Vincennes Gazette, Volume 11, Number 6, Vincennes, Knox County, 17 July 1841 — Page 1
c
7TV AN CTTP
J
T
V J
'
"TRUTH WITHOUT FEAR.' to . .i a th,. i r up r,H If :'!; M VOLUME XL VINCENT ES, INDIANA, SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 17, 1841. NQ.
ADDKESB Or QENEHAL CASS.
D$iivertd at a meeting of American citi zen in i'r9, rn the lOth of May, in consequence of the death of the late President, G?.:zaL Hafuiisun. "We are assembled, my countrymen, under melancholy and impreslve circumstance?. Our country has lent its Chief Magistrate, n man estimable in ail the relations of life, a citizen who had won his wav to the highest distinction, by long and honorable services; a soldier whose triumphs on th field of battle had defended and redeem edour frontier, and which will ever reflect lustre upon our military history; and a President, who had jusl been called by the voice f his countrymen, to the first elective office in the world. He has been suddenly arrested by the- hand of death, at the very threshold of hi? high career. From the government of a great nation, he has been carried to that last resting-place, where human greatness is laid low, anil where human distinctions vanish, and his immortal spirit jas been summoned to that tribunal, where rulers and people mint all equally appear. Rarely, in the Providence of God. is such an example of the mutability of life presented to the observer. Painful as it is, it may yet be profitable, teaching us the instability of human events, and that in the dispensation of the Almighty Wisdom, the highest hopes of nations, as of individuals, may be promptly followed by the keenest disappointment. Wo have met, as American citizens, strangers in a foreign land, to testify our deep affection for the institutions of our country, and to mourn her bereavement. Surrounded by monarchical and hereditary institution, we seize the opportunity of evincing that our free and equal system of government, social and political, is rooted n our hearts, and that our tribute of ryrnpathv is ready for any event which afflicts our beloved country. My countrymen, at home we. arranged ruler different political parties. We. see, or fancy wo see, prospective dangers from the various grants of powers which our institutions contain, and. that those are to bo averted by constructions more or less extended or contracted, and by a corresponding course of administration. This state cf ceaseless jealousy is the accom-pa-nment, it may he, it is the condition of the preservation of our liberties. Would that it could be kept within reasonable limits, without the.' excerbations which too M'ten enter into all the ramifications of society, and divide us from one another, as though our country and its institutions were r.o: equally the property of all, and equal-. iv dear to .!!. This sentiment of regret, ilthcugh every w aero t f f rrv rows niore rowp.'.?u! wc rcceue trom our own shores, and when v?e have put the ocean . c, oetween u and our country, it becomes one of the most powerful feelings of our hearts. You have a'l o.perienced thi. ami its operation is obvious. .Spectators of tho condition of the (Hi World. .nd comparing this with the state of society in ollr own country, the blessings which "rovidence has allotted to us aro so manifest ihat wc forget tho very interest we have ourselves taken in the internal question watch divide us, and almost wonder why thcro is so much difference where there is f much prosperity, and where thcro ar3 3 many reasons to thank God for all He has dc.no fjr our fathers and ourselves. Tn? magnitude of these questions is di minished oy tne distance, end thougn on r reiurn they will probably resume their mi futures, and we shall array our'j.ves, as heretofore, under our respective manners, still we shall have learned a lesson of tolerance which I hope will be profitable for life. Certain I am, that I shall loo'i with great forbearance upon all mere differences of opinion, satisfied that others are as honestly disposed as I am, to seek the good of our common country, and to maintain her institutions, and still better satisfied, from the contrast of our own condition, with that of other nations, that a fuller measure of public prosperity was never granted to any people, and that howover certain questions of internal policy may periodically agitate us, yet that the great sources of happiness are independent of these divisions, and will continue to pour their blessings over the land, long after all who are now engaged in them shall have passed away. I make these remarks, my friends, not to ask you to lay aside your party feelings upon this sad occasion. I should greatly mistake my own duties, and your sentiments, did I think such a recommendation necessary. I am influenced by a higher motive, by a just pride at the conduct of the great American community, under (he circumstances which it hr-s so much reason to deplore. Notwithstanding the violent contest through which we have passed, and the asperity which was i's natural consequence, we see that every where political feeling has disappeared, and friends r.nd opponent have united to interchange their sympathies at the loss of the patriot so suddenly taken from his country. It is n glorious and touching spectacle, at which fivery American must be proud. Thank God, political resentments stop at the portal of the lomb! There commences hallowed ground; and he who approaches it. should divest himself of evil passions, as the patriarch put off his shoes when tho -viTo -nv-p Ivirmpc bush announced to
Me t of you have come here to manifest
your regret at the death of a Chief Megis trate. But I have come, not only to per form that duty, but to moura the loss of a private friend. It is more than forty years since I first knew him, end almost thirty since I was admitted to his friendship and confidence. I have served under him in war, and icith him in peace: and never, during the long interval of our acquain tance, did a single incident arise to dis turb, for a moment, the harmony of our intercourse. I can sneak of him from an intimate knowledgo of his conduct, his character and his principles. A knowledge, acquired in the perilous ecenes of . t-f i t . an acu o nie. where tne ueart ot a man is laid open, and where, with the heavens above us, and the forests around 113, con cealment would have been as lmpracticable as it would have been useless lie was disinterested, generous, honest, sacrificing his comfort to that of others, ceaseless in his attentions to duty, passion ately desirous ot promoting tne interests of his country, and formed by nature to acquire an ascendancy over those around him. How wonderful arc the vicissitudes of life! Little did he think, litt'e could 1 have thought, when together we were ex posed to the perils and sufferings of a fron tier war, and when night and day 1 wit nessed his trials and exertions, that should ever be called upon, in this metrop olis of European influence and opinion, to defend his posthumous fame from tho at tacks of Ins own countrymen! But so it is, and I shall discharge the duty. While he lived, he was himself fully competent to the task. It did not become anyone to push himself forward as a volunteer, and to claim the privilege of appropriating to himself his cause. But he is beyond the reach of calumny, as he is beyond the power of correcting it. His friends may now act, each upon his own responsibility. His memory is dear to me, and I eagerly emoraeo the opportunity ol rescuing it from various charges, which either originated, or were revived and propagated, during the late Presidential cam ass. And I am tho more free to do this because I know the anxiety he felt upon the subject, lie would have been unworthy of his high position had ho been indifferent to ir; and through a common friend, he communicated to mo the wish that 1 would prepare a narrative of the Thames. But the request and the compliance were after his elevation to the Chief Magistracy; and every generous mind will understand why I could not then givo as free scope to my feelings as now. My narrative was confined to the. facts, which, indeed, when re lated as they occurred, are sufficient to justify the General from all the asper3:ons cart upon him respecting the occurrences of that day. But my feelings and opinions J could not freely disclose. Such a course, in our relative situation, would have been unacceptable to him, and unworthy of m. Hut death has snatched him fr.rn his high place, and I do not fear to be mistaken now, when I propose to give full course to the dictates of my heart, and to say of him in the tomb, what 1 fvould not say of him in life. During the campaign of 1S13, which terminated in the battle of the Thames, 1 was attached to the forces commanded by General Morrison, as a Brigadier-General of the army of the United States, having under my com.uand a brigade of regular troops. "My position, therefore, brought m into houn'r contact with the General, end hi- order? and plans were unreservedly communicated to me. I was in a situation to judge tho .character of his measures, and to appreciate .bo'1 ',e ffi" culties he had to encounter, and i.he resourccs he displayed in overcoming thci So much for mv nosition at that time. Au ' T deem it proper to allude to another circumstance. Tho events of later years had separated General Harrison and myself in political life, tho" they never affected our private intercourse. Wo belonged to different parties, and each pursued his public duties agreeably to his own convictions, without suffering these circumstances to interrupt communications which had grown up in other times. Exercising the privilege of an American citizen, and adhering to opinions which had long guided me, had I been in the U. States at the last Presidential election, I should have voted against my General and friend, and for his competitor, because I consider the latter more nearly the representative of most of the political sentiments I entertain, and have entertained, since first brought into public life by Mr. Jefferson, almost forty years ago. And Gen. Harrison knew this. But he was too true to his feelings, and too just to his principles, to permit a difference of political opinion, or that fair course of action, which is the honest consequence of it, to sever or even weaken ties, formed under circumstances I have described. 1 do not believe that a hard thought ever crossed his mind upon this subject. 1 trust the motive which induces me to allude to this matter will be appreciated and approved. I present myself as a witness to redeem the character of a departed soldier from charges brought against him in the heart of a political contest. I can best serve his memory by frankly avowing the truth. By showing thrt this relation ig not the work of a political partizan, but of one who deeply regrets that any portion of the party to v.-mch be belongs, has render- ;- y.erersarx'. V the nrci! of enar-
ges as ungenerous in their form, as abso
. .j J. viiwucwnui cuiy. ini is neither tne time nor the occasion for tho relation of the details of a campaign. It is of results onlv that I proposo to speak. And I say, emphatically. that lrom the time I joined General Har - rison till the operat'ons of the season were over, he did not take a single measure wnicn nad not my hearty concurrence. And in looking back, after twenty-seven years have brought with them the fruits of much experience and observation, 1 am confirmed in my original impression, and take the full res ponsibifity of avowing it as to the privations and difiiculties which the uncultivated state ot the country, an J i . . . . the nature of ihe warfare, presented, they
can never oe a.mquateiy conceived out Dy enemy was irequently the subjeot of conthose who participated in them. versation, and it may be that Gen. Har The attack upon Sandusky, tho council rison may have expressed an opinion ori
of war at Sandwich, and the battle of thejfear that Proctor would escape us. I do Thames, were t!io prominent measures of J not recollect ever to have hard hira do
the campaign, which have provoked the severest criticism. All the facts connected witn the former were within my personal knowledge. I was in the camp Seneca, nine miles trom SanuusKy, at the ume, aim i wen reconeci waiKing in u:e environs with General Harrison, listening for the report of the cannon, and partak-
ing in the anxiety with which he awaited of his art to elude our attack, and I could the result. not suppose that, with five days advance I shall not go into the reasons which pre- f U8 and after destroying and abandonvented him from marching to the relief of g the only two fortified positions he held the little stockaded post which defended in the country, h would sufTer himself to itself so gloriously. These are consigned be overtaken within seventy miles of his to the history of the times. But their point of departure, and stake his existence general bearing will -be obvious, when it on the chance of a battle. I know thi is recollected that our forces were few, was the sentiment, or rather the appreand had been hastily collected; that ar- hension of other. And 1 well recollect, ranements w ere making to furnish us when we had commenced our march, 1 with reinforcements from all parts of the was riding along the Detroit River, with West, and that magazines were forming the late Gen. Adair, with whose native and supplies preparing for the accomplish- powers of mind I was proudly impressed, rnent of our ultimate object that of the when the success of our expedition beinvasion of Canada as soon as tho state came the suhject of conversation. He of the arrangements, and the anticipated dwelt with great f.ire upon the proper command of the lake should enable us to course of the B itish General, and expresmove forward w ith a reasonable hope of ed his apprehension that he would escape success; that the strength of the enemy in us. I am not certain, but I am under the regular troops, militia, or Indians, was impression that Mr. Crittenden, now the wholly unknown to us, and that upon our Attorney General, then an aid-de-camp of position rested the last hop? of safety f.r Governor Shelby, was present, and took the frontier, for we were the Kintof con- part in the conversation. But justice recentration, and had we been destroyed, quires I should state that such was not the the country would have been laid waste al- opinion of the venerable Governor of most to Franklintown, and the prosecution Kentucky. He was full of confidence, ap-
of another offensive campaign, during that year, would have been rendered imposi - bio. . lhese interests were too great to be! put to hazard by ft false movement, end Gen. Harrison wisely determined to await the result at Senaca. and then to defendhimself, if attacked, to the last extremity. Events have proved he was right, cannot speak with ci-r.ainty, at this inter-j val ot time, and 1 have not had the portunity of adverting to a single iiarra-1
tive of the operations of the last war; but 1 1 There is perhaps no element of human acam strongly under the impression thai the j lion which has contributed mere po.vtr-
course adopted by General Harrison was I
approved by all the siipinor officers whodnre of obtaining it.
were with him. Certain 1 am that it met At the battle of the Thames, a small the approbation of Col. Croghan, after he portion of my proper command had arrivwas called to Seneca to account for the ed, and these wt-re stationed at the right letter which he wrote to the commanding of our line, with orders to charge and capGeneral, and which he most satisfactorily ture the British artillery, which was placexplained, by the circumstances of his po- ed opposite to their position. The Colosinon and dy his wish to deceive the ene- nel of the regiment, Paul, an able officer, my, should the letter fall into their hands, being present, I left to him the immediate wat a letter, not deiigned fr the j2- direction of this detachment,' contenting merican. but for tht Britiih Gtneral. myself with its general supervision. In General Harrieon always thought Colonel company with Commodore Perry, and the Croghan, did right to remain, because a proper staff of the General, I performed retreat, under his circumstancces, was the functions of aid-de-camp, assisting in more dangerous than a defence. I am the arrangement of the troops, and the well aware, too well aware, that Colonel measures preparatory to the attack, I was, Croghan has not always felt satisfied at therefore, without a definite command, a
the course adopted by Gen. Harrison to-j wards himself. But he was m error, a1 the common friend of both, 3nd knew their t'entiments towards each other. Gen. fia"r'son wa8 trongb' attachi-d to Croghan, wa5 Pr0U(J f him, looking upon him as i'; is' military cleve. And, indeed he was a no'e young man, with high qualities, and we'.' he proved it, by his repulse of the cnemf rom n's P08t Gen. Harrison was incapabiJ of jealousy, "ivith great joy, 'fot I saw it) t 'be sueceii which hie voung friend had 03"'- - - u ed. A few remarks upon the council which was held at Sandwich may not be deemed inappropriate. I do not believe Gen. Harrison ever doubted the propriety of following and endeavoring to destroy the retreating enemy. But unfortunately we could not put ourselves promptly in movement. Our means of transportation were so limited, thai our supplies were upon the lowest scale, and found ourselves in an exhausted country, incapable of administering to our wants. We landed upon the Canadian shore, without a horse or a tent, and with a very elender stock of provisions. One fact will illustrate our condition. The baggage, and even the blankets of the brigade which I commanded, were left upon a little island in Lake Erie, called the Middle Sister, and officers and men, without distinction, found themselves, in ihe beginning of October, at the commencement of active operations in Upper Canada, without any other protection from the weather, during the night or dav, than the clothes upon their backs. Under these circumstances we were com pelled to await the arrival of our supplies, ss well ss of our horses, and the mounted regiment commanded by Co'. Johnon.
- lwhich had neeeeearily taken the rout by
..VUUH Mic mil Aium ucij ktc i mo Dnusn general tne lairest opportunity to escape, and if he had not been utterly incompetent to hit task, he would have placed himself beyond our reach. He was several days in advance ef us, and Jwas moving through a friendly country, I But instead of divestine himself of his liuperftuous baggage, and leaving his in jvalids and non-combatants to our mercy. land thus, gaining bv a rapid march the J head of Ontario, where he would have J been in safety, lie moved slowly, encum bered with an immense train of baggage, public and private, md by a large number ot women and childn Whih awaiting i ... ... . ' at Sandwich the arrival "f our supplies. I the probability of overtaking the retiring no, but such a circumstance would explain the otherwise inexplicable assertion, often repeated, that he was opposed to the move atjment he adoptrd. For myself, I am free to say, that, while I never hesitated, re specung an immediate pursuit, I was not at all sanguine as to its result. I believed the British General was sufficiently master pearing to have an innate conviction that we should overtake the enemy. The emphatic declaration he made in the council, J powerfully impressed me at the lime, and I has remained engraven upon m)' memory ever since. I believe lean repeat it, word I for word. 'Let us pursue the enemy," llsaidtho veteran, with the experience of age and fire of youth -"let us pursue the
op-lenemy; I feel that the Lord has delivered tnem into our hands." And soil was.
fully to military success than the ro.-iti-j spectator rather than actor in the scenes of lithe dav, but well situated to observe and judge the various movements: I shall briefly allude to the principal incidents, so far as these bear upon the controverted point in the conduct of the General, When the advanced party which preceded us fell back and reported ihat ihey had discovered the enemy, drawn up across our line of march. General Hatrison pushed forward to reconnohre the position, and the nature of the giound, m orucr uiiumuii iu mno cir cumstances. He had often inculcated opn his officers, as a cardinal principle in Indian warfaie, that the flank should be so secured as to prevent their being turned by an ene?Jy; who become so terrible, especially to raw troops, when they caa assail the rear. With this caution in view, the proper arrangenienl of his force was soon indicated to the commanding General by a rapid survey of the giound. General Proctor had retreateJ by the liver Thames, which falls into Lake St. Clair, above Detroit, and along which was the principal communication with the head of Lake Ontario, that the British army sought to gain. We had followed them, pursuing the usual route upon the left bank of the river, to a considerable distance from it? mouth, where we reached a deep ford, which the horsemen passed upon their horses; and ihe infantry in canoes, and continued the pursuit upon the opposite bank. The cultivated oountry here ceased, and we entered a beach forest, having the river upon the right, and a swamp upon the left, and in the intermediate distance, a roid sucfi as are found in new settlements, and which was little more than r. path, with fame of fir !rger tree? n:t down.
1 In ,nort xm9 we found ourMires in
i presence oi tno irittsn army, i ne di position adopted by Gen. Proctor, was as simple as it could hare been in the earliest ages of the art of war. His regular troops were drawn up in two lines, in open order, their left'resting upon the river, and their right extending toward the swamp. From this point the Indians were in position, stretching into the woods, in their oiual irregular manner, ready to sieze any circumstances which might occur, favorable to their mode warfare. Near the road, the I ft of the line was strengthened by, I think, three pieces of artillery. I have already s-ud, that by a rapid gjance around him. Gen. Harrison instantly determined upon the disposition he hould adopt, lie placed his right upon the river, and extending his line to the swamp, ne there lormed it, as u is teemeadj called, en potencc, that is, he turned it atight angle, and thus presented two fronts to the enemy. I have since examined, with some care, ihe field of battle, but I could not discov er any peculiar advantages which it offer ed to the British General, nor do I know why he selected that particular spot. rhere is but little change in the character of the country for some miles and its features are distinctly marked. These have been already described. It is possible that this is iho point where the swsmp and the river approaches each other the nearest, leaving the narrowest pace of firm ground to ba defended. But why the British General stopped at all, i a problem still more difficult to be solv ed. And it it war not, as report said at the time that he was compelled to take this step by the mennces of Tccumseh, his conduct may be cited ss an example of military infatuation, rarely to be found in the annals of war. Our troops were, I knew, sent from their homes by that atdent patriotism, which in seasons of trial, makes part of our national character, and much time vas necessary to place th;m in their proper positions. While this operation was in ogress. Major V od, an officer of the greatest merit and promise, too early lost to his country. hr,d advanced near the enemy's line, and ascertained their exact position. He came up to m", md invited me to accompany httn in ar.rtir reconnoitsance. I immediately dismounted from my horse, and followed him. I uve aleadv said tint the g-y;end was cov ed with beech woods, mid every western man knows that the under brush is never very thick, where this timber abound. While, therefore, we were enabled, in some measure, pC,,ry; ourfelvcs, by going from tree to tree, w e were also enabled to exend our observation to a considerable distance. In thi nnnner, we passed along the front of the British line ifm"-! fr ! its extreme left to its right. hs p juiic?;.in HIS. Sil'H sscejtained its position; and saw vt; a was uupp :":' ' by n mgle field work, j rnt even n iree Iihumit hoen filled i. iir, - " pede the advance of our troops. Major Wood proceeded to report the result 10 General Harrison, while I leturned, and resumed the duty 1 was engaged in, of aiding in the formation of our line of battle. I do not recollect that I ever conversed with General Harrison upon this branch of the subjeet, but I have always supposed that the precise information, communicated to him by Major Wood, induced the change which he made in his disposition for the attack. Until he knew the loose order of the British formation, and the strange neglect of their General to make use of the efficient means within his reach of impeding our approach (and particularly the advance of .our mounied force) he had intended to attack the British troops by his line of infantry, and to throw his horsemen farther into the woods, with orders to turn the tight flank of the Indians. What I know I will briefly s.ute. Shortly before the commencement of the action, General Harrieon rode up to me, and remarked that he thought of changing his dispositions for the attack, and ordering the mounted regiment of Colonel Johneon to advance upon the British line, and endeavor to pass through it. I observed, that the manoeuvre, if successful, would be decisive, but that there were objections to it, which had no doubt occurred to him and which would render the effort a hazardous one. We briefly discussed these, and he terminated by remarking Colonel Johnson thinks he can succeed, and I believe he will. I shall direct him to make the attack. Having communica!d his final orders. Gen. Harrison plated himself in front of the line of Infantry, and immediately in the rear of the mounted regiments. Ii was his proper posiiion where he could bfst observe the projected opf-raiions. Co!. Richard M. Johnson, with what gallantry, it needs not that I should say, led the left division of his rpgiment, which was opposed, partly I believe to the rfgular troopf, and partly to the Indians, and which w as out of the f phcre of my personal observation. His brother, Col. James Johnson, led the rigid, which was destined exclusively to attack the British line, and all his operations psseed directly before and around- me, for I accompanied (as r-nrnid H th r.risrge.
Such wai the relative position of irl1 Frw '
hostile forees when the signal for attic re,10N" was given. The mounted regiment pls"ca M hulriuiii enr lino fll infantrtf nil Ir
enerhy put itself in motion, breaking tntcie Ui lt:j
columns of companies, and thus tdvant vv
ing upon the British regular troop.-c: ch When they had approached sufficien ' -ly near, they received a fire which occr Vu sioned a hesitation and some confusion i '" : L t i ... !.-.! TCi'..
ineir ramta, nui soon recovering mvy pn
cipitated their movements, and encountej. V
ofjtng a second and third discharge wit I great gallantry, they found themselves una,.
. t A .t . ly of piompt surrender, in the meai time, the line of infantry was advancir' out it nau lime more o uo man in pecui the prisoners except, indeed, toward, the swamp where the resistance of tl: Indians was much more vigorous, an where the contest ws much longer rnai 1 tained. During the rapidity and excitement the movement. I Iot sight of the con manding General, but he paed throug the British line, and I believe between th direction I took and the swamp, for . encountered him immediately after, rttf ing over the field, and giving the nrcessar orders. He directed me to take a part of mounted men and pnrrue the fugitivei'' and particularly to endeavor to overtaV the British General, who was said to has, " commenced his flight at the oemmeneV
ineenera. uuitnen me contest was ove ,, t , We passed through ihe British line, tl t h soldiers throwing down their guns ar V , ? separating into small group, thought ot ,,!'Y
u- J f it
ment of the action. The fact is eercel credible, but it was asserted by the Britis; officer?. I was on the point of obcyip. .luvGen. Harrison, when the firing ugmen. ed upon the left, indicating that Indian,- L .tjr were making a formidable rrsi,.ancc.-.- Ui .. The General then directed m to wait . few minutes to ascertain the result of th'1'" J" action, and immediately rode to the ?oxr" 'f of content, to take such measures a migl,'" be n"CPfsary. After a short time, the fit u ( j ing diminished, and gradually died awa.f till nothing was heard butehanoe hotl then at out with a small detach pent i pursuit of the fugiiive. and pi?rd thrr I the Moravian towns, continuing mv ro',:t ' till dirk, when we were compelled to rf '" "' turn, not havimg succeeded in our pr'mc ; pal object, and having picked up only it Jl few soldiers who had e"ped from th ;,,
field of br.ttle. - To this narrative, I i e" little more t!tadd. 1 hare no patience to deal with th' charges of cowardice and imbeejfity, wit" which the f.nie of gallant o!dier wa; attempted to te tarn'shed during life, an ,, which may nfivet his tnm irv. row h i is gone, f T a s !r i. r n roan a e went into batue. No ne vbo ?erved 'r't hi:n cou'd mistake this point f bs chn? a"ler. I -n him in n a r 1 v.n: try in he dt ,! . 't. -!! circumstance?, when I c -' ceived, and ht oobies and selfsi " '- : - :"'! ..i 1 1 1 -1. . . ' : . . . .ir - . - - . fd::ic.'. p-c-cii" i.iniioiv. The li ;t, moment I bride over one. c i"'V the deep tributary stream" of the Rivl Thames had been destroyed by the enemj f . to impede our approach, and a Isrjje bod ;.. of Indians was stationed in the surronnd ing woode, to prevent i' fro renvrin j i The work was commenced under th immediate direction of General Harrisot who sat calmly upon his horse, overlook ing the operations and exposed to it, Lu lets of the Indhrn. A ppreriatirg the vn ue of his life. I entreated him to retiril'J offering to remain and see the work ex ecuted. But he would not !i:e.i to mi,,,.. He did not tell m why, but I knew it sti:.. well as if he had told mn. I re.id hi' thoughts in the surrounding circumtar'1 1 ces. His army was new, officers and so' diers suddenly collected from various par1 V of the country, and it was essential iht L their General ehould acquire their conf dence. fie considered the example of mori, , importance than any risk he may hav. fell he was encountering. ! i. As to the charge of military in'pnitt' J it is in singular contra", with the hister.j and services of Gen. H-rrison. He wht4 lived in ihe field for nearly three yearly engaged with the enemy, tinder the mo: difficult and perilous circumstances, wh;;. was ne'er defeated, and who posseri confidence of almost all r.round hirr,;i it is now ascertained was wholly uneqnr to his t3s'rff and wa? in fsct, nn im?ecih If it were so, with excellent opportunitie, for observation, I had not capacity enot:g, to make the discovery. It has been rt, served for later years. Without arrnga't. ing to ourselves any claim to ex'nordin-' ry discernment, I still think, if such ha- ' been the true character of Gen. Harrisor ' among the thousands who followed him the field, some would have been found t proclaim it, and to call for his removal.I consider it no compliment to be now toh,' that the man I respected, the General had full confidence in, '.befriend to wfioi I wss strongly attached, was as nnwoi-th of all these sentiments as he was of rank he attained. No it is not so. .He y gone where mv praise nr censure eqna ly indifivrent to him. But never while'" live shall 1 cease to regret him, or to b testimony to the purity of his principle , to the ardor of his patriotism, to the va ue of his services, and to the high qui ities which commanded the respect of i who rer? br''ght iep .r,ref ? him.
"2Jt nj.n H'rm
n: Id,,-
Jc. .'
1 ,. i I'-
HI !
