Violence between Frontiersmen and American Indians in the Southwest

The War Department Papers include an exceptionally rich collection of documents detailing violent conflicts between white Americans and American Indians on the frontier, particularly those in the Southwest Territory. Both sides in these conflicts defended their actions as just, and each side engaged in both offensive and defensive action. Sometimes the white settlers initiated the violence by illegally encroaching on Indian lands; other times, various Indian tribes initiated the violence by attacking legal settlements. This put the War Department in a precarious position, as it had to balance the complaints of both the Indians and frontier settlers (many of whom were lower-class, subsistence-level farmers). President Washington and Henry Knox in particular were perplexed about what to do in this situation.

A Soldier First and Last

On November 5, 1790, Josiah Harmar, senior officer in the Army of the United States, penned an emotional letter to Henry Knox, Secretary of War. Harmar was deeply wounded by Knox’s communication, which indicated that President Washington expressed doubts regarding Harmar’s fitness for command, as “the bottle incapacitates me.” Harmar wrote “you shall never find me a courtier, but upon all occasions self-possessed and a Soldier…I have a certain Sort of something about me called honor, which will never suffer me to commit a mean action.” This letter, from the Knox papers of the Maine Historical Society, means little out of context, but is striking for its simple and eloquent defense of himself as “a Soldier” rather than as senior officer. It is also interesting that the letter was found among Knox’s personal papers at his Maine home, Montpelier.

Why Build Another Navy?

Meeting in a waterfront Philadelphia tavern in 1775,  the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress, (which included John Adams as a member),  decided to form the Continental Navy, authorizing construction of thirteen frigates.  Since the British had tended to jealously guard its own  ship building industry,  the Colonists would take time developing one for themselves.  Thus in the meantime, some of the first war ships were simply converted merchant vessels and commissioned privateers.  As the war progressed, these makeshift war vessels would prove a bit more successful than the Continental Navy’s ships, most of which were either captured or destroyed by the Royal Navy.  Even John Paul Jones’ illustrious Bonhomme Richard, though victorious over HMS Serapis, sank off the coast of England.  In any event, by the end of the war, only a handful of the estimated sixty-five ships that served in the Continental Navy survived, and in 1785 Congress auctioned the last vessel of the Continental Navy to a private owner. As late as the 1900s, remnants of the 36  gun frigate Alliance, known for having fired the last shot of the war, could be seen resting on a mud bar along the Delaware River.

Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania: The Whiskey Rebellion

One of the more interesting events in the history of the War Department during the Washington administration was the so-called “Whiskey Rebellion.” In 1791 Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton helped push through an excise tax on whiskey. The tax was part of Hamilton’s broader program of centralizing the power of the national government and finding a way to pay bondholders to whom the national debt was owed (also a major part of Hamilton’s program).

Hotel Ironsides

Launched in 1797 as one of six frigates built to protect U.S. maritime interests abroad, the USS Constitution can be toured today at the same place it was built, the  Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.   The  journey toward notoriety as one of the remarkable success stories of historical preservation was an uncharted one.  Starting around 1830, Oliver Wendell Holmes, responding to a rumor that she might be scrapped, penned a poem that generated enough public outrage to save her  and she was sent back to Charlestown for repairs at Dry Dock No 1. In 1834, a figurehead depicting Andrew Jackson was carved and subsequently decapitated. From 1835-38, she was the flagship of the Mediterranean squadron. In 1844, she circumnavigated the world. During the 1850s, she patrolled the African coastline against slavers. Docked at Annapolis as a training ship for the Naval Academy, she was almost destroyed by Confederate forces in 1860. In the 1880s,  she sat docked at Portsmouth New Hampshire, enduring a rather undignified stint as an office and  barracks  for navy recruits.  In the 1920s, leaking was so bad she had to be pumped every day. A silent film entitled “Old Ironsides”  helped raise funds for restoration.  She was a centerpiece at Boston Harbor during the 1976 Bicentennial Celebrations and in 1992 she underwent another restoration.  In 1997 she sailed on her own for the first time in 116 years.  Commanded by a U.S. Navy Commander, today the USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.

Malignant Disorder in Philadelphia

During most of the presidential administrations of George Washington and John Adams (1790-1800) the “seat of government'” was in Philadelphia. The War Department offices, therefore, were in a location that was annually afflicted during the hot summer months with outbreaks of malaria–known simply as “the fever”–which raged through the capital city resulting in the loss of countless lives. Of course the cause of this deadly disease was not known so the response of the federal government was to move its offices and employees to Trenton, New Jersey where they remained until it appeared safe to return to Philadelphia, usually in November. In 1793 one of the most virulent malaria epidemics in U.S. history occurred in Phildelphia, killing five thousand people 0r ten percent of the city’s population. In a series of letters written during the late summer and early autumn of 1793, Samuel Hodgdon, the Commissary of Military Stores, who for unknown reasons remained in the city, frequently refers to the ravages of (in his words) the “malignant disorder.”  In a letter written on September 21st, he enviously observes that “half the inhabitants of the City are gone into the country.” This exodus included the Chief Executive and his Cabinet: according to Hodgdon, the President was at Mount Vernon, the Secretary of the Treasury [Hamilton] was in New York, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs [Jefferson] was in Virginia and the Secretary of War [Knox] was in Boston. But Hodgdon was still mired in Philadelphia with “my hands full of business.” Referring to the effects of the disease, he laments that the “havock in our city…has surpassed everything that I have before seen.” “The dying groans has filled our long nights and the dead has rushed to our eyes with the returning day. Whole families have been swept away.” Aside from the obvious concerns about himself and his family, Hodgdon had to worry about the possiblity that the supplies of clothing he was sending to the Army might be infected with the disease. Although he notes that “a large portion of the Clothing was on the road before there was any infection in the City” he decided to take no chances with the clothing that was still to be sent. His solution was “smoking and repacking” the clothing before sending it.

Land Acquisition and the National Road

Searching the War Department digital archive, 914 documents appear with the keyword search “land rights”.  The documents detail the acquisition of the western territories that bordered Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.  The Cumberland valley and mountains proved to be a hotbed for hostilities between American Indian tribes and white settlers over land rights and use.  The U.S. government pressed forward and westward expending resources and lives to obtain land rights to territory held by Creek, Cussetah, Chocktaw, and Cherokee Nations.

Drunkenness, Desertion and Dueling

A soldier on the frontier rarely got paid on time, his clothes were ragged, his rations sometimes barely edible, and his living quarters cold, dark and damp. Many escaped the miserable conditions through desertion and drunkenness. During the march through Pennsylvania, and leading up to the the disastrous St. Clair expedition in November 1791, 15 percent of the force deserted. Under General Anthony Wayne, 52 percent of courts martial cases were related to desertion. Drunkenness was another way to escape the drudgery. Whiskey was part of the daily ration and it was the prescribed medication for the sick. Paydays were particularly boisterous times, with soldiers sometimes remaining drunk for days after getting paid. General Wayne considered  drunkenness and desertion such a problem that he eventually moved his Legions out of Pittsburgh and further down the Ohio River to  a place called Legionville.   This apparently wasn’t enough to stem another problem- violence in the officer ranks.  In this  report to Henry Knox, following the first winter encampment, Wayne describes a duel,  resulting in the death of an Ensign.

Punishing Deserters

In 1792 President George Washington recalled Revolutionary War hero General “Mad Anthony” Wayne from civilian life to lead an expedition against the Western Indian Confederacy which heretofore had twice achieved major victories over American forces. Wayne was placed in command of a newly formed army called the “Legion of the United States” and began the enormous task of training and supplying his troops. In a lengthy letter written to Secretary of War Henry Knox in August 1792, Wayne discusses some of the problems he encountered as he went about the business of organizing and training his army. A major concern had to do with desertions which he viewed as “frequent and alarming.” He described an incident in which he had formed his troops for action in response to a report that a large body of Indians was nearby. His men were ordered to maintain their posts “at every expence of blood” until he had gained the enemy’s rear with mounted dragoons. But, in Wayne’s words, “such was the defect of the human heart” from an “excess of cowardice” that one-third of the sentries deserted from their stations. In order to prevent such behavior from becoming “infectuous” he was determined to make an example of these deserters and informs Knox of the punishments which he was considering. He says that if any of them attempted to escape, he would “put them to instantaneous death.” Otherwise he was contemplating “a brand with the word coward to stamp upon the forehead” and to “divest them of every military insignia” and “cause them to be constantly employ’d in the most menial services about camp.” Wayne had a reputation as an effective commander and harsh disciplinarian but it is not known whether he actually implemented his plan to brand deserters. Perhaps the mere threat of such a punishment would have been enough to eliminate the problem of desertions. In any case, this is additional evidence that the sobriquet “Mad Anthony” was entirely appropriate.

Frontier Militia versus American Indians

One of the major points of contention between the American colonists and the British government in the aftermath of the French & Indian War had been Parliament’s ban on western settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains – known by history as the Proclamation of 1763. Though far from being the only grievance — Parliament’s interference in other colonial affairs such as taxation, currency, and civil liberties were arguably more contentious — the ban on western settlement undoubtedly irked both elite land speculators and common yeoman farmers alike who dreamed of expanding west.

Lottery

State and federal games of chance have existed in some form since the birth of the United States.  Public and private lotteries existed to do anything from raise funds that financed settlement of debts  or to purchase cannons for the Revolutionary War effort.  Documents within the Papers of the War Department archive contain discussion of odds and the purchase of tickets to mundane references about the safe transport and arrival of purchased tickets.  Several documents mention a land lottery.

What type of money do we use to pay soldiers?

Americans today are so used to having a single currency, issued by the Federal Reserve Bank, that many of us generally do not think about money, i.e. the medium of exchange. What type of money do the people use? Is it redeemable in anything? Who issues that money?

These were questions that Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries regularly dealt with. Should gold and silver serve as money? Should a central bank issue the currency? Should competing private banks issue the currency? Should the Treasury issue irredeemable greenback currency?

All Politics is Local

France of course had been an important ally of the United States during the War for Independence. But in 1794, following the French Revolution and the fall of the French monarchy, the United States and Great Britain agreed to the terms of the Jay Treaty which, though villified by critics as appeasing the British, resolved most of the contentious issues that existed between the two former antagonists. Outraged by American neutrality in the ongoing conflict between Britain and France, French warships began seizing American ships trading with Britain and thus began the so-called Quasi-War between the United States and France. The tensions between the United States and its former ally also had an impact on American politics with the Federalists favoring accord with the British while the Anti-Federalists sided with revolutionary France. The turmoil in internal political affairs continued after the retirement of George Washington and intensified during the administration of President John Adams as the United States began to bolster its army and navy in preparation for armed conflict with France. In a letter from Secretary of War James McHenry to Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, dated 10/20/1798, McHenry discusses both the Quasi-War and its political impact. He believes that the “unanimity excercised by the people” and the resolve of Congress to “strengthen the country by fleets and armies” may have convinced France that the United States would not be intimidated and might influence French leaders to adopt a more conciliatory posture toward the Americans. Still McHenry wonders why ‘unanimity” does not translate more directly into votes for Federalist candidates. He asks why the people “have not returned to Congress a greater majority of federal characters,” a situation which he views as “not very flattering.”  He provides a two-part answer to his own question. First, he observes that those seeking power tend to be “the most industrious laborers in the political vineyard” compared to those who already possess power and may tend to be complacent. Secondly, he notes that voters who do support the federal government are “apt to differ in their opinions about the man they wish to be chosen.” Elections are not an accurate measure of public opinion because “it is local subjects in these cases which overrule all others.” In other words, even though voters might support national goals, in a Congressional election their votes will be determined by candidates’ positions on local issues. Or in the immortal words of the late Speaker of the House, Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, “All politics is local.”

What does commutation mean?

Back in 1780, Congress, responding to Washington’s appeals, voted that all officers who continued to serve until the end of the war should receive half pay for life.  In 1783, Congress adopted the “Commutation Act,” which changed the arrangement to five years full pay in money or interest bearing securities.  But because of a shortage of funds, the Confederation couldn’t pay the principal or the interest.  Speculators capitalized when Congress later provided payment of the certificates.  One of Joseph Howell’s duties at the office of Army accounts was verifying appropriate documentation for commutation claims.

How to Handle Spies, circa 1796

In May 1796, Secretary of War James McHenry wrote a private letter to Major General Anthony Wayne at Fort Washington, warning him of the presence of three men with “traitorous intentions.” The men—Thomas Powers, Georges-Henri-Victor Collot, and Joseph Warin—were on a mission for the French government to reconnoiter the United States’ military position in the Western Territory, and encourage people to secede from the Union.

What was really happening at this time? Louisiana was under Spanish control, but holding the colony was proving too costly. The Spanish realized that they would inevitably be forced to return the territory to the French. Collot, a French general and one time governor of Guadalupe, was paroled by the British to the United States following his surrender of that island. Collot was recruited to undertake a detailed reconnaissance mission of the area, from Pittsburgh to New Orleans via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Although he was provided with official papers from both the French and the Spanish, his mission was regarded with immediate suspicion by the Federalists. McHenry wasted no time ordering Wayne and Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, to be alert to the movements of Collot and his confederates. McHenry’s goal was to find grounds to detain Collot and search his papers, while at the same time offering this proviso: “You will not however understand by this that either vigorous or unlawful means are to be employed to obtain them; for tho’ the crimes of traitors affect a whole people, it is nevertheless proper to respect the rights of humanity in their chastisement.”

Kind and Friendly Treatment of the Indians

During the mid-1790s the Indian policy of the federal government under George Washington was to accommodate the southern Indian tribes as much as possible. Even though the northern Indians had been defeated in 1794, it still behooved Washington and his advisers to avoid conflict with the southern tribes so as not involve the United States in another costly Indian war. Also it seemed that Washington genuinely wanted to treat the Indians as fairly as he would other Americans. Evidence of that attitude can be seen in a document contained in the William Irvine Papers of the Papers of the War Department. In a lengthy letter, dated 11/26/1795, sent to James Byers, who was to be in charge of two new trading posts in Georgia and the Southwest Territory, Secretary of War Timothy Pickering describes in detail how the Indians are to be treated as they do business at the two posts. Business with the Indians should manifest the “liberality and friendship of the United States” which he hoped would “lay the foundation of a lasting peace.” “Unfair dealing” was strictly prohibited and the value of the skins traded by the Indians should be the same as their market value in Philadelphia. The use of credit by either the traders or the Indians was strictly regulated and allowed on a case-by-case basis only by the War Department. Those who were employed at the posts were to maintain “a character of perfect probity and sobriety.” Pickering would have preferred that whiskey not be sold to the Indians but, if sales could not be avoided, whiskey was to be sold in “such small quantities as may guard them against drunkenness.” He closes this five-page letter, by stressing “the necessity of kind and friendly treatment of the Indians who may visit your station.”

The Legion System

In December, 1792,  President Washington restructured the U.S. Army into what became known as the Legion of the United States.  Most of the stubby pencil work can be traced to Secretary of War Henry Knox.  Briefly, the Legion concept was designed to bring together multiple military capabilities-infantry, cavalry, and artillery-under a single organization and commander. The Legion would be comprised of four Sub-Legions, each consisting of two infantry battalions, a rifle battalion, an artillery company, and a cavalry company.   It was this military organization that General Wayne led to victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794.

Deranged and Unemployed

Casualties of military service existed in many forms during the infancy of America’s army, the overwhelming majority of which were monetary.  Many soldiers worked without pay for months and in some cases were left unpaid until their discharge.  Injuries sustained during war also rendered soldiers incapable of earning a living after their discharge.  Many soldiers petitioned Congress for supplementary income in the form of a pension to offset the cost of living.  With limited means of income, the Federal government attempted to justify a tax on the general public to provide funds for Federal government operations.  Pay of pensions was one such responsibility.

What should be the official title of the President?

Today we take it for granted that the President of the United States should simply be addressed as “Mr. President” or “President X”. But following the American Revolution the question of what should be the official title of the President was unclear and even contested. In the decade following Independence, monarchs were still the heads of States in Europe, including in Britain and France. Part of what made the American Revolution so radical and revolutionary was its rejection of the idea of a monarch. The divine right of kings remained a prominent idea into the late eighteenth century, even as it was challenged by Enlightenment thinkers.

Executive Hands Fettered: Governor Jackson and Secretary McHenry

During the entire history of the United States there has been tension between the federal government and the governments of the states. The federal system created in the U.S. Constitution, in which power is shared by the states and the central government, made these tensions inevitable. The bloodiest and most costly manifestation of this strife was of course the Civil War. During the presidential administration of John Adams (1797–1801), however, this animosity was manifested by the struggle between officials of the State of Georgia and the General Government in Philadelphia. The source of much of the conflict was Georgia’s hostile relations with the southern tribes, particularly the Creek Nation, whose claims to land on the western frontier of Georgia were bitterly contested by Georgia and its citizens.

Indian Assimilation and the Plan for Civilization

Some might be surprised to learn that  assimilation of the Indians by teaching them to farm was the official policy of the Washington Administration.  Since the War Department handled Indian affairs, we come across dozens of writings by Henry Knox and James McHenry  trying to implement policy into action (and keep the peace) through the Indian Agents.   As in most cases at the time, these  Federal appointees were card carrying Federalists, usually with strong Revolutionary War credentials. Agents  were usually assigned to a specific tribe or a group of Tribes.  One of the more accomplished of these frontier diplomats  was Creek Agent, Benjamin Hawkins.  Although the  Creeks (mostly the women) were already fairly accomplished farmers, Hawkins believed their methods to be substandard.  So to demonstrate the western world’s superior agricultural techniques, and perhaps win some hearts and minds along the way, he established the Creek Agency on the Flint River in  Georgia–a model  working farm which featured a blacksmith’s shop, cornfields, an orchard, a tannery, weaver’s shop, smokehouse, slave quarters, and a tavern.  In this letter,  Hawkins requests that “implements of husbandry” intended for the Creeks be forwarded.

Piracy and Boundary Disputes

William Augustus Bowles, an Englishman by birth a troublemaker by nature, repeated sabotaged Indian relations between tribes and between peace seeking tribes and the United States.  Known as a “freebooter,” Bowles  staged multiple attempts to overturn treaties and trade relations with the Creek, Coweta, and Cussetah tribes and instigated horse stealing, murder, and other aggressive acts as recounted by Governor William Blount of Georgia.  His malicious acts delayed several land treaties, including the Treaty of New York which granted land from the Creeks to the United States.
James Seagrove and Benjamin Hawkins were the Indian agents for the southwestern U.S. territory and dealt directly with Bowles on a regular basis.  Correspondence between Seagrove, Hawkins, McGillivray, and Knox yield insight into the effect Bowles has on frontier politics.  Bowles was eventually captured by the Spanish in 1792 and turned over to U.S. authorities.

Maine-Canada Boundary

Rising from a chain of wilderness lakes, the St. Croix River is now an international wilderness waterway,  constituting part of what is now the clearly defined boundary between  Maine and the province of New Brunswick, Canada.  In the 1790s though, boundaries throughout this region were far from clear. The meaning of the boundary descriptions outlined in the 1783 Peace of Paris was notoriously inexact and hard to decipher-mostly  because the region had not yet been fully explored or mapped.  During negotiations,  later known as Jay’s Treaty,  a joint commission agreed to establish the St. Croix River as part of the boundary between Downeast  Maine and New Brunswick Canada.  In this document,  written from his mansion he called “Montpelier”  in Thomaston, Maine, Secretary of War Henry Knox, an avid Maine land speculator himself, marvels at the region’s economic potential –its fisheries, waterways, lumber and agriculture.  Though Knox’s handwriting was notoriously bad, this is a copy made by a clerk.  The impeccable penmanship makes this an enjoyable read.  By the way, Knox’s mansion is a museum now.

Debtors Prison

Although debtors prisons were abolished in the United States in the 1830s (decades before European nations), they were a harsh reality in late-18th and early-19th century America.

Samuel Lewis was a clerk working for the War Department in 1798. But by 1800 he found himself confined in a debtors prison. On May 3 of that same year, he wrote the Secretary at War, James McHenry on his current state.

Lewis’s letter reveals a lot about the pain that many debtors experienced while in confinement. Lewis calls himself a “wretched being, now almost worn down to a mere shadow, debilitated and weak.”

The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia 1793

Philadelphia 1793: It was an unusually hot and dry summer. Mosquitoes were ravaging the population of what was then America’s largest city. Philadelphia was also a major international port, and at the time hundreds of Caribbean refugees were filing off the ships bringing Yellow Fever. It was the mosquitoes that spread the disease among the inhabitants, but not even renowned Philadelphia physician Dr. Benjamin Rush, seemed to understand this.
Many simply fled the city until the fall, including Congress, the President and the War Department staff, including Secretary of War Knox. All told, about four thousand died. One of the War Department staffers who remained in the City was Quarter Master and Military Store Keeper Samuel Hodgdon.  Check out his heart-rending descriptions of the suffering.