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drilled, ranked, and sized, faced to the right, and marched to the polls, to cast their suffrage in support of the Federal Whig National Harrisburg convention ticket. General Harrison will be sustained, abolitionist or no abolitionist, by all the abolitionists, as well as by the Federal North and South anti-abolitionists. John Tyler, a slaveholder and a slave-owner, will receive the entire abolition and Federal Whig vote North and South.

It will be remembered that in 1832 Henry Clay was a candidate for the Presidency on the Federal side. I believe, and such was universally the belief, that he was a Mason of the highest order, and that he stood upon the tip-top round of the masonic ladder. This will not be denied.

Darius Lyman, who was an anti-Mason, was taken up and presented to the people of Ohio as a candidate for the gubernatorial chair by an antimasonic convention. This was at a time when that miserable and contemptible demagogical hobby, anti-masonry, was at its zenith. Anti-Masons then were as the abolitionists are now, antiDemocrats, but, strange to say, the Federal Masons to a man sustained Mr. Lyman for Governor, and in turn, and by way of reciprocity, the antiMasons to a man sustained Mr. Clay for the Presidency. Such is the frailty of man when beset by political ambition and the love of power; the solemnity of an oath, peace of conscience, and the sacred ties of religion are alike their victims of sacrifice. And I now predict, with more confidence than Daniel predicted the destruction of Babylon, that all the factions opposed to the cause of Democracy, all the princes of faction, the governors and captains, the judges, the counsel

ors,

the treasurers, and the sheriffs of factions, will be gathered together at Ura to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, and the Jew will desert his God and the religion of Israel, and the Pagan will desert his idol, and abandon the sacred mysteries of his temple, and will fall prostrate before the image at the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, timbrel, jewsharp, banjo, and tamborine. Yes, sir, at the nod of Federalism all other isms must fall prostrate. But it will not all do. Babylon must sink in wickedness, pollution, and idolatry. In the night of feasting and debauchery the Cyrus of Democracy will destroy it.

Yes, sir, abolition Whiggery of the North will be Whig abolition of the South, both full-blooded twins of blue-light Federalism, whether in the North or in the South; and the man must be a willful liar or a stupid fool who will attempt to affix either to the support of this Administration, or identify either of them with the Democratic party or the Democratic principles. In support of what I say, permit me to read two small extracts from the Philanthropist of March 31, 1840. The Philanthropist is a leading, and one of the most thorough-going, abolition papers of the day. But here are the extracts. I read from a long article headed "the present Administration:"

"The present Administration, it is generally conceded, is essentially southern in its principles and policy; it is distinguished by its devotion to the foreign and domestic interests of slavery perhaps more than by any other feature. The protection of slave labor seems to be its controlling principle. True, the freemen of the North and West number more than twice as many as those of the South; but they are supposed to have no peculiar interests, or the proThe aristection of free labor is a minor consideration. tocrats of the South give law to the Government, and Mr. Van Buren is their vassal Executive.

"Another view of the subject we would present. Should the Van Buren party, after having rested its hopes of success to a great extent on its anti-abolition warfare, be defeated, it would be the best thing that could happen for them, as well as the free States. From that moment the party would find it convenient to cut loose from the South. The conviction would arise that it had been leaning on a broken reed, and that there was a power at home which it was of more consequence to conciliate that the slaveholding interest. It is the vocation of abolitionists to emancipate parties from thralldom to this interest. This they can do by creating such a mass of anti-slavery sentiment in the free States, and so directing it that it shall at once crush the politician who may venture in a single particular to pander to the wishes of the slaveholder."

Comment on these extracts is unnecessary; but I cannot leave them without notice.

So far as the Administration and the Democracy of the free States are charged with undue southern influence and vassalage, it is a reckless falsehood and a broad slander worthy of a demagogue and a liar steeped in moral depravity and political corruption.

Appropriation Bill—Mr. Duncan.

The Administration and the Democracy of the North are as much devoted to the cause of philanthropy, universal emancipation, and the happiness of the human family, as the modern abolition Whig party. But the Administration and the Democracy of the free States are devoted, too, to the perpetuity of this Union, the peace and order of society, the preservation of the Constitution, and the maintenence of the sovereignty and independence of the States, and the peaceful enjoyment of their domestic institutions, which were guarantied to them at the formation of the Federal Government, and the guarantee of which security constituted a principal condition upon which the Federal Union was formed.

Sir, we have had some fine disquisitions in the President-making speeches here on the transcendent military services of the Federal candidate for the Presidency.

It is not my purpose, for one moment, to throw the slightest shade over any fame that General Harrison may have acquired in the last war; but it must astound every national and consistent man in the Union that the Federal Whigs should select a military man as a candidate for the Presidency. Sir, indulge me a short time while I show some of the inconsistency of the self-styled consistent and decency party.

What did the Federal party say of the last war and of military men? Hear them. I read from the Olive Branch:

"Let no man who wishes to continue the war by active means, by vote or lending money, have to prostrate himself at the altar on the fast day, for they are actually as much partakers in the war as the soldier who thrusts the bayonet, and the judgment of God will await them.

"Will Federalists subscribe to the loan, (Government loan;) will they lend money to our national rulers? It is impossible," &c.

Any Federalist who lends money to the Government must go and shake hands with James Madison, and claim fellowship with Felix Grundy. Let him no more call himself a Federalist and friend to his country. He will be called by others infamous!"

"It is very grateful to find that the universal sentiment is that any man who lends his money to the Government at the present time will forfeit all claim to common honesty and common courtesy among all true friends to the country."-Boston Gazette.

"We have only room this evening to say that we trust no true friend to his country will be found among the subscribers to the Gallatin loan."-New York Evening Post.

"No peace will ever be made till the people say there shall be no war. If the rich now continue to furnish money, war will continue till the mountains are wetted with blood, till every field in America is white with the bones of the people."-Discourse by Elijah Parrish, D. D.

Sir, I could read an hour from this collection of Federal sayings and doctrines, but I will not detain the committee; but be it remembered that at the time of these denunciations, the clouds of war hung the heaviest, the work of plunder, burning, and death, beset our whole sea-board, and our. frontier was exposed to the savage rifle, the scalping-knife and tomahawk, and the torch of the Indian; the Government was oppressed and borne down with the pecuniary embarrassments; every institution of the Government was sinking, and every prospect withering from the same cause. But what do we find now, sir? The same Federal party sustaining a military man for the first office in their gift-for the Presidency of the United States; and predicating his claims upon his military services in that very war which they so violently denounced, and upon which they invoked from the sacred altar the vengeance of God. But that was a long time ago. Well, what did the Federalists say in 1824, when the Democracy sustained General Jackson for the Presidency? Why, sir, it will be remembered by every person who hears me that every political journal in the country teemed with the most solemn admonitions against placing the Government in the hands of a military chieftain; we were referred to the subversion and downfall of every republic which had gone before us by military despotism. Such warnings were in the mouth of every Federalist in the land at that time, and were brought to bear against the election of General Jackson with all the force they could be urged through every possible medium.

Hear Mr. Clay, in his address to the people of the congressional district composed of the counties of Fayette, Woodford, and Clark, in Kentucky:

"In his [General Jackson's] election to this office, too, I thought I perceived the establishment of a fearful prece

HO. OF REPS.

dent, and I am mistaken in all the warnings of instructive history if I erred in my judgment. Undoubtedly there are other and many dangers to public liberty besides that which

proceeds from military idolatry; but I have yet to acquire

the knowledge of it, if there be one more perilous or more frequent."-National Intelligencer, March 31, 1825

To this; all the Federalists said amen. But here is more. Mr. Clay, in his letter to Judge Brooke, dated Washington, January 28, 1825, says:

"As a friend of liberty, and to the permanence of our institutions, I cannot consent, in this early stage of their existence, by contributing to the election of a military chieftain, to give the strongest guarantee that this Republic wil march in the fatal road which has conducted every other republic to ruin."-National Intelligencer, February 22,

1825.

This was strong language, and fearful and sol emn admonition. It was thought, however, by some that this warning was urged with more out. ward than inward zeal, to secure him against the indignation of the Republican party and the sus picions of the Federal party, in his somerset from the former to the latter. But he continued his warnings in deep sighs of prophecy and Jeremiah lamentations. Hear what he says in 1829, at a public dinner:

"I deprecated it [General Jackson's election] still more because his elevation, I believed, would be the result exclusively of admiration and gratitude for military service, without regard to indispensable civil qualifications. I can neither retract nor modify or alter any opinion which on these subjects I have at any time heretofore expressed.

"I beheld in his election an awful foreboding of the fate which at some future day (I pray God that if it ever arrive it may be some far-distant day) was to befall this infant Republic. All past history had impressed on his mind this solemn apprehension. Nor is it effaced or weakened by contemporaneous events passing upon our own favored continent.

"It is remarkable that at this epoch, at the head of nine independent Governments, established in both Americas, military officers have been placed, or have placed them

serves.

General Loyalla has by military force subverted the republic of La Plata; General Santa Cruz is the Chief Magistrate of Bolivia; Colonel Pinto of Chili; General La Mar of Peru; and General Bolivar of Colombia; Central America, rent in pieces and bleeding at every pore from wounds inflicted by contending military factions, is under the alternate sway of their chiefs.

"In the Government of our nearest neighbor, an election conducted according to all the requirements of their constitution had terminated with a majority of the States in favor of Pedeza, the civil candidate. An insurrection was raised in behalf of his military rival. The cry, not exactly of bargain, but of corruption, was sounded; the election was annulled, and a reform effected by proclaming General Guerrero, having only a minority of the States, duly elected President.

"The thunders from the surrounding forts, and the aeclamations from the assembled multitudes on the 4th, [March,] told us what general was at the head of our affairs."-National Intelligencer, March 9, 1829.

I have one more extract to read, which is per tinent; and I hope it will be remembered by all who hear me, and all who may read me, while I am reading extracts from Mr. Clay's speeches, that I am not reading the sentiments of a single individual, but the sentiments of the whole Federal tribe, as expressed through every Federal sheet in the land, by every Federal orator, and every Federal babbling, noisy politician, from the largest to the smallest, and in some instances from the pulpit and the sacred desk.

Now for the last extract:

"In 1838, not two years since, Mr. Clay said in the United States Senate, he (Mr. C.) had also been charged with having left his country and her councils with execrations, going home with restlessness and disgust, and as returning back to annoy the country. What was the ground of this charge? Mr. C. had returned under urgent necessitieshis office had been unsolicited, and he had resolved to do his duty in these struggles and these times, and he had denounced a military aspirant, and had denounced him in language which he was proud to have used, when he had exclaimed, Send us war, pestilence, and fansine, rather than curse us with military rule; and if he could then have foreseen that this execrable measure [the sub-Treasury bill would have been introduced by the influence which he then deprecated, he would then have denounced it as he did now, as not at all preferable to war, pestilence, and famine, and as not inferior to any one of them in its malign effects on the welfare and prosperity of the country."~ Reported in the National Intelligencer, June 25, 1838.

What a man this Mr. Clay is! From 1825 up to 1838 his solemn admonitions to man, and his sincere prayers to God, were, that our country had better be blighted and withered in famine, desolated with pestilence, and drenched in blood, than that a military man (General Jackson) should be President, and in 1838 said, virtually, that rather than this Government should collect, keep safe, and disburse its own revenue, in the management of its own fiscal operations, or rather than the

26TH CONG....1ST SESS.

banks should cease to rule the Government, the country, and the people, he preferred that the country be dissolved with war, pestilence, or famine. Is this the raving of madness, or the madness of raving?

Mr. Chairman, if you can find, in the whole history of human depravity, sentiments involving, in the abstract, more theoretical wickedness, reckless ambition, and moral debasement than these sentiments do, you will have to read that history over once more than I have. But base as they were, benighted in wickedness as the brain must have been that conceived them, corrupt as the heart was that cherished them, and poisoned as the tongue and lips were that gave them birth, the whole Federal pack yelped amen to them.

But what do you think now, sir? In the face of all these solemn warnings and impressive admonitions, and in the face of all these appeals to Heaven to visit this land with all the other combined calamities, either of the anger of God or the folly of man, rather than this people should be ruled executively by a military man, that same Federal party, with that same Henry Clay at their head, are now moving heaven and earth to place the Executive Government in the hands of a military man!! Monstrous! And that, too, on the open and professed ground of transcendent military services, for no other claims or pretensions are urged. I will leave comment on such conduct to those who may read me, with these simple inquiries: at the time of which I am speaking, were you sincere when you were warning the Democracy, in long groans, deep sighs, and with tears in your eyes, of the fatal consequences that would result from placing the executive department of this Government in the hands of a military captain? If you were sincere, you are now practicing a base fraud upon the American people, and voluntarily and willfully endangering the civil and political institutions of your country by attempting to give a military captain the control of the Government.

But if you are now sincere in pushing the claims of General Harrison, on the ground of gratitude for his military services, and you believe the Government will be safe in the hands of a military chieftain, you were then practicing a base fraud upon the American people, and your whole effort to prevent the election of General Jackson was the result of deception, fraud, and demagogism. How will you reconcile your conflicting conduct with an intelligent, honest, patriotic, and candid people? Will you attempt an explanation of your conduct, or will you rest your demagogisms, as you always have done, on what you believe to be the thoughtless stupidity and ignorance of what you call the "common people?"

But I will proceed to examine what the military claims of General Harrison are; and let me remind you that it is not my purpose to throw the slightest shade over the military reputation of General Harrison, or pluck a leaf from the wreath which his successes in the field may have secured to him. But when General Harrison's military services are presented as claims upon the suffrages of the American people for the highest civil office in their gift, it becomes the right and the duty of every citizen to examine and inquire into the character, quality, and extent of those services now set up as a claim. It is now, in the Federal sheets, and by the party orators, proclaimed with emphasis, and published in capitals, that General Harrison's military career and military services never were assailed until after he was presented as a candidate for President. Well, sir, this is very creditable to him, and a proud boast for him and his party if true; but how frail are all human calculations and boasts! Just indulge me while I blow up this political air castle, this paper balloon, inflated with wordy gas, on which General Harrison is to ride to the Presidency.

Here, sir, is an extract from the Journals of the Senate of the United States, as reported in Niles's Register:

"The Senate resumed the consideration of the joint resolution directing medals to be struck, and, together with the thanks of Congress, presented to Major General Barrison and Governor Shelby, and for other purposes. After some discussion, Mr. Lacock moved to amend the resolution by striking therefrom Major General Harrison. The

Appropriation Bill-Mr. Duncan.

motion was determined in the affirmative, by the following

Vote:

"YEAS-Messrs. Gillard, Gore, Hunter, King, Lacock, Mason, Roberts, Thompson, Jackson, Tait, Turner, and Varnum-12.

"NAYS-Messrs. Barber, Barry, Condit, Horsey, Macon, Morrow, Ruggles, Talbot, Welis, and Williams-10."

Whether the Senate was right or wrong in this signal, lasting, and withering rebuke of General Harrison, it does not affect the windy boast that "General Harrison's military character never was assailed until he was presented as a candidate for President." It will be seen that this vote of the Senate was had in the fore part of 1816, just at the close of the war, when the services of the brave were fresh in the grateful recollection of every friend to his country. The description of successful battles dwelt in delight upon the lips of every patriot, and the songs in praise of those who distinguished themselves were echoed from hill to hill, and from mountain to mountain, from one end of the continent to the other. It will be remembered, too, that no individual or association of individuals could be supposed to be better acquainted with the military character and merits of those who served in the last war than were the Senators of the United States. The Senate is the highest, most responsible, and most honorable tribunal in the American Government. Its members are composed of those who are selected for their wisdom, their integrity, and their patriotism. It is the province and the duty of the United States Senate to award honor and thanks to whom honor and thanks are due; but this was the honor and thanks which was meted to General Harrison at a time when the sheet of the war history had hardly dried, and when the echo of the song of praise had not died on the distant hills. I believe the Senate did wrong in withholding the vote of thanks and the medal proposed in the resolution, and so the Senate subsequently thought; for a vote of thanks and the medal were awarded. "But deny me honor rather than praise me faintly." Such was the praise the Senate bestowed on General Harrison.

So much for the Senate Journal. I will now ask the Clerk to read the public letter of Joseph Duncan, ex-Governor of Illinois, a stanch modern Whig, and a violent opposer of the present Administration. I I like to convict the Whigs with evidence from their own mouths; but here is the letter.

The Clerk read:

WASHINGTON CITY, March 25, 1836. DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 20th has been received, and I most cheerfully comply with your request in giving such an account of the transactions at Sandusky as my memory at this period and my time will enable me to do.

About the 20th of July, 1813, General Harrison, then at Lower Sandusky, hearing that the British army had crossed Lake Erie to Fort Meigs, being about five thousand strong, immediately changed his headquarters to Seneca, seven or eight miles up the Sandusky river, where he assembled his forces, then on the march from the interior, leaving Major Croghan with about one hundred and fifty-three men to defend Fort Stephenson, with an understanding at the time that the fort, then in a weak and wretched condition, was to be abandoned should the enemy advance with artillery; but if not, to be defended to the last extremity.

Harrison, with his force, then small, had scarcely left us before Croghan commenced putting the fort (which was only a stockading of small round logs and a few log storehouses) in a proper state of defense, in which he evinced the most admirable judgment and the most untiring perse

verance.

During the last ten or twelve days that intervened between the time that General Harrison left us and the ap pearance of the enemy, a ditch was dug, four feet deep and six feet wide, entirely round the fort outside of the stockading, the ground for two hundred yards round the fort was cleared of timber and brush, and many other preparations made for the enemy.

About this time General Harrison received information that the enemy had raised the siege at Fort Meigs, and had started in the direction of Sandusky and Camp Seneca. On receiving this intelligence he determined to retreat from his position, and immediately sent an express to Fort Stephenson, which arrived about sunrise, ordering Major Croghan to burn the fort, with all the munitions and stores, and retreat without delay to headquarters, giving, also, some precautionary instructions about the route, &c.

On receiving this order, Croghan instantly placed it in the hands of the officers, who were all present, and required them to consider it and express an opinion of the propriety of obeying or disobeying it. The board was formed, and on putting the question, beginning, as usual, with the youngest officer, it was ascertained that a majority of us were for disobeying the order. Croghan returned to the room, and being informed of our directions, said, "I am glad of it; I had resolved to disobey at all hazards," and immediately dispatched an express to General Harrison, giving him that information. Immediately on the arrival of this express General Harrison dispatched Lieu

HO. OF REPS.

tenant Colonel Ball, with his squadron of dragoons, with orders to arrest Croghan and bring him to headquarters. which was done, and sent another officer to take command, By this time, in consequence of his not arriving agreeably to this expectations and orders, the general abandoned all idea of a retreat, although his munitions and stores were piled up ready to be set on fire as soon as Croghan should reach Seneca; and it is not to be doubted that if Croghan had arrived according to orders, General Harrison would have retreated instantly, leaving the whole frontier, our fleet at Erie, and the store at Cleveland-the destruction of which was the object of the invasion and movements down the lake-at the mercy of the enemy!

After being detained one night, Croghan returned to Sandusky, and was reinstated in his command; an occasion which gave an indescribable joy to the officers and soldiers in the fort, and which only could be equaled in intensity of feeling by the chagrin and mortification felt at his arrest. Especially was the event pleasing to those officers who had sustained him in disobeying the order, resolved as they were, when he was arrested, to share his fate, be it good or evil.

Soon after his return, the enemy, so long expected, made his appearance, and demanded a surrender. Croghan an swered by directing Ensign Shipp to assure General Proctor that it would be blown to - first.

I need hardly say, after what has been related, that their appearance, relieving us from our long suspense, was hailed with seeming joy by the major and most, if not all, of his command.

The excitement produced by what had occurred, and his return just in time to meet the enemy, inspired his command with an enthusiasm rarely, if ever surpassed, and which alone renders man invincible.

The fort was forthwith besieged, cannonaded, and bombarded from the gunboats and the batteries on land for nearly four hours, without cessation; during all which time every officer and soldier appeared to be animated by the cool and manly bearing of the commander.

I well remember his expression at the first sound of the bugle given by the enemy as the signal for the charging upon the works. We were sitting together; he sprung upon his feet, saying, "Duncan, every man to his post; for in twenty minutes they will attempt to take us by storm. Recollect, when you hear my voice crying relief, come to me with all the men that can be spared from your part of the line." He instantly passed up the line, repeating to every officer, and had scarcely got the men in place before the whole British army, divided into three columns, marched upon the fort and made a desperate assault, continuing it for near an hour, when they were repulsed with a loss of killed and wounded estimated at that time to be near double the number in the fort, and is stated by English writers to be about ninety.

During the engagement I saw Croghan often, and witnessed with delight his intrepid and gallant conduct, which, I firmly believe, never has been surpassed at any time, on any occasion.

In the heat of the action I frequently heard him exclaim, "Huzza, my brave fellows, we are hewing them to pieces; five minutes more and we'll blow them to! By In, every officer and soldier has immortalized himself," &c. And throughout the whole affair he evinced the greatest solicitude for the safety of every one but himself.

The sagacity displayed in arranging the cannon, so as to open a mask embrasure to rake the enemy in the ditch at a point evidently selected by them for the breach; in placing the logs on pins near the top of the picket, which could be tilted off by one man, and from twenty to thirty feet long, of heavy timber, swept everything before them; his activity in piling bags of sand against the pickets wherever the enemy attempted to make a breach with their cannon, by which means each point of attack grew stronger from the moment it was assailed, are worthy of any general at any age.

You are right, sir, in my judgment, in saying that the Government has not done justice to Colonel Croghan for his conduct in that affair, which is without a parallel in the military annals of our country.

As to myself, having acted a very subordinate part, I never did, nor do I now, set up any claims for distinction. To know that I did my duty to my country, though not hardened into manhood, was then, and is now, enough for me. But of him I feel no hesitancy in saying injustice has been done to him in being overlooked by the Government, and the erroneous statements of historians.

McAffee, the historian of the late war, and Dawson, the biographer of General Harrison, have studiously kept out of view that the object of the invasion was the destruction of our ships, under Commodore Perry, at Presque Isle, and boats and stores at Cleveland; these were looked upon with solicitude by the British; were reconnoitered; and on one or two occasions were attempted to be destroyed by landing on board their fleet. They have also failed to account for the movement of the whole British forces down the Jake, in the direction of Cleveland and Erie, before their defeat at Sandusky, which was attacked to satisfy their Indian allies, who demanded the scalps and plunder of the place. They have kept out of view the fact that General Harrison had determined to retreat to the interior after burning all the supplies which he had collected; that he ordered Major Croghan to abandon and burn Fort Stephenson; that his refusal to obey, and failure to arrive at headquarters, prevented this retreat and consequent destruction of our fleet, millions of public stores, and exposure of five hundred miles of frontier to the combined enemy!

Both have stated that General Harrison never doubted that Major Croghan would be able to repulse an enemy of near two thousand, and which, they say, he understood to be five thousand, with one hundred and thirty men, his effective force on the day of battle, one six-pounder with ammunition for only seven shots, and about forty rounds for the small-arms; when the fact was notorions that General Harrison was heard to say during the siege, when the firing could be heard in his camp, speaking of Croghan,

26TH CONG....1ST SESS.

all the honor and glory that attended it, were in direct violation of the express orders of General Harrison. If Major Croghan is entitled to the unmeasured gratitude of the American people, the song of praise to General Harrison will be weak.

Appropriation Bill-Mr. Duncan.

infantry and cavalry cannot fight together on the same ground at the same time. After General Harrison left Colonel Johnson, the latter discovered that the swamp could be crossed. Colonel Johnson then ordered his brother, Lieutenant Colonel James Johnson, to take command of the first battalion, and attack the British at the sound of the bugle, when he at the same moment would attack the Indians. Colonel Johnson crossed the swamp with the second battalion, and, by three charging columns, made the attack on the Indians at the same moment that his brother James attacked the British, both at the sound of the bugle. In less than fifteen minutes after the charge was made on the British, they surrendered; they were ordered to stack their arms, and were conducted by James Johnson prisoners of war to General Harrison, and delivered to him at the head of the infantry, a mile in the rear of the battle. By permission of General Harrison, James Johnson returned and joined his brother, Colonel Richard, who was still fighting, and engaged with his battalion in the fight with the Indians. I have stated that Colonel Richard M. Johnson made the attack on the Indians by three charging columns, but that mode of attack proved unsuccessful, owing to the thicket or underbrush and other obstructions which covered the ground, which made horses useless. The men were ordered to dismount, and fight the Indians in their own way, and in that way the battle was finished and victory obtained.

What is the next battle in which we may look for General Harrison? The battle of the Thames? Yes, he was there; and of his conduct there I have no fault to find; nor would I name it except in his praise, but for some communications now afloat, evidently started for the base, mean, and unhallowed purpose of crowning General Harrison with the laurels which Colonel Johnson reaped in blood on the plains of the Thames. Degraded indeed must that party be, when the crippled veteran must be robbed of his honors, and be permitted to sink in forgetfulness to the grave, with his body covered with wounds received on the field of battle in his country's cause, for the base purposes of party. The glorious battle of the Thames occupies one of the brightest and proudest pages of American history. Its history is not better known than the fact that Colonel R. M. Johnson is its hero. If ingratitude could palsy the tongue, he would be made dumb who would deny him the name of hero and the conqueror of the Thames. The indignation of a proud and grateful nation will rest upon the wretch who will attempt to rob or steal the escutcheon dedicated by a nation's gratitude to Colonel R. M. Johnson, for his bravery, gallantry, and patriotism in the battle of the Thames. Sir, in that battle he gained laurels which do him the highest honor in life, and will adorn his memory in death, while there is a free American on whose lips his name can dwell. Who ever before heard Gen-charging columns. On the charge, and at the first eral Harrison called the hero of the Thames? Why the phrase," Colonel Johnson, the hero of the Thames," is so identified with American pronunciation that no tongue of the present generation can be taught to pronounce the name of General Harrison as a substitute for Colonel Johnson, by prefixing it to "hero of the Thames."

Sir, this base attempt at robbery of the honors of Colonel Johnson necessarily compels me to ask your attention a few moments while I attempt a short description of the battle of the Thames, and the several parts that General Harrison and Colonel Johnson performed in it. As it is not my purpose to give a history of the last war, nor of the march of the North western army from Fort Malden to the river Thames, I will commence my description on the battle-ground; and as it is the relative claims to honor of General Harrison and Colonel Johnson that are at issue, my description shall be principally with reference to them.

The enemy was overtaken by the American troops on the river Thames, about a mile and a half below the Moravian towns. The British regulars, in number six or seven hundred, were stretched across a narrow piece of ground, with the river on their left, and a long, deep, narrow swamp on their right. The Indians were posted on the right of the British on the other side of the swamp, commencing at the edge of the swamp and extending to the right in the form of a half

moon.

Colonel Johnson, with his mounted regiment, first overtook the enemy, and were in advance of the infantry some three or four miles. As soon as the enemy was overtaken, and his position known, General Harrison, who was with the infantry, was informed thereof. As soon as Colonel Johnson discovered the enemy and his position, he formed his troops in charging columns, except one company of spies, which was dismounted, and stretched across between the river and the swamp in open order before the charging columns and fronting the British line. At the moment this form of attack was executed, General Harrison arrived; and, upon consultation with Colonel Johnson, permitted him to charge the enemy, and returned himself to the infantry, which was about a mile at that time in the rear. When General Harrison left Colonel Johnson, it was supposed that the swamp could not be crossed. Consequently, the attack could not be made upon the Indians and British at the same time. It was therefore agreed that Colonel Johnson should be permitted to fight the British alone, first, because there was not room for the cavalry and infantry to fight at the same time, and secondly, because

No. 28.

At the onset of the battle Colonel Johnson was at the head of what was called the forlorn hope,|| (twenty select men,) and that hope in front of the

fire, every man of that hope was cut off or unhorsed, except the colonel himself, and one other, who received several wounds. After they were dismounted, Colonel Johnson still continued in the front of the battle, and between his men and the Indians until he came in contact with Tecumseh, and shot him. When the Indians saw their chief fall they took flight, and were pursued by Major Thompson for some distance. Colonel Johnson sunk under his wounds, and was borne from the field.

Where was General Harrison during this action? My colleague [Mr. CORWIN] says that he was in the rear, where he ought to have been; but some of the demagogues and hired minions of the day say "that he was in the heat of the battle, and in all parts of it." The statement of one fact will place that falsehood in its proper place. Colonel Johnson received five balls through his body and limbs. His clothes and accouterments were perforated and cut from head to foot with balls, and the charger which he rode received fifteen wounds by rifle balls, of which he died in a few minutes after the action was over. How was it, then, if General Harrison was "in the heat of the battle, and in every part of it," that he came off without the smell of powder upon his garments? His escape must have been as miraculous as the escape of Daniel from the den of hungry lions, and of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. The day of miracles has passed. General Harrison was not "in the heat of the battle of the Thames, and every part of it," and he had about as much to do with command in the action as John Rogers, who was burnt at the stake. Colonel R. M. Johnson commanded in the battle of the Thames. "Colonel R. M. Johnson is the hero of the Thames."

I believe that General Harrison did his duty. But it is casting a dark reflection on General Harrison to say that he was in the heat of the battle with "Governor Shelby and his infantry." All the fighting was done on a square of not more than the fourth of a mile. If the infantry were present why were the Indians not taken prisoners? If General Harrison could have crossed the swamps, and did not, he was highly to blame for permitting a single battalion to fight twelve or fifteen hundred Indians near an hour. If he did cross the swamp with the infantry, and he and they were actually in the fight, that strips the battle of all its brilliancy, and the American arms of honor, for all the Indians escaped except what fell. If the dragoons were fighting the indians for near an hour in close grapple, why were the

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infantry not ordered to surround the Indians and take them prisoners? Sir, attempt to rob Colonel Johnson and his gallant regiment of the glory of that battle, and that moment you run into inexplicable difficulties, and bring disgrace upon the American arms, and dishonor upon the commander. The history of the battle of the Thames had better be permitted to stand as it is, and as the world understands it. The political cause of General Harrison will not be advanced by violating truth, justice, and honor. The American people, ever ready to mete the reward of gratitude to those who defend their country in the hour of peril, have also the capacity and discrimination to award justice and honor to whom justice and honor are due.

The gentleman from Michigan, [Mr. CRARY,] in his remarks, thought that in the confusion and turmoil of the suprise of Tippecanoe the commanding general should have been at his tent, where he might have been found by the officers who sought his orders. To this my colleague [Mr. CORWIN] took exceptions, and favored us with many illustrations and examples to prove that the commanding general should be at the head of his army and in the front of the battle; but when he was forced to admit that General Harrison was in the rear of the battle of the Thames, with the infantry, he assured us without any explanation or qualification that that was the proper place for the commanding general. I believe under all the circumstances it was the proper place for General Harrison. These circumstances I have attempted to explain, though my colleague left us without explanation. I will attempt some illustrations to prove that the rear of an army has not always been the position which commanding generals have occupied in time of battle.

In the great battle of Thymbrea between Cyrus and Croesus, in which the whole power of the Persians and Medes was arrayed against the Lydians and Assyrians, after Cyrus had finished the order of attack, and was prepared to make the onset, he drank a little wine, poured some upon the ground as a libation to the gods, mounted his horse in the front of his army, and called out, "Follow me!" He continued to fight in front of the army until the battle was finished.

Alexander the Great commanded in person the right wing of his army against the Persians at the battle of the Granicus; he was the first to enter the river and to meet and encounter the enemy on the other side. He continued to fight in the front ranks until victory was his. The same Alexander was the first to mount the walls of Odyracea and plunge himself into the thickest of the enemy when his army stormed that city. Hannibal fought in the front ranks of the battle of Cannæ.

In the celebrated battle between Cæsar and Pompey, the former was in the front ranks from the commencement of the engagement until the latter, with his troops, was routed.

Miltiades fought in person at the head and front of his army against the Persians, in the memorable battle of Marathon.

But later, (and my colleague brings it to my mind,) when Napoleon attempted to pass a bridge at Lodi, his troops were cut off as fast as they were marched up, column after column. He rushed to the head of the foremost column, in the midst of the thickest fire, seized the standard, and ordered his troops to follow him. So, sir, commanding generals have not always posted themselves in the rear at the time of battle.

I would not have presented these illustrations with a view to apply them to General Harrison's position at the battle of the Thames, only that my colleague seemed desirous of turning his position to some political advantage, by assigning the rear as the proper place for him.

My colleague seemed to lay claim to the Presidency for General Harrison, because his history covered a great part of the history of this country. That argument, of itself, has but little weight in it, Some of the basest and most perfidious wretches that ever disgraced the image of man, and the vilest scourges that ever lived to curse the human family, have occupied the largest portion of history, and their names, though known in infamy alone, stand foremost on the records of human history. It is not the historical recollections of