The Taking of Ruddle's and Martin's Forts

Source: Butterfield, Consul Wilshire. History of the Girties. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1890. Reprinted by Log Cabin Shop, Inc., Lodi, Ohio, 1995, pp. 86-91.

Web site owner's note: The following account examines the taking of Ruddle's and Martin's forts in the context of presenting the life of Simon Girty. Girty was a native Pennsylvanian who sided with the British during the Revolutionary War and terrorized the frontier settlers of Pennsylvania and Kentucky. He was a friend of Captain John Hinkson, one of the defenders of Ruddle's Fort, and may even have helped Hinkson escape captivity.

The reader is cautioned that Consul Butterfield used the accepted language of his time regarding Native Americans, commonly referring to them as "savages."

--Bob Francis--

The spring of 1780 opened gloomily upon the western frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. As early as the middle of March, the Indians began their depredations. At a sugar camp on Raccoon creek, a stream flowing into the Ohio, on the left, thirty-three miles by the course of the river below Pittsburgh, five men were killed and three girls and three boys taken prisoners. On the thirtieth, Heckewelder, at Coshocton, wrote Brodhead: "We have heard nothing at all this whole winter what the enemy [British and their Indian allies west] are about; the snow being so deep and the weather so continually cold has, I suppose, prevented this; but this day I am informed that three young fellows, two Delawares and one Wyandot, have turned back from a body of warriors consisting of twenty-six men. They inform that five or six companies of warriors have gone out; two parties of Wyandots toward Beaver creek and the others down this river [Muskingum]." [1]

On the 2d of April, Brodhead was written to by David Zeisberger from the Tuscarawas: "I have not heard of any hostile thoughts among the Cooshocking [Coshocton] Indians [Delawares] yet, and if I should perceive any thing of that kind I would give you intelligence by an express. But yesterday we heard that a party of warriors, among which was the well-known Monsey, Washnash, has attacked a boat in the river [Ohio], killed three men, and has taken twenty-one men, women, and children prisoners, and likewise the whole boat. No doubt this action will encourage them to do more mischief."[2] There were three boats in all. They were attacked a few miles below Captina creek, which empties into the Ohio on the right, twenty-one miles below Wheeling, and one of them captured, as mentioned by Zeisberger; the others reached Kentucky without further molestation. The boat which fell into the hands of the savages belonged to a man by the name of Reynolds, who was either killed at the time or was soon after tortured to death in the wilderness; a small child, his daughter, was shot in the boat, probably by accident. The others of his family were captured.

In one of the boats which escaped was Peter Malott, from Maryland; but his wife Sarah and several children, being in the boat which was taken, were made prisoners. The oldest of the children was a daughter, Catharine, a girl in her teens.[3] Simon Girty, who, it may be premised, afterward married her, has generally been spoken of as having been present at the time of her being made a prisoner; but such was not the case. There are accounts extant, not only of his having taken a prominent part in the capture of Reynolds's boat, but detailing the conversation which then took place; these, however, are fictitious. The Indians who did the mischief were Munceys, a Delaware clan living to the westward. With these Girty had not the particular fellowship that he had with the Mingoes and Wyandots. The savages, with their plunder and prisoners, immediately made their way to the Muskingum, where they halted for rest.[4] It was either from "Moravian" Delawares who then saw them, or from some of the Coshocton Delawares (the latter had not yet taken up the hatchet against the Americans), that Zeisberger learned the particulars which, on the 2d of April, he transmitted to Brodhead at Fort Pitt, as before mentioned.

There were, at this time, straggling villages of Delawares, from Coshocton westward, up the Walhonding, across to the Scioto, thence to the Mad river; and, in general, the further removed from the Muskingum, the more hostile to the Americans were the occupants of these towns; but the loyalty of Zeisberger and Heckewelder could then be counted on, under all circumstances: the former being somewhat cautious and circumspect; the latter, fearless and outspoken, though taking pains that his zeal and aid should not be discovered to the enemy.

Before entering upon an inquiry as to the part taken by the Girtys in the stirring events of 1780 in the West, it is proper to state that the winter following the victory obtained near the mouth of the Little Miami over the force under Rogers, was spent by them in the Ohio wilderness among the Mingoes and Shawanese. Early in March, the three brothers-Simon, James, and George-arrived together at Detroit,[5] called thither, it is presumed, by DePeyster to get from them whatever information they might have obtained during the preceding three or four months concerning the movements of the "rebels" upon the border.

In the spring of that year, emigration began early; not less than three hundred large family boats filled with emigrants arrived at the Falls, where the town of Louisville was established by an act of the Virginia legislature. Colonel Clark, by direction of Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia, erected a fort on the east side of the Mississippi river, five miles below the mouth of the Ohio, upon the lands of the Chickasaws and Choctaws, calling it Fort Jefferson.

To keep up the spirits of the Indians, and in hopes of destroying "the rebels" in Kentucky, on the Wabash, and at the Illinois, Lieutenant-Governor Patrick Sinclair, in command at Michilimackinac, and Major DePeyster, at Detroit, sent some white soldiers and a large number of Indians against those countries nearly simultaneously. The field of operations of Sinclair was not only to include the Illinois villages, but the Spanish settlements of St. Louis as well; for Spain was now at war also with Britain. The result of the expedition fitted out by him was a few persons killed and a small number of prisoners taken, in the vicinity of St. Louis; while Cahokia, one of the Illinois villages (thanks to the activity of the inhabitants and George Rogers Clark, who hastened thither from Fort Jefferson), met with a loss still smaller.[6]

But, as we shall now see, the operations started by DePeyster proved much more serious. He assembled at Detroit a force of about one hundred and fifty whites and one hundred lake Indians, provided with two small cannon, to assail the fort at the Falls of the Ohio, when, if successful, they would attack other forts in Kentucky.[7] He sent in advance some Indians by way of the Wabash to re-capture Vincennes and to amuse Clark, who was supposed to be at the Rapids (Louisville)-the main force to move up the Maumee and down the Great Miami and the Ohio. The expedition was under the command of Captain Bird. With him went "the three Girtys." Proceeding to the Miami, he was joined by Captain McKee (then Deputy Indian Agent in place of Jehu Hay, who was captured with Hamilton) and a large Indian force. The whole moved to the Ohio, when Bird, at the instigation of the Indian chiefs, was compelled to change his plans. He must attack, first, some of the interior stations-"the forts on Licking creek" being most accessible; afterward, he would drop down to the falls of the Ohio (Louisville). So he urged his pirogues up the Ohio, from the mouth of the Great Miami, his Indians then numbering over seven hundred.

Captain Bird, after reaching the mouth of the Licking river, proceeded up that stream. And here, we may say, that Simon Girty had no command in the expedition; he simply acted as interpreter; so, too, his brothers, as their services were required. The enemy reached Ruddle's Station (or "Fort Liberty," as it was sometimes called) without accident, when McKee, taking two hundred Indians, surrounded the stockade in the night. Firing commenced at daylight. Captain Bird arrived at noon with the rest of the force and the smaller of the two field pieces. After two discharges of this gun, the captain sent Simon Girty with a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the fort. According to Girty's story, many rifles were pointed at him as he entered the stockade. He declares be kept cool, and informed those inside the pickets that, unless they surrendered, they would all be killed; a determination they clearly saw would be carried out in the event of longer resistance, as the other field piece was now brought up. The two would soon, of course, batter down the frail stockade.

But Isaac Ruddle, the commander of the garrison, determined not to surrender without making an effort, at least, for terms. He told Girty he could not consent to open the gates but on certain conditions, one of which was that the prisoners should be under the protection of the British and not suffered to be held by the Indians. To these conditions Bird consented, he and Captain McKee going into the fort to settle the terms of capitulation with Captain Ruddle. So the station was surrendered, but the savages were uncontrolable (sic); "they rushed in, tore the poor children from their mothers' breasts, killed and wounded many," says Bird,--each Indian, afterward, securing, if in his power, a prisoner; however, all except the Lake Indians returned theirs to the Captain the next morning. Near three hundred were taken. The cattle at the post were all shot down by the savages; this, in the end, as we shall see, proved a serious affair.

Martin's Station was next assailed with a similar result. Bird would then have been happy could he have moved down the Licking and Ohio, to attack the fort at Louisville; but this, now, was out of the question. He was nearly out of provisions, and there was danger of his prisoners starving-all because of the wanton destruction of the cattle at the first fort by the savages. There was no other alternative but to return, as quickly as possible, to Detroit. He made rapid marches to his boats (where most of his Indians left him), and was soon upon the Ohio again. After ascending the Great Miami, he was forced to leave his two cannons at Lorimer's.[8] George Girty, who had remained with him to this point, now returned to the Shawanese. George was of much service in getting the prisoners along, who numbered in all about three hundred and fifty. Bird reached Detroit on the 4th of August.[9] His expedition was the most successful against Kentucky of any during the war; and but for the intractability of his Indian allies, that whole region would have been depopulated.[10]

We have already seen that the appearance of the savages upon the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia in the spring of 1780 was as early as the middle of March. These marauds continued with frequency throughout the summer and until the coming in of winter. However, on at least one occasion, the Indians were severely punished for their audacity.[11]

To prevent, if possible, another visitation of the savages in force into the Kentucky settlements, as had been the case in Bird's expedition, which resulted in the taking of Ruddle's and Martin's Stations, and as a retaliatory measure for the success of the enemy in that undertaking, General George Rogers Clark, making all haste "with what men he could well spare,"[12] started from Fort Jefferson for Louisville, resolved to lead an expedition against the Shawanese towns on the waters of the Little Miami and Mad river, in what are now Greene and Clark counties, Ohio. With a strong force and one field piece he reached Chillicothe on the 6th of August only to find it burning and the savages gone. On the seventh, having destroyed all the corn in the vicinity, the march was renewed for Piqua upon the Mad river. This was reached on the eighth and the village at once attacked. James and George Girty were there and took part in the defense. All but about seventy, if McKee is to be believed, of the Indians immediately fled; the residue with the two Girtys stood their ground manfully, but were finally compelled to leave the village to the enemy.[13 ] After destroying all the corn, Clark, on the tenth, began his return march. Not less than six of the Indians were killed, but the whites lost seventeen. A number of Clark's men were wounded, but only three of the savages. The destruction of the corn proved a very serious blow to the Indians, and gave ease to Kentucky for a number of months following.

In nearly all the printed statements heretofore given to the public, not only is Simon Girty represented as being present at the battle, but as having command of a large force of Mingoes, who ingloriously fled the town. The usual account is to the effect that "the action was so severe a short time before the close, that Girty drew off three hundred of his men [Mingoes], declaring to them it was folly in the extreme to continue the action against men who acted so much like madmen as General Clark's, for they rushed in the extreme of danger, with a seeming disregard of consequences. This opinion of Girty, and the withdrawal of the three hundred Mingoes, so disconcerted the rest, that the whole body soon dispersed."

But there were no Mingoes in Piqua when the town was attacked by Clark, neither was Simon Girty there."[14]

The conduct of James and George-his brothers-was highly commended by the savages in their accounts subsequently given of the battle.

Notwithstanding the destruction of the Indian towns by Clark, the Shawanese did not forsake their country. With them remained James and George Girty; while Simon, who since Bird's campaign into Kentucky, had been inactive, continued with the Mingoes. The three occupied themselves in the Ohio wilderness throughout the following winter, attending to the behests of DePeyster and looking after the interests of the tribes with whom they were particularly associated.

NOTE.-In a foot-note by Lyman C. Draper, added to Charles I. Walker's Address before the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, January 31, 1871, on "The Northwest During the Revolution," is the following with regard to Bird's expedition (the italicizing is by the writer of this narrative):

"This memorable expedition was originally designed to strike at Col. Clark and his garrison at Louisville; but the streams were unusually full that season, which circumstance induced Bird to change his original purpose of attacking Louisville first, and therefore, decided to ascend Licking river, into the heart of the Kentucky settlements, conveying his artillery by water to Ruddell's and Martin's Stations, and thence by land to Bryan's Station and Lexington."

But the Correspondence of the commander of the expedition clearly shows that it was the determination of the Indian chiefs, not high water, that "induced Bird to change his original purpose."

Footnotes

1 - Pennsylvania Archives, Old Series, Vol. VIII, p. 152.

2 - Id., p. 159.

3 - Compare, in this connection, Wasbington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 47, which gives a correct account of the affair, so far as it goes, except as to the number of boats.

4 - See, as to the capture of the Malotts, McKnight's Our Western Border, pp. 422,423. But the account there given is erroneous in some of its particulars.

5 - DePeyster to Haldimand, March 8, 1780.-MS. letter, Haldimand Papers. As the "three Girtys" remained in Detroit until the 12th of April, it is certain that Simon was not present at the capture of the Malotts.

6 - Michigan Pioneer Collections, Vol. IX, passim. Consult, also, Calendar of Virginia State Papers, Vol. I. and Scharff's History of St. Louis, Vol. 1. Some additional particulars may be gleaned from Billon's Annals of St. Louis. See, too, Wisconsin State Historical Society's Collections, Vol. XI.

7 - "Soon after the rush of spring immigration was at its height [in 1780, in Kentucky] the old settlers and the newcomers alike were thrown into the utmost alarm by a formidable inroad of Indians, accompanied by French partisans, and led by a British officer. DePeyster, a New York tory of old Knickerbocker family, had taken command at Detroit."-Roosevelt. That he came there from Michilimackinac, or, indeed, that there was any such British post (which was, throughout the Revolution, second only to Detroit, in the West), that writer does not inform his readers.

8 - Bird to DePeyster, July 24, and Bombardier William Homan to Bird, August 18, 1780.MS. letters, Haldimand Papers.

9 - Besides the various published accounts of the expedition, I have consulted the following MS. Letters of 1780 from the Haldimand Papers, in addition to the two already cited: McKee to Bird, May 3d; DePeyster to HaIdimand, May 17th; same to Sinclair, May 18th; Bird to DePeyster, May 21st; same to DePeyster, June 3d; McKee to same, June 4th; Bird to same, June 11th; same to same, July 1st; McKee to same, July 8th; and DePeyster to Haldimand, August 18th.

10 -Roosevelt declares that "Bird was not one of the few men fitted to command such a force as that which followed him; and contenting himself with the slight success he had won, he rapidly retreated to Detroit, over the same path by which he had advanced. 'but that author wrote, of course, without having seen Bird's or McKee's official correspondence, or he would not speak of the commanding officer, "contenting himself with the slight success he had won." both Bird and McKee were well "fitted to command such a force"-no two in the West were better; but the nature of Indians is not to brook control in war for any length of time.

11 - Washington-Irvine Correspondence, pp. 47-50.

12 - Roosevelt gives credit to the oft-published fiction of Clark having with him but two men. He had, in all probability, two hundred. That writer also reprints the silly tale about Clark dressing himself as an Indian, "so as to deceive the lurking bands of savages" while on the journey.

13 - Captain McKee to DePeyster, from the Upper Shawanese Village (Wapatomica), August 27, 1780–MS. letter, Haldimand Papers.

14 - Roosevelt says, that "both Simon Girty and his brother were in the town." He reaches this conclusion, evidently, from the circumstance that McKee speaks of "the two Girtys." He did not know, as before intimated, that there were three Girtys (brothers) in the Ohio wilderness.