Indiana American, Volume 2, Number 45, Brookville, Franklin County, 7 November 1834 — Page 1

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UY C. F. CI, ARKSOIV.

TERMS OF THE AMER1CNAX. Si in advance $2,50 in six months; or 3,00 at the expiration of the year. Adverti8bmests. I welve lines, or less, will be inserted once or three times, for one dollar, and 35 cnts will be charged for each additional insertion. POLITIC Alt. GEN. WJI. HARRISON. We promised Ia6t week, the publication of the letX of ten. Harrison to the Thames Celebration Committee at Indianapolis. It will be found in this teek a paper. e cannot doubt but every one into hoe hands this paper may come, willjrive tlie letteo a careful perusal. It's historical truth should injace the reading, could the reader,like certain poli ticians, recklessly, ana wontonJy turn his back upon one of the worthiest and most time-worn veterans of the Republic. Whatever others may think of it, this letter has our unqualified approbation. And we envy not those individuals their feeling, B ho have offended, if they can take its temnerntp. Hough pointed rebuke, without feeling themselves covered with mortification and confusion. There is no in living or dead, we should not except Gen. WVne himself. to wbom the West is so vastlv in debted as Gen. Harrison. He may, above airothers be regarded as the Father of all this great region Yirih est of the Ohio river and of the the State cf Indiana in an especial manner. From the young fiorninff of his existence, when as Aid-de-caniD. he stated the army of Wayne, at Fort Washington where Cincinnati now stands, up to the present time, he has lived in, and devoted himself to, the North est. 1" or several years it was all fn his Unds. And he fhas never been faithless to his gret trust. Lonnertvtlie Hatcfiman. CEjV. HARRISONS LETTER. North Be.xd, 27th;Sept., 1834. Gbstlemkx Your letter of the 20th inst. inviting me to be present at a celebration "of the victory of the Thames, at Indianopolis,'" on the 4th proximo, by "the citizens of that region of country, has been duly received. I mast beg you, gentlemen, toaccept my unfeigned and cordial thanks as well for the in vitation, as for the honorable manner in which to hare been pleased to speak of my civil and military services to our common couutrv. Favors of this kind hare been so froouentlv received from my fellow citizens of Indiana, and 50 frequently acknowledged, that I am unable to find any hew terms to express my gratitude. They are, however, fully appris ed, that I consider myself more largely in debted to them, than l could ever repay.even if years of life and health were extended to beyond the ordinary lot of mortals. With the expression of these feelines, gentlemen. I would have concluded my answer to your nattering invitation, by intbrmine Tou hat the situation of my private affairs would not permit me to be present at your celebration. But having seen in the Indiana lemocrat of! the linn inst, the proceedings of the asscmmage oi me citizens convened at Indianapolis, and who determined upon the measure, I must candidly declare, that from the manner in which they are drawn up, I could ou no account have attended, as your guest, on the minion. a lie vujcuvi mci'uiig is uitrc declared to be, to "celebrate the victory obtained over the combined. British and Indian armies, under the command of Generals Proctor and Tecumsch, by the American forces under Gen. Harrison and Col. Johnson, on the 5th October, 1813." If it was found necessary to associate any wc wan me in uie command ot our army. wnj were the general onicers passed over,and why, particularly, was the venerable, the magnanimous, and patriotic Shelby omitted! The hero, who, at a most advanced age, put nimscu at uie nead ot nis fellow-citizens, at a oost inclement season, to preserve that liber ty which he had so eminently contributed to esiaonsn m the war of the Revolution, ir I an associate in the command of the for ces was unquestionably Governor Shelby, uu niM voi. JOlinson. Hilt Pinon. I ImH po associate in the command of the armv. 1 as completely clothed with the character ol "commander of the forces" as the British designate their Generals, having an indepen dent Command. "Comnwnrlintr Gnrr .P' op -General in thief as we. after the manner , a ...... . Pi tne r reneh designate them, as was General Brown or General Jackson in their ivsnrrtive districts, to each of whom I was the senior in rank. In the most celebrated of the oi5tmgmshed battles, won by the fonner,(lhat ' Niagara) the contest was decided by a most asperate rh:i " oy the gallant Col. James Miller. Have you ever seen, gentlemen, a reference made Tn t K 1. . . . . . . wuu victory as having been earned hv "the wrccs under Gen. Brown and Col. Miller?' ou have no doubt, been often, gentlemen engaged in celebratinsr the battle of Orleans "-would it have been tolerated by any company assembled for that purpose, to have it id". that the command -of the army which flw.oyed that glorious victory, was a copart"oii! p art.ur between General Jackson an 0e of his Colonels! " the impropriety and in justice of such an -uduou ol rank be manifest m these in fl;iccs, in what do thev differ from that wmch I now complain! I will not pretend tol sMhat I possessed the qualifications for com"and equal to the distinguished officers whom l have mentioned, but 1 will assert, without fcar of contradiction, that all the military arrangements, for the two North Western CamPaigns (that which failed in IS10, as well as lQe nc which succeeded in the following jar) and all the orders of march and ofbuttle? where I was personally present, were the result of my own mind, unassisted by the coun selor advice of anv person whatever, with a fclnl - . I . .... "a,e exception, and that was in relation

BROOKYILLE, IMPIAUTA, FKIPAY EVEIfcG, IXOVEKBER 7, 1834.

the route by which the British army should be pursued; a question which was submitted to a board of General officers. You cannot but know, gentlemen, that the laws and military institutions of our country do not admit of any such association of command as that which has been assumed to have existed in the North Western Army; that a General in chief of our army, is perfectly unshackled in his operations, by any authority but that of the President of the United States; that even his second In command, altho' he may prssess the same grade of commission, is as well ns any other of his officers as comnlefrlv snhiort f lis orders (given under the sanction of milita ry usage) as the common soldiers; that it is even contrary to military etiquette for officers of any grade, to intrude their opinions unasked upon their commander, and that even when asked and given, it is entirely competent to mm, to aci in accordance with it, or direct opposition, as he may think best. As he and be alone, is responsible to the Government for ue success ot the operations mmminJ t 1 -w w vfcv-va linn, his authority, within the sphere of his command, and within the limits of the martial aw is omnipotent. But perhaps, gentlemen, instead nf rnmdaining, I ought to felicitate mvself for hnvinofallen in the hands of my friends of Indianapolis and vicinity, who have kindly assigned me a share in the command of the armv. which achieved thevictory of the Thames. I have not always been thus treated. A work styled an Epic Poem, written and published in Kentucky, a few years ago,and purporting to give the history of our late war with Great Bitain. has boldly assigned to Governor Shelby the station of General in Chief of the North Wes tern Army. 1 he venerable Governor is made the Agamemnon and Col. Johnson the Ajax Tclcmon of the poem, and this is not the campaign where the former served as second in command, but in that i fa previous year, and at theseige of Fort Meies, at which time the Governor was quietly seated by his fireside at t irtiiMon. hh u appears that this arrangement of the commaud did not suit all times & all circumstances. On the 5th of October ast, the day was celebrated by a collection of citizens assembled at Tammany Hill, in the city ot iew lorlc, "in honor ot the victory achieved by Col. Johnson at the river Thames." INo more notice is taken of Governor Shelbv or myself in the proceedings of the company, than if we had not been present in the action, or being present, had surrendered our author ity into the hands of Col. Johnson. Commetiry upon such conduct would appear to be unnecessary, as it regards Governor Shelby; internment services, his exalted worth (both a it relates to his public and private character) have embalmed his name in the effections of the American people. He is bevond the reach of envy or malignity. But it is other wise with me. The object of unremitted & un tiring persecution from the era of the battle of i ippecanoe, 1 have not always escaped being its victim. But now, that I am in no one's way mat l am no longer upon the political arena; that my euortsare necessarily and exclusively devoted to the maintainanccofa large family; it is difficult to conceive the motives which indnce a continuance of this hostility. But it appears that neither time, the circumstances which I have mentioned, the repeated refuta tions of these calumnies, by testimony the most authentic and unimpeachable, have in the least reduced the number or diminished the malignity of the attacks, direct and indirect, with which I have been wont to be assailed, You have no doubt seen, gentlemen, a public ation in the course of the lst autumn, exten sively circulated, purporliong to be and au thentic account ot the battle of I ippecanoe, written upon the spot and Irom "the relation of a respectable eye witness" in which it is as serted in direct terms that "the army was com plctely surprised; that dismay and dispair seized upon the commander and his men ; that all was given up as lost, when a Kentucky field officer, calling upon his own command of mounted Rangers to follow him, rushed upon the enemy, and with the loss of his own life, gained a complete victory, and saved the ar-' my. 1 he author ot this infamous Iraud could not have believed that it would be credited here. It was intended to operate at a dis tance. Because it was unknown by every person who served in the action, that, 1st, although the attack was sudden and unexpected the army was as well prepared to receive it, as it could well have been: 2nd, that there was no such troops ns Kentucky Rangers cmployed in the expedition 4 1 he corps commanded by the officer named, being properly equiped Dragoons, two-thirds of which were of Indiana; 3rd that the charge made by the officer in question, was the only unsucessful one of the whole action, and that of course it fnntrihntpd nothing to its SUCCCSS. but Was only the commcement of the close and des perate conflict, of nearly two hours countin uance. liut this attacK 01 an auuujuiuua writer, false and infamous as it is, was not so wounding to my feelings, as the proceedings in New York, to which 1 have reierreo. must believe that there were in the asscmhl:irf at Tammany Hall, many very respect able citizens, and I am humiliated by the reflection, that 1 am the only successful com-iritili-r pithpr hv spa nr bind, who could be thus treated. Would it be permitted in Bos ton to have the anniversary of the taking of the Guerriere celebrated "in honor ot Lieut 1 a (now Commodore) Morris who to I victory T Would the New Y achieved the orkers them

OCR COIWTRV OUR COUNTRY'S INTERESTAND

OUR selves permit the memory of their own Brown to be insulted by announcing a celebration of the victory of Niagara as being "achieved lVv Col. Miller?" and yet Col. Jolwon stood in the same relation to me,as Col Miller to General brown. The services rendered bv the two Colonels were strikingly parallel. Both were orJcred toexeccte a most hazardous dulv, & both most heroically performed it. - 1 know ol no officer of the late army, foi whom I have a greater respect and friendship, than for Col. Miller, and yet I must say. that the achievement of Col Johnston and his Regiment, was more difficult and hazardous than that of Col. Miller. The latter was at the head of nighlv disciplined American Infantry, and the assault was made upon British troops of the same description, with the advantage, it must be confessed, of being in position and aided by formidable batteries. But ihe corps of Col. Johnson was,in a great meaurc,undisciplined. They had been in service only a few weeks, and being constanlv in motion, there w?is was little opportunity of r.cauirinsr a knowl edge of fonninsr motions nf mvplrv. Them were, morover, but few of them that were properly armed for the services they were rerequired to perform, and their efforts were directed against highly disciplined troops, and justly considered amongst the best of K To make up for these deficiencies the Kentuckians had to rely upon thcr valor. The event showed that of that ingredient enough and to spare was brought into the conflict. is mere any thing unreasonable, rvntlpmen, in my wishing to be placed upon the footing of other American Generals? My term of service in active warfare far extends beyound that of any of them. M v heart ir'U me that my fidelity to my country has been as great. And although 1 will not dare to place myself by the side of them in point of military talents, 1 may be permitted to refer to the published testimony of Governor Shelbv, for his opinion, that "he had never known Tlulins soditficult and ardious, confided to the execu tion otany one man" as those assigned Iv ll, Government to me. I rnav too. fconsidprinT the manner in which I have been asilh quote the conclusion of his remark "that there were hundreds in Kentucky as wrll ns him self, who believed it could not have been con fided to belter hands." The exertions h;h have been made to depreciate me. for iho purpose of elevating the fame of Col. Johnson, is in the eyes of every military man exceed ingly ridiculous. 1 he claims of the subordinate officer of an army for the gallant performance of his duty, can never come in conflict, in the estimation of those who have the least knowledge of military atfiiir.-iih Omep of his General. Their spheres of action arc altogether dillercnt. Would vn.i mifWrsiml them.gentltmen.look at the Mpsa.ronf Presi dent Madison to Congress in Decernl.er.lSl3. lie there informed them that what I be one prepared" the other "executed." If evi dence is necessary to show that the entire plan of the battle of the Thames was "prepared" by myself alone, I reler again to tho venera ted Shelby. In the letter above minted, he says "Your arrangements for. and order of l 11I . l . . ' ouuie were sucn as to give confidence to all mat we could not be beaten by double our .... 1 j iiuiiiuci p. iUiseranie indeed must be the situation of ... . . - a commanding General, if the pretension ad vanced by Col. Johnson's friends are admit ted. Uemg invested with absoulute power un.. .nu miliums or tne army, he is alone responsible for them Should they result in misfortune, his reputation, if not his life, is at hazard. But should they be successful, the merit of the success is considered ns alone due to those who execute his orders. Who would command an army under such circumstances? Who would incur the dreadful responsibility, which any commanderof sensibility must feel, on the eve of a battle, from the reflection that the lives of so many human beings, and those his fellow-citizens, "depend upon the wisdom and skill with whic h his measures have been taken? To one who has been fortunate enough successfully to pass an ordeal of that kind; who has no lack of duty, no error of uugemeiit with which to accuse himself, in the various and complicated arrangements and compilations which the occasion called for; how cruelly wounding must be the reflec tion, that his claims are postponed to that of a subordinate omcer, who acted under no responsibility but that of doing his own duty, and (with whatever gallantry it may have been done) succesfully executing an order given to him by his superior. But it appears that to Hector Craig, Esq. and "his associates at Tammany Hall, it is right and proper that U should be so. It is not however, improba ble, that some of these gentlemen may have imbibed an opinion of me from a publication which w ; written some years ago in Washington and sent to the Editor of the Commercial Advertiser, by whom it was published, as he assured me inadvertently. In this piece it is asserted by the author (upon the authori ty ot a worthy Kentuckian whom he met with on a steam-boat discending the Ohio) that when the enemy were discovered in their position on the 5th October 18l3,hy the advance of the army, an officer was sent to appraise me of that circumstance, but that 1 was now where to be found,and that Col. Johnson was obliged to lake upon himself the arrangements for battle, which resulted in the victory. The absurdity contained in this piece. and the malignity of its object were so appa- - rent (there beiDg at least eight General oU

COUNTRY 8 FRIENDS.

cers present, who would have claimed and exercised the right of making the arrangements, if I had absconded) that Col . Stone the editor, in a subsequent paper, exposed them in an eloquent editorial article. I am, I think, indebted to the individual w ho wrote the article alluded to, for another and recent attack in a Washington paper, called the American Mechanic. What the motive could be for writing Ihe last, I am at n loss to conjecture, unless it be that amiable humane feeling which induces one to trample to death an adversary he finds already prostrated. 1 am certain that no man more heartly disapproves of these acts of his injudicious patisans than does Col. Johnson. "From him I have never withheld the tribute of applause due to his highly meritorious services. As an evidence of it I annex an extract from my answer to the letter of the committee ofnrrange i.ent inviting me to attend the celehrationof the battle of the Thames, last October, near Frankfort Kentucky. The extract will further show the feelings with which I commenced the action and to which! have already alluded. I trust that there is nothing in my conduct or character to induce any one t believe that I am actuated in any part of my course by envy or jenlouey of the superior fortunes and prospects of Col. Johnson and the other officers who puccessfullr served their ccunt ry in the late war. Fa r, very fa'r different are the feelings I entertain. Let them continue to bask in the warm beams of Executive and popular fivor, and whatever may be mv lot. I wm anii rejoice in ineir prosperity as 1 would have wept over their misfortunes. For mvs-lf I rkU r.nthing of my country but justice, naked justicenothing that was ever denied to the meanest criminalthat my conduct should be determined upon, not by the voice of rumor nor the writings of men who dare not avow their real names but, in relation to the battle of Tippecanoe, by the testimony of every oflicor and soldier who ssri ed by me by the resolutions of the Indiana Territorial i.e. latture, and that of Kentucky passed t th-j moment of their assuming the garb of mourning for the loss of many valued citiion, and in relation to that of the Thames by the testimony of the mss of those who served on that occasion; by that of by that of your Shelby, you Perry and your Wood, and the amiable and impartial M'.Vfee (himself an officer of Col. Johnson's corps and present in battle) who is now living and prepared to deftmd the accuracy of the history which ha has given to his countrymen. I fear, jrentlemen. that it Inn V I nnA.i r in Tmi that in the remarks I have made upon the mode :n which the resolution to celebrate the approaching anniversary of the battle of the Thames were adopted, that I have been somewhat fiftidioua. But. t pray you recollect that I was a soldier from mv earliest youth; that there are nrincinles remirnirnA in that profession which every one b-jlonginjjf to it is psound to defend, w hich he may not 011 any occasion surrender or abandon -without dishonor. For his friend, a true soldier will willinply part with his wealth; in his defence shed his blood or loose his life, but his right of command he will give up to no one. On such an issue "he will cavil for the ninth part of a hair." Hat if I h id been willing to abandon my own claims I could not pass over thore 01 tne i.cnerai who served under nie, several of whom are no lorger alive to protect their own right. Examine, gentlemen, an authentic account of the battle of the Thames, and you willl find that the hero of King's Mountain was neither false tolas country nor recreant to his former fame. I have the honor to be gentlemen, With high considerations and regird, Your fellow citizen, W. H. HARRISON. THE CLAhM O.V FRANCE From the Roston Patriot. Honrslh is the best poiiru. It is well known. that the claim of our c itizens on France for the spoliations of Napoleon on their commerce, has been followed up by every administration since Ihe spoliations were committed. Mr. Madison, Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Adams, each pursued the subject with earnestness jor. Uur successive ministers at Paris. Mr. Harlow, Mr. Craw ford, Mr. Gallatin, and Mr. Brown, acting under fheir instructions, pre sented the subject on every proper occasion. and in every possible form, to the notice of the French Government. Never was the subject more forcibly ured than by Mr. Gallatin, acting under the directions of Mr. Adams, then Secretary of State. When Mr. Clay came into the department of State, he transmitted Mr. Brown an instruction on the subject, in which the whole question was discussed with a closeness and force, never exceeded, if ever equalled, in this negotiation. The French ministers repeatedly admitted, as a general principle, the soundness of the claim to indemnity; and the sole alleged difficulties cither related to certain classes of claims, or to the fair amount, or to the counter claims, set up by the French Government, particularly their pretensions under the eighth article of the Louisiana Convention. In this state of things, General Jackson came into office, and Mr. Uives was sent to France. There was a tone in the President's first message, on this subject, in which wheedling and menace, neither of them in the best taste nor verv adroitly, were combined; but which luckily so far neutralized each other, that the state of the question probably remained unprejudiced. Mr. Rives, like hi predecessors, pursued the subject with a creditable diligence; although, in comparison with them, he labored under the disadvantage of an imperfect knowledge of the French language, which Mr. Gallatin spoke as a native, and Mr. Brown, long a resident at New Urleans, with perlect fluency, sso long as old dynasty remaed, Mr. Hires got precise ly what Mr. Urown and Mr. laliatin had gotten before him, general admissions, vague promises, and lair words; and tie got noining, . .. more. 1 he llevolu ion of F' General Lafayette became, for a time, the J centre of an unbounded poUical uUuencc, and under that influence t Mr. Btvcs tros able to:

VOI,. II. Io. 45.

negotiate his in one line. convention. This is the hiitory We have no wish to Hotp9,.t-.n. thing from the praise justly due toJMr. Rives, ns an industrious, skilful and zealous minister. But it was the circumstance mentioned, and not his talents, which gave us the convention. No sooner was it ratified, than' two thing, were done by the administration press, which have UHfortunately, for the present, prevented the Convention from taking efT ct, and have adjourned, possibly to some far distant period, the indemnity so long delayed find so justly due. Forthesakeof giving an unjust preference to Mr. Rives over his predecessors, the most unjust and exaggerated compliments were paid to his diplomatic prowei. lie had brought the reluctant councils of France to terms; he had obtained an amount equal to "every cent" of our just demands, a phrase borrowed from one of Mr. Rive's own letters, as ungracious in tone it is unfounded in fact. There is not the least reason to suppose that the five million of dollars would pay above fifty per cent, of the principal to say nothing of interest on theic long deferred claims. Language of t'lis character went back t& France, and produced its natural effect. The Chamber of Deputies and the people of France were disgusted, at the pretensions of the American Administration press. They took us at our word, that their Ministry had been cajoled or brow bcatcn,by Mr.Rives;and they very naturally concluded that if Mr. Rives admitted thatfhe had'got "every cent" that he had probably got n good deal more. But this was not the worst. TJffi- Frencli are a liberal people; not niggardly as to rnoney, and too m ignanimous to cavil at a-'littla vapouring in the newspapers; and if the? Administration had stopped with a little cxngV gferalcd piaiseof Mr. Rives, no harm perhaps would have been done. But General Jackson also was to be glorified. The President, in his first Message to Congress, had laid it down as "hit aetlltd purpose, to ask nothing that is not clearly right, and submit to nothing wrong."' If this purpose, on General Jackson's part, was aetforlh, as new or pecu uar 10 mm, u was an indifferent compliment to all his predecessors; and as all our policy with foreign Governments is regulated by hw,it was not aver respectful to the Legislative branch of the Government. But it was tolerably well qualified, by other expressions in the Message, more concilatory; and probably produced at Paris nothing more seriuos than a shrug of the shoulders, by which a Frenchman often says a good deal, without opening his lips. The great evil of this sentiment (perfectly just and sound in the proper place) was, that it gave a very bad tone to th Administration press, in"refercnce to our foreign relations. General Jackson's name was to strike terror into the Monarchs of Europe. When the hero of New Orleans was spoken of, the mothers in Paris were to clasp their infants to their bosoms. They had stood thm shock of Blucher and the Cossacks parading their streets, but at the name of General Jackson, from beyond the ocean, they wer ready to jump into the Seine. Vben th treaty arrived, negotiatedTunder the eircumstancts mentioned above, the indiscretion cf the Administration party knew no bound. Besides heaping Mr. Rives with the most undeserved compliments, and boastins that he had wrung the last cent'out of the poor 'intimidated or beguiled French, it was held up a? anew proofof the'terrorj inspired by Geueral Jackson's name. He would submit tv nothing wrong. He was not tobe 'played with, as peer James Madison, and James Monroe, 'and John Quincy Adams had been. General Jackson himself spoke of the treaty to Congress, as "an pdmoniiion to other Powers," if any there werc,which refused to do us justice: and though his own language, with this exception, was guarded'and cautious, the Official Journal and the Administration presses kept no terms. For the poor gratification of pnrty feeling, towards Messrs. Adams and Clay, their administration was held up as an object of contempt and disregard to foreign countries, contrasted with the terrors inspired by the glorious name and warlike renown of Gen. Jackson. This was too much for lh French. As Colonel Crockett says, "they could not stand it." A little sore at the military reverses that accompanied the downfall of Napoleon, and not a little proud of havir j marched in triumph, under Li9 banners, over two-thirds of FiUrope, they were , galled to tha quick by the taunts of the Admiaistratioii press. They had felt, to their sorrow, how much their own hero had cost them; and now to be told that the Tery name of a foreign he ro had frightened them out of five millions of dollars, was rather too much for hightninded men, who had seen half the soverigns of Europe dancing attendance in Napoleon's antichamber. The consequence was natural. The American treaty became perfectly odious. To lose their money, and to be insulted besides, was more than they bargained for. If they were to be stigmatized, at all events, aj paying it on compulsion, they concluded to wait awhile, and see how the thing stood. This is the short and long of the affair The claim is just; and France U just; and for its that reason it will be paid, trance win not . . ... , . r to show that she will not, she will never pay the claim, till the tone ofthe officia, .g aUered, aru3 probabIy not ti ch anei(th National AdrainistntitM. "