Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/61

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��and, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately fol- lowed. On the 16th, a party of Indians appeared before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were admitted. Suddenly, while smoking, the massacre begins. All but Ensign PauUi, the commander, fall. He is carried as a trophy to Pontiac.

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the mission- aries had maintained a mission station over sixty years. They gave way to an English garrison of fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the morning of May 25, a deputation of Pottawato- mies are allowed to enter. In less than two min- utes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. He is sent to Pontiac.

Near the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the com- mander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is slain on the way, the sergeant following is made prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender.

On the night of the last day of May, the wam- pum reaches the Indian village below La Fayette, Ind., and near Fort Ouitenon. The commander of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his garrison surrender. Through the clemency of French settlers, they are received into their houses and protected.

At Michilimackinac, a game of ball is projected. Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, almost all are slain or made prisoners.

The fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, was the point of communication between Pittsburgh and Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to save his forces from total annihilation, surrenders, and all are carried prisoners to Detroit.

The capitulation at Erie left Le Bceuf with- out hope. He was attacked on the 18th, but kept off the Indians till midnight, when he made a successful retreat. As they passed Ve- nango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only the ruins of that garrison. Not one of its immates had been spared.

Fort Pitt was the most important station west of the Alleghanies. " Escape ! " said Turtle's Heart, a Delaware warrior ; " you will all be slain. A great army is coming." "There are three large English armies coming to my aid," said Ecuyer, the commander. " I have enough provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three years' time." A second and third attempt was

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��made by the savages to capture the post, but all to no avail. Bafl3ed on all sides here, they destroy Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit were left. All had been captured, and the majority of the garrison slain. Along the frontier, the war was waged with fury. The Indians were fighting their homes and their hunting-grounds; and these they fought with the fury and zeal fanatics.

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut off. The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage allies, pressed the siege with vigor. The French remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing bills of credit on birch -bark, all of which were fliithfully redeemed. Though these two posts could not be captured, the frontier could be annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued their policy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia a relentless warfare was waged, sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infancy, strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hope- ful boy — all fell before the scalping-knife of the merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their possessions to the torch of the Indian.

The colonial government, under British direc- tion, was inimical to the borders, and the colonists saw they must depend only upon their own arms for protection. Already the struggle for freedom was upon them. They could' defend only them- selves. They must do it, too ; for that defense is now needed in a different cause than settling dis- putes between rival powers. " We have millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute," said they, and time verified the remark.

Gen. Amherst bestirred himself to aid the frontiers. He sent Col. Henry Bouquet, a native of Switzerland, and now an officer in the English Army, to relieve the garrison at Fort Pitt. They followed the route made by Gen. Forbes, and on the way relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier, both beleaguered by the Indians. About a day's jour- ney beyond Ligonier, he was attacked by a body of Indians at a place called Bushy Run. For awhile, it seemed that he and all his army would be destroyed ; but Bouquet was bold and brave and, under a feint of retreat, routed, the savages. He passed on, and relieved the garrison at Fort

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