. During this first night, the enemy had landed from his boats, three sixpounders and a mortar, and had placed them within two hundred and forty yards of the fort, in a grove of woods. During this same night, Croghan discovered that the enemy seemed to aim most of his shots at the northwest corner of the stockade, and he supposed that when the British attempted to storm his fort, the place of attack would be at that angle. So he ordered captain Hunter to place their only gun in a position so that it would rake the ditch, in case the enemy attempted to scale the works at that angle. In secrecy, and with uncommon industry and personal exertions, captain Hunter obeyed the order. The morning of the 2d of August dawned on our heroic band of young patriots. The enemy fired all day, but at four in the afternoon, he concentrated all the fire of all his guns at the northwestern angle of the fort. Seeing this, Croghan ordered sergeant Weaver and six privates of the Pittsburgh volunteers, to place there, with all possible expedition, bags of sand and flour. This was done in a manner so effectually that, that angle received no material injury, from the enemy's guns. The sixpounder was entrusted to the management of the

same sergeant, and his six men. Late in the evening when all was enveloped in smoke, the enemy proceeded to make the assault. Two feints were made on Hunter's lines, but in the meantime three hundred and fifty men of the enemy, advanced in the smoke, to within sixty feet of the northwestern angle. A severe fire of musketry from the fort, put them in confusion for a moment, when lieutenant colonel Short, who headed this column of the enemy, urged forward his men to the edge of the ditch, calling on them to follow him, and "to give no quarters" he leaped into the ditch. The masked port hole was now opened, and the sixpounder within thirty feet of the assailants, was fired on them. The lieutenant colonel Short, and fifty others, were instantly killed or wounded. Death and desolation filled the ditch. Captain Hunter repelled Warburton and Chambers with a constant stream of lead from his rifles. They were assailing his line, but now ceased to do so, and drew off. During the assault which lasted thirty minutes, the enemy constantly fired his mortar and five of his sixpounders. Immediately after this assault the enemy drew off out of the reach of our guns. It was now dark. The wounded in the ditch were in a desperate condition. They called for "water, water, water." The enemy dare not undertake to relieve them-so Croghan, and his brave men handed over water to them, in buckets, to relieve their thirst. Our men dug a hole through, and under the pickets, and encouraged as many as were able to crawl, to creep into the fort. Compare this treatment, reader, with Proctor's SLEDS at the river Raisin, on Washington's birth day, in this same year!

At three o'clock this night, the enemy made a most disorderly and shameful retreat, down the bay. In their hurry, terror and confusion, they left a sail boat full of the most valuable property. They left strewed around our fort, seventy stands of arms and several valuable braces of pistols. They anticipated a visit from general Harrison with his artillery early next morning; so they were off in a hurry.