Vincennes Gazette, Volume 4, Number 23, Vincennes, Knox County, 8 November 1834 — Page 1

73 H H Id Ho i :;. v. vi-;.v, ... v, A'o i 't:.nsu:ii c, 1334.

Tiir. VINCEHNES GAZETTE. Is Published every Saturday, J 5) Tj) a 'ii "tf 331a

rim 2 aO. it nam iluri ti thr vpgr. Si OO. if paid "mi advance - - i , . . . $ i 00, if not paid during (he year. SI 2 5, for six months. Papers discontinued only at the option of the publisher while HrreHrnse arc dne. fcT" Advertisements making one qunre or less will he inserted three times for one dollar, and twenty-five cents for every subsequent insertion ; longer advertisements the same ratio. Advertisements sent without orders, will in all cases, he inserted until forbid, and charged accordingly. Such articles of produce, ns are used in a family, will he received in payment for suhtcriptions, at the market price, delivered in Vincrines. North Bf.sd, 27lh Sept. 1834. Gentlemen Your letter of the 10th instant, inviting me to be present at a celebration "of the victory of the Thames, nt Indianapolis,11 on the 4th pr ximo, by 'the citizens of that region of country,11 hat been duly received. 1 must beg)ou, gentlemen, to accept my unfeigned nnd cordial thanks, as well for the invitation, as for the honorable manner in which you have been pleased to speak of my civil and military services to our common country. Favours of this kind have been so frequently received from my fellowcitizens of Indiana, ntid so frequently acknowledged, that I am unable to find any new terms to express my gratitude. They are, however, fully apprised, that 1 consider myself more largely indebted to them, than 1 could ever repay, even if years of life and health were extended to me beyond the ordinary lot of mortals. With the expression of these feelings, gentlemen, I would have concluJed my answer to your flattering invitation, by informing you tlint the situation of my pri vate affairs would not permit me to be present nt your celebration. Cut having eeen in the Indiana Democrat of the 19ih i?illatit, the proceedings of the assemblage of the citizens convened at Indianapolis, and who determined upon that measure 1 must candidly declare, that from the manner in which they are drawn up, I could on no account have attended as your guest, on that occasion. I fie ob

ject oT the meeting is Iheie declared to ue,l wouid appear to be unnecessary, as it reto "celebrate the victory ouiaineil over j gards Governor Shelby ; his eminent servthe combined British and Indian armies, ices, his exalted worlh(bolh as it relates to

under the command of Generals Proctorlhis public and private character) have

and lecumseh, iy the American lorces under General Han iion and Colonel Johneon, on the 5th October, 1813." If it was found necessary to associate any one with me in the command of our army, why were the general officers passed over, and why, particularly, was the venrable, the magnanimous, and patriotic Shelby omitted? The hero, who, at a most "advanced age, put himself at the head of his fellow citizens, at a most inclement season, to preserve that liberty which he had so eminently contributed to establish in the war of the Revolution. If I had an associate in the command of the forces, it was unquestionably Governor Shelby, and not Colonel Johnon. But, gentlemen, 1 had no associate in the command of the army. I was as completely clothed with the character of commander of the forces11 as the British designate their generals, having an independent command, "Commanding General"" or "General in Chief11 as we, after the manner of the French, designate them, as was General Brown or General Jackson in their respective districts, to each of whom I was the senior in rank. In the rr.ost celebrated of the distinguished battles won by the former, (that of Niagara) the contest was decided by a most desperate charge made on the enemy1 batteries by the gallant Colonel j.itnes Miller. Have yon ever seen, gentlemen, reference made to that victory as having been gained by "the forces under General Brown and Colonel Miller?" You have.no doubt, been often, gentlemen, engaged in celebrating the battle of Orleans; would it have been tolerated by any company assembled for that purpo-e, to have it said, that the command of the army which achieved that glorious victors wa! a conartnershit) affair between General Jackson and one of his colonels i, If the impropriety andiniustice of such! J r an association oi rami oe uwhiic" . 1 I. 1 . . r.. n n I t n F in mHEP . . initances, in what do they differ from that of which I now complain? I will not pretend to say, that I possessed qualifications for command equal to the distinguish ed officers whom I have mentioned; but 1 willassert, without fear of contradiction,' that all the military arrangements for the North Western Campaigns (that which failed in 1812, as well as the one which succeeded in the following year) and all theofders of march and of battle, where 1 was personally present, were the result of my own miud, unassisted by the coun sel or advice of any person whatever, with a single exception, and that was in relation to 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, gentle men, that the laws and military institu tions of our country do not admit of any such association of command as that which has been assumed to havp exited in the xr. ii Western Armv: that a ljener.il in chief of our army, is perfectly unshitk

let! in his operation?, by any authority

but that of the President of the United States; that even his second in command, although lie may possess the fame grade of commission, is as well as any other of his rtlicers as c mtdetely ml iect to his ordeis (given under the sanction of military usage) as the common soldiers; that it is even contrary to military eti quette for officers of any grade, to intrude their opinions unasked, upon their com mander, and even when asked and given,

it is entirely competent to him, to act in than for Colonel Miller, and yet I must accordance w ith it, or direct opposition, ' say , that (he achievement of Col. Johuas he may think best. As he and he alone, ;son and his Regiment, was more difficult is responsible to the Government for the land hazardous than that of Col. Miller. success of the operations committed to jThe latter was at the head of highly dis-

nim, his authority, within the sphere ol ; his command, and within the limits of the martial law is omnipotent. Hut i .1 i , c perhaps, gentlemen, instead ofi co- .ning, . ought ,. feUci.a.e m,.,ll;, iui uavii'j- iiturii ill inc liiini. U( in v fulleri in tbt hanr'a n f mv friends of Indianapolis and vicinity, who have kindly assigned me a share in the command of the aimy, which achieved the victory of the Thames. 1 have not always been thus treated . A work styled an Epic Poem, written Bnd published in Kentucky, a few years ago, and purporting to give the history of our late war with Great Britain, has boldly assigned to Gov emor Shelby the station of Gen eral in Chiefof the North Western Army. The venerable Governor is made the Ag amemnon and Colonel Johnson the Ajax Telemon of the poem, and this not only in the campaign where the former actual ly served as second in command, hut inj that of a previous year, and at the siege of Fort Meigs, at which time the Governor was quietly seated by his fireside at Frankfort. But it appears this arrange ment of the command, did not suit all times and all circumstances. On the 5th of October last, the day was celebrated by a collection of citizens assembled at Tammany Hall, in the city of New York, "in honor of the victory obtained by Col. Johnson at the river Thames " No more notice is taken of Governor Shelby or myself in the proceedings of the campaign, than if we had not been present in the action, or being present, had surrendered our authority into the hands of Colonel Johnson. Commentary upon such conduct embalmed his name in the affections of the American people. He is beyond the reach of envy or malignity. But it is otherwise with mc. The nijct of imcmitted and untiring persecution, from the era of the batlle of Tippecanoe, I have not always escaped being its victim. But now, that I am in no one'i way, that I am no longer upon the political arena; that my efforts are necessarily and exclusively devoted to the maintenance, of a large family; it is difficult to conceive the mo fives which induce a continuance of this hostility. But it appears that neither time, the circutnstnnces which I have mentioned, the repeated refutations ot 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 publication in the course ot the last uutumn, extensively circulated, purpoting to be an authentic account of the battle of Tippecanoe, written upon the spot and from "the relation of a respectable eye witness," in which it is asserted in direct terms, that "the army was completely surprised. That dismay and despair seized upon the commander and his men that all was given up as lost, when a Kentucky field officer, calling up on his own command of mounted Rangers to follow him, rushed upon the enemy, and j with the loss of hisowu life, gained a com - plele victory, and saved the army." The author of this infamous fraud could not hav e believed that it would be credited

here. It was intended tooperate at a dis- i and skill with which his measures hav e tance. Because it was known by every i been taken To one who has been fortu person that served in the action, that, Ist.'nate enough successfully to pass an ordeal although the attack was sudden and uo-jof that kind; who has no lack of duty.no expected, the army was as well prepared error of judgment with which to accuse

to receive it, as it could well have been; nimseu, in me vanuus ami .uui(iiiLieu 2nd, that there was no such troops asjarrangements and combinations which the

iKentucky Rangers employed in theexpe

dition. The corps commanded by the of- j must be the reflection, mai mi ciaims are ficer named, being properly equipped ! postpone,, to that of a subordinate officer, Dragoons, two thirds of which were of j who acted under no responsibility but that Indiany ; 3 I, that the charge made by the of doing his own duty , and (with whatevnflir.Pr in nnetion. was the onlv iirisoc-' !er gallantrv it may have been done) suc-

cessful one of the whole action, and that ' . of course it con. ributed nolhinsr to its suecess, but was only the commencement of the close at-id desperate conflict, of nearly two hours1 continuance. But this attack of an anonymous writer, false and infa-

mous as it is, was not so wounding to my 'may have imbibed an opinion oi me irom feelings, as the proceedings in New York,'a publication which was written some to which I have referred. I must believe, 1 years ago in Washington and sent to the

that there were in the assemblage, at Tammany 11.11, many very respectable -iiivuia :md I :im bnmiliatp.l bv the. re- ......... j tlection, that I am the only successful commander, either by sea or land, who could be thu treated" Would it be permitted in Boston to have the anniversary of the taking of the Guerriere celebra - ted "in honor of Lieutenant (now Comnn,i,... Mnrria mIi.i achieved the victo r) T1 Would the New Yorkers themselves

permit the memory of their Drown t (o he

inputted by announcing a celebration ol the victory of Niagara as I eii g"achieved by Colonel Miller?" and yet Colonel John son stood in the same relation to me, as Colonel Miller to General Brown. The st r i ; services renlered by the two were kingly parallel, both were ordered to execute a most hazardous duty, and both most heroically performed it. I know of no officer of the late army, for whom 1 have a greater respect and friendship. a cipiined American Infantry, and t lie as sault was made upon British troonsof the same description, wkh the advantage, it Iriillff 1 . rt rMtlACf .l P I . n I . . : ... :: -uic i cose ii , ui ucuii; in I'uaiiiuu ., , , , ', ,, . 6 . 1 " " T " But in a , , .... f u- u,,1sul ""eu They been in service only a few weeks, and be u a u ing constantly in motion, there was little opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of for mation appropriate tocalvary. There were, however, but few of them properly armed tor the services they were required to perform, and their efforts were directed against highly disciplined trcops k. justly considered amongst the best of Europe. To make up for these deficiencies the Kentuckians had to rely upon their valor. The event 6howed that of that ingredient, enough and to 6pare was brought into the conflict. Is there any thing unreasonable, gentlemen, in my wishing to be placed upon the footing of other American generals? My term of eervice in active warfare, far extends beyoud tfiat of any of them. And although I will not da,re to place myself by the side of them in point of militarytalents, I may be permitted to refer to the published testimony of Governor Shelby, for his opinion, that "he had never known duties so difficult and arduous, confided to the executiou of any one man," as those assigned by the Government to me. I may too (considering the manner in which I have been assailed) quote the conclusion of his remark, that "there were hundreds in Kentucky as well as himself, w ho believed it could not have been confided to better hands." The exertions which have been made to depreciate me, for the purpose of elevating the fame of Colonel Johnson, is in the eyes of every military j man exceedingly ridiculous. The claims if the subordinate officer of tin army for the gallant performance of hit duty, can never come in conflict, in the estimation ot those who have the least knowledge of military niTxira, with those of his general. Their spheres of action are altogether lifferent. Would you understand them. gentlemen, look at the message of President Madison to Congreo in December 1813. He there informed them that what the one "prepared," the other "executed." If evidence is necessary to show that the plan of the battle of the Thames was "prepared by my self alone, I refer again to the venerated Shelby. In the letter above quoted he says "Your arrangements for, and order of battle were such as to give confidence to all that we could uot be beaten by double our numbers ." Miserable indeed must be the situation of a commanding General, if the pretentions advanced by Col. Johnson1 friends are admitted. Being invested with absolute power over the movements of the army, he is alone responsible for them. Should they result with misfortune, his reputation if not his life, is nt hazard. But should they be successful, the merit of the success is considered as alone due to those who execute the orders. Who would command an army under such circumstances? Who would incur the dreadful responsibility, which any commander of sensibility must feel, on the eve ot a battle, from the reflection that the lives of so many human beings, and those his fellow citizens, depend upon the wisdom j occasion called lor; now crueiiy wounueu - .. . i : . . i cesslully executing an oiut, given io iii: by his superior, but it appears that to Hector Craig, Esq. and his associates at Tammany Mali, u is ngm anu proper 'that it should be so. It is not, however improbable, that some of these gentlemen editor ot ihe Commercial Advertiser, by whom it was published, as he assured me, inadvertently. In this piece it is asser- .... ited by the author (upon the authority oi a worthy Kentuckiuu whom he met with in a steam boat descending the Ohio) that when the enemy were discovered in their ' position on the 5th October, 1313, ty the ad vance of the enemy, an officer was sent !to atirie me of that circumstance, but that I was no where to be found, and that

Col. Johnson tvas obliged U, take 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 apparent (there beingat least eight General ofJicei present, who would have claimed and exercised the right of making the arrangement, if I had absconded) that Col. Stone the editor, in a subsequent paper, exposed them in an eloquent editorial article. 1 am, I think, indebted to the individual who wrote the article alluded to, for another

, and recent attack in a Washington natter. called the American Mechanic. What the motive could be for writing the last, I am at a loss to conjecture, unless it be that amiable humane feeling w hich induces one to trample to death an adversary he linds al ready prostrated. I am certain that no man more heartily disapproves of these acts of his injudicious partisans than does Col. Johnson. From hirn 1 have never withheld the tribute of annlause due to his highly meritorious services. As an evidence of it I annex an extract from my answer to the letter of the committee o-t arrangement inviting me to attend the celebration of the battle of the Thames, last October, near Frankfort in Kentucky. The extract w ill further show the feeling with which I commenced the action and to which 1 have already alluded. I trust that there is nothing in my conduct or character to induce any one to believe, that 1 am actuated in any part ot my course by envy or jealousy of the supei ior fortunes and prospects of Col. Johnson and the other officers who successfully served their country in the late war. Far, very far different are the feelings I entertain. Let them continue to bask in warm beams of Executive and popular favor, and whatever may be my lot, I will still rejoice in their prosperity as I would have wept over their misfortunes. For myself I ask nothing of my country but justice, naked justice nothing that is ever denied to the meanest criminal that my conduct should be determined up on, not by the voice of rumor nor the writing of men who dare not avow their real names but, in relation to the battle of Tippecanoe, by the testimony of every officer and soldier who served with me, by the Resolutions of the Indiana Terri torial Legislature, and that of Kentucky passed at the moment of their assuming the garb of mourning for thu loss of my valued citizens; and tu relation to that of the Thames--by the testimony of h mass of those who served on that occasion; by

that of your Shelby, jour Perry, and your j for an hour. lie was interrupted at alWood, rmd the amiable and impartial M'- most every sentence by the uoiy applause

Alee (h'tnsell an ollicer ot Colonel John son' corps and present in the battle) who i now liv ing and prepared to defend the accuracy ot the history which he hus given to his countrymen. I fear gentlemen, that it may appear to you, that in the remarks I have made upon the mode in which the Resolution? to celebrate the approaching anniversary of the battle of Thames were adopted, that I have been somewhat fastidious. But I pray you to recollect that I was a soldier from my earliest youth; that there are principles recognized in that profession which every one belonging to it is bound to defend, which he may not on any occasion surrender or abandon without dishonor. For his friend, u true soldier will willingly part with his wealth: in his de fence shed his blood or lose 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," But if I bad been willing to abandon my own claims, could 1 pass over those of the gen erals who served under me, several of whom are no longr alive to protect their rights? Examine, gentlemen, an authentic account of the battle of the Thames, and you will find that the hero of King1 Mountain was neither false to his country nor recreant to his former fame. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, With high consideration and regard, Your fellow citizen, W. 11. HARRISON. Messrs. A. St- Clair, &c, Committee. A Yankee is a Yankee over the globe; and you might know him, if you met him, on the "mountains ot the moon, five minutes, by his nationality. He remembers his school house, the peculiar mode of descipline in which he was reared, the place where he played; skaited; and ba thed, in his blithe morning of life: where are the ashes of his forefathers, and where he was married. Where he "tradesaud traflics," on distant seas, rivers mountains, he will only forget his native accent and his natal spot, when his right hand fornets that cunning for which he has such on undeserved celebrity. t iini. The receipt! on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, from persons travelling on the section between Baltimore and Frederick during the month of July, amounted to more than eight thousand dollars. Virginia State Loan. -The Virginia State Loan of one hundred thousand dol lars, at five per cent, has been taken at one hundred and seveu for one hundred dollars

Frum the National Intelligencer. VIRGINIA. Dinner to Mk. Leigh. A public Hin. ner was given to M r. Senator Leih, by the citizens of I'etersburgh, Virginia, rn Wednesday last. More than three hundred persons were present. Among the guests were Mr. Ty ler of the Senate, Mr. Archer of the House of representatives, several whig members of the last and th present General Assembly, and a large number of gentlemen from the adjoining counties. The Richmond Compiler observes : "A dinner of three hundred gentlemen

is no small aUair for a town of the size of Petersburg!), and a State like the Old Dominion. There has not been u large an assemblage by half, upon any similar occasion in this city (Richmoud) within the period of our recollection. "Mr. Leigh delivered a long and animated speech, distinguished by that mtinly eloquence w hich lias secured him so many admirers in this city, and indeed wherever he is known. He adverted to tha circumstances of his electiou to the Senate, and stated that the appointment had been entirely unsolicited by him, for lh truth of which he appealed to gentlemen then present who had been members of the last General Assembly. He spoke of the part he had acted at Washington, and of his inability, from the cncuuiatauces of his then situation, to render any effective service to the country. He exposed, in a, masteily manner, the intrigues of the friends of the Vice President, there and here, showing up the blackhearted malignity and sellih sir. ister designs, with which they had labored to defame his political reputation. He alluded to the President in the respectful language due to the high office which he filled, and to the people who had elected In in to it, denouncing ut the same time the odious tyranny of his measures, and making plaiu "to the meanest capacity" the viultnt and alarming character of his disastrous administration. He spoke of Van Bureu, as a person whi had said "it is glory enough for him la have served under such a man" (as Gen. Jackson,) and denounced the mean slavish spirit of that debasing sentiment, and the man who could utter it, &c. &.c. He was repeatedly interrupted by loud bursts of applause. "Governor Tyler addressed the company in his happiest style, holding up to the scorn arid ridicule of his hearers, the ignorance, duplicity, and blundeis of our blessed rulers. The tables were in a roar which his inimitable satire was constant ly calling forth. Mr. Archer spoke at length, exposing the deep treachery of those who bear n inconsiderable part in the political dmui i ut Washington, and explaining the alarming usurpations of the President. The company adjourned to the theatre. The whole assembly was one of gieat interest, and we trust may prove the fruitful fouico ofmcreasing political good." From the J'exsj York Times. ROBERT MATTHEWS alias MATTHIAS THE IMPOSTOR. On Tuesday last Mr. Benjamin H. Folger, of No. 8, third street, called at the Upper Police Court, and made oath to a statement of facts, which, for folly and blind fanaticism on one side, nnd wanton blasphemy and imposition on the other,hae do parallel in the annals of religious bigotry or heartless villainy. He deposed that in the month of September, 1832, he first became acquainted with Robert Matthews, known as Matthias the Prophet, that he first met with him at the house of the late Elijah Pier6on, in the city of New York: that the said Matthews had represented himself to him to be the Spirit of Truth, that the Spirit of Truth had disappeared from the earth at the death of Matthias mentioned in the New Testament; that the spirit of Jesus Christ entered into that Matthias, and that he (the said Matthews) was the eamo Matthias the Apostle of the New Testament, risen again from the dead; and that he possessed the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth; and now that he, at the second appearance of this spirit, was the father; and that he the said Matthews, was himself God the Father, and that he had power to do all things to forgive sins, and to communicate the Holy Ghost to such ai believed on hirn. That such representa tions were made by said Matthews to him (Folger,) from time to time from the said month of September 1832, until the 18th of September instant, since which time he has not seen him. Folger further nffirmed that several years prior to the September 1832, uloresaid, he became a professed believer in the Christian religion, as did also the aforesaid Elijah Pierson, (since deceased) and who, together with the tlepunent were very much engaged in the cnune of such religion until the acquaintance of each with the said Robert Matthews; that at the time of his first acquaintance with Matthews he had long been an intimate friend of Ihe said Pierson, nnd that al the time of his introduction to Matthews, the caid M. was residing with Mr. Pierson; that at that time Mr. Pierson protested, and appeared to believe sincerely that