SKETCH

OF

THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES

OF

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

THE life of an individual who, by the force of transcendent genius, commanding talents, and daring, all-grasping ambition, has emerged from obscurity and vaulted to the dizziest heights of power, is a theme of universal interest. The historian portrays it; the poet chants it; the philosopher analyzes it; the busy worldling pauses in his eager pursuit of wealth or station to contemplate it; the child hangs breathless over its fascinating details. Yet it may be doubted whether the influence excited by the eventful story of a Cæsar or a Bonaparte is, on the whole, salutary and ennobling. The reader is too often taught by it to admire greatness though unaccompanied by goodness, and pant for distinction though not founded on the welfare and improvement of his fellow men. But far different is the moral unobtrusively taught by a career of noiseless, conscientious devotion to duty and to country, gradually leading, by its own unheralded but unfailing tendency, to universal honor and esteem. The conquering leader of hosts, the successful usurper of empire, the despotic ruler of millions by virtue of kingly prerogative, may dazzle the eye with his grandeur or deafen the ear with his renown; but the unpretending, unaspiring citizen, who treads firmly and eagerly the path of usefulness and duty through the varied scenes of a protracted and eventful life, a soldier, obedient to superiors, unheeding danger but to brave it, and only intent on the protection of his fellow citizens; a commander, unwearied in his care for the comfort and health of his men ; never tempted to disregard a law or commit an act of injustice; ever mindful of the deference due from the military to the civil authority; alike terrible to the resisting, and humane to the

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vanquished enemy; a legislator, earnestly devising and perfecting measures of vast and permanent advantage to the great mass of the people; a governor, protecting the rights and promoting the happiness of all the inhabitants of a vast region entrusted to his charge, so that he is ever after affectionately regarded by them as a father; a trusted and unchecked agent for the purchase of vast regions of territory and the adjustment of land claims thereon, enjoying for years the amplest opportunity to enrich and aggrandize himself by the simple use of his knowledge and without imputation of dishonor, but retiring at last to private life without having availed himself in the least of his advantage, or added one dollar from the avails of office to his limited pecuniary means, such a man may be contemplated with a less fervid idolatry, but with a higher, purer, and deeper regard; and when History at length records his elevation to the highest honors of an enlightened and grateful people, she teaches a lesson which can never bewilder or corrupta lesson of wisdom to the highest and of hope to the humblest of men.

William Henry, the third and youngest son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born on the 9th day of February, 1773, at a place called Berkeley, in Charles City County, Virginia. His father was among the most prominent of the illustrious men of his eventful day, having filled the executive chair of the "Old Dominion" at a period when moral daring and personal fearlessness were essential to the incumbent of that station. Under such a condition of things, it is not surprising that the son should inherit little as his patrimony beyond the example of his illustrious parent. Governor Harrison died in 1791, after having rendered the most important benefits to the infant republic, and expended in its cause an ample fortune. The mantle of the sire was, however, destined speedily to descend upon the son; for no sooner had the tidings reached him of the hostile incursions of the Indians on the northwestern frontier, than he relinquished the quiet pursuit of his studies, and at once imbibed an ardent passion for the field. Undaunted by the prospect of the accumulated dangers and hardships of a border war, he unhesitatingly resolved to consecrate himself to the service of his Country and the common cause of Freedom.

At the early age of nineteen, Harrison commenced a public life which, as well for its extent as its brilliant achievements, may be said to have been no less important to his country than honorable to himself. Some analogy, it has been observed, is exhibited in the career of our hero with that of the illustrious Lafayette. Both, in all the freshness and vigor of youth, nobly devoted themselves to the cause of Liberty ; alike despising the more profitable and peaceful pursuits of private life, they each not only discovered the germ of heroic patriotism, but have

also, by their bravery and enterprise during a long series of important public services, secured to themselves the gratitude and admiration of

the age.

Although the articles of peace were formally concluded between Great Britain and the United States in the year 1783, the hostilities of several Indian tribes, formerly in league with the British, still continued to harass different sections of the country. This was particularly the case along the western border of Pennsylvania, and the scattered settlements within the territory northwest of the Ohio. Of these, the Miamies, who claimed a large extent of country, including that part of Ohio west of the Scioto, Indiana, and a considerable portion of Illinois, continued to perpetrate the greatest aggression and outrage. Accordingly we find in 1791, when a reinforcement was ordered to march for Fort Hamilton on the Great Miami, a task which it required no ordinary degree of courage to accomplish, as they had to pass through wild forests infested by hordes of the hostile tribes, young Harrison was the one chosen to the command of the escort.

The dexterity and skill which he displayed in the prosecution of this arduous duty gained for him the distinguished approbation of his commanding officer, General St. Clair, for he was shortly after promoted to the rank of a lieutenant. During the following year he joined the new army under the command of General Anthony Wayne, an officer whose consummate skill, intrepidity, and daring impetuosity, during the struggles of the revolution, obtained for him the well-known title of "Mad Anthony." It was a period, indeed, worthy of such a man, for the repeated successes and incursions of the enemy had not only infused among the people generally, but even throughout the army itself, such terror and dread of these merciless foes, as greatly to paralyze their energies, and to render the duties of the commander all but insurmountably difficult. The instructions, indeed, which were forwarded by Congress to General Wayne, contained the following ominous expression; "That another defeat would prove inexpressibly ruinous to the reputation of the government;" and consequently, in such a critical juncture, every available facility was rendered him. On the 25th of May, he repaired to Pittsburg, which was selected as the place of rendezvous. The newly-organized army consisted of a major-general, four brigadier generals, with their respective staffs, the commissioned officers, and five thousand one hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers and privates, which was designated "The Legion of the United States." Although this collective force had the effect of partially restoring the drooping spirit and energy of the soldiery, they notwithstanding continued to desert in considerable numbers. To remedy this evil, how

ever, General Wayne applied himself at all intervals of leisure to the disciplining of his troops with unremitting assiduity. Thus, it must be obvious, that the carly career of Harrison had little to do with what is called the poetry of war, since he had present to his eye but the sternest aspect of its dangers and toils, proving beyond doubt that he must have been actuated solely by the true spirit of generous patriotism.

Finding all amicable negotiations with the Indians unavailing, no alternative was left to General Wayne but to adopt the most rigid and decisive measures; accordingly, we find him breaking up his winter quarters about the end of April, 1793, and transporting his army in boats down the Ohio to Fort Washington, an outpost situated upon the site now occupied by the city of Cincinnati. After waiting some time for reinforcements and supplies, during which they were engaged in several skirmishes with the enemy, a detachment of artillery with eight companies of infantry were despatched under the command of Major Burbeck to take possession of the field of battle on the 4th of November, 1791, and to fortify the position. In the general orders issued by the commander-in-chief on the return of the troops from that hazardous and toilsóme expedition, we find, among others, the name of Lieutenant Harrison recorded as particularly entitled to commendation for "his voluntary aid and services on the occasion," as well as for his "exemplary conduct during an arduous tour of duty, and the cheerfulness with which he surmounted every difficulty." It is not a little gratifying that at so early a period Harrison should have been found to identify himself with deeds of patriotism and valor, since, not only from his extreme vouth, but owing to his previous habits of study, his slight frame and delicate constitution, results of a very opposite nature might reasonably have been anticipated. Some of his associates, indeed, even urged him to resign his commission, from the apparant impossibility of his undergoing the hardships of the service. "I would as soon have thought of putting my wife in the service as this boy," writes an old soldier of St. Clair, who was at the fort when Ensign Harrison first made his appearance in the army; "but I have been out with him," continues the veteran, "and I find those smooth checks are on a wise head, and that slight frame is almost as tough as my own weather-beaten carcase." Modesty and unobtrusiveness were also singularly his characteristics; and whenever objections like the foregoing were made, he would simply reply, "Try me." He has been tried, and the result has fully proved him never wanting.

About the middle of July, 1794, a fierce attack by large numbers of the enemy was made upon the newly-constructed works, erected on the site of the defeat of General St. Clair, which was called Fort Recovery;